Tue 1 Sept to Mon 7 Sept Gouvia, Corfu - Sivota, Levkas, Ionian Islands
Spellbinder
Thu 10 Sep 2009 13:00
Sept. Onboard were Henry, Fiona, Hugh, Honor and Grace. It was a calm, sunny
but hazy morning as we pointed our nose out into the Corfu channel and
headed south. To the northeast and east were the magnificent mountains of
Albania and mainland Greece that two nights previously had brewed up the
most awesome thunderstorm Spellbinder had ever experienced. Clearing the
southeast point of Corfu the wind freshened from the southwest and in a
gentle F3 we sailed under main and genoa to a pleasant anchorage tucked in
under Nisos Ay Nikolaos, an island off the village of Gaios on Paxos. A
small beach was nearby under the pine clad island and a swim enjoyed in a
water temperature of 29 deg C. The next morning we weighed anchor and sailed
south to Preveza on the Greek mainland. Again no useful wind was apparent
until after midday but then a westerly F3/4 gave a lovely sail on a calm sea
to find Spellbinder reach the anchorage north of Preveza town in the Ormos
Vathi by late afternoon. Here we were to spend two nights as a much feared
blockage occured of the only toilet onboard. Frantic efforts were made to
clear the problem but only the magnificent efforts of Pat McDonough of
Preveza Yacht Services met the challenge. After 3.5 years of heavy useage
the outlet pipe had become seriously furred up. We had time to explore
Preveza which was refreshingly busy with Greeks on holiday. Much relieved(!)
we sailed on 4 Sept to traverse the Levkas canal first cut by the
Corinthians around the 7th century BC. Here we were to witness the sight of
an Italian goddess scantily clad at the helm of her yacht waving
enthusiastically as she passed. With intermittent bouts of sailing
Spellbinder made her way to the southeast of the island of Levkas into the
head of the deeply indented bay of Ormos Roudha. Anchoring close to the
beach, swimming was enjoyed and food obtained from two mini-markets
servicing a camp site and holiday apartments. We were fortunate to meet
Heugh and Fi Symmons in their yacht Alethia RCC and do some socialising.
We sailed the next morning for Fiskardho on Cephalonia in light winds again
requiring assistance from the motor. The weather was continuing hot and
sunny but becoming cooler at night. Arriving by early afternoon we bagged a
stern-to berth on the pontoons off the west quay deploying the anchor to
hold the bow off the berth. Much scope here for getting anchor and chains
crossed with other boats doing the same thing. We were at Fiskardo to say a
sad farewell to Fiona and Grace who flew out of Cephalonia on Sun 6 Sept and
welcome Charles Britton onboard. Making use of the time available a car was
hired to not only deliver them to the airport but allow the rest of the
party to see the island of Cephalonia. We enjoyed the visit to St George's
Castle, the site of which had provided fortification from Venetian times and
used by the Italians and Germans in the 2nd world war. A white-knuckle ride
on rough stony tracks over the spine of Cephalonia brought us to a village
above Sami ruined and abandoned after the 1953 earthquake. This was a
poignant reminder of the awesome power of these tragic events. We picked a
pomegranate and a clementine (?) from trees growing amongst the rubble of a
magnificent house brought low by the earthquake. On 7 Sept we sailed for
Vassiliki on Levkas into a moderate swell caused by strong winds further to
the northwest. This place is a Mecca for dinghy and wind-surfing in a windy
corner of the island, and we were there to see the sail traing facilities
ashore, in particular "Wildwind" that Honor may possibly work with during
her gap year. Weighing anchor after lunch after a boisterous dinghy trip
ashore, Spellbinder sailed at speed out of the bay and round to Sivota
harbour on the south of Levkas. This was jammed packed with yachts but we
were lucky to find a spot to anchor in 10m off the southwest corner taking
care to avoid ground chains reported to be littering the bottom further in.