24 July
The plan was to sail to Fisckardo, a must see place on the north coast of Cephalonia. It became evident upon leaving Sivota that that would become difficult on account of the wind strength and direction.

We sailed tight on the breeze in 25+ knots with occasional gusts to 30 knots. You could see the clouds being pulled over the mountain tops, a sure sign of breeze. At one stage Susanna asked us if she could catch the bus back to Sivota. Laugh, did we what particularly when we saw all their bikinis hanging off the end of the boom. So with the boat heeling over big time, we just managed to save them.

Looking at the chart we divided to go to a small village on Ithaca called Frikes. On entering the bay it became very gusty, but the harbour afforded good protection. What struck us was that the few boats in there were along side one key and not stern to as per usual. The opposite quay was free so we approached with caution. With Sabrina on the helm, we nudged our way in. I jumped in the water and swam in front of the boat as we approached. With many of these quays, they have rubble and groins adjacent the wall which can damage your rudder. The pilot book did not mention anything, but we just had to check. It did mention however ferry wash can cause problems. Boy, was that an under statement. It was all good and we tied up.

Frikes is a small village but absolutely magnificent. During the day more yachts turned up. Out of the blue this swell surged in and all boats on our quay rolled uncontrollably. As it turns out the high speed ferries that travel to Italy kick up the swell. We were told that cleats had been ripped off boats and that masts had locked together from adjacent yachts. It was quite severe. They used to have a floating pontoon but I think that was destroyed. To counter this we kept the boat off the quay by pulling the encore chain tight and slightly easing the stern lines.

Whist there we were anchored next to a couple in their eighties who were still active sailing in the Med. He was as fit as a bull and after dropping their anchor she donned her snorkel gear and checked that it had not crossed over our chain. We complimented them on their zest for life and what an example to everyone that given health, keep on living every day to the fullest.