Thursday 23^rd July – Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece

38:10.704N 20:29.378E

Today we were up late (or was it just that Greek clocks are +1 hour) but felt better for a lie in after our long passage. 

It was the heat that forced us out of bed; the temperature down below reached 37 degrees this afternoon despite a fresh breeze blowing through the saloon courtesy of the wind scoop.  We have also rigged an awning across the boom now to try to provide a little extra shade. 

We have already discovered it is quite windy here at times – the wind tends to be light in the morning and then gets up during the afternoon before dying away at night.  Today, by late afternoon, it was blowing a steady F5 (occ 6) through the harbour.

I tried to relax after our trip but I couldn’t resist catching up with the tiny bit of washing we had as we have free water here on the town quay.

After a few jobs aboard, Richard went for a walk into town and spotted that the P&O cruise liner Aurora was in port today – which explained why town was so busy. 

He tried to check us in with the Port Police and get the Traffic Document (Dekpa) which is required for all yachts over 10m; this document is stamped on entry and exit from each port and harbour dues collected.  However, before you can get the document you must first go to the local tax office to pay the fee and then take the receipt back to the Port Police who will then issue the paperwork.  He discovered that the tax office had already closed for the day so we will have to try again tomorrow.

This evening we have walked into town as there was a promotional event on in the main square with a number of stalls and shows in addition to the normal bars, cafés and tourist tat.  There were various stalls with local produce to purchase, tourist information stalls with brochures about the local area (some in English which was great) with cheese and wine tasting (which naturally we partook of) and lots of book stalls as well. 

We went for a walk through the centre of town, past all the restaurants, shops and boutiques, before returning to the square to watch one of the shows.  In the centre of town we went inside one of the local churches – the decoration was incredibly ornate.

When we got back to the square, the dancing had begun.  There was a traditional band with traditional Greek dancing being performed – the costumes looked great, though a bit hot for this weather.

We watched for a while before returning to Pyxis for a late supper and some sleep.