With the exception of two private islands, the next closest island from Lefkas was Meganissi. The most popular anchorages on Meganisi are along the N and NE coast. From W to E, they are Spartakhori, Little Vathi, Ormos Kapali, Ormos Abeliki and Port Atheni. Between them they offer nearly 20 different coves in which a yacht can moor, usually with a line ashore.

We decided to do our own private tour of some of the coves to see how busy they were before making any final decision for the night. Several coves were occupied by super-sized yachts. Their tenders larger than Flirtie whilst others looked more like parking lots which just didn't do a thing for us.

As we motored around we noticed once again how deep it is right up to the shore which has made us question whether our existing windlass can cope with a vertical lift retrieval which can be in excess of 25 meters! We already know from our melted wire issue in May that the windlass is underrated for our yacht and that the wire is unfortunately undersized too. On that basis we have decided to not risk burning out the motor so going forward our plan is to actively look for anchorages that are less than 20 meters and if we feel inclined we will try lines shore but ideally we'll be looking for anchorages where we can swing and with room. It could be a huge ask but only time will tell.

As for the windlass, it's certainly looking likely that we should upgrade it and the wiring as a winter project especially if we wish to anchor for free in cruising grounds such as Greece, Croatia and Turkey. Our alternative would be to use the harbour walls or buoys, the majority of which charge in some way or another by means of a daily charge or a meal ashore as payment for an overnight stay.

Eventually we managed to find a suitable anchorage to swing in 17 meters at Abeliki. The bay was totally unspoilt with very little surrounding development apart from two tavernas ashore, a small pebbled beach and a small pontoon, long enough for about six boats. Unfortunately though, it became far too busy so yet again we felt it necessary to look after Flirtie with only one of us venturing ashore which was frustrating.


anchorage at Abeliki before the late afternoon influx


A 20 minute walk over the hill to Little Vathi, the next cove with lots of Tavernas, coffee shops and bars

Total distance this season: 582.82 nautical miles