We had another lovely day getting here – only spoilt by the fact that we had to leave the engine on all the way.  We’ve had intermittent problems with getting it started for ages, it seems the battery wasn’t the only problem.  As we were anticipating a difficult entrance to the Mesolonghi canal (strong cross winds, narrow entrance, mud either side), we left the engine on in case it didn’t start when we really needed it.  So we motored for 6.5hrs along the gulf with those wonderful mountain views on either side of us.  The wind strengthened as we arrived and we were met with some interesting views of fishermens’ huts built on the water, some on stilts some on the very low lying reclaimed land on either side of the 2.5mile canal leading into the town.

We moored on the town quay, avoiding the over-priced marina and alongside a delightful Aussie couple.  It turned out he was an electronics engineer and it took him minutes to trace our engine starting problem to a faulty connector, something that would have taken me ages!

Mesolonghi will stand out in my mind as the town I’ve been most lost in.  Lindsay wanted to find the memorials to Byron, who died here trying to help the Greeks organise for their independence struggle against Turkey, so we meandered around the back streets a while.  Then I got confused by the fact that the town has water on 3 sides and we ended up going round the town 1.5 times!  At least we had a good 2 hrs exercise and got to know a town that is surprisingly vibrant (university students clogging up the cafes) and boasts a Lidl (allowing us to stock up on cheap wine again!).

With strong winds forecast for 2 days we stayed an extra night and enjoyed the locale: