Inland Sea
10 July 2017 | Preveza - 6,358 NM
Sunny and Very Hot
We survived our last night of heavy winds with no problems and I even managed a few hours sleep as the winds died down not long after midnight. We went ashore in the morning to stock up on supplies and to say goodbye to Beccs on Miss Chips. Our plan was to head out to the Inland Sea that afternoon. When we returned to Freya we realised that if we were quick we could make the 15:00 opening of the bridge on the Lefkas canal. So we dumped the shopping and took off our shore lines. All that we then had to do was winch in the anchor and we were away. The first twenty five metres of chain went up no problem, but then the windlass started struggling and stopped. The anchor had dug in so well it didn't want to come up. We drove the boat forward over the anchor and it came free and we were on our way. The bridge was a little late opening so we had to slow down a little on the final approach, otherwise we would have timed it perfectly.
We arrived in Vonitsa in the Inland Sea (Gulf of Amvraki) just after 18:00 and dropped the anchor in a beautiful bay just east of the village. The bay is divided by a small island linked to the mainland by a pretty arched stone causeway. We spent a beautifully peaceful night at anchor, watching the sunset and were serenaded, first by a piper on a neighbouring boat and then a chorus of cicadas. The pipers rendition of Scotland the Brave was applauded by all the boats and he followed this with a few encores until he ran out of puff. Anchoring there was very different than the previous few nights in Nydri. However it wasn't going to be that easy. We anchored in a 15kt westerly and the wind died down to zero pretty soon afterwards, however just after dawn the wind picked up very quickly up to 25+ kts easterly. The wind was coming from completely the opposite direction in which the anchor was set. We were woken up by the anchor alarm going off and had to reset the anchor for the new wind direction at 07:30 - before we had even had a cup of tea! The heavy winds only lasted an hour or so.
That day the wind was forecast to switch back to the west in afternoon, so we thought it best to be back on the boat by then in case there was a repeat of the morning's problems, so we headed off early (for us at least) to explore Vonitsa. We took the dinghy ashore by the causeway and walked into town. Vonitsa is a nice small town, not too touristy but with a few tavernas and harbour side bars and a beach. It is overlooked by a large Venetian fort which we climbed up to and explored. There was no information on its history but the views from the top were amazing and worth the climb. We returned to Freya after stocking up on supplies and a quick visit to one of the bars.
The winds did change as forecast, but this time when the anchor tripped, it reset itself almost immediately so apart from adjusting the anchor alarm, we had nothing to do. In the evening we took the dinghy ashore twice, once to get some water for our tanks from a tap on the causeway and then again for a beautiful sunset stroll around the island through its pine forest.
We left Vonitsa, heading towards the north east corner of the inland sea and anchored off a beach near the town of Mendihion. This part of the gulf is supposed to be good for bird and turtle watching. There wasn't much in the way of bird life but we did see quite a few turtles. The sea is very murky here and they only surface briefly for air and so each sighting is very brief leaving you wondering whether it was really there. We only stayed a few hours as the anchorage was very exposed and after checking out a few alternatives returned to Vonitsa. This we time anchored nearer the town, almost under the fort. This was a good choice as not only was it was sheltered from the evening wind, but on route we saw a few dolphins.
The next morning we headed to Preveza and moored in our usual spot on the town quay. After a quick oil change, we went into town for an evening stroll and a spot of dinner. Dinner wasn't quite what we had planned though. First there was an international choral festival in the town. Groups of choral singers from all over Europe were walking through the town performing for a few minutes at a time outside the bars and tavernas, so we sat down for a drink and let the entertainment come to us for a while. We then moved on to the town square on the seafront, where earlier we saw them setting up for an event, the climax of the singing we thought. No it was a rhythmic gymnastics gala. The competitors ranged in age from 7 or 8 to young adults and the standard was varied, but always very high. By the time we were ready to move on it was nearly 10:00pm so instead of a leisurely romantic dinner, we grabbed a quick gyros on the way home.
The next day, we took Freya one mile north to the boatyard where she was duly lifted and put her to bed for the summer. Before we set off though we had to evict yet another stowaway. This time it was a tiny, two inch long lizard. We are returning home, for a break and to escape the crowds and heat for a while. The heat for most of the last month or so has been quite oppressive with temperatures sometimes pushing 40 degrees in the shade. The only thing you can do is sit and slowly melt. We will probably return in September, but before we get back to the UK, we are having a bit of a holiday and are on a road trip exploring inland for 8 or 9 days.
The link to our map seems to be stopping people leaving comments on the blog, so I've removed it from these posts for now. I will be keeping it up to date so simply go to one of the special map only posts and click the link there to see it