All is well, and we are cruising around the Greek island of Levkas. This posting brings us up to 5/8/12. We only have five weeks left now before we come into Levkas Marina for the winter (and NZ summer). I say “only”, but this is about the longest time we ever cruised before we started our cruising life. Read further down re change of plans from Croatia to Levkas.
This Ionian Islands are green and lush compared to those of the Aegean
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The last few weeks have been mid-summer with consistent fine weather, temperatures in the mid 30s, and a sea temperature of about 28d. It has also been busy in some places, but never over-crowded, except one time we found a bay too crowded to anchor in.
Now the high season is ending and it is becoming quieter.
So far we’ve found the Ionian to be much less windy than the Aegean with its notorious Meltemi north-westerly wind, however with a forecast predicting 30 knot winds we needed some good shelter and anchored inside the beautiful little harbour of Ay Eufimia for three nights.
Ay Eufimia harbour taken from Envoy at anchor
Priest with his bags of groceries beside horse and buggy at Ay Eufimia. Envoy was anchored to left , out of picture
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This large derelict house occupies prime real estate on Ay Eufimia’s waterfront
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Most cruising boats tie stern-to in the harbours, as they like to get ashore for meals, probably feel safer due to their limited anchoring experience, and in the case of charter yachts often don’t have suitable tenders to get ashore. We always prefer to anchor, as it’s cooler with the wind blowing through the boat and without the surrounding concrete quayside, it’s quieter without the traffic and disco noise, it’s more private, we can swim, we don’t have the hassle of mooring lines and potentially fouled anchors, and we don’t have to pay anything or report to the Port Police and pay their fee (which you are supposed to do if mooring to the harbour wall).
Captain Corelli’s restaurant in Ay Eufimia. The movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was based on events in Kefallonia during WW2
A rare shot of Laurie with a beer in his hand
A great little seaside taverna in Ay Eufimia
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Moving on to the sheltered harbour of Vathi we met a great Australian couple – Gary and Annie, of the motor yacht First Star, and had dinner ashore with them. The wind was again up to 20-25 knots, and there was quite some slop in the harbour causing us to get a bit damp in our RIB going ashore, and returning to Envoy.
Gary and Annie wintered First Star on the hardstand at Croatia’s Cres marina, and told us that last year with Croatia’s coldest winter in 50 years, around 300 boats suffered damage caused by frozen water bursting pipes and fittings in fresh water systems, refrigeration and water makers. This year they are returning to Cres, but will flush all their plumbing through with potable grade antifreeze.
We’ve now decided to leave Envoy in Levkas Marina in Greece. This means we won’t have any problems with ice, and can also start our cruising a bit earlier when we return to the Med in March 2013 – first cruising in the warmer south, then heading north to Montenegro and Croatia. Levkas is a great marina with excellent facilities, very clean and secure, easy walking distance to the town itself, and a good bus service to Athens.
We had been to a very sheltered bay called Ormos Vlikho in Spring 2007, and encountered a thunderstorm, rain and a strong squall causing many yachts to drag their anchors. The bay is surrounded by high hills, resulting in katabatic winds. Not long after we entered the same bay this time, a similar thing happened and we had a thunderstorm, wind squalls and the first rain since May, causing many people to wash their boats and themselves down with the rainwater.
In Ormos Vlikho we had the first downpour of rain in months
Here we met up with Gary and Annie from First Star again, and while having dinner ashore with them and a British couple, Will and Jilly, another squall developed causing an unattended yacht anchored near First Star started to drag towards her. Gary, Will and I leapt into Gary’s large RIB and powered out to check the situation. The drifting yacht had a ridiculously under-sized anchor chain – more appropriate for a bath plug chain. We boarded the drifting yacht, let out an additional 20 metres or so of chain to secure her, and then all was well.
Dinner with (left to right) Gary, Jilly, Laurie, Willy, Annie
Also here is the Vlikho Yacht Club with a great bar and facilities plus various boating services.
In September last year a storm whipped through this bay killing one person aboard a yacht, causing significant damage to anchored boats, many of which were flung onto their beams, and resulting in 27 boats on the hardstand falling over. Winds of 90 knots (Force 11) were recorded during the approximate 45 minute duration of the storm, which was localized only to this particular bay. The wind flipped over a 37 ft catamaran, Sanyassa, trapping a 67 year old lady under the upturned hull. Ruairi Bradley, the owner of the Yacht Club, went out to the cat, dived below and rescued the lady, earning himself a Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal for Bravery. Ironically Sanyassa had completed a 14 year circumnavigation covering 54,000 miles and visiting 54 countries without major problems, only to be destroyed while safely anchored.
Some of the wrecks resulting from last year’s storm in Ormos Vlikho
TECHNICAL: There was nothing to report up to here, but next posting will report on some maintenance issues and installation of new batteries in Corfu where we met Doug & Mary.
LOG: Up to 5 August have spent 128 days aboard, and cruised 1,176 miles for 221 engine hours.
This Ionian Islands are green and lush compared to those of the Aegean
.JPG)
The last few weeks have been mid-summer with consistent fine weather, temperatures in the mid 30s, and a sea temperature of about 28d. It has also been busy in some places, but never over-crowded, except one time we found a bay too crowded to anchor in.
Now the high season is ending and it is becoming quieter.
So far we’ve found the Ionian to be much less windy than the Aegean with its notorious Meltemi north-westerly wind, however with a forecast predicting 30 knot winds we needed some good shelter and anchored inside the beautiful little harbour of Ay Eufimia for three nights.
Ay Eufimia harbour taken from Envoy at anchor
Priest with his bags of groceries beside horse and buggy at Ay Eufimia. Envoy was anchored to left , out of picture
.JPG)
This large derelict house occupies prime real estate on Ay Eufimia’s waterfront
.JPG)
Most cruising boats tie stern-to in the harbours, as they like to get ashore for meals, probably feel safer due to their limited anchoring experience, and in the case of charter yachts often don’t have suitable tenders to get ashore. We always prefer to anchor, as it’s cooler with the wind blowing through the boat and without the surrounding concrete quayside, it’s quieter without the traffic and disco noise, it’s more private, we can swim, we don’t have the hassle of mooring lines and potentially fouled anchors, and we don’t have to pay anything or report to the Port Police and pay their fee (which you are supposed to do if mooring to the harbour wall).
Captain Corelli’s restaurant in Ay Eufimia. The movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was based on events in Kefallonia during WW2
A rare shot of Laurie with a beer in his hand
A great little seaside taverna in Ay Eufimia
.JPG)
Moving on to the sheltered harbour of Vathi we met a great Australian couple – Gary and Annie, of the motor yacht First Star, and had dinner ashore with them. The wind was again up to 20-25 knots, and there was quite some slop in the harbour causing us to get a bit damp in our RIB going ashore, and returning to Envoy.
Gary and Annie wintered First Star on the hardstand at Croatia’s Cres marina, and told us that last year with Croatia’s coldest winter in 50 years, around 300 boats suffered damage caused by frozen water bursting pipes and fittings in fresh water systems, refrigeration and water makers. This year they are returning to Cres, but will flush all their plumbing through with potable grade antifreeze.
We’ve now decided to leave Envoy in Levkas Marina in Greece. This means we won’t have any problems with ice, and can also start our cruising a bit earlier when we return to the Med in March 2013 – first cruising in the warmer south, then heading north to Montenegro and Croatia. Levkas is a great marina with excellent facilities, very clean and secure, easy walking distance to the town itself, and a good bus service to Athens.
We had been to a very sheltered bay called Ormos Vlikho in Spring 2007, and encountered a thunderstorm, rain and a strong squall causing many yachts to drag their anchors. The bay is surrounded by high hills, resulting in katabatic winds. Not long after we entered the same bay this time, a similar thing happened and we had a thunderstorm, wind squalls and the first rain since May, causing many people to wash their boats and themselves down with the rainwater.
In Ormos Vlikho we had the first downpour of rain in months
Here we met up with Gary and Annie from First Star again, and while having dinner ashore with them and a British couple, Will and Jilly, another squall developed causing an unattended yacht anchored near First Star started to drag towards her. Gary, Will and I leapt into Gary’s large RIB and powered out to check the situation. The drifting yacht had a ridiculously under-sized anchor chain – more appropriate for a bath plug chain. We boarded the drifting yacht, let out an additional 20 metres or so of chain to secure her, and then all was well.
Dinner with (left to right) Gary, Jilly, Laurie, Willy, Annie
Also here is the Vlikho Yacht Club with a great bar and facilities plus various boating services.
In September last year a storm whipped through this bay killing one person aboard a yacht, causing significant damage to anchored boats, many of which were flung onto their beams, and resulting in 27 boats on the hardstand falling over. Winds of 90 knots (Force 11) were recorded during the approximate 45 minute duration of the storm, which was localized only to this particular bay. The wind flipped over a 37 ft catamaran, Sanyassa, trapping a 67 year old lady under the upturned hull. Ruairi Bradley, the owner of the Yacht Club, went out to the cat, dived below and rescued the lady, earning himself a Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal for Bravery. Ironically Sanyassa had completed a 14 year circumnavigation covering 54,000 miles and visiting 54 countries without major problems, only to be destroyed while safely anchored.
Some of the wrecks resulting from last year’s storm in Ormos Vlikho
TECHNICAL: There was nothing to report up to here, but next posting will report on some maintenance issues and installation of new batteries in Corfu where we met Doug & Mary.
LOG: Up to 5 August have spent 128 days aboard, and cruised 1,176 miles for 221 engine hours.
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