On 01 Jul 2023, we hopped from Ithaka to the neighbouring island of Kefalonia, the largest and perhaps the most varied of the Ionian islands. Upon entering the bay of Fiskardo at the Northern tip of the island we passed the now defunct Venetian lighthouse, and its modern replacement.
July, and the tourist season had clearly begun. The anchorage was filled with charter-boats and flotilla’s making it difficult to find a suitable mooring spot. The common way to anchor is the so called MED mooring. You drop your anchor a few boat-lengths in front of the location where you’re going to park your boat and then reverse stern to shore. At the desired location, Liza then jumps in the water and swims two floating lines to a suitable attachment point (left and right) whilst Frits keeps the boat in place using the engines and hauls in the lines.
The following morning we would hike up the hill to explore the castle ruins, providing a beautiful view of the surroundings. The Venetian Castle of Assos was constructed in the 16th century on top of four bastions, with two more being added later. Its main purpose was to protect the island from pirates and the Ottomans. Initially, it housed around 200 homes and 64 buildings.
Its outside walls escaped the devastating fate of most of the buildings in Kefalonia cause by the great earthquake of 1953.
After 1920, the castle grounds served as a prison. It was notoriously inescapable since the fortress lies 155 meters above the sea, surrounded by very high and steep cliffs.
The residents abandoned the complex after the earthquake and the prison got closed. Besides the wall, abandoned prison buildings and a church, nothing but rubble is left of the once existing structures.
We left the castle via the South gate and headed back to Assos village Square.
We sailed back along the Northern tip of the island and then went further South to Eufimia. It used to be the main port for the island but was abandoned after the earthquake and serves now as a marina.
When you live on a boat you are dependent on the weather for your safety and your comfort. “Is the boat safe” is de deciding factor when selecting an anchorage. There was a major storm forecasted for the coming days and this anchorage was too crowded to our liking. We knew that more boats would come in to seek shelter. Our main concerns is dragging our anchor. Our second concern is others dragging their anchor into us! So we decided to go elsewhere.
Early morning we could weigh anchor only after asking the boat in front of us to move since he was floating on top of our hook. Luckily some crew were awake. After a long day sail we anchored in the Northern tip of Argostoli bay which is surrounded by mountains and has a sandy bottom with excellent hold. To our surprise there were only three other boat anchored nearby. Granted; there is nothing to see (hence no photo’s), there are no taverna’s, there is a fish farm making the water murky, so why come here, but who cares. With the predicted NW storm this bay was by far the best protected anchorage.
We had 35 knots over the boat, which is windforce 8 or a gale, despite being sheltered by mountains. When speaking to boaters later in Argostoli, downwind from us, they measured 50+ knots which is force 9 or a strong gale and anchors dragging.
After the storm cleared we headed to the anchorage in front of Argostoli passing the lighthouse of Saint Theodori built on an artificial peninsula in 1828 when the island was under British rule. It was rebuild after the earthquake and remains functional, shining its light 5 Nm out to sea.
Drogarati cave, close to Sami, is a popular stop for island coach tours, and is formed by tectonic movement in this earthquake prone area. It was discovered 300 years ago after a strong earthquake caused a collapse that revealed the cave’s entrance. The cave is small but colourful so we hopped early morning in a rental car to arrive before the coaches do.
On route to Sami we passed the private Nautical Museum, exhibiting 24 wooden boat models built in great detail by the passionate owner Sotiris Markatos.
We continue to Orealios vine-yards and the Monastery of Agios Gerasimos but that is for another blog.
Thank you for reading our stories, Liza and Frits.