38:57.494N 20:45.310E

Saturday 23rd Aug

Reluctantly left our very pleasant anchorage near Vonitsa and headed off to explore more of the gulf under sail.

However, today turned out to be very hot indeed and there was not a breath of wind either, apart from the initial 12 knots which encouraged us to set out in the first place, so we eventually chose to cruise back to Preveza at the mouth of the gulf and moored up, stern-to the town quay around mid afternoon.

A little disappointed not to have come across all the turtles we were told about. The thing though about turtles is that they are a whole lot harder to spot than say Dolphins. For a start they don’t tend to swim over to you and perform tricks! Clearly we need to spend some time in the shallower bays where they are feeding on the jelly fish which abound here in the gulf.

We plan to return here anyway at the end of the season to winter Serafina at the Cleopatra Marina Boatyard, so we can perhaps have a few days proper sailing around the gulf and explore more of the bays, villages and ancient sites.

We began to get a bit concerned about coming here as the quay quickly filled up during the rest of the afternoon with yachts, most of which seemed to be collecting/transferring charter guests. This probably has something to do with the airport nearby, although the term ‘airport’ used to be a bit grand for what was actually still a military airfield when we worked out here. In addition, being Saturday night, various preparations were going on along the pedestrianised waterfront for what looked like live entertainment!  Another clue might have been the extraordinary amount of bars along the waterfront, for what appears to be such a small town. In the end, the live event seemed to be some sort of awards night for an art competition, although in truth we were not quite sure! The world and his family descended on the town for the evening and we were certainly part of the entertainment as they all promenaded along the quay viewing all the boats. Preveza has certainly upgraded itself from a small market town and fishing harbour to something resembling a serious Greek holiday resort.

Our plan is to leave quite early tomorrow for the trip up to Paxos Island, but we might be a bit short on sleep.

Read up a bit on the battle of Actium (various spellings) in 31 BC, which came after a long period of civil war following the assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC). Anthony had gathered a fleet to invade Italy which he assembled at Actium, on the opposite side of the entrance to the gulf from Preveza. Octavian based his fleet slightly to the North and they both sat out most of the summer waiting for the other to make a move. Finally Anthony initiated some action by moving his fleet to the mouth of the estuary. Octavian waited until the regular NW afternoon wind got up and attacked with his faster and more manoeuvrable galleys. The rout was completed when Cleopatra fled the battle taking her Egyptian fleet with her, followed closely by Anthony who left his fleet to their fate. (But then you all have seen the film before...)

Anyway the point of reminding you all about this is that Octavian celebrated his victory by building Nikopolis (Victory City) on the site from which he had commanded his fleet, just 3 miles North of Preveza. This became the capital of the region and spread to include theatres, temples, baths and no less than three harbours. (two inside the gulf) The Apostle Paul stayed there in its heyday, but then sadly it was destroyed by Alaric the Goth (remember him?) and never properly recovered.