Friday 3rd June, Corfu, Greece
Spellbinder
Fri 3 Jun 2011 13:29
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It was a gentle sail and motor sail from Preveza in
light northeasterly winds. The hazy sky cleared offshore and the watermaker was
used to top up the tanks. The island of Nisos Paxos was the destination
and after 6.5 hours and 35 miles Spellbinder was anchored off the small islet of
Ay Nikolaos. Unable to tuck in to the shore on some sand the holding was
indifferent but adequate in the settled conditions. A swim was enjoyed that
evening to check the anchor and cool off on a lovely evening. The beautiful
village of Gaios was visited the next morning before hoisting sail and reaching
in an afternoon breeze to the bay of Ormos Valtou at Parga on the mainland
coast. Here there is a large bay to anchor in, overlooked by a Norman-Venetian
castle that was explored that evening. The wind was light southerly the next day
for the passage to Ormos Valou just north of the commercial harbour of
Igoumenitsa. Progress was slow with the wind astern but Spellbinder anchored in
glutinous mud in a totally deserted bay which was miles from
anywhere. In some ways it was slightly mysterious with some small scruffy
fishing boats on the shore and men who clearly wanted to be kept to themselves.
As the bay was near to the Albanian border some suspicions were aroused. That
evening there was a crashing thunderstorm that added to the strangeness of the
place. The next evening was the European Champions' football League final so
after motoring in a flat calm to Corfu, Spellbinder anchored on the west side of
Ormos Kammeno and took the dinghy ashore to watch Barcelona trounce Manchester
United. There then followed a hiatus in the programme, the Gouvia marina was
entered on 30 May, and over a period of 5 days crew came and went. A little
sightseeing was enjoyed in Corfu Town, and in the company of Paul and Sue Kimber
(RCC) the north of the island was enjoyed in a hire car. Eric and Charles flew
home, and Teresa Whelan and George Rock-Evans arrived for the cruise to Sicily
via the south of Italy.
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