Sailing with Moondance : Cruising In The Ionian

We finally left Corfu town and headed South to the quiet fishing village of Petriti on the South Eastern side of Corfu Island. We anchored off the marina and spent a quiet night. From there, it was over to O.Kiriakis – just past Parga where we spent a couple of days as the only yacht in the anchorage.

We tried to sail down to Preveza, the main got stuck in the mast furler and requires considerable effort to get it free. Bugger – probably a new main. This was confirmed by the riggers at Cleopatra marina Preveza and we made arrangements to have the main taken off the boat the following Monday. As it was the weekend, we sailed to a small bay in the Gulf of Amvrakia. Passing pelicans, dolphins and anchoring with turtles.

With the main down we got a quote from the sailmakers in Levkas and spent a roly night at Fort St. Maura – the entrance to the Levkas canal. Next time we will pass the floating bridge and free anchor in the Levkas marina. On 6 June we accepted the quote for the new main, with delivery due 15 -20 July 2018. That will keep us in the Ionian.

We continued to our old haunt of Tranquil Bay – Nidri on Levkas Island to restock.

James Kendall – Pacific cruising crew from 2007 was in the area on the Motor Yacht “Talitha” so we arranged to meet up at their next anchorage. That involved motoring to Skorpios Island where they were anchored for a few hours, then following them to Kalamos Island where they anchored for the night. The sail to Kalamos was great – genoa only and we sailed at up to 9 knots. It was very pleasant.

Talitha – if you are interested Google It. Built in 1929 with a very interesting history. On this charter there were 18 crew with 10 guests. All the toys on board including mountain bikes. The guests wanted to go for a walk and some a ride on Kalamos. Drones were sent up to check the area first.

After “work” James and his partner Olivia came on board with beer and we were able to spend a couple of hours catching up on events from 2007 and reminiscing about the Pacific crossing on Checkmate from Panama to Tahiti.

Leaving kalamos anchorage we headed South down the Island between Kalamos and Kastos – motoring in to the wind, Rounding the Southern tip we headed North – motoring in to the wind. Only in the Ionian will this happen and it is very frustrating when thoughts are with having a great sail to Meganisi.

It was late in the evening when we arrived at Port Atheni on Meganisi. Next day we went ashore for a long walk in the countryside.