ENVOY CRUISING SOUTH FROM CORFU

ENVOY CRUISING SOUTH FROM CORFU 

Envoy is now at stunning Kastos Island on the way to Mesolonghi to meet my brother Charles.

Back to late August we've cleared in to Greece at Corfu after our return from Albania and heading south we spend time in Petriti and Syvota – both extensively mentioned in previous blogs.

Enjoying cakes at one of our favourite bakeries - in Syvota (Mourtos)

Cruising west from Petriti you need to stay well clear to the north of a large sand spit, covered with shallow water and well marked on charts but with no buoyage. There's a line of boats including us and several charter yachts keeping well clear of the spit and then I see a 45 ft sailing catamaran under motor veer out of line off to the south. At first I think maybe he has local knowledge and with his cat's shallow draught may be OK. He's well out of hailing distance when I see things go horribly wrong and the cat grounds. Fortunately the sea is very calm and I see the cat trying to get clear, but instead of trying to get out the way it came in the cat veers in another direction where it's shallower still. There's nothing we can do to assist as he's several hundred metres away from water deep enough for Envoy to venture safely. In any case I'd be reluctant to put a tow line on a vessel over here, not knowing the insurance implications.

We cruise on to Loggos on Paxxos Island. This is a stunning village we've been to with our friends Frank and Marie when we all decided it was one of our favorite places with a quaint bakery selling croissants, plus several nice tavernas and restaurants and quirky shops.

Envoy anchored in Loggos with superyacht  in background

Loggos's stunning waterfront

Our favorite house in Loggos overlooks the anchorage

Then we head to Lakka Bay on Paxxos, surprisingly finding three Kiwi boats there. We get together with Richard and Janet from motorboat Matariki plus Jeremy and Chrissy from yacht Fernweh for drinks aboard Envoy and dinner ashore. We find out that Richard is about 80 years old and still enjoying his boating, having a yacht in the Bay of Islands that he originally sailed out to NZ from England.

Interesting charter vessel moored close to us at Lakka

I planned to do a genset oil and filter change the next day. I had my new spare Shell oil stored on the top deck in 20 litre plastic drums and when I went to fetch it found that the tops of both drums had split – presumably with the heat and u/v. In retrospect I should have covered them for protection. We'd had a little rain a few days before and I wasn't going to risk using oil possibly contaminated with water so consigned these drums to the oil dump station where I looked with disgust as 40 litres of possibly perfectly good oil was poured in - about 170 Euros worth!

From Paxxos we cruise about six hours to Preveza on the mainland – another great anchorage where we've spent many comfortable nights. 

Having dinner out at Preveza

Before it got dark we notice this bird's nest of wiring on a nearby power pole

Here I buy some new 15W40 oil and change the generator's oil and filter, a job which if properly organised takes about an hour using Envoy's built-in oil change pump. On completion when I try to start the generator – nothing! Well obviously I think the problem must be connected to the oil change, but I can't see how - did I dislodge a wire?. The generator provides our only source of AC power for refrigeration so we need it. We head to nearby Lefkada marina where we can connect to shorepower while the generator problem is solved. Sailand's electrician – Velisaris knows Envoy well and comes aboard at 1800 hours, soon diagnoses the problem as the starter motor, removes it and takes it away for repair. He's back at 1000 the next day and says the starter motor needed a good clean out of accumulated carbon dust and new brushes. I check our Envoy manual and find this starter motor should be serviced every five years. Lo and behold - it's 5 years since our last service. While Velissaris is aboard I also get him to test the output of the Lugger's alternator and this tests fine.

Having dinner in Lefkada's main square with yachtsmen friends Mike and Keith

We leave Lefkada and head south through the canal stopping at Ormos Varko for two nights. This is a remote, peaceful anchorage well sheltered from prevailing northerlies and without annoying speed boats roaring around. One night we're on the fringes of an electrical storm, but apart from a few brief squalls up to 20 knots have no problem and see the main front pass away well to our east.

Then it's further south to Ormos Dessimou. This is a bit busier with many campers ashore and some small boats coming in and out.

Tavernas on O. Dessimou's tranquil shore

Next posting - unexploded WW2 hand grenade found in our anchorage