Before we cleared off the dock we managed to get a weather report or three for Preveza…they were all different of course…but they were in the same ballpark and, although two said chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, all three called for light winds and nothing overly concerning. At this late stage in the game we don’t want to have to hole up anywhere.
We said goodbye to Dave and Sandra and thought we might see each other around the back of Meganisi later in the day. Our plan had been to head into Little Vathy and they were planning on anchoring in Abelike Bay around the corner, they thought they might walk in and find us if we all ended up where we thought we might. We finally got off the dock at something like 11:30 am. Definitely our latest start yet, but since we are within an easy days motor of Lefkada we don’t feel compelled to get going as early as we have in past days. Plus we know we can find a safe anchorage at Vlihko if we can’t get a berth anywhere else.
We motored across the channel in flat seas and stopped in front of Papa Nikolaus’s Cave. The cave is massive and it is said that smugglers used to use it. There is also a story that a submarine once hid inside it, but that seems a bit farfetched. It’s too bad the water is so deep or we could have anchored and gone in, but just metres from the mouth the water is over 20 metres deep. We could see a tiny bit of the stern of a boat. When it came out we got a good idea of how big the cave really was inside…the boat was massive! We motored around the bottom end of Meganisi and when we rounded the bottom caught a bit of wind. We sailed for a bit with the main reefed in because of our issue with it, but with the wind at our backs we were mainly just going back and forth and not making any headway so we pulled them in again.
We came around to Abelike Bay and went in for a look, lots of little nooks and crannies inside, and very full of boats. We had an 11 knot wind on our nose which would make backing into it and stern tying difficult and we are both feeling a bit antsy about being away from a dock at this point, only because of how close we are to the end of the trip. So we decide to head for Spartachorion which is one bay past Little Vathy. It sounds like a more interesting village and we want to visit it.
As we come out of Abelike we see a sailboat with a yellow bimini, it’s Kanula under sail. I grab the camera and run to the bow to take some photos. It’s easy to get shots of your own boat, it’s not easy to get shots of your boat underway and I think I can get some good ones, particularly with the mountains of the mainland in the background. So Kirk starts circling them, although he didn’t warn me on the first hard turn and I was standing on the bow…luckily leaning into the mast or I might have been in the drink camera and all. Must have been quite a sight, two sailboats, one under sail and the other under power wildly circling it.
We follow them back into Abelike and decide to join them on the anchor and sterned to shore. The wind has eased and it should be easier now. We pass a boat swinging on the hook and it’s name is Can’t Ski. Great name! Can’t ski…might as well sail! Kanula’s dinghy is deflated and on the bow as Dave was doing some repairs earlier today, we think we should pass ours over but when Sandra sets the anchor he just jumps straight in with a stern line and swims to shore with it, hat and all. Once they are settled we anchor and stern back and he ties off our stern line since he’s wet anyway I suppose…Kirk rows out and ties a second stern line and we are settled in 4 metres of water although closer to shore than I’d prefer, but a bit later we pull forward and everything looks good for the night. We can hear thunder and see a thunderstorm building over the mainland and heading out this way, but it slides past and we only get a bit of cloud cover that serves little more than to make the already hot day hotter and muggy to boot.
What a lovely bay, the water is clear, a German boat is next to us…they are naked…. huh!? To each their own. After we all have a swim, Dave and Sandra hail “Kirk’s Taxi service” and come over for a couple of beers before we decide to dinghy ashore and walk into Vathy. We ask Dave to help us with the main and pull it out, it jams near the top and takes a lot of effort to finally get it all the way out. And with his help we finally solve our problem! It was a combination of the main being jammed up near the top of the furler and being unhooked inside. Once it was unjammed and completely free they were able to pull an inspection plate and get it hooked properly and it pulled back in smoothly. We just might get a real sail in yet before we leave…if the winds cooperate of course…
We dinghy ashore and head up a trail and into town. It takes just a few short minutes over the hill and we are in a quaint little village that is undergoing major renovations to its harbour. They are installing a new quay all around the harbour with power boxes and loads of bollards. This quaint little town is going to grow very soon and although it’s great for them from an economic perspective, it seems that tourism has a way of destroying what makes these little places charming in the first place. When we walk up the road and around to another little bay we find a lovely spot occupied by a very nice taverna with its own dock that is filled with charter flotilla boats. The establishment has a grassy bit with tables and it is absolutely wonderful. And there is our Canucks flag again. This will be the last time we see it and so I say goodbye to our Canuck loving Aussie as we leave.
We pick our way back through the trail in the failing light, are poked and prodded by prickly bushes but stumble back onto the beach to the dinghy. Someone two boats over pulls out some trumpet like brass instrument and plays a tune…bit strange… We decide to do a late dinner and we drop our taxi patrons off, make up a big salad and grab a few odds and ends to contribute before heading back to Kanula and having a laughter filled evening, probably keeping everyone else in the bay awake.
One of the things we laugh about is how others who don’t boat think that doing a trip like this is so glamorous. What they don’t realize is that there really isn’t anything glamorous about crawling into a vee berth every night, into bedding that isn’t made to fit a triangular bed. No matter how hard you try, you are perpetually salty and itchy. You are using a miniature toilet that you have to work at to empty. Your showers consist of wetting yourself with a pull out faucet, trying to lather without knocking yourself too much, then lightly rinsing off. Your hair is always sticking out all directions and full of knots and salt, and your body is a patterned mess of cuts and bruises from bumping into things, stubbing your toes on deck rigging, whacking your head on hatch covers etc… When a scab finally clears out, you bash yourself again in the same spot. The fridge on a boat never really keeps things “really” cold, because that would draw too much power. You spend most nights at least somewhat half awake waiting for the anchor to drag…or someone else’s… You wash your clothes in a bucket of salt water and then give a quick rinse in fresh. You hang everything to dry around various parts of your boat and look like a floating laundromat at times. But nothing ever gets really clean and every article of clothes gets the “sniff test” before being put on… “…this smells relatively clean…yes I can wear it again…” But despite all that…I wouldn’t give up a minute of this trip!
