Sunday 9^th August – Órmos Abelike, Meganisi

38:40.212N 20:47.369E

This morning we dinghied into Vlikho to the yacht club where we had previously had dinner; Star Dance followed along in their dinghy.  I showed Anna where the book swap shelves were (one whole wall of the bar) whilst the boys filled up the water cans for the boats.  We both now have a new set of books to read.  Whilst I was sorting out books Richard went for a wander through the small village of Vlikho and met our French neighbour from Roccella Ionica who had come in and anchored in the bay nearby.

Late morning we left Vlikho and headed out towards Meganisi as we were looking for somewhere we could swim in clear waters – Vlikho is very convenient and sheltered but the water is a bit green and the jelly fish are big and ugly (about a foot across and look like something from a science fiction film).

We motored across to Meganisi past Scorpios in light winds; we found ourselves a pleasant spot in Abelike Bay where, according to the electronic chart, we have anchored on the other side of the inlet (the electronic charts of Greece are rubbish - warning: number one eyeball navigation is essential around here and we would not think of going anywhere at night relying on the GPS and charts alone).

Luckily for us there was very little wind for our stern-to manoeuvre when we arrived (and what wind there was put us where we needed to be) so it went more smoothly than anticipated.  This was our first solo flight with this type of berthing – we have the anchor at the bow and two long stern lines ashore.  We got the anchor bedded in and one long line ashore onto a tree and then leisurely looked around for suitable rocks/trees for more permanent lines.

I was then straight in the water for a swim with my snorkel and mask – the water is clear and there are quite a lot of fish.  My first job was to swim the anchor; it looked pretty solid, could just see the top of the shaft through 7 metres of clear water, the rest was buried in the sand.

Later a number of yachts arrived and the anchorage is quite busy now; some of them had a more difficult time berthing as, late afternoon, all our lines were tested as the wind went from W/NW to NE/E and built to around F5 on the beam; outside the shelter of the bay we could see white caps on the water.  This evening, the wind has abated and we hope for a quiet night.