This morning, Monday 15 May, we left our tranquil spot in Marko Bay (on the Ambracian Gulf) and moved around the corner to the town of Vonitsa. We tied up stern to in the small harbour in the last available spot. There is no charge here, which we think, explains the number of apparently unloved and possibly abandoned yachts gathering cobwebs and barnacles.

After securing Clio we set off to find a coffee shop with WiFi in the hopes of being able to access it from Clio. Sadly the signal is not strong enough so no luck. We then wandered through the back streets and discovered a much larger township than we expected. Further wandering led us to the farmers markets we had been told of by our friendly farmer Maki in Preveza. As we entered the market, guess who we found selling his chicken and duck eggs, yep that same farmer. He gave us such a friendly greeting and then introduced us to his brother across the way who was selling his lovely local honey. After promising to return we ventured further into the market to inspect and purchase some of the fabulous fresh produce. All organic and at a fraction of the cost of Australia. We also managed to find a basil plant and so a warm welcome on board for Kathy III.

On the way back out, as promised, we stopped again to see our friendly farmer Maki and purchased 8 eggs and he added in two complimentary duck eggs, for us to try, all for the princely sum of €3. I love buying fruit and veg here, wonderfully fresh and $$ back in the farmers pockets, instead of lining the pockets of some non-descript share holder.

After a relaxing afternoon we decided to try the little pizza restaurant on the quay, it is very Greek and we are the only customers, mmm we will risk it. Much to our delight we enjoyed a magnificent Greek salad followed by a delicious "special" pizza, along with a quart carafe of wine for Chris all for €20 oh and friendly traditional Greek service. The pizza is one of the best!

As we returned to Clio, Chris stopped to say hello to a stray puppy, who immediately took that as an invitation to adopt her as her owner. As we had some leftover stew and pasta in the fridge, we thought she might be hungry. Well… that was an understatement: she very quickly consumed the food and licked that bowl completely clean. She then spotted our plank rope with a knot in the end and decided this was a chew toy, and it was time to play. After a few minutes of frivolity she headed back to town, possibly to check out any further prospects of other short-term owners with leftovers.


We spent the next three days exploring the local fort (mid-left photo) where we found hundreds of millipedes on the cobblestone road leading to the castle (center photo), preventing Chris misappropriating a couple of lemons from a tree with hundreds on them, doing chores such as adding a considerable amount of clothes hooks in all cabins, and several serious shopping sprees At last we were ready to leave on Thursday. But Mother Nature had other plans, sending strong winds our way that midday and we thought better of it and decided to stay put for one more night in our free berth.


Friday 19 May and we managed to get away in the morning and moved further into the Gulf not far from Vonitsa to anchor in another very peaceful and pretty spot. It is great this time of year before the hordes arrive for the summer. The water is now at 25 degrees but with the cold wind still blowing from the north it is still too cold to take a plunge. So we will enjoy the quiet while we can.

Saturday 20 May and Francis called Chris out of bed this morning with an excited, quick you must see this. There was a large horde of moon jelly fish (Aurelia aurita, bottom middle photo) floating around Clio's stern, and this was not to be the only exciting sighting for the day. We are expecting stronger winds and some rain tomorrow from the north, so we raised the anchor and made our way back to our earlier anchorage on the other side of Vonitsa. On the way we spotted a flock of pelicans, first time we have seen them in the meds. We’re now securely pinned down in this very tranquil inlet, ready for the weather tomorrow.


A rainy and windy morning today, Sunday 21 May, so after a hearty omelette breakfast, it is a good time to rearrange our storage cabin that has been receiving whatever we didn’t want to store in the main cabins for some time now. It is a mess! We’re taking everything out, rearranging it all in a couple of storage boxes based on a fuzzy kind of box membership assignment function along the lines of maintenance, spare parts, equipment, and dunno’s. When we are done it is much more organised and we even created a little more space, which, no doubt, will be quickly filled with more stuff!

Ahh, how sweet it is to rest after all this work!