Sivota to Parga

We finished our cappuccino and went back to the boat to prep to leave. A couple of the charters headed out before us and headed through the channel between the islands. There is a sandbar between them that comes up to 2 m and with a keel at 1.8 m we chose to take the long way around. We manage to get away at the crack of eleven and sadly, forgot to buy any wine before we left.

When we came back around the outside we saw a line of boats heading for Paxos and decided that we would therefore spend the night at Voulta Bay just outside of Parga.

We pull the sail up along the way and are a bit disconcerted to see the tack end loop loose…. Not being regular sailors…we aren’t sure what that loop should be attached to…but it looks like it should be attached to something! So we furl the sail in a bit and motor sail until the wind dies off. When we get to a dock we will pull it out and check it and seek assistance if necessary.

When we round the bend to Parga we see that there is at least one mast in behind the breakwater, but on entering note that the entire quay is full of local boats. The lone sailboat is anchored on the opposite side with a stern line to a beached barge. We anchor off their bow and put a stern anchor off to keep us from swinging into them.

A local boat enters and goes behind us… our stern anchor drops off and is easily 6 feet below him but it concerns us that a sailboat might make a similar attempt and decide to sink a fender on it so there is at least a warning if we don’t see someone try to come in. The People on the boat next to us wave wildly at the boat though…their line is lying on the surface, all but invisible. The fellow stops up short when he sees the line and wags a finger at them, shaking his head…and moves up between the two of us and out the front. They don’t much like stern lines here apparently….The neighbours run a fender out on their line as a warning.

Shortly thereafter they all appear on deck and jump in their tender and leave…..we wonder if perhaps they have decided that with a Canadian flag next door they are safe in leaving their vessel unattended. And as good Canadians….we do feel somewhat obligated to keep watch over it. The books say that there have been thefts here, so we opt to stay. After two days attached to land, we don’t feel overly compelled to head ashore anyway.

A light dinner of salad and leftovers and we see the obligatory dark clouds building over the hills above us. Parga and environs is lovely with a Venetian fortress immediately to the South on the hill above the bay, and another far up on the mountain in the distance. A third lies to the North but we cannot see it now, it was only visible from the water as we entered.

The bay is occupied by several hotels and again, there is a feeling of breath holding…waiting for the masses to arrive. There are blue and orange chairs and umbrellas lined up on the beach front…waiting for the tourists to occupy them. Again, we have beat the crowds here.

A wind builds from the West and the flags snap. We tighten the aft anchor a bit and move it to the starboard side to ensure we don’t come too close the neighbours. The clouds darken and creep closer, a few raindrops patter on the bimini. The lowering sun lights up the fortress on the hill above and a rainbow appears over it. No thunder tonight…the wind slowly dies down, the small waves subside…and our neighbours return and light their BBQ. We smell it jealously. Only private boats may have a BBQ aboard….. insurance I suppose. I wave our table lamp at them to get their attention and call out how good it smells. They reply… “It tastes good too!” We laugh and I somehow feel better that we have made personal contact. On some level I feel that even this simple exchange ensures that we have an ally in case of any issues while at this anchorage. Maybe I’m naive…. but let me live with my little fantasies OK?

A latecomer arrives flying a German flag and drops anchor between us and the Brits. They drag back and tie off at the mole.

Just after dark we crawl into bed for another early evening. Tomorrow morning we will try to get up early and leave for Antipaxos. There is no safe overnight anchorage there, so we will only visit before heading to the North end of Paxos to spend the night in Lakka. We hear an engine shortly after we are in bed and pop our heads out the hatch to see a large sailboat backing out of the harbour…a classic abort move. It is a large vessel that we saw in Sivota the day before. The captain decides to anchor off outside the harbour in the bay.

A relatively quiet day all in all.