38:40.58N 20:46.96E

Thursday 11th September

Determined to sail today regardless of anything as we were only heading for a bay on the island of Meganisi and so we spent the morning rushing around shopping and visiting the Port Police (have to get the paperwork stamped and forms filled in every so often) etc. and didn’t set off down the Lefkas canal until 12.55am.

Put the sails up as we exited the canal and started sailing gently in the very faint headwind. A high speed rib (inflatable speed boat with a rigid hull) heading the other way swept around us and it turned out to be Joe Charlton heading back from a job somewhere. He invited us to come over to Nikiana which is a small harbour on Lefkas Island as his house is only 5 minutes from there, so we could come for drinks. We agreed that we would do that perhaps on our way North in a week or so, or failing that certainly when we are getting ready to lay up at the end of the season.

The wind picked up for a while and we made good progress before it fell away and became very variable, however by then we were close to Meganisi so we furled up the sails and motored into our first choice bay. This was where we used to bring the flotilla every fortnight for a beach barbeque and party. Delighted to find it all utterly unchanged and whilst there were quite a few yachts moored when we arrived, most of them were only there for the day and when they left we found ourselves almost alone in the sheltered bay with crystal clear water. Protocol encourages most yachts to drop an anchor and reverse up to the land and take long lines ashore. This arrangement does allow more boats to come and stay in a bay such as this and in many ways is more secure than swinging to an anchor in the middle. The possible downside is that over the years not all the visitors have been as responsible as those that carefully ensure that they take away all their rubbish, leading to an explosion in some places of the rat population. Mindful of such tales, (opps sorry, no pun intended) we have recently bought two large water funnels that we thread down our lines going ashore in a copy of the age old defence against unwanted visiting rodents. (photos at www.rhbell.com when we next get wi-fi)

A wonderful evening in almost total seclusion has persuaded us to stay another day although we realise that during the daytime this could become a pretty busy spot.