Monday 30th March...
So calm this morning, the sea once again like glass. Not a breath of wind. Before we raised the anchor, Dean took advantage of the calmness and rolled out the genoa. He said it needed to be raised a little higher. It didn't take a minute, then he rolled the genoa away again. Job done.
Genoa rolled out
It was 10am, and already 15 degrees in the cockpit. That's more like it.
Raising the anchor was next, Dean wasn't looking forward to it. He knew it would come up covered in the grey muddy clay and make a big old mess. He had his bucket ready full of sea water to wash down as the chain came up. Let's say it took about 15 minutes and about 10 buckets of water. On the other hand, we are grateful that the anchor holds well here.
Our destination, the lovely little island of Meganissi, just an hour away. As we passed Tranquil Bay on the way out of Nydri, Dean spotted someone waving at us from the shoreline. It was David (aka David & Sarah from S/V Wandering Star). They are still land lubbers (lol) at the moment. Shhh, don't tell them I said that! Like most of our friends, Wandering Star will be back on the high seas in just a few days time at the beginning of April.
The Meganissi ferry passing us on the way to.... Meganissi
Our nice couple of calm days will be long forgotten this week, as the rain and the wind returns. We've chosen to head to Vathy, Meganissi to sit it out. They have a small town quay which we visited last year. Today, when we arrived there was no other boats on it. And tonight, there's still no other boats on it.
Here we are, Thésee no mates
This afternoon, we decided to take a little walk past the marina (not a proper marina, just another quay), and into the next small bay where there is a very long pontoon for visitors (mainly charter boats). We find out it's still closed at the moment. But were surprised how long it was. Probably enough for 25 boats or more.
The marina
Marina quay
Then we appear to find ourselves on the
Avenue de Champs Élysées
Little cute chapel
Walking the coast road, nice views, posh residences
We find the long quay
Yes, it's very long
It's called Karnagio, but all closed up right now.
Back at our town quay, Thesee still all alone
Dean did a good job of placing Thésee exactly between two mooring rings.
The anchor is out at the front, 50 metres away.
I told Dean that rain is expected tomorrow, so he got straight onto a couple of paint spraying jobs. There are two vent covers on the transom which have been sun damaged and so the paint is peeling off them badly. He removed them, rubbed them down, and paint sprayed them. They now look absolutely amazing, he's made a really great job of them. And so, he keeps telling me how happy he is with them.
Removing one of the vent covers
This is just one of them
Tools for the job, on the quayside
One of the vent holes now showing with vent cover removed
And two holes on the starboard side
Here's the paint job completed
WHAT A DIFFERENCE
No wonder he is so happy
Tuesday 31st March...
First day of the naff weather. But, hang on, ...... where is it??
Yes, it's been raining, however no wind this morning. And to be honest, no wind all day. But maybe that is because we chose to come and moor here, where we are sheltered from the forecasted south easterlies. There has been a weather warning for pretty much the whole of Greece. The weather has come right across from the western mediterranean (to be precise, that naughty Gulf of Lyon). The Italians have named it Storm Ermioni. Miraculously, and lucky for us, the Ionion seems to be about the only place expected to escape the worst of it. The Peloponnese and the Aegean islands are going to get hit hard.
The sun shone most of this morning. There are a few places open here. About 11am we went for a very nice coffee at Petriti cafe/bar. This also enabled us to get the wifi code, which means we can reach their wifi from the boat, thanks to our Red Box router.
Petriti Cafe/Bar
Fantastic flowers on this tree nearby
This afternoon, three boats came in and anchored on the quay with us. So now Thésée has some mates at last. And for dinner tonight we went to Dalton's bar and grill. It's about a one minute walk away from the boat. The food was really delicious, chicken gyros, chips, and a Dalton's salad (basically a caesar salad but yummier). Just time now to do my daily blogging, eat a bit of chocolate, play Bridge on my phone, and then off to bed. Perfect.
Chicken gyros, chips, pita bread, green peppers, grated carrot
Dalton's (caesar) salad,
with chicken pieces wrapped in REAL bacon
Wednesday 1st April....
There's no fooling the sailors on board the good ship Thésée. We knew that weather was-a coming, and yesterday it was just teasing us into a false sense of security. Rain? and it did, all day. Wind? yes, all day too. But we were in fact quite comfortable in this lovely little harbour. Only just a little nervous of the wind changing direction this evening. It has now, but (at the moment anyway) only very light, and a flat sea.
Mr C seems to have a fetish for crusty bread just lately. He wants to buy it every day. I had to stop him this morning, because we have leftover crusty bread from our meal out last night. Maybe tomorrow I'll let him have a little excitement with a trip to the local bakery.
We're struggling to find things to do when we spend the day on board. Dean has almost no jobs left, and I'm a bit fed up of my puzzle book, and checking weather. The last thing on Dean's jobs list was partly completed today. A little bit of painting touch up inside two of the deck windows with a tiny paint brush. Just need to silicone the gaps now. He has tried this before, and it didn't go down well. You know he never gives up and the job will get finished very soon.
Touching up some tiny rough edges around the deck windows
Thursday 2nd April...
Another day in Meganissi, and we've been miraculously transported into 'Another Day in Paradise'. It did rain all night, but this afternoon has been smashing. And, our solar panels have been working overtime getting our boat batteries back up to 100% charge.
First things first for the Captain of this ship. A trip around the corner to the local bakery for a crusty loaf.
Delicious
After our breakfast, Dean set about his monthly maintenance checklist. All is well, and didn't take too long to complete. Inside the boat the thermometer said 25 degrees, it even tempted me to take my two fleeces off 😀. So we ate crusty bread for lunch and went out for a stroll in the lovely sunshine. Only a short walk up over the hill to the next inlet called 'Abelike' bay.
First to climb the steps up the hill
Slow as a turtle round this bend, please
Looking back down into our bay 'Vathy'
The other side, we soon spot 'Abelike' bay
There, a better view, with the mainland coast in the distance
We go exploring down into 'Abelike'
In previous years we have anchored here. It's a very popular spot. You're lucky if you can find enough room in the summertime. Today, just the local boats and one catamaran tied to shore.
Exploring
Surveying the scene
A small boutique hotel, but still closed at the moment
So we walk back a different route, and find this tiny electric vehicle in a garden. The dog heard me getting my camera out, and the lady owner came out and was happy to tell us a bit about it.
Then we come across this very old motorcycle. The owner was happy to chat, and for us to take a photo. It's a Motobecane, French, built in 1953!! It has an air horn, driven by a small compressor.
..... and I like to look at pretty flowers
Friday 3rd April...
Doesn't time fly? We've been in Greece for one month, and we've got one month left to go. This might be our last day in Meganissi before we move on. It rained sooooo much during the night, even I heard it. Two massive downpours about 3am. It's a bit disconcerting when it's dark.
Still damp this morning, so we did a couple of jobs on the boat. Then at 10.30am we caught the minibus to Spartachori. It's one of the two villages inland, and we didn't really know what the route would be. All we knew was that it would drop us off somewhere in Spartachori, or at the nearby ferry terminal. Then we would take the 90 minute walk back to the boat. The bus was a mere one euro each, and as we approached Spartachori the roads in the village were so narrow, the driver had to go dead slow to get through.
The minibus
We found out the other day, that the bus always coincides with the ferry arrival from Nydri. So as our bus arrived at the ferry dock. the ferry was approaching. We stopped to watch the goings on. Surprised to see so many vehicles getting off it, mainly working vans etc...
The ferry arriving at Spartachori port
As anticipated, there wasn't much for us to look at, after the goings on had finished. Only one small cafe which didn't look very inviting, so we started walking. The bay is quite large, with some pontoons. Only one of the pontoons looked sturdy enough for boats. The rest a bit scary.
The best pontoon
Seeing how far we could get along the beach
Dead end
More massive Cala Lillies
So we got back onto the coast road towards Vathy.
(The main town where Thésee is berthed)
We reach a viewpoint with picnic seats
Looking down into Spartachori bay
It was a bit ram shackled and unloved
This is the boat quay, but too shallow for Thésée.
You have to moor bows to.
Back on the coast road with views towards Nydri, Lefkada
Looking towards Spartachori up there on the top
Flora of the day
This could be a possible anchorage for us
A yellow flower day
We arrived back at base at 12.30pm, time for a coffee at the nice Petrino cafe/bar, then lunch on board. Then we did some victualling this afternoon. A couple of new boats have arrived. It rained about 5pm when a big nasty dark cloud came over. Please let this be the last of the dodgy weather, we want to go exploring nice calm anchorages.
