These past couple of weeks have been a quiet interlude before friends join us, followed by family the next week. So we have been pottering around the harbours and anchorages on Corfu and the mainland, seeking out good spots to return to with our friends when they arrive.
We started south of Lefkas, at anchorages in Vathi on Ithaka and Ambeliki bay in Meganisi. By day these have been good opportunities for swimming and practising with the paddle boards; by night we have been gazing at the crystal clear night skies.
On the 26th of June we headed north, passing through the Lefkas canal and sailing on to Preveza. After a night on the town quay we continued into the inland sea – properly known as the Amvrakikos Kolpos – to the East of Preveza. We stopped at a secluded bay called Vonitsa bay: a good place for a quiet couple of days with nothing to do apart from swimming and relaxing. We did meet up with an English couple in the bay – just a few days before we had bought ourselves a new electric outboard and advertised the old petrol 2 stroke outboard on the Cruising Association website. The English couple, staying in the adjacent harbour, saw the ad and sailed across to join us in the bay and take the outboard off our hands.
Leaving Preveza, we headed north, initially trying Two Rock bay on the Greek mainland about 20 miles north of Preveza. It proved to be too rolly, with a westerly swell entering the anchorage, and we continued a little further up the coast for a quieter night. From there we crossed to Paxos and have explored a number of places on this lovely island. First up was Monganisi, a small village with a couple of fine tavernas. Then on to Lakka bay, which last year had been our landfall after the crossing from Italy. It was much busier this year – a combination of being a little later in the season plus no longer having the tourism braking effect of the Covid pandemic. That evening we were treated to a fantastic view of the rising full moon over Lakka town.
From Paxos island we returned to the mainland, and to a couple of favourite haunts: Iggy creek and Sivota. The former offers exceptional tranquility, the latter is a lively tourist town with plenty of bars, tavernas and noise. After nights spent in these two places we sailed to Corfu, stopping in Patriti towards the South of the Island, then Mandraki marina – the old marina in the shadow of Corfu fort at the entrance to the old city. Completely unexpectedly, a Greek rock band had set up for a concert in the old fort. As guests of the marina we had free entry, so were treated to a free rock concert!.
Our friends Ros and Godric arrive on the 11th for a week. Hopefully our recent exploratory trips will give us good ideas for a sailing itinerary!
Wow -eee , fabulous photos, bringing back memories of life changing days for me. It was after a week windsurfing in Vasiliki on Lefkada nearly 30 years ago that I met Joris…. Thanks for sharing. Hope you’re having a wonderful time with Ros and Godric, looks like floating on the Med, from picture perfect cove, to fabulous little restaurant, to rock concert might just possibly be more enjoyable than skiing – I might change my ‘booking’ for next year 😉 Love to you both, Sal x