Wednesday 28 September
We're moored to the quay in Lavkas town and the wind is building a bit. Chris went out that morning and took some very good scenic photos. As we want to get out of the 'big town' environment of Preveza and Levkada port, we need to get going before the wind will be a menace getting through the 4 km long channel through the wetlands that separate Lefkas from the mainland. Our neighbour's yacht's anchor is not holding very well and is pushed by the wind into our starboard side. Skipper tries unsuccessfully to raise someone on board, so he decides to tie the pushy boat to its starboard neighbor (from the same charter company) allowing us to leave without having to wait until somebody may turn up (eventually?). We managed to get clear and head down the canal to our next destination for the night, Nidri. The township is a bit further south on Lefkas Island eastern shores and was the scene of a very nasty storm in 2011 which caused a lot of damage to moored and anchored boats. We hope history will not repeat itself tonight, it is bad for the skipper's so badly needed beauty sleep.

Before we find a berth for the night, we are having lunch in a little bay on Sparti Island, just out of Nidri. The water is very clear and we had a great swim there, followed by some communal sun bathing on the foredeck. The snorkeling session delivered a fairly big spiny starfish (Marthasterias glacialis) to show the new crew members the treasures of the underwater realm.

As we reversed into our mooring in Nidri, Chris was attempting to pull up the lazy line to tie to Clio's bow (and function as an anchor), but after much tugging and yelling we realised that the line has got on the wrong side of our keel. So we let it go, move out of the berth and tried again. This time it came up on the right side of our keel and we got Clio securely moored. Time for our new crew to venture out and find a nice restaurant to enjoy their evening meal. Nidrisi turns out to be a nice, be it touristy, town with many good restaurants on the quay, and our crew has no problems having a very entertaining night there.

Thursday 29 September
Next day we decided to go to Meganisi for the night but stop off in a bay on Scorpios private island, formerly owned by Onasis who married Jacky Kennedy there in '68 (yes, even our blog is celebrity-aware these days). Scorpios is currently owned by the 20-something years old daughter of a Russian billionaire businessman. The 2011 census noted 5 inhabitants. The water was very inviting and everyone had a little swim before lunch.
After lunch it is time to continue our journey to the island of Meganisi, where we tied to the pontoon at Karnagio restaurant (Georgio's taverna). Much to Chris's horror the mooring line again got caught on our keel. We have never had this problem before, and a neighbour from two boats away jumped across and kindly helped to get the line free from between the fenders and after releasing it Chris was able to get it up and tie it to the bow cleat. The neighbour very thoughtfully came back later as Chris was enjoying a well-earned glass of wine and assured her that the guy from the pontoon had done the wrong thing with the lazy line and it was not her fault.
As we're using their pontoon, we're supposed to use their restaurant, so tonight we eat in the taverna as our fee.

Friday 30th September
We have decided to take advantage of this lovely spot and stay another night. The facilities here are great. We have a washing machine at our disposal and get our laundry washed. Also they have lovely hot showers which the ladies indulge in, and a nice little village down the road, just 10 minutes walk away. Laurel, Neil and Margaret spent a couple of hours wandering through the very pretty port village of Vathi.

We had a late lunch of fried rice and then back to the taverna to share a selection of small dishes for dinner. A very relaxing day!

Saturday 1 October
A leisurely morning at the Karnagio pontoon, Laurel and Margaret taking advantage again of the hot showers ashore. We headed out again today to the small island of Atokos (with the beautiful 'geological' wall, remember?). Once we got out of the bay we set the headsail and bobbed along in 6-7 knots winds until the wind dropped off. We then motored to One-House Bay on Atokos and anchored in. Getting close to Atokos with its high mountains, the katabatic winds piped up again and caused the temperature to drop considerably. It is getting chilly now so the crew spent the rest of the day rugged up in the cockpit reading and practicing their new found skill of posting photos and messages on Facebook, after some tutoring by Chris.
After some sundowning, Laurel then prepared a delicious Italian pasta dish for dinner, what a life!