MITIKAS

From Spartakhori to Mitikas is around 9 miles and so we set out in the morning to reach the town on the other side of the bay by lunchtime. The trip was amazing. We seem to be rediscovering the fun and excitement in sailing each time we venture out.


With the gennaker out we managed to get 6.5kts from the same amount of wind.


The boat slid effortlessly through the water with the wind on a beam reach. There's always something satisfying about sailing with such a beautifully coloured sail. It's as though the wind is whispering gently yet at the same time pushing and pulling hard.

 We motored the last mile into the small port of Mitikas and moored at the rather empty wharf. Still there is no water or power which is a real pity as the town itself has so much potential but cannot attract boats to visit and help fund the local businesses. Lunchtime, as with most Mediterranean ports, meant that the streets were deserted except for the odd taverna and cafes. We explored a little then settled back in the boat for our siesta.

The newly painted Orthodox Church

Towards the Bay

The sign says NO tractors, bikes or cars !!!!!!

After a few hours David and I decided to find George, the ex-Canadian we met last year and who had  returned 13 years ago to restart his family's small cafe. If only the rest of the population had his belief and determination for the town's future; perhaps they are happy to keep it as it is.


Once again we spent an hour discussing the Greek political situation, how it's hurting everyone and how the EU cannot provide solutions to the national disaster that's happening.










Our last coffee was overlooking the beautiful Inland Sea with mist gently hovering above the mirrored water. So beautiful!

SPARTAKHORI

Our sail down to the Lefkas Channel was spectacular. 6kts all the way on a beam reach, with the sun above and the new sail behaving beautifully. The trip seemed to go much quicker than expected and so we reached the channel with half and hour to spare. As the rotating bridge only opens on the hour we sailed around the bay and then waited patiently to get through. The passage to Lefkas and to the the end of the narrow channel was much easier this year as the dredging was very effective. Boats need to motor though within a 20m channel and this year a poor unsuspecting yachtie decided to go around the dredge. Being stuck in the mud is not a pretty look! Been there, done that!

                                 

Once out into the Inland Sea everything felt like we'd never left. The sun shone, the sea rippled and the sails went up. Dave totally enjoyed the feeling of freedom on the water. He could not stop smiling.

That night we headed for Spartakhori, a small bay on Meganisi Island.  We were surprised to see the old fingers nearly empty and the main wharf free to use (with water and electricity). The Porto Spilia restaurant provides all this for nothing and in return we dine at his place. A great service we really appreciated.

Spartakhori Bay from the town above Porto Spilia

The nights on the water are quiet, and still with usually a cool breeze to help sleeping although this will definitely change once the June summer days kick in.

We stayed for two nights then sailed up to Nidri and then across the Inland sea to Mitikas, some 9 miles away. Dave was pretty pleased with himself (although I a little less so) as we hit 7.4kts on a beam reach with both main and a reef in the headsail. He was quite amazed.

PARGA and PREVEZA

After leaving Corfu, we sailed to Parga and anchored in the Valtou Bay for the night. We love this spot as it's usually calm with a sandy bottom, excellent for anchoring. Surprisingly there was not one other boat in the bay as about 12 flotilla boats had berthed on the sandy shore. We felt a little lonely, but, as the weather was good we looked forward to a very pleasant night, gently rocking.
Next morning we headed off to Preveza some 27miles south. We motored most of the way as the breeze was slight and we need to be in port before dark. Still, a very pleasant trip.
Once into Preveza we berthed at the marina (never again alongside the main wharf after my tumble 2 yrs ago) and settled in for a couple of days.

We fell in love all over again with the city. It has all the charm of the small ports but also all the services of a large city. Lots of walking is necessary to discover all that it has to offer.

The main wharf (lined with bottlebrush)

The tavernas, supermarkets, hardware stores and even a sewing shop are just off the main road. As we had plenty of 'jobs' to do on the boat, we spent hours keeping very busy on and off the boat. As usual, however we love spending time enjoying the small cafes.

A typical coffee stop - total 4 Euro

The Ionian area is really quite small and sooner or later you come across someone you might have met days, weeks or even years ago.  We received an email from a couple, Tim and Georgina, who were berthed just two piers down from us. They've spent the last 4 years travelling around the Aegean and have only now entered the Ionian area.

We met them first at the mouth of the Rhone, enjoyed their company, shared a meal and kept in touch. We met up and shared another excellent meal in a small taverna. So good to make contact again!

Tim and Georgina

waiting for coffee

One of the things we have not done is explore the many ruins, so we hired a small car and headed of to see Nikopolos, the ancient city built by Octavius after his victory over Anthony and Cleopatra at Aktion. The city was once huge with palaces, aqueducts and temples spread across many kilometres. It is hard to imagine 180,000 men and 900 ships were fighting here. Eventually Anthony fled with Cleopatra to Egypt where they both committed suicide (someone should make a movie of it!!)

We ventured further on to Kamarina and then to the monastery on top of the mountain. From here we could see the monument to the women of Souli.



















The monument of the sculptor Zogolopoulos, which represents the "dance of Zalogos", is situated on the rock from where the women of Souli fell down with their children, chased by the men of the Turk Ali Pasha, who set aside his promise and persecuted the people of Souli in December of 1803. The Soulians, in order to avoid the Albanian fighters of Ali Pasha who were chasing them, were fortified in the monastery on the top, where they resisted for two days.  They stayed in the monastery and were captured, while 57 women ran away. When they arrived on a rock, at the top named Stefani, in order not to be captured by the Albanians, they threw their children in the precipice of Acherontas river and then they commited suicide falling themselves too. According to the tradition, they fell into the precipice dancing, one after the other.

The afternoon came quickly and so we headed back to the marina. As luck would have it, the only day it decided to pour buckets of rain we were heading home hoping we hadn't left the windows open and the boat wouldn't be drenched. It was, just a little bit!!

The sun appeared as quickly as the rain had come, so after some quick drying all was back to normal again.

The next morning we sailed of once again, this time to the inland sea and Meganisi 

GAIOS

We headed off to the island of Gaios early next morning and had a pleasant sail for a couple of hours. The new genoa worked beautifully but we had to turn on the motor in order to reach the harbor before the flotilla arrived. Gaios was just as pretty as last year with winding streets full of shops and restaurants.

The locals are always friendly but also keen for business. A small baby we admired last year  in a restaurant had now grown into a laughing toddler. Very cute!

 The relaxed nature of the locals easily entices you to take things easy.


Night-times are wonderful as the centre of town comes alive with happy tourists and playing children.  We always feel very welcome in these small towns.

We slept well , woken by a noisy gaggle of geese on the wharf and then headed off to Naok marina on Corfu where we would be saying goodbye to Petri.

IONINNA

Next morning we set off for Ionnina some 90km away from Sivota on an amazing new highway. We passed mountains, forests and blossoming cherry trees. There was even a toll of 2.40E.

Snow covered mountains in the distance

The city is large with many facilities and although we were there to explore, we barely had time to enjoy the coffee by the lake and wander around the busy streets. Once again our tourist skills are not that fantastic, we have the best intentions but seem to always succumb to the yiros and coffee shops.

Enjoying the ambience

The renovated old buildings are coming back to life in the most striking way. The shop below shows how an old ruin can be modernised.

We headed back to beautiful Sivota and spent the rest of the evening relaxing by the water.

SAGHIADA and SIVOTA

SAGHIADA

The trip across to Sagdiada was everything you could ask for. The boat behaved perfectly, catching the light winds and slight swell with ease. Although the information we had suggested the small marina could be too shallow, we had no problems. It was surprisingly empty, making it a pleasure to be in.

The restaurants had a good range of seafood on offer and after an excellent meal we settled in for a comfortable night in the marina.

Next morning we set off south for Sivota, just past the ports of Igoumenitsa and Plataria.

SIVOTA

Sivota is one of our favourite places to stop at on the mainland.  The local authority has made an enormous effort to improve the facilities and environment for visiting boats. There is power and water available for an incredibly low charge (8E) and every effort has been made to welcome visitors to the port. Shops are just starting to gear up for the summer crowds so although it was still a little quiet, the atmosphere felt amazing. It seemed as though the shops and houses had all had a new coat of paint, flowers were everywhere and the locals were happily getting everything ready.

A large flotilla of charter boats came into port as we did making the wharf fairly crowded with novice sailors from all over. Thank goodness the night was relatively quiet with most of the music and merriment finishing by about midnight.

We needed to pick up our Transit Log and register our entrance to Greek waters in Igoumenitsa so we decided to hire a car and do some touring around the countryside as well. Last year we’d heard about an amazing café called Katies Cakes some 20 kms inland. This worked out perfectly as we would also be picking up our hire car there, so after a short bus trip the three of us arrived in Perdika.   

 

Sadly the café was not yet open for the season but we found an equally brilliant restaurant on the square and as usual struck up an interesting conversation with the young owner regarding every aspect of Greek politics and the sad state of the economy.

Mega Amos Bay

Our drive back included a stop at Mega Amos, a most idyllic beach cove just north of Sivota. 

 

Overlooking the beach

The beach at Mega Amos  is surrounded by a couple of family restaurants that run the beach chairs and provide great service. During the height of summer there are usually plenty of German and northern European scantily clad tourists sunbaking the shallows. 

In May it's fairly empty but beautiful.

Petri enjoying the sun at Mega Amos

It was hard to leave the peacefulness of the bay but we needed to fill up with provisions so back we drove to Sivota.

Our next stop was Igoumenitsa where we needed to lodge our boat papers with the Port Police and the Customs office.

CORFU

We arrived without fuss in Corfu with 70+ kg of 'very important' boat stuff. A quick taxi trip to the Naok marina and we were at last on our boat.  We found our new renovated bathroom excellent and all was just as we had hoped.

Our new bathroom

The weather was  superb, warm, not too hot, a slight breeze and a beautiful city to explore on foot.

The marina is close to the main centre and so a quick walk to the nearest 2E pitta shop and all was good!

Corfu children learning about sailing

The Naok marina from above

Corfu town is a delightful city to visit, especially in the early season, as the crowds are small and the streets are full of excellent restaurants. An added bonus is the amazing cost of eating the local dishes. We find the Greek people genuine and helpful even though our 'kalimeras' and 'efkaristos' are probably hopeless.

Greek pastries!

We feel very comfortable in Corfu town and could possibly spend a lot more time there and moving around the island.





Too much time can definitely be spent drinking coffee and Amstels lounging around looking at the ocean.