Moving on from our cave find we sailed to a tiny bay called Kolpos Lourdinan where we anchored in clear turquoise waters, ripples occasionally caused by fish seeking food from the crumbs blown from the cockpit of Argonauta.

It was here we tried out the new hair clippers, I had bought a 12mm clipper blade thinking it would be short but OK for my hair ,as spending money on a haircut when Pete could do it for me is silly. Well I didn't really think it through, 12mm is not very long, Pete duly used the clippers and began to cut my hair, loads of hair seemed to be coming off but I was confident that as long as he did it all it would look good. AGH!! I was scalped. Pete says I look younger, children in shops stare at me and when I catch a glimpse in a mirror I wonder who it is. Yes, it is a good cut, yes, I asked for it , yes I bought the clipper guide, yes it is cooler, BUT, is it what I expected NO....it is SHORT!!! However it will grow again.

We spent our usual time swimming and snorkelling, fortunately the water was not too deep as on one such swim Pete dropped his mask and snorkel, which rather than floating made a beautiful gentle drift to the sea bed!! Pete then used my mask and snorkel to retrieve it, any deeper and it would have been impossible as he came up gasping for air saying it was definitely the edge of his free dive ability.
We spent 2 days here, watching boats come and go, soaking the sun rays and cooling off in the water before moving again, this time to the next island, just visible in the hazy distance, Zakynthos. This is an Island I have been keen to visit for many years after a colleague went and raved about its beauty.
We set sail for once with a slight but favourable wind using the cruising shute and as the day wore on so the afternoon breeze kicked in and we had to snuff the shute in about 16 knots of wind an pull the Genoa from her furled state, this kept our speed up and we arrived at the tiny harbour of Ay Nicholides. We made our way slowly into the bay, most of the sea wall was already full of boats and there seemed to be an area reserved for expected vessels (turned out to be a flotilla fleet). So we edged into the bay and slowly towards the beach. About 50 metres from the beach we dropped anchor and hoped we would be OK. (It feels like there is a lot of wait and see and hope in our anchoring, I wonder if others feel the same?)
Ay Nicholides has very little there. Several restaurants, 2 mini markets and a petrol station, nothing else. It does however have a ferry that runs twice a day, this passed close to stern each run and a boat that anchored just behind us was told to move by the harbour master as the entrance affords little room for manoeuvre. Whilst ashore we stopped at a taverna for iced coffee and were met by friendly waitress whose boyfriend sat at our table stating if we needed anything- water, fuel, shower, washing machine he could help. He offered us the use of his shower in the courtyard above the restaurant and use of the washing machine... all free!!! Yes we did feel obliged to have a meal but the food was good and we ate 2 courses, wine, water, melon and ouzo for under 20 Euros for the 2 of us... well worth it.
Whilst using the washing machine I met a Spanish lady who is also spending the summer cruising. It was nice to talk with someone other than Pete and we had a good chat, we met again later that evening and swapped blog addresses, so now have another friend in the sailing fraternity.

Next morning we got up fairly early to try to beat the heat of the day. We set off in the dinghy to the 'Blue Caves', the place where all the day trips seem to go. We explored small caves and coves and were delighted by chalky caves with deep blue water and reflecting blues on the ceilings with stalactites hanging down. The clear waters allowed us to study the fish, starfish and anemones below and the rocks seemed to be lit up by the sun showing pinks, purples and oranges glistening under water. We were able to go into tiny caves barely wide enough for the dinghy and look out onto the clear blueness of the sea and sky. Many of the caves with their twinkling waters, rocks and sea bed felt magical and despite a barrage of photos, none really captured the feel of silence and awe their vastness provided.
Having spent 2 days around Ay Nicholides we moved on to Zakynthos town. Here we were to try med mooring in earnest, dropping the anchor and motoring back to the quay. Well, lots of talking on how resulted in my lining Argonauta up perfectly. We had a space big enough for some allowance for mis manoeuvre and Pete dropped the anchor in readiness. Unfortunately he dropped too early and we stopped about 15 metres short of the quay wall. A further 2 attempts and we made it in, we didn't hit anything, didn't do anyone any harm but the air was as blue as the sky at my end of the boat!!!
On our way in I spotted a turtle, however the sea changed to a weird chalky green and that was about all the sea life we saw there.
We were helped in mooring by a fellow English sailor who warned us of someone who may come for mooring fees. We were advised to say we will pay the port police, whilst not totally legal this man is allegedly the cousin of a dignitary and I think may bend the rules a little. Still he did persuade me to pay 5 Euros for water, which when we did pay the port police, the raised eyebrows said it all!
Having paid for water we filled up and hosed down the boat. We even did some washing.... well I washed using washing powder and water in the sink, then pegged it onto the Jib sheets and hosed it down until water runs clear leaving it to dry in the sun, seems to work well. The Canadian family in the next boat's hose didn't reach so we lent them ours and the following day the Italian couple next to us blew the anchor windlass fuse which we had a spare, so ,we did our bit for international good will whilst here.
We explored Zakynthos on bikes in blistering heat and after 2 days decided to move on.
By the way, the water we filled with in Zakynthos is terrible, tastes weird even when been through the 3 stage UV filter and filter jug so beware! New learning point... taste the water BEFORE emptying and refilling tanks.

Again we were moving, this time to Greek mainland of Kilini. Unfortunately little wind and a fair bit of motoring. Kilini is as it sounds... pretty killed off. There is a bar, a shop and a couple of tavernas but that is it. We anchored just outside the harbour where huge ferries arrived and departed regularly (who knows why they would want to come here) and made our way ashore in the dinghy. We sat in a beach bar surrounded by the 'beautiful people', you know the ones with perfect skin, teeth, bodies and swimwear!!! We had iced coffee and for once ,I tried freddo (cold cappuccino) , unfortunately this made me 'dump' big time (for those of you who don't know this is a side effect of having a gastric bypass and eating or drinking sweet foods... the result is nausea, sweating, shaking and feeling terrible- like a diabetic low sugar attack), well Pete managed to get me back to the boat and I took to bed for at least an hour before surfacing wobbly and sorry for myself. (Note to self, avoid Freddo coffee).

Next day we set off for Nisis Oxia, however winds were not in our favour and we at last did what we keep saying we will do and went where the wind blew us, this was to Ithaca.
We anchored in the bay of Perapogahi in a depth of about 14 metres!! This is massive to us being used to 3-5 on the east coast of the UK but 14 m was barely a stones throw from the beach. We again swam and snorkelled around exploring. Ithaca is known for its spring waters and on one such exploration we came across freezing cold water that when seen from a couple of metres away presented as a weird distorted haze under the water. Fish swum in it and the sea life was prolific around its edges, an amazing sight.
We again watched boats come and go and were joined by some massive super yachts with their toys strung out behind, one had 3 jet skis 2 dinghies and a RIB which when they came to put them away they just motored into the stern of the boat, closed a door and pumped out the water. How the other half live! Still we had the same view so not such a big difference.

We are now at anchor in the harbour of Vathi. This is a huge inlet that is surrounded by mountains, has a sprawling taverna filled sea front and good holding mud bottom.
We did anchor cautiously in 6 metres of water but were visited by the port police and told to move as a large ferry visits at night. After a little disagreement with a Dutch boat (Ariel) who thought it funny to first shout at me for mooring too close then when I pulled up the anchor to move a little, changed his anchorage to where we were going and forcing us to move twice more! We have since been sat at a comfortable if occasionally rolly anchorage. At night the place becomes alive with people eating at the many tavernas on the quayside and we will go ashore later to soak up some atmosphere and probably a little wine!
Oh one last thing, having moved out of the way of the ferry many boats arriving late anchored where we had been, I was disgruntled at this until just after midnight when it arrived. I am sure by the mass exodus and changes to anchoring today there were many jittery sailors who were not as lucky as us to have been warned, finding themselves , woken out of their berth's by the blast of a loud horn and rather closer than comfortable to a massive an poorly manoeuvrable lump of metal in the dead of night!