Port Leone
Gillyb
Sat 7 Jul 2012 10:43
Position: 38:35.97N 20:53.26E
11th June
We had a few days on Meganisi then decided to go
back to Port Leone. We had last been there with Kay anf before that
with Caterine, Bill & James and Duncan, Mel and Immy.
This time we had a good sail towards Kastos tacking
and doing MOB drill as we have not done any proper sailing for ages!
We motored into Port Leone past the derelict windmill and dropped the anchor on
the east side, tying ropes back to the rocks ashore.
The first thing that struck us was that the church
was all finished on the outside and looked all newly painted and smart roof
tiles. You might remember that this village was affected by the earthquake
of 1953 and the villagers all left but the church is
still maintained. Last time I was with Kay when we were able to
go inside and see the workman re doing all the tiles and painting walls
etc.
The second thing that we noticed was all the
rubbish! There was so much more rubbish on all the little beaches
around the bay. At the back of the boat we had so much that Graham
went ashore and collected one full sack of bits of string, fishing wire, and
loads of plastic bags. Its a shame but we don't think it was
yachtsmen - mostly fishing rubbish. I guess they have nowhere to put
it and dump bags ashore.
Later more boats arrived and one boat next to us
was not very good at anchoring and securing to shore so Graham went off in
the tender to help with ropes and their boat ended up very close to
us. As the wind got up we were not very happy as we were being
blown towards shore so we moved and free anchored on the far (West)
shore. It was not very busy - only about six boats there in total
overnight. We enjoyed the swimming and a BBQ of pork
chops
Next morning we rowed the tender to the shore and
walked up to the village. The church was looking very smart and the
workman that I had seen last year was painting the bell tower. I
spoke to him (his english is limited) but he was very happy to show us inside
the church. The tiled floor was all finished and the wooden screens
all repaired and re hung. The walls are all painted white and he had
chairs all piled ready but he was saying something in Greek about the side walls
which I didn't understand but perhaps there is more decorating to do. We shook
hands with him, put our shoes back on and went down past the
cemetery.
In the village there has been more clearing done
and there was a notice near the jetty saying to keep it clear as the Pilgrims
were visiting 1st July and 15th August. Perhaps they pay towards the
upkeep of the church and are coming to see it all finished.
After visiting the church we left and got back to
the boat ready to go. At the back of the boat we noticed a large
blue fish with prominent fin swimming lazily on the surface. Graham got
the binoculars and decided it was a sword fish. Very beautiful
colour and it swam around quietly for several minutes. We pulled up
the anchor and followed the fish out of the bay where it disappeared into the
deeps.
Bye for now.
Best Wishes Gilly
B
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