39:50.313N 19:24.267E
We made our way up the coast of Corfu stopping off for a short while at Vrachili bay and Voulias bay, both small sea anchorages; consequently there was a bit of swell. On the way we had some wind so we engaged the wind vane for the first time. After some fiddling with the controls and the vane itself, we sat back and let our new crew member take control of the steering:) As usual though, we were hard on the wind so had to keep disengaging it to tack, but so far we are very pleased with how it performed. Voulias bay was very busy during the day with day trip boats but we were alone at night. Vrachili bay was bigger, not so busy during the day and again we were one of only 3 boats during the night. On our way from Vrachili to Voulias, soon after we started motoring out of the bay, Chris noticed that the batteries were not being charged by the engine and the rev counter was not working. Luckily it wasn’t far between the bays so when we arrived we anchored and Chris spent the next 4 hours diagnosing and fixing the problem. As it turned out it was the alternator. Luckily we had a reconditioned alternator in the spares. Chris managed to fit it and the batteries finally got some charging while we were at anchor. Next job is to fix the old one! Vrachili is a very touristy town with a small fort, but otherwise not much else, except for a lot of fig trees, laden with ripe figs just waiting to the picked, so we did. Having got some time before we go to Italy (the Schengen rules mean that when we leave Greece, our visa stops. Then when we enter Italy, we are then subject to the 90/180 day rule. As our berth for the winter is not booked until November, we can’t enter Italy until the 21st Aug at the earliest). So we decided to sail up to Erikousa and Othoni islands, even though we would have to sail back to Corfu to get checked out of Greece and then back to Othoni on our way to Italy. Erikousa is a very small flat island about 8 nm north west off the tip of Corfu. It only has one town on the south side with a large anchorage that gets full of tripper boats during the day but at night, after they have all gone, it is a nice quiet anchorage. You can walk around the island in a morning or afternoon and its lush green cypress and olive trees give some shade from the sun. We spent a couple of nights in the anchorage before deciding to visit our last stop on the myth list, Othoni. Othoni is about 9nm west of Erikousa. It is 500m high with sheer cliff face on the western side. It is 3.891 sq miles and has population of 389 (2021). Like Erikousa it is lush and green.The island is almost completely covered by trees which produce a small species of olive, the "Elea the cherry" (Olea microcarpa), commonly Lianolia or ladoelia, with a high content of high-quality oil, which is common in all the Ionian Islands. It was densely planted during Venetian rule, so most are aged 300–400 years exceeding a height of 7 metres (23 ft). There are cypresses and fruit trees on almost all mountain slopes. The tall mulberry (or Skamnia) and fig (or Skeria) are also abundant. Having followed Jefferson’s book backwards I.e from south to north, it has been quite hard to follow the myths and put them in context. But now we are at the beginning where Odysseus first landed on his journey back to Ithica from the battlefield of Troy. Myth The island of Othoni, located north-west of Corfu, has the nickname of Calypso. This is where, according to Homer, Odysseus spent seven arduous years making love to a goddess Calypso as part of his troubled journey back home to Ithica. Prior to arriving on Othoni, Odysseus had been enduring a pretty rough time on his journey back from the war in Troy. His latest misadventure had involved his ship being sucked into the whirlpool of Charybdis with the loss of all but himself, having managed to cling on to a conveniently located fig tree until the whirlpool had subsided before bobbing up on Calypso’s island that was known as Ogygia. On washing up on the shore, Odysseus was greeted by Calypso, whose name means “to conceal”, “to hide” or to “deceive”. Ominous to say the least. On the plus side she was absolutely beautiful and a goddess. She was also desperately lonely, having been placed on the island in exile because she had supported the Titans in the clash of the Titans. She immediately fell madly in love with Odysseus and managed to seduce him by singing to him, before taking him back to her cave to make love to him. Odysseus was then stuck there for seven years. Despite the upsides, Odysseus still missed his wife and kept droning on to Calypso about how great Penelope was and how he really should be getting back to Ithaca. In the end, the goddess Athena asked Zeus to free Odysseus from the dreadful captivity and sent Hermes to give Calypso a bit of ear wigging. Ultimately, the goddesss had no choice other than to let Odysseus go. So there we are, the end of the journey as far as the Gods and myths are concerned. Our journey though, continues to Italy, leaving Greece for a while, but we both love it here and it would not be too arduous to return some day. The view from Kassiopi castle/fort  Freshly picked figs from Vrachili  The poor old alternator that now needs some TLC  Erikousia  Hiding in the shade on Erikousa  The famous Calypso cave on Othoni  Muskrat under the cliff in Othoni  |