38:49.90N 20:42.55E

Thursday 2nd October

Windy night, but nothing serious other than some lost sleep.

Got a huge surprise after a car pulled into the parking space behind Serafina this morning and out stepped Mark and Chris, owners of Blue Magic (Discovery 55). We last saw them on the pontoon at Beaulieu whilst we were on our way to Plymouth for the start of the Rally Portugal last May. They were just as surprised as us, as they had no idea we were in Lefkas and were only out for a day in a hire car during their land based holiday on the mainland nearby! They came on board for a coffee and a chat about the Blue Water rally which they are definitely joining in 2009, but we are less sure about our participation.

Joe Charlton (Contract Yacht Services) has been trying to persuade us to move to a less vulnerable mooring because of the forecast wind and today he very kindly offered us a place on their very well protected mole until we leave on Monday which we gratefully accepted!

Moved round in the afternoon and Ian (Berthing Master) sorted us a great spot with a laid mooring line so no need for the anchor. We then discovered that Ian also used to work out here in the early 1980's and we had a number of common friends and shared experiences.

We took down the bimini and replaced it with the cockpit cover that we took down back at the beginning of June. Good decision as it turned out as in the early evening we were treated to an extraordinary thunder storm and unbelievably heavy rain. The street alongside the quay was two feet deep in water at one stage and the sky was lit up for hours as the electrical storm circled round and round the town.

Friday 3rd October

Despite the forecast promising rain all day today, we actually enjoyed a great sunny day and so we spent the whole day working on deck (Sarah in a bikini) and got lots done. Sarah is washing all the ropes in the dinghy which we filled with water, although it overflowed rather a lot during the storm last night.

Another surprise today when friends (Lesley & John) from Hamble walked down the quay to take a look at the Najad they had seen from a distance, only to discover it was us. We met Lesley last year when we were all working on the Najad stand at the Southampton Boat Show and they had no idea we were here, but were just passing through in their yacht (a Hans Christian) and had come ashore for supplies! They stopped for a drink and are now coming for dinner on Saturday.

At 7.30pm Richard & Phillipa ('Matelot', Beneteau 41) from New Zealand came for drinks. We met them a few days ago when at anchor in a bay in Anti Paxos and again in Gaios. They went on the 'East Med Yacht Rally' this year which is an event we have become very interested in for 2010 as it cruises through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt over two months. It turns out they had crewed for the rally organiser, so although the rally is full for 2009 we are hoping that they might find us a place anyway.