Thursday 23 September to Sunday 25 September
After saying goodbye to Nemyra and Lansing, we have a couple of days to hang about in Preveza and get Clio ready for our next crew. We also had a meeting with Stephan (who comes with great praises from fellow yachties) to talk about some work for Clio's winterisation.

Sunday 25 September
Due to some logistical complications, Laurel, Neil and Margaret joined us a day early. They were wizzed in by taxi and speedily transferred to Clio's innards. This worked out well as Chris took them through their orientation to Clio. With the all-important welcome drink and nibbles on the table (photo in the center) we had a great first sundowner session. They seem to adjust very quickly to their new environment, a great new crew! As nobody wanted to cook, we went off to a local restaurant on the quay for a very filling (and cheap) gyros meal.

Monday 26 September
After getting stocked up on supplies, Francis took the new crew through the safety briefing (middle-left photo)and we then headed into the Ambracian Gulf, an inland sea east of Preveza. We had a lunch break anchored at the tiny island of Kefalos where Chris and Neil braved the pie-soup color of the water and went for a swim (middle-right photo) followed by lunch. We all got some relaxation until it was time to move to the little town of Vonitsa for our crew's first night on anchor, well protected behind a little island (Koukoumitsa?) which is connected to the mainland by a causeway.

Tuesday 27 September
This morning the early bird caught a beautiful dawn while the rest of the Clio population was still on one ear (bottom-right photo). Sometime later life returned to Clio's decks after a range of hot drinks were distributed to the various crew members. Breakfast on deck with a lovely view of the causeway with what looks much like a Japanese bridge, and Vonitsa town with its Venetian castle and defensive walls on the hill. To allow all some shore leave, we moved Clio around to the bay beneath the Venetian fort and Francis deposited Chris and the crew ashore to explore. There was a fair bit of wind so the ride caused one or two damp back sides. Chris and Neil wandered the back streets and at last found the steep track leading up to the fort which was constructed in the 10th century by the Venetians.
Because of Vonitsa's commanding view over the gulf and over a small natural harbor, the hill of Vonitsa was fortified by the Byzantines and after them by the Venetians and the Ottomans.

We could find the following timeline of Vonitsa's history:
10th century: first documents confirming the existence of a Byzantine city on the hill
11th century (1070): The Venetians were granted with commercial privileges and the permit to build a castle there
1204: After the fall of Constantinople, Vonitsa becomes part of the Byzantine Despotate of Epirus
1294: Vonitsa is given to the principality of Taranto as dowry
1362: It passed in the dominion of the Tocco family of Kefalonia
1448: The Venetians come back
1479: The Ottomans conquer Vonitsa
1684: The Venetians under Morozini make a new come back.
1714: The Ottomans recapture Vonitsa
1717: The Venetians take back the city and the castle. They remain there until the end of their Republic in 1697.
1697: The French occupy briefly the area before being driven off by Ali pasha in 1698.
1821: The Greek war of independence. The castle was captured for a while by the Greek rebels but the Turks returned and stayed until 1828.
1832: The city 0fficially joined Greece.

The hill chosen for the construction of the fortress had a cliff on its western side, but on the eastern one it gently slopes towards the sea. For this reason this side was protected by three rings of walls.

The entrance to the fortress is hidden behind a tower and this is typical of medieval warfare, when attacks were conducted by using battering-rams: a lateral gate increased the exposure of the assailants. The inner circle of walls was strengthened by round towers. There is little space between the outer and the inner walls and the latter are on higher ground; in this way assailants who had succeeded in breaching the former were impeded in continuing their attack.
The last defense was entrusted with a stronghold where the residence of the commander and other key buildings were located. Source http://www.kastra.eu/castleen.php?kastro=vonitsa

While Chris and Neil enjoyed wandering through the well-fortified structure, Laurel and Margaret checked out the village and found a good coffee shop.

Back to Clio and we made our way back past Preveza and through the channel on our way to Lefkas on Lefkadas. Skipper is always happy to be out of the narrow channel with shallows on both sides. It doesn't allow for much leeway or wandering thoughts.
The trip to Lefkada town was quite quick and we only had to wait for 1.5 hour before the floating bridge opened to let us through. This time we found a good spot at Lefkas' quay. As our wine stocks did not match the predicted consumption, we stocked up on this very important supply. Francis decided to bite the bullet and buy a new pair of Nikon binoculars for a very reasonable price. The old ones were at the end of their life and it was hard to see much through them. Well, we're now set to leave the high-population areas and explore the South-Ionian islands.