More Travels Around The Ionian

Hi all Sue here

Well after a lovely but hectic week back in the UK looking after my mum I arrived back to a nice welcome from our friends off Awake and Scrabbler.  We then just chilled for a few days around Kephalonia before heading to Ithaca to do some exploring. Chris is renowned for leaping into the Dinghy when the rest of us just climb in gracefully but he had a shock in Argostoli when the sea in there was particularly bouncy one night, he leapt into the dinghy and ended up going straight out the other side!! I was with Francis and Erica and we tried to be very concerned and help him out but we couldn’t help laughing. In fact Erica said every time she thinks of it she has to laugh, poor Chris he lost his new sunglasses as well.

Busy Fishing Harbour at Astokos on the Mainland	Ice Clear Water at Pigades Bay, Ithaca

Pigades Bay has the most beautiful water we have seen anywhere in Greece so far. We spent a couple of days here just swimming and relaxing. We then headed back to Ay Eufimia, Kephalonia to meet up with Mel and Carl off Thala and we also met Wim and Jacqueline off Zephyr. There was a festival on that night so we had drinks on Thala before heading off to try some Greek Dancing and local cuisine.

Calm Sunset Near Argostoli	Approaching Assos

The following day we went to Anti Sami Bay and spent a day swimming with Mel and Carl and then had a BBQ at night on Nimrod. The wind picked up in the evening and just as we were going to start the BBQ we noticed a big Catamaran that was anchored by us making it’s way slowly out to sea with no one on board!! The owners who were ashore noticed it and gave frantic chase in their dinghy. Then whilst attempting to re anchor it we noticed their dinghy sailing by!! So Chris jumped in our dinghy and gave chase, they were very grateful he managed to catch it.

Venetian Fort at Assos	Stunning Views From Around the Fort

The west coast of Cephalonia is generally quite high cliffs but there are some lovely beaches between the rocks and a few small harbours. Unfortunately this coast is wide open to the prevailing NW winds so is not visited by very many yachts because the wind and waves make most of the harbours and anchorages untenable. However if the weather is calm and settled then it is well worth making the effort to explore this side of the Island.

Sue Checking Out the Prison Buildings	Looking Down Into Assos Harbour. Nimrod is just to the right of the super yacht.

Assos Harbour  is a beautiful place in a stunning setting with a Venetian Fort built on the high peninsula overlooking the town from the West but the normal summer winds make it a pretty uncomfortable place to stop, even downright dangerous if the wind picks up. You need really calm weather and we were lucky to find the right time to go there as it is a very beautiful place.

We took an early stroll up to the Fort but it was still a very hot climb.  The Greeks have spent a huge amount of money (probably EU money) on the road up to the fort and have also restored some of the old prison buildings, presumably to become a visitor centre or museum. Unfortunately the money has run out so the project is not finished and there is no information anywhere on the site to tell you what it is all about – a great shame because it could be a very interesting place. Regardless of that the views from the top and around the peninsula are really impressive and more than make up for the lack of info about the fort.

Superyachts at Fiskardo, Cephalonia	Part of Vathi Harbour, Ithaca

After Assos we headed back to Fiskardo for a few days, this must be one of the busiest harbours in the Ionian and every boat seems to have to visit at least once.  It is also the place of choice for many of the Superyachts so you can sit on your own deck and watch how the other half live, all very entertaining.  The downside of all the Superyachts is that Fiskardo does seem to be one of the most expensive places for eating, drinking and shopping.

Very Small Church Just Outside Vathi	Don’t Think This is Going To Sea Again

The weather forecast was quite settled for the next few days so we left Fiskardo to explore the East side of Ithaca, this is known as one of the windiest areas of the Ionian and last time we were here we had winds up to 40knts.  This time the weather was kind and we explored Frikes and Vathi before spending a couple of days in Sarakinko Cove, all very nice places in the warm calm sunshine.

We then headed back South to Zakynthos to meet up with Claire and Eddy as well as seeing Zephyr again. We had a good sail from the south of Cephalonia all the way down to Zakynthos Town where we anchored outside the harbour before heading around to the very South of the Island and the anchorage at Keri.

Exploring the Caves, Marathonisi Island, Keri, Zakynthos	More of the Caves

Opposite Keri is Marathonisi Island that has some impressive caves and lovely sandy beaches that the Loggerhead Turtles use as nesting sites. We did see turtles last time we were here but so far they have not shown themselves this time.

We are having a few lazy days here in Keri before we head across to the mainland Peloponnese and continue our travels South and East into the Aegean. We are not in too much of a rush to get into the Aegean because it is very windy at the moment with the infamous Meltemi wind blowing at F6 – F9 almost constantly, we don’t need to be anywhere near that!!  The Meltemi generally starts to ease around mid to late September and we can then head slowly across the Aegean towards our winter destination of Finike, Turkey.

Cruising The Ionian Islands

Hi All Sue here

Well my sister and Richard arrived on June 1st and our first trip was to Lidl to stock up for the next three weeks!! We then spent one night in the bay of Corfu Town and the next morning sat out a major thunder storm. Unfortunately Summertime and Nostromo, two of our friends boats, got struck by lightning but luckily there wasn’t too much damage and they can continue sailing and get repairs done along the way. We then made a run for it across to Mourtos with more thunder and rain rolling behind us but it didn’t catch us up. In Mourtos we had the best steaks ever in a restaurant simply known as The Steak House, would definitely recommend it to anyone going there.

North of Gouvia, Corfu, with Summertime	Igoumenista Creek on the Mainland

The weather was pretty mixed for the first few days of June but then someone turned the temperature gauge up and all of a sudden we were in the high thirties in the shade and no breeze!! It was even too hot for Caroline and me some days!! So we spent a lot of our time in the water and swimming around the boat or to shore, all good exercise and of course we rewarded our efforts with lots of little drinkies!!

Sue and Caroline - Sundowners	Pretty Little Church, Vonista

Going through the Lefkas canal was fun, you have to go in single file for a couple of miles and somehow we ended up in front and had about twenty, mostly charter, boats behind us. They looked like our little ducklings following us.

Midday Traffic Jam Down the Levkas Canal	It’s a Hard Life !!

We went to so many islands with Caroline and Richard and they are all so different and beautiful in their own way. Even the local food dishes are different according to which Island you visit. Most places we anchored and tied up back to the shore or you could go on the town quays. That used to be very entertaining some nights watching all the charter boats coming in. Total carnage sometimes!! When we tie back to anywhere now we have made rat guards for our lines as our friends off Nostromo have had a rat on board. In fact it was in bed with them!! Aaaagh don’t want to even think about it!!

Strange Clouds Over Meganissi	Abelike Bay, Meganisis, Tied to the Shore

Richard worked very hard for his keep, scrubbing the bottom of the boat and swimming ashore with the lines but he was rewarded for all his hard work and was allowed total charge of Nimrod for two days. When we eventually do the Atlantic crossing he is aiming to come with us so is very keen to learn everything, which is a great help to me!! At the moment Caroline says she’s not doing it but it’s a long way of so never say never!!

Richard Working for his Holiday	Shiny Props Ready to go Back on

There are many boat trips to visit the Blue Caves but if you go early enough you can anchor by them and take your own dinghy in before all the trippers arrive. The time went so quickly with Caroline and Richard and we had such a great time with them. Richard flew home on the 19th June and their daughter Kathryn then arrived on the same flight so Caroline got to stay for another week.

Anchored Outside the Blue Caves, Zakynthos	More Caves

The same applies to Shipwreck bay, get there early before the trip boats and you can get in close to take some lovely photos.

Shipwreck Bay, Zakynthos	Deserted Anchorage, Pessada, Cephalonia

We have found many deserted bays, some with holiday apartments built and all left to ruin. One bay we found had three holiday villages on it and nobody there. One restaurant owner said this was the quietest summer in 25 years. Good for us wanting quiet anchorages but not for the Greeks.

Peaceful Anchorages Even in June	Ormos Polis, West Coast of Ithaca

Whilst Richard was with us Chris and him used to set of on their hikes returning some time later covered in scratches!! I prefer to stick to the paths so it’s great when Richard is here to go off on adventures with Chris into the undergrowth!!

Looking Across the Ithaca Straight to Cephalonia	Richard Practising his Golf in a Hidden Valley above Ormos Polis

Port Leone is a village that was destroyed in the 1953 earthquake and most of the villagers moved to the mainland as their water supply was destroyed. Every Sunday some people from Kalamos village visit the church still there and clean it and replace the oil in the lamps left burning there and put fresh flowers on the altar.

Deserted Village, Port Leone, Kalamos	Another View of Port Leone

There are lots of buggy type things out here, flying, jumping and crawling. The jumping ones are the worst as they jump on your shoulder as you are walking, even make it as far as your ear!! Chris says they are more frightened of me than I am of them but I can’t quite agree with that. It’s alright for him as he is taller and they can’t jump that high. The wasps and the mosquitoes seem to have some sort of shift thing going on. The wasps are on duty from 8 am until 8 pm then the mosquitoes take over. It’s hard to decide what time to have your evening meal, before eight it’s a very jumpy affair and after eight it turns more into a slapping time!!

Looking from Kastos to Kalamos and the Inland Sea Beyond	One House Bay, Astokos (Also now known to Nostromo as One Rat Bay!!)

We are now anchored in One House Bay but with no lines ashore as the rat that John killed might still have many friends ashore who would like to come aboard!!  Our plans are then to visit the Dhragonera and Echinades islands and then make way back to Cephalonia for the 16th July when I fly home for a week to look after my mum.

Seems like Sue has pretty much covered it all so not much for me to say!!!

Although everyone warned us that the Ionian gets very busy with all the charter boats from July onwards, so far it has not been too bad. The popular spots are certainly busier than a few weeks ago but if you wait until about 6pm then most of them head back to port to tie up to a town quay and you are left in the anchorage with only a few other boats. One House Bay, where we are now was very quiet last night with only 4 boats staying overnight, at midday there are now over 20 boats here and more still arriving – it is getting a bit full now and boats are trying to anchor far too close to others, all very entertaining.

There are many beautiful spots around that are not much visited by the charter boats so it is still very easy to get away from all the madness. However if we do decide we want to go into a harbour and use the town quay then we try and make sure we get in around early afternoon before all the others arrive, it is then much easier to find a space. Also most of the harbours seem to have a local taverna owner who will help you tie up, give you any info you want and hope that you use his place later on – all very nice and pleasant with no pressure, only a friendly smiling face to greet you.

It is great to find so many places to go within a few miles of each other because you really do not do very much sailing around the Ionian, it is mainly motoring unless you wait for the afternoon sea breeze to fill in. Then you get 10-15knts from around the NW from around 4pm till 8pm, then it dies down again to give you a quiet night and mirror calm waters in the morning. You need to be a bit careful in some places because the sea breeze gets accelerated around headlands and over the steep hills of some Islands and can increase to 25+ in no time at all. We found this out at Vathi on Ithaca where there was close to 40knts blowing down the mountains, a quick U turn and a mile south found us in a great calm anchorage with only 15knt gusts every now and then. Friends who were in Vathi at the time said it was pretty horrible in the harbour so we think we made the right decision. The other great thing about the Ionian is that the sea never builds to anything like rough so you can be sailing in 20knts of wind, 30 deg C and practically flat seas, just about ideal really!!!

We have a week to potter around before Sue heads back to Oswestry for a week so we are heading to some of the quieter spots for a few days then over to Argostoli, Cephalonia where we should bump into quite a few friends from Ragusa since everyone seems to be depositing or collecting guests at Argostoli about the same time.

Nimrod Sets Sail For 2013

Hi all Sue here

Well after a wonderful winter in Marina di Ragusa we have finally cast off our lines and sailed to Greece. We had such an amazing winter and met so many new friends it was quite sad to leave but the good thing is there are 22 boats from here all cruising around the Ionian for the summer months then heading to Finike in Turkey for the winter so I don’t think there will be a shortage of parties along the way!!

Last BBQ At Marina di Ragusa	Farewell Party Onboard Nimrod

My early morning walks with the ladies and keep fit sessions have come to an end and it’s time to start swimming around the boat again. Just wish the water was a bit warmer!!

Summertime Following Nimrod out of Marina di Ragusa	Landfall in Greece 58hrs Later – Mongonisi, Paxos

(Chris) Around mid April everyone was running around trying to get all the last minute jobs done before heading off to new cruising grounds for the summer, the weather was calm and sunny and everyone was planning to leave about a week before the end of April for a nice pleasant start to the summer. As usual though the weather had different ideas for us all and proceeded to blow from the NE / E direction at up to 25knts, since most of us were planning to go East this sort of weather was not what was needed. The locals assured us that Easterly winds never last more than a day or two so everyone was watching the weather forecasts to see when the wind would change back to the normal NW direction. The winds did not listen to the locals and continued to blow from the E for 2 weeks so it was May 6th before the wind changed and we could finally set sail.

The forecast looked good with around 15 to 20knts NW winds forecast for our generally Easterly course so everyone was up early and about 15 boats all left the Marina at various times in the morning. We had a great sail down to the SE corner of Sicily with two headsails poled out wing and wing to make the most of the wind almost directly behind us, the sea state was a bit mixed after the long spell of E winds but progress was good. We had already pretty much decided we were going to sail directly to Greece while others were heading up the E coast of Sicily for a stop in Syracuse.  We had a quick radio chat with Summertime and decided the forecast was as good as we were likely to get so we pointed the bows towards Greece and prepared for our longest non-stop passage so far, a total of 325nm and two nights at sea. In the end we sailed 21hrs, motorsailed 28hrs and motored 9hrs – could have been better but it could also have been a lot worse!!!

(Sue) We had a bit of a mixed sail across to Greece. It took 57 hours and the first 24 hours were not very pleasant but I’m sure the captain will fill in all the technical details, all I know is I didn’t feel very well!! But we are here now and it is very beautiful. I think it is going to be a very good summer. We sailed across in the company of two other boats from Ragusa, Summertime and Zimwee, so anchor drinks were called for when we arrived in Mongonisi, Paxos. The following day we also met up with our friends off Scarlett and had a BBQ on board with the Tuna we caught on our way across.

Tied to Town Quay, Gaios, Paxos	Gaios Harbour

Tying up to town quays is the way of life here and it can prove to be very entertaining but so far we have managed okay. Gaios is a very pretty town and it’s so easy being tied to the town quay, no more wet dinghy bums!! We also spent a night in Lakka and had a memorable evening out along with 8 Aussies. Our next trip was to the island of Mourtos where we anchored along with Summertime, we didn’t go ashore here as we plan to spend more time here when my sister and her husband arrive in June. So our next sail was across to Corfu.

Ready for Another BBQ	Scarlett and Wild Goose, Friends from Ragusa

When we reached Corfu we met up with some more Ragusa sailors off Wild Goose who were anchored in Garitsas Bay. So along with Scarlett another BBQ was called for. The men went shopping for steaks and as you can see they could only get small ones!! Chris was also meant to bring some wine back but bought 3 litres of Retsina instead, won’t send him shopping for wine again. We had a lovely evening and Bonaparte knew who to sit by for his steak. The next day Scarlett left for Gouvia but nearly left their dinghy behind so of course Chris had to get a picture of them reversing back for it!!

Bonaparte Checking The BBQ	Scarlett Forget the Dinghy

Our next stop was Stefanos Harbour which was pretty crowded by late afternoon. It was meant to be a very tranquil little place but at 11pm the Greek music started and didn’t finish until 4am. I wouldn’t have minded if we had been ashore joining in but it was the one night we had decided a no alcohol and early night was in order!! Well we have to detox sometimes!!

Venetian Castle off Corfu Town	Ay Stefanos Harbour, NE Corfu

We are now in a very peaceful little bay called Kerasia and we spent last night (Monday) here on our own. Think we will head up as far as Kassiopi tomorrow then just potter around along this coast until my sister and husband arrive on 1st June.

(Chris) As Sue says Greece has been very nice so far, the Greeks are invariably friendly and generally speak very good English and so far as we have seen the economic troubles seem to be having little impact in the Islands we are cruising. The scenery is lovely and there are so many little bays to anchor in that we are spoilt for choice. The town quays so far have all been free and because it is still quite early nowhere has been too busy for us to get where we want to go – no doubt that will all start to change in a few weeks as the Charter holiday season gets under way – we will have to make the best of it before then.

So far Nimrod has behaved wonderfully so all the hard work and jobs that we got done over the winter are paying off. The only downside so far is the amount of motoring we need to do, the wind is generally very light or too strong, however we are finding that the afternoon sea breeze usually gives 10 to 15knts of wind and distances are usually short between stops so we will have to get used to setting off around 2 or 3 in the afternoon to give us the best chance of sailing.

The other good thing we have noticed is that almost everywhere has good wifi signals that we can use from the boat and a lot are open access so we do not even need to go and find a password from the taverna.

We have a few days of Southerly winds forecast from tomorrow so we are going to head for Kassiopi on the N coast of Corfu to explore the town and anchorages until the wind turns back to the more usual NW direction.

Marina di Ragusa–Winter Stop

Hi all Sue here

Finally found time to sit down and update the blog!! We are now safely tucked up in Marina de Ragusa where life is very hectic. We spent a lovely two weeks with our friends Jean and John end of October, sightseeing around Syracuse and sampling the local chesses and wines.

Roman Ruins, Syracuse	Cathedral Ceiling, Syracuse

The weather as usual wasn’t playing ball so instead of cruising around Sicily we headed across to Malta, as our friends are both sailors they are used to having a plan B and they hadn’t been to Malta before so it all worked out fine. It also gave me time to assess transport to airport etc for my journey home in November. We then returned to Ragusa in time for their flights home and managed to fit in a party or two!! Jeans favourite saying of “Tell someone who cares” is now the favourite phrase of the day.

Blue Lagoon, Comino, Malta	Valleta, Malta

 

Sunrise, Early Departure from Malta	Car Rally, Ragusa

We thought it would be hard to beat the social life we had last year in Lagos but it is even livelier here and we have enjoyed meeting loads of new friends and of course socialising. While I was home visiting family and friends Chris was very busy socialising in the Marina and when I got back he informed me that we were in charge of organising Christmas Day and New Years Eve events!! To be fair he did most of the organising and everyone had a great time. Chris missed Christmas Day though as he had the dreaded 24 hour sickness bug, we had friends James and Jana staying for Christmas and James had the bug as well Christmas Day. Jana wanted to fly the Q flag!!, it was such a shame after all his hard work but they did both make New Years Eve.

New Friends in Ragusa	Party Time on Nimrod

My stay back in the UK was really good and I managed to fit in all the usual appointments as well as getting to see everyone. The best was seeing my granddaughters face when I turned up to meet her out of school on my first day home.

Sue meeting Grand Daughter, Courtney, from school	Os-Mole bin Laden !!!

We have done a bit of sightseeing around Ragusa and are hoping to explore a lot more when our friends, Helen and Marcel come to visit in March. We must do Etna before we leave here but at the moment it’s covered in snow and not accessible. I am looking after a little dog called Bonaparte for two weeks so that’s keeping me fit and I am off to a Sumba class this afternoon. Then there’s a talk on health insurance at 5pm and we are off out for a meal on our friends boat Awake at 7pm, it’s all go!!

Ragusa d Ibla, on the Hillside	Ragusa d Ibla Park

 

My lovely granddaughter	Four Generations

And now for something completely different!! Blog Recipes - Lemon Posset and Shortbread

Lemon Posset

397g can condensed milk

150 ml double cream

3 large unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest and juice

Whisk condensed milk and cream together until the mixture has thickened but still has a light and fluffy texture. This should take 4 minutes approx. Add the lemon zest and juice and whip for a further few seconds only. The mixture will thicken very quickly now. Spoon the lemon cream into 6 individual ramekins or a large trifle bowl, then chill for at least an hour or overnight.

Serve with the shortbread biscuits or brandy snaps.

 

Traditional Shortbread

2oz (50g) cornflour
4oz (125g) self raising flour (has baking powder already added)
6oz (175g) plain flour (or use a total of 10oz, 300g plain flour with ½ teaspoon
baking powder if you don’t have self raising flour)
4oz (125g) castor sugar (finer than ordinary granulated. I have used ordinary granulated without any problem)
8 oz (225g) butter – either salted or unsalted – I prefer unsalted
Preheat oven to 180˚C, 350°F, gas mark 4. Grease a Swiss roll tray – say
13½ x 9½x¾ inches, 340x250x20mm. Can also be baked in a smaller, deeper
tray, if you like thicker pieces. Just watch temperature and timings.
Sieve all the dry ingredients together. Melt butter gently then mix with dry
ingredients till it all comes together in a soft dough.
Press into the tray with your hand, as evenly as possible – nice job this, warm
and squidgy. Prick over with a fork.
Bake 30 – 40 minutes (check at 20 minutes and rotate tray or lower heat if
browning too fast). Should be golden all over when ready.
Sprinkle with castor sugar while still warm. Mark into fingers and leave to cool in the
tray.
Enjoy!

Hi All, Chris’ turn now!!

As you can see I have finally got Sue to sit down and do some typing to let you all know what we have been doing.

We have had a very busy summer and have covered far too many miles, we were really glad to get tied up in Ragusa and to finally stop for the winter. The weather here in Sicily has not been anywhere near as nice as we enjoyed in Lagos last winter, we have had long periods of windy weather with sometimes 3 or 4 days of near 30knt winds without a rest. Fortunately the Christmas and New Year period was very nice with mainly sunny days, however it has still been much better than the recent weather back in the UK so we should be grateful. Having said that we are currently pinned inside the boat with 30 – 35knt winds, thunder, lightning and hailstorms with the forecast saying it will continue for three days.

For those of you who are interested here is a bit of a summary of our summer voyaging:

We left Lagos on the 10th April and finally tied up in Ragusa on 27th November after a couple of trips to Malta to take and collect Sue from her flights back home. That is a total of 231 days and we covered 2840 miles in that time. We did much more motoring than we would like but that is pretty typical for Med Cruising, we managed to sail for 36% of the time, motorsailed for 25% and motored for 39% out of our 550hrs at sea. We put nearly 220hrs onto each of our engines and used 1065 ltrs of diesel.

We are planning on a much quieter cruising season this coming summer with, hopefully, many fewer miles added to our log. We are heading over to the Greek Islands and are only planning to cover the Ionian Islands and adjacent mainland Greece this summer. We will cover the rest of the Greek Islands and Turkey in future years.

Nimrod has been extremely reliable during our travels in 2012 with only a few rare and minor breakdowns to deal with apart from the normal routine maintenance. We have the usual list of jobs to do over the winter but even this list is much shorter than previous years.

We are booked in here at Marina di Ragusa until the end of April and then we will set off to explore new waters and destinations, we will try and keep you all updated via the blog and as ever we really like to hear back from you all about what you are up to, we do miss all the gossip and scandal from back home and also the updates from fellow cruisers who are now in different areas.