Today we didn’t get off the dock until 10:30 am. We wanted to refill our water tanks, we’ve been out for 10 days now and are still running on our first fill. Bavarias seem to have an alarm for everything, but they aren’t always all that meaningful. The diesel alarm is always blinking if the motor is shut off. The water alarm spent a day bouncing between 100% and 0%…there was absolutely no gradation…although we pulled up the boards and looked and there is still a significant amount left in the tank. There are only a few taps on the quay, they really appear to be there for watering the grass since the are so far from the quay. Eventually a boat four up from us vacated and we slipped out of our spot and into theirs to fill the tank.
Tank filled, we are off again.
The plan is to head for the South end of Lefkas to Vasiliki. We navigate the channel out of Preveza and plot our course. I pull the book and start to read what the guide says about anchorage in Vasiliki…and am not encouraged. The harbour is very shallow, and apparently filled with permanent boats and is silting in. It is a long haul and we are off to a late start. And our course will take us around the outside of the island where it is rough and there are no other holes to duck into. We slow up and rethink our plans. The winds are building, and we are essentially heading into what could be some rough waters….towards a place where we will arrive late and potentially have nowhere to berth…..maybe we should take the inside route where there are a great many anchorages….this seems like a good change of plans so, hard to port and head for Lefkas channel….which looks somewhat frightening in and of itself.
I look up information on the channel and it is described as “difficult to locate.” From the North end (where we are coming from) there is a bridge that opens once an hour, on the hour…. and it is now about 11:15. This would explain the line of boats on a heading for Lefkas. We decide to duck in behind the boat out front …. we don’t want to be in the lead of what looks to be an “interesting” transit. As we turn we watch a helicopter that has been doing touch and go maneuvers at the airport. It is a military helicopter and when I catch sight of it again….it is buzzing the boat ahead of us! It is only about 100 feet off the water directly by that sailboat! And now it is coming our way!!!
Oh shit…are we somewhere we shouldn’t be? What’s he doing?!?!? He flies low and directly for us and basically blows a donut around us…low enough and close enough that Kirk and the pilot are looking each other in the eye…all I can see are those rotors about 50 feet off our stern as he banks low and hard around us! It is deafening…. He circles us once and then heads off back for shore…. Apparently it’s “Terrorize the Tourists Tuesday”!
Kirk asks why I didn’t get a picture when he was right there….I can only say that I had other things on my mind! Like what the heck was going on!!
OK….time to start looking for that entrance again…still invisible. All we can see is a couple of miles of sand bank and a fort. No entrance….not yet….but those two boats now in front of us seem pretty intent on their heading so we will follow….
We finally see an entrance, low and doglegging to starboard. It is 11:58, perfect timing! But the bridge is not yet open and there are a couple of other boats milling in the small area. We hear a siren and two boats quickly push off from the quay. A last few cars cross the bridge, which is actually a barge in the middle of the channel with two drawbridges, one at each end. The drawbridges rise and the barge swivels to allow passage and a line of boats starts the transit. We are closely followed by a large catamaran, which is followed by several other boats. In front of us are two sailboats. As we make the first corner a large powerboat flying the German flag pops out of Lefkas marina and falls in behind us. Strangely, we feel uncomfortable about the fact that we are now following a steady string of channel markers, but have the red buoyage to our starboard side…where normally it would feel correct it now feels alien. It is simply because of the direction of transit and we are heading “downstream”
We turn the corner and continue on in our line. The German powerboat decides to overtake us and moves to the port side of the channel…. making life difficult for an oncoming sailboat. The channel is ridiculously narrow and the winds are blowing about 18 knots abeam. Some of the markers provide only a channel width of less than 40 feet. So we think this captain is quite obnoxious for piloting his boat this way in such a narrow area. Another dogleg and we can see the exit. In all, the transit through the channel takes about 40 minutes. It was an interesting course, but we are again discouraged at all the garbage lining the waterways. So many discarded plastic bags and other plastic items. Sometimes I think plastic was the worst invention mankind has ever managed.
Now we are out into Ormos Dhrepanou. The Inland Sea. The sheer mountains of the mainland are to our port and the lush hills of Nisos Lefka are to starboard. The wind is gusty and fitful. The waters are a different blue, and Kirk says it almost feels like Howe Sound in some ways.
If you are a chicken shit sailor (like me) THIS is the place to be. The winds are easy, the waters are warm, and the dangers are few.
We have decided to head for Ormos Vlikho, a sheltered bay at the head of an inlet and past the town of Nidri (again, most of these places have at least three spellings). We pass the town which doesn’t look to have too many redeeming features and head up through the bottleneck which opens out into a large sheltered bay that is about 6m deep everywhere. Basically…drop your hook wherever you feel like it. The quay is full of charter and local boats, the anchor works just fine for us. Apparently it can get gusty in here, but holding is said to be good and we dig in well. We have a new home for the night. Almost as soon as the anchor is secure, the wind drops and the temperature rises. The water temperature here is 26 degrees…. 7 degrees warmer than Antipaxos! Two swallows take a break on our bow and have a little conversation before heading on their way. We feel special that they came to visit us.
It’s Alpha Time!
Again, I can see a wifi signal, but it is secured. We will head ashore shortly and see if we can’t find an internet cafe either here or in Nidri.
Since the winds are down we decide to pull the main and try to see how to re-hook the tack end. There is a little hook inside the furler and we manage to get it back in place. It re-furls nicely without bunching as it did before. We are relatively certain that we have it fixed.
Tomorrow we will head for the North tip of Cephalonia to a village called Fiskardho. We are on a bit of a mission now, heading hard for our furthest port on Zakynthos and then we will head back up at a leisurely pace.
