It's a catchy title, but ok, not completely accurate. In fact I have very little real knowledge of the journey undertaken by Odysseus - hero or scoundrel? It it is said that he devised the strategy of the Trojan horse and he was certainly major figure in the twists and turns of that 10 year war. Without The Iliad and Odysseus we would not know of the Cyclops and the Sirens, just two of the challenges he overcome on his 10 year voyage home to Ithaca. (When he finally did reach home after a 20-year absence, only his dog, Argos, recognised him. I think more should be written about a dog who waited over 20 years...)
But back to modern day sailing adventures. We were not to face capricious gods, unless you count the ones controlling the weather. We were excited to be in the famous sailing waters of the Ionian and I was intent on visiting every island. After all, there are only 7 large, and 7 small islands, how hard can it be? The Ionian islands are much more lush than the islands we had seen in the Cyclades, and it is these islands that we think of when picturing olive groves and blue seas, and we felt a little bit more like we were on holiday.
We'll start at the bottom at Zakynthnos and see them all, says I. Not possible says El Capitano. We still have a problem main(sail), it's 21st August, and you have a ticket home from Montenegro on 23rd September. Arrghhhh. More must keep going ...
So we ignored the Siren call of Zakynthos and headed for the next major island, Kefalonia. Which, we could have easily spent a month exploring. We had 3 days. It only took a few hours to motor/sail across from the mainland, and anchored off the south of the island. After an overnight stop we headed for the port of Argostoli, after anchoring for lunch at a place called Sparta. Wrong Sparta as it turns out, but Mike had delusions for a while... then we had fun tacking up the bay into Argostoli, while every other boat and ferry ignored the winds, motored and tried to crash into me. I was of course on the helm, felt I had superior judgement, and refused to take my sails in til the last minute. After all, we've sailed in Western Australia, this was nuthin'.
Spectacular views from the hills of Kefalonia
Kefalonia/Cephalonia is a popular destination, with pebbly beaches at the bottom of white cliffs, pretty villages accessible via narrow hillside roads, with breathtaking views looking down onto the azure ocean. We left Kirrikie safely in the bay, leaving her to be looked after by loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) who live in the protected lagoon at the end of the bay. Having one day for exploring, we tried to travel as much as the island as we could, limiting our selves to two stops, the village of Fiskardo on the northern tip of the island, and Melissani Cave on the eastern side near Sami.
Gosh darn golly, the island is stunning. Of course being normal tourists doing tourist things, it meant competing for parking, jostling in narrow lanes, trying not to be ripped off, but it was worth it. Fiskardo is one of the few harbour villages in the area that escaped the devastating 1953 Ionian earthquake, so has kept some of the original venetian architecture. It has narrow access for boats, and we watched with interest some very glam boats coming in, so posh owners could step off onto the quay to visit the expensive boutiques, or just sun themselves ostentatiously on their decks, whike servants brought them cool drinks.
Fiskardo lanes
Fiskardo fishing harbour
Havinghad fun buying gifts, the proprietor invited us to view the mini museum they had set up in what had been living quarters upstairs. This was devoted to village life and industries on one side, and the earthquake on the other. On display were family photograh albums and photos documenting the devastation on the island. In August 1953, 113 earthquakes hit the southern islands, including Zakynthos and Kefalonia, the worst on August 13th. There was widespread destruction, with all buildings on the island except those of Fiskardo were destroyed, and Kefalonia was raised by 60cm. Nearby British and Israeli warships were the first to respond, with multinational assistance provided for some time. Quite frankly, it was almost inconceivable that the modern towns we passed by had developed after such hardship, but there were ruins and reminders all along our drive.
An old photograph of Kefalonia after the 1953 Earthquake
We head south to the underground lake of the Melissani Cave. Seawater is sucked underground near Argostoli, forming a hidden river which makes it's way across the island and is expelled into the sea on the other side near Sami. The roof of the cave collapsed centuries ago, exposing the waters to the sun, creating a sun-lit chamber filled with water whose colour ranges from cobalt to turquoise. Access is via a very long queue, down onto a cave, stepping into gondolas, which are then quietly propelled around the lake by boatmen. It was very pretty, just a bit too busy for us. The boatman neglected to inform us that in Greek mythology, the lake was known as the cave of the Nymphs, particularly the nymph Melissani who threw herself into the lake after her love was neglected by Pan.
The next day, having re-provisioned and filled the fuel tanks, we decided the weather was just about ok to continue on our journey around the western side and over the top of Argostoli, as we had been inspired by the amazing cliffs and hidden bays we had spied on our day-trip. The prudent thing would have been to return the way we had come. So we didn’t.
And it was worth the long journey. Sometimes sailing, mostly motoring, we had a wonderful view of Kefalonia from the sea, putting our anchor down to have lunch and a swim in an isolated spot with a Greek version of the white cliffs of Dover. I did think often of my friends back home who would have appreciated every moment of this trip, and silently tipped my hat their way. Our day ended crossing the channel between Kefalonia and Ithaki/Ithaka/Ithaca, the closest we came to paying homage to Odysseus, anchoring at Palikata for the evening.
Mike hard at work
Our next destination was the island of Lefkada, home of yacht charter companies, as this area offers prime sailing conditions, and is sprinkled with many little islands to visit, or larger ones such as Meganisi, and good sailing regardless of the wind direction. For a while we enjoyed sailing without a real destination in mind, just exloring the wind without a clock ticking, just like we had back in Perth. Eventually we pulled into the Liotrivi pontoon in Sivota Bay. To be honest, we didn't so much pull into, as ungainly and awkwardly blunder in; it was our worst arrival in 2 years, so bad that all the astonished staff and watching boaties stopped judging and worked with us to push and haul Kirrikie into place. I could tell you exactly what we did, but then I'd have to kill you. With only our pride hurt it was time for a swim and a drink. Our evening was spent jealously staring upwards at the huge catamarans around us, wandering along the tiny harbour, enjoying a simple greek meal and finally some cooler air.
Livrioti Pontoon restaurant
Sivota Harbour
We had been advised of a bay further up Lefkada that offered incredible protection in poor weather, in fact the holding in thick mud is so good that you can leave your boat unattended at anchor for weeks if need be. As the forecast was for strong winds the next day or so, we headed off towards Nydri. The weather was perfect, and we stopped off on the way for lunch in the channel between Lefkada and Meganisi, entertained by about 8 skimpily clad young women and one man on the next boat. The girls preened and pranced about the boat, and he completely ignored them. Then a camerman in a small speed boat turned up, he flew his drone over and around the yacht, the bikinis got smaller and the dancing on the stern became even more competitive and enthusiastic.... we decided they were making a promotional video. Strangely the drone was not diverted over our way when I went for a most alluring and enticing swim.
Fish entertaining us at Elena's restaurant, Vliho Bay, Nydri
After enjoying the calm weather for 2 days tucked inside the safe anchorage of Vliho Bay, we made our way to the marina at Lefkas, where we were finally able to get some help from riggers with our troublesome mainsail. Expecting an expensive few days paying marina fees while our problem was solved, we were extremely pleased when the staff checked, removed, re-cut and re-hoisted the mainsail all in one day. What a relief! After completing this and other housekeeping tasks, we even had time for a swim at the marina pool, how posh!
Sail fixed, cheers!
Thanks for the 'new' sail
Our next adventure was negotiating the route from our marina, along the Lefkada channel and wait for the swing bridge to open for marine traffic to pass through the small gap between the island and the mainland. Along with about 20 other boats, all jostling and attempting to keep their place in the queue. At the appointed time, road and foot traffic is stopped and a section of the bridge is swung sideways, resting along the side of the channel to allow boats waiting on both sides to pass through.
Yachts waiting behind us...
We're on the move, yachts passing the other way, and traffic building up - their turn to wait
The bridge section moved out of the way....
..... And the procession of boats behind us
It was weird motoring past a large metal structure which is part of a bridge. We were fortunate to go through when we did as not long after this the bridge was closed without notice, as the authorities realised a safety certificate was out of date... it took a month to sort out.
Our next trip saw us head back to the mainland, towards Preveza, as we had friends from Finike we wanted to catch with - a rare right-place-right-time window of opportunity. But we had a day to fill in so we negotiated our way through the meandering waterways past Preveza, into the Ambracian Gulf, a large inland bay we'd love to visit again. First stop -pretty Panagia Bay near Vonitsa. Some bays, like this one, are so tempting, but in reality only have a few spots where the underwater conditions are good for anchoring. We were very fortunate to snag a good spot, as we watched a few other boats come in and were less successful in their 1st, or 2nd attempts.
Panagia Bay with the church hidden by trees
It was a balmy evening so we dinghied into shore planning a drink onshore to watch the sunset, and perhaps a meal. I found a table and dug my feet into the sand and settled in to watch another glorious sunset. Very quickly though it wasn't the sun that I was watching, but a quickly developing storm. Mike returned with my GnT, and we had a casual conversation about the cloud formations. A moment of silence, then he looked at me and snapped 'SCULL' as he threw down his beer and took off down towards our dinghy. Well, it was a hard choice, a wasted GnT or boat disaster.... hmmmm... As we ran back 3 other men started to run towards their (much smaller) dinghy. As they had already ordered a meal , they left their wives onshore, thinking they'd be back shortly. Mmwhahaha. Nup
The skies they are a'changing
Just another lightning strike..... the captain now safely back on his boat
We zoomed back as the waves and wind grew. The little dinghy with it's larger cargo puttered, strained and attempted to stay above the waterline. Rain started pelting down as we reached Kirrikie just in time to 'batten the hatches'; unfortunately our boat neighbours took another 10 minutes or so to reach their boats. The conditions caught everyone by surprise, with calm conditions replaced by winds in the high 20s, pelting rain, very dark skies and and a spectacular lightning show. I was busy counting the seconds between the flashes and the BOOM, the closest was just under 5 seconds, so that was a relief. It was a couple of hours before the hungry blokes could retrieve their stranded but well fed women, with several dinghy trips, laughing in the dark.
Before turning back towards Preveza we made a quick trip round to Koukoumitsa, near Vonitsa itself, exploring the small anchorage next to the footbridge connecting a small islet to the shore. We went onshore to explore this little idyll, placing our feet carefully to avoid the many sea urchins along the shoreline. It was very peaceful walking in the shade of pine and eucalypt trees, listening to the birds, looking for turtles. Of course there's always a church to check out, in this instance the Agios Nektarios, with it's terracotta tiles and trim. Then anchor up, time to sail back to Preveza
Fort near Vonitsa
We stopped only one night, catching up with Janine and Craig from SV Inelsamo, who briefly showed us around the town they know well, before taking us to a fav restaurant right on the harbour. Janine explained a little of the history, most notably that it was in this area of the Ionain Sea that the fleets of Octavia defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra; one of the 3 large marinas in Preveza is the Cleopatra Marina. It was a lovely night, just teasing me with so much to explore. But our visit was soured by the discovery of our dinghy cut adrift (but snuggled in-between other dinghies - phew!) and our spare fuel stank stolen. It was our first reality check about the problems cruisers can have - and a reminder to improve the security of the dinghy, which we promptly did with new padlocks and chains. We definitely want to revisit Preveza and the Gulf again, but as it was Father's Day, and Mike's choice, we moved on again.
Sun setting over Preveza
Venetian Clock Tower, Preveza
We stopped one night at Two Rocks Bay, a d then left the mainland to visit Gaios harbour on Paros. (Gonna say right now, that I get the all the 'P' islands mixed up.. Paros, Poros, Patmos, Paxos, not to mention the anti-Ps .. ). Ideally you can tie up stern to along the harbour wall; in reality we anchored in a dubious spot outside the harbour where, to Mike's extreme frustration, the description on our handy sailing apps did not adequately describe just how rocky the seabed was. It was definitely a bit risky, but the wind was picking up, it was evening, and we had to chance it. When we were not strolling around the colourful village, where even the rubbish run was pretty, we were nervously entertained by every other boat in our vicinity, some with professional crews, struggling to anchor, and then subsequently encountering difficulties un-snagging their anchors when it was time to leave. Luckily the water was very clear so Mike took a really good look at our anchor again before attempting our escape; we were inches away from a overhanging rock, and much to our relief, Mike guided the boat at just the right angle and we were free on the first go. Good Capitano! Let's head to Corfu!
Easy to leave the dinghy, then explore the maze of lanes at Gaios
Walking back through Gaios after getting rid of some rubbish.... lovely
And there I leave you. As you read this I am attempting to write a brief - a challenging concept - recounting of our time in Corfu, our last stop before leaving Greece. Thank you for getting this far!
After our 3 days touring Galaxidhi and surrounds, we motored our way out of the bay and once again headed north-west, our eventual goal the islands of the Ionian Sea. As I chatted to my sister Karen, aka the unofficial queen of dolphin spotting, back home in Perth, 2 dolphins appeared on our starboard side and escorted us out. It seems my sister's powers are unlimited.
There was little wind, but were determined to move along without the iron sail. And of course when we caught up to another yacht trying to do the same thing, an unofficial very slow race began. As this much newer yacht, sailing under an Australian flag was called 'Helios', which is our grandson's middle name, we had to ask if they would would swap boats - they declined. However, I think we won, so no bad feelings. (You can check out Helios on the Youtube channel Sailing Helios). Our next 2 nights' anchorage was below the fort walls of Nafpaktos. This is a very pretty medieval town hugging the bay and tiny port, with defensive walls rising from the town all the way up the hill to the remnants of a Venetian castle. Spectacular at night, captivating in the day. We're getting a little wiser about the heat, so we taxied up to the top, wandered around the impressive grounds, appreciating the view over the Gulf of Corinth, then enjoyed the walk beside the walls back down into the town. The castle has/had 5 walls - 2 running down to the sea, and 3 more in-between at different levels, providing efficient protection to the local populace. Although recognised as Venetian, the castle is referred to as early as 450BC, and experienced it's own share of invaders, earthquakes and sea battles which helped form modern Greece.
"In the Middle Ages, it fell to the Venetians, who equipped it until the Turks got it in the fifteenth century. The entrance to the Gulf of Nafpaktos was where a grand sea fight took place in 1571, the battle of Lepanto as it is known, where the Ottoman Empire's naval power was almost totally damaged by the combined papal, Spanish, Habsburg and Venetian forces. After the end of the Revolution War, the castle and the town of Nafpaktos became part of the Greek state. Today, it is a famous archaeological site visited by many tourists every year." (Greeka website).
Looking up at the Nafpaktos Castle walls
"Racing" SV Helios
Our night-time view of Nafpaktos
Statue of Anemogiannis, a hero of the Greek War of Independence, who died in 1821 after trying to burn down the Turkish fleet moored in Nafpaktos harbour
Trying to look a little less wind-swept and adventurous in Nafpaktos
Entrance to the port
View from Nafpaktos Castle of the Rio-Antirrio Bridge
We eagerly departed Nafpaktos and turned our bow towards our next milestone, sailing under the Patras Bridge, aka the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, aka the Cherilaos Trikoupis Bridge. (!?!) A stunning engineering feat, the bridge is, to quote Wikipedia, one of the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges, and longest of the fully suspended types. Opened in 2004 a day before the Athens Olympics, the bridge crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking Rio on the Pelopnnese Peninsular to Antirrio on the Greek mainland.
For us, it was just an opportunity to do something we had never done before, sail under an impressive bridge and enter a new expanse of water. To avoid an possible mishaps, all vessels are required to radio ahead to authorities providing information about the boat and requesting permission to go under the bridge, and are given strict instructions as to which section of the bridge to pass under/in-between. It added a little tension to the situation as did dodging the ferries passing both ways, but it was a fun overall, and all too quickly we were on the other side, waving Goodbye Gulf of Corinth, and Hello to the Gulf of Patras, our last gulf before entering the Ionian Sea. Woo-hoo!
But first, a diversion. Dodgy weather and storms were predicted, so we reluctantly decided to delay heading for our first Ionian island til the next day, and headed to Messolonghi Marina to stockup on water. The "sea" on the north-east side of the bridge is very shallow, and we could have put our anchor down anywhere if we'd been so inclined. The approach to Messolonghi is quite unusual - we slowly made our way along a narrow shallow channel lined with eucalypts and mostly deserted shacks on one side, while on the other side a thin causway led to holiday bungalows, boats and jettys. As Mike said, Vietnam on the starboard, Lakes Entrance on the portside. It was a unique landscape we didn't see any where else on our travels.
As we motored slowly and carefully up the channel, pondering the common sight of eucalypts in Turkey and Greece, I decided I needed to make sure I wasn't going mad, I mean gum trees ARE Australian, right?? Correct - it turns out that a leading Greek botanist, Theodoros G. Orphanides, was on a quest in the 19th-century to find foreign fauna that could benefit Greece. He introduced the Eucalypt as it is resilient, fast-growing and adaptable; but the main benefit is it's ability to thrive in swampy areas and help combat malaria, a serious problem at that time. The trees helped drain the swamps, reducing the mosquito population. Good for you Theo! Although, I couldn't help but wonder whether the tree's excellent flammability qualities were also mentioned to him...
Australia?
Or Vietnam?
As for Messolonghi Marina, well let's say it is interesting. It felt a little isolated and deserted, but also there were many boats awaiting the return of owners, a live-aboard community and a restaurant right on the pier. So far up the channel away from open waters, we had an interesting evening watching the clouds fight the moon for attention, no sign of any storm near us. And, thanks to the good ole Aussie gum trees, no mosquitoes.
