Nisis Petalas

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Sun 11 Jul 2010 15:15

Apologies to our regular reader for not posting anything recently.  We’ve been re-visiting places in the inner Ionian with our friends the Chafers for several days, sharing more good times and of course, yet another last meal together.  As we parted at Levkas Town, with us headed south, Steve & Malisa staying in the northern Ionian, it really does look like the parting of the ways for this year at least.

 

We spent several more days in Levkas Town and grew quite fond of the quirky place which has the merit of being a proper Greek town as well as a tourist spot.  We were stuck for two days in the eye-wateringly expensive marina waiting for deliveries.  We also picked up our huge new sun awning – not the prettiest thing, but fantastic at keeping the deck cooler.  The views across the channel to the mainland from the harbour are lovely and there is a great, almost empty beach with beautiful water just a dinghy ride around the corner.

 

So we are back on the move again.  Hop #1 was to Nisis Petalas, a small island just off the mainland coast, still in the “inner Ionian”.  It was a very frustrating day though, with sailable wind for under an hour, forcing us to motor for most of the 7 hours in stifling heat.  As soon as we arrived and anchored though, the wind got up and we were treated to really quite strong gusty conditions until just after 10 p.m.  It is a lovely isolated spot though, with a report of some huge vultures nesting in a cave overlooking the anchorage some years ago.  We saw nothing, but did hear some interesting bird noises which could have been raptor cries, maybe.  Whilst we didn’t see any larger wildlife, we were visited by many smaller examples.  As soon as the wind died the boat was filled with more mosquitoes than we have ever seen – thank god for our wonderful net which completely fills our aft cabin.

 

The down-side to being in such splendid isolation and gusty winds was that we couldn’t watch the world-cup!  Lindsay was looking forward to seeing her beloved Spain win for the 1st time.