Pagania, Mainland Greece – Tuesday 23 June - 39:39.54N 20:05.881E

We waited for 5 days at NAOK marina and as much as we enjoyed it in Corfu town, we were pleased to get away today for a complete change of scenery.  No alternator has appeared as yet so we haven’t quite finished our business there and Maggie is very taken with certain items in one or two of the shops, so…

Today we sailed a whole 9 miles to the East, across the Corfu Strait and entered a little inlet on the mainland coast.   At the head of the inlet, which is shaped like a letter “L”, arranged horizontally with it’s tail hanging downward, we turned back to the south west into a land-locked basin surrounded by hills with scrub, trees and rocks along the waterside.  We anchored in a completely silent environment.  Trees lining the waterside provide roosts for egrets and herons, patiently watching the water for their next meal.  This afternoon we saw an eagle quartering the shoreline looking for prey, followed by a much larger one later this evening – Charlie raced to put his pants back on just in case it was tempted!

A whole series of fish farms line the entrance and the longer arm of the creek but these are now mostly hidden from our view around the corner.  They are floating units with groups of up to six or eight octagonal pens secured in groups to permanent moorings and covered by netting to keep the sea birds out and prevent the fish from jumping to freedom.  As a result of this industry the seawater is murkier than usual for this area, but no worse than we are used to in the Solent at home.  We watched a workboat towing one pen out into deeper water for repositioning outside the creek, so hopefully this indicates a management system is in place that ensures the seabed beneath the pens is given at least some respite – a bit like crop rotation.

There’s nobody here but us - and yet just 9 miles away there is busy Corfu Town with the hustle and bustle of a tourist town (four cruise liners are in today) and the noise of aircraft arriving and leaving the busy airport just to the south of the town.  We are not totally isolated; there is a road running NE/SW along the coast about a mile away with the occasional sound of a truck grinding up the hill to the North or slowing on the downhill run.  The Albanian border runs parallel to the coast; about 5 miles inland and the mountains across the border dominate the skyline to the East.  We share this end of the inlet with an isolated fisherman’s bungalow on the waterside about half a mile away.

Sorry, no pictures with this post as we are on the Sat phone for e-mails and byte space is limited– there being no phone signal.  We are, however, in touch with our electrician and, all being well, we will stay here until we receive e-mail word that our alternator and parts have arrived at which point we will scurry back across to Corfu.  Fingers crossed. After that, we will finally begin our zigzag journey toward the South Ionian and beyond.

We have been following the news about Greece and the Euro with much interest and have squirreled away as much euro currency as we dare in case the currency situation goes “tits-up!” (Pardon the _expression_)…  We have been warned the first thing to go will be access to ATM’s (as they will be empty), followed by a blanket ban on card transactions.  I knew there was a very good reason that we had installed a safe before we left Falmouth!

That’s all for now unless Maggie wants to add a note.

Evening all…

We are sat here in the cockpit having enjoyed a three course meal, helped down by a couple of glasses of the red stuff and it’s now dusk.  There isn’t a ripple to be seen and the only sound we can hear is the very distant bell ringing from the neck of a goat up in the hills, oh the bells, the bells!

The sky is turning a subtle shade of yellow and pink and it is absolutely peaceful and unbelievably delightful.  It feels like we are sat in the middle of a lake, rather than part of the Ionian Sea, with just hills, trees and shrubs seemingly surrounding us.  The sky is completely clear of cloud and we can now see the stars beginning to appear. 

Now at 9.45pm there isn’t a sound to be heard and it’s truly magical.  We shall stay here until either the midges, mossies’ or tiredness overcomes us – and the magic of this very pleasant evening will be wash down with a tincture of something tasty perhaps? 

Night all – sweet dreams…