Ruths week onboard.
10 September 2015
Thursday August 27th- leaving a very cold wet uk ,arrived in Argostoli Airport on Kefalonia.at 10pm.
Waiting in the airport was Jim with a placard with my name welcoming me to Jimbo-s adventures, little did I know at the time what an adventure it would be! I've been on and off boats a lot of my life but not slept on-board and littler experience of sailing.
Drove across to Sami where Nanjo was moored and a welcome nights sleep after travelling.
Friday after a leisurely breakfast we set off along the Ithaca channel? But first safety checks, and my first challenge-man overboard drill-if Jim fell overboard I needed to know how to turn the boat and pick him up, so over went a fender ! think I had a couple of tries and managed to rescue the fender!
After a couple of hours, partly sailing,,seeing two Dolphins magic, ,we moored in Perapigadi Bay on Ithaca for a swim then lunch, a wonderful greek salad prepared by Jim,beers and squash.
Set off again towards,Vathi to moor and stay the night,sat in a taverna overlooking the bay to have our evening meal.
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Saturday.After breakfast set of again managed to have the sail up for a while-heading towards Spartochori, stopping off for swim and salad lunch in Desimou bay. Spartachori a delightful place to stop .We walked up the hillside to look over the bay before we came back for a meal in the taverna , the taverna/moorings owned by Jerry who tho a very serious ,dictatorial Greek ! looks after you from the time you arrive -you just have to do as you are told ,he might even shout at you then !
Sunday set off towards Lefkada where there is a huge Marina,,stopped on the way for swim / lunch in Ormos Bay overlooking cultivated hillside with black sheep wandering about.- arrived late afternoon in Lefkada Marina.The entry to the marina is a very narrow channel thankfully markers to stop you running aground.-either side are vast salt flats where I imagine during bird migration many birds would stop over to feed.,
Lefkada Marina arrived late afternoon very different from our other overnight harbours numerous facilities and a few rules , I have never seen so many yachts many charter I imagine.
The main town was very close and we wandered around the shops ,Jim wanted to go to the Chandlery to see if a part for the yacht he needed had arrived.-it hadn-t.but he bought a pump anyway.-
During the evening the weather became very gusty tho nothing was forecast, we decided to see what it was like in the morning!
little change the next morning ,so best rather than go out to sea again to stay put-
Monday hardly anyone moved out of the marina..a chance to explore the town more. We tried a different Taverna ,I can-t believe the amount of food that arrives despite attempts to reduce what we ordered .
Tuesday Wind had dropped so we set off after Breakfast and filled the water tanks, and put in Diesel,explored along further north a short way to look at a rather special bridge which opened every hour to let Yachts through, typically Greek it was an old roll on ferry, small fishing boats were able to pass through at the side anytime ,.It seems it was done to avoid tax as Islands paid less tax, until recently, the lifting bridge takes you onto the mainland .
Back down the narrow channel south again towards Vlicho bay for Lunch stop,,,Jim spends quite a bit of time here loves the bay and there are boat builders ,electricians ,laundry everything he needs to do any repairs -it-s a very sheltered bay surrounded by mountains. We did have a bit of a surprise as we were surrounded by hundreds ,thousands of brown jelly fish !all sizes from large dinner plate to a penny piece-Jim did find out they go there in September to breed and they sting so just as well we stayed out of the water ..
Onwards after lunch onwards to to Sivota delightful harbour nice tavena,-really liked .
Wednesday after breakfast we set off only a little way out of the harbour and I saw smoke coming out of the cabin, quick response from Jim and we turned everything off!! what next no engine ! luckily the wind was coming from behind so we just sat and drifted back to the harbour -surprised that on a yacht there seems no way of telling anyone you are in trouble ! no engine makes it difficult to steer!! well a perfect bit of mooring by Jim,despite no engine !
Safely back in harbour Jim set about looking at what had happened to the electrics -some wires had burnt out so needed to be replaced -he set about repairing/replacing . Repairs done by early afternoon;Thinking about my need to get back to Kefalonia for my flight home we decided to head off to Vathi to reduce the return time, there was a scary very choppy sea as we headed over to Vathi. Jim put the jib up to make the journey quicker and faster, I didn't relax until we were close to land again. We moored in the harbour in Vathi overnight
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Thursday-.Planned an early start , starter motor didn-t work- Jim imagined again it might have been the damage to the electrics which caused the problem . Would I or get to the airport to get my flight home late that evening,!! Jim checked out all the electrics and indeed more damage than he had seen before discovered, but managed to do a tempory fix- off we set of again from Vathi to Sami -
We did finally get to Sami by late morning, Jim picked up the hire car and we spent the rest of the day pottering around Kefalonia ,ending up at the airport in time for my late flight home..
I hope during the week I learnt more about Yachts and how Nanjo in particular works ,sailing, when the anchor goes down ,front/back how much depth you need to be safe- the times when to put out fenders when to shout help!
I tried hard to record sailing times but sorry Jim failed dismally -you might have to add that in-
I must say what good company Jim is and boundless energy..
Would I go again- every time..
Thank you for a great week.-Ruth
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