We had another lazy morning and spent most of it wondering how we were going to get off the dock in a relatively heavy head wind. We watched a couple of other boats do it a couple of different ways. One couple did what what we thought we’d end up doing. She yarded on the lazyline and he released the stern lines while she pulled forward, then she dropped the line and he powered out. Bit worrisome because that line needs to get below the prop before the prop reaches that point.
Method two involved releasing the lazyline first while holding powering the boat in forward, but still attached to the dock with the stern lines…when the lazyline was down the stern lines were released and the boat shot out while the stern lines were pulled into the water and then pulled aboard. This method looked better, but required four people working simultaneously…we only have two….not going to work.
Eventually though, we have lots of room and figure we can muddle our way out when Mind-the-gap-guy shows up at the dock and tells us he will help us get off. GREAT!! Kirk puts the boat in gear and I release the lazyline and call back when it is down. Mind-the-gap-guy then pulls the stern lines over the dock cleat and tosses them onto the boat allowing us to leap forward. Worked like a charm! We are off! What an amazing place and what amazing service when all they want from you is to eat and drink at their establishment in return….which was reasonably priced and had excellent food. We would recommend Porto Spilia Taverna to anyone!
Next on our agenda, and really the last thing we want to do other than sail, is to find Jackie O’s beach hut. And since it is us looking for it…an since it is on a very small island…we can be sure to not find it easily! We motor across and head for a white building where another sailboat has anchored off. We tuck in for a look and agree that this is not the same building in the photo, keep hunting. We have two directional options, we, of course, choose the wrong one. And we proceed to circumnavigate the entire island of Skorpios. We do pop into the main harbour for a looky-loo and then continue on….finally we round the last corner, literally metres from where we started, and we find it.
Last thing to do out here…is sail! We have a good wind and we hoist all the canvas…and we have a wonderful sail for several hours. We see Kanula in the distance, see them drop a hook in the bay off Skorpios. When they haul anchor we think they have gone the other way but we think we might cross paths as they are heading for Preveza today. Awhile later we did see them and we tacked and sailed across their bow and waved. The only place we had to go was Lefkas Marina….and that was only a short few miles away.
The sky was threatening all day, and the mountains were shrouded in grumpy looking clouds. The weather report for today did include thunderstorms and it does look as if they might arrive.
Eventually we pulled the sails in and headed for the Lefkas channel. We pulled up on Kanula and chatted a bit while underway before pulling ahead. They are running for the 3pm bridge opening. A boat flying a German flag was ahead of us and entering the channel (which is extremely narrow, perhaps only three to four boat widths wide in some places) wing-on-wing. So because they are under sail, they are a bit of a danger to maneuver around. They look back at us crankily that we are so close, but we have Kanula coming up our stern too. It’s extremely obnoxious to be in here under sail and they are not only hogging the channel, but they are holding boats up. Eventully they pull the jib, but they are having difficulty with the main because there is nowhere they can turn to get the wind out off the canvas. We get another dirty look and we glower back and shrug at them…they stupidly put themselves in the situation they are in. Eventually the three not steering manage to manhandle it in. During the transit they also can’t decide on a speed and keep altering their velocity which also makes things difficult. Twits!
As we continue on the channel we see large powerboat a few feet outside of the channel markers….firmly aground in the sand and silt. Twit! The markers are there for a reason. But it really makes you worry about getting close to the markers on the inside of them!
We wonder if Kanula will make the bridge, it only opens once per hour for a few moments depending on boat traffic. Apparently they are thinking the same as they pick up speed and pass both us and the obnoxious twits in front. We wave and call a final farewell and Sandra calls out that if they are ever in Canada they will call. We really hope they do, they are a fantastic couple and we thoroughly enjoyed their company.
We also pass the twits in the wing-on-wng boat as they can’t seem to manage to be consistent with their speed under power. We pull past them and turn into Lefkas Marina and stop at the fuel dock to top up the tank. 48 Euros does the trick. Our grand total for four weeks of boating is 147 Euros. Pretty good!
We pull off the fuel dock and head for the marina, the rain starts. How ironic that our last night in the Cyclades four years ago also ended with rain. We think perhaps it’s natures way of making leaving that little bit easier at the end of a wonderful trip. A fellow comes whizzing up in a small boat and gives us directions on where to dock. When we head down someone waves us into a spot and hands off the not-so-lazyline to me. This one goes a bot better except I have some water on my feet and as I step on the glossy varnished wood my foot shoots out and I smack my shin. Oh good, another bruise! The lazyline is slimy and disgusting and leaves much all over the boat as I walk it forward. So, a quick cleaning to get the gunge off Nikolas. We would be embarrassed to give the boat back in such condition.
Once safely docked, we watch the twits come down the same lane and the dockmaster tells them they are too long and they must go to another float on the other side. They proceed to argue with the dockmaster until they finally concede. As they are backing out they are not watching the lazylines of the docked boats and they cut one and set the bow loose on one. They look at it, and just keep going without saying anything. I see the dockmaster in his boat and wave him over and tell him what happened. He calls on his radio and a few minutes later there are three of them there sliding the boat over to another berth. They thank us several times and go chew out the twits.
We went for for a walk around Lefkas town, bought a bit of milk for the morning, had a drink and one last saganaki at a local cafe in the marina and observed the various injuries. He has a limp, she has a banaged foot, he has a bandaged finger…. we merely have a multitude of minor scrapes and bruises…and of course Kirk has his plethora of mosquito bites. We pack our things and listened to the rain, watched the flashes of lightning and listened to the booming thunder directly overhead and are glad we are tucked in snugly at the marina.
Well, that’s pretty much it. The Ionian was good to us, and we hope we have left a good Canadian impression behind. We met many wonderful people, saw some wonderful sights, and visited some spectacular areas. It’s hard to leave. On one hand, after a month home looks pretty good and we are ready. On the other hand, leaving is so difficult and we could spend another month easily. The month disappeared far too quickly for our taste.
Tomorrow Stavros arrives at 9 am and we will finalize things. We fly out of Preveza at 2:30-ish and into Athens, then out of Athens and on to England for a few short days.