We plan to return to the UK for August and have booked a berth for Splice in Prevesa Marina. Given that comments we have read suggested it was still under development we thought we should check it out on our way south. The structure is very new and clearly the surrounding buildings haven’t been finished but the berthing was OK with new lines and cleats etc. Our only problem was that the lazy-lines were not set directly off the bow but both slanted to port. This was fine with wind from one direction but when it changed to NE we were pushed back against the pontoon as the lines slackened. The staff assure us this will be sorted and the mariniaro was friendly so we concluded it will work for the August period.

We spent a day on maintenance and cleaning Splice up which included the skipper squeezing in to the aft parts of the boat to tighten up stern cleats that were coming loose. Even with the right tools this is one of those jobs that involves scrapped knuckles and kinked backs before it gets done. As it was hot Chris got rather sweaty and managed to slip whilst tightening things, bashing his shin and cutting his knee on the sail-drive. The cold pack we keep in the fridge for bruises had its first outing of the season and the job go finished in the end.

It also helped that the town is a reasonable walk and various bars were showing England’s World Cup game against Tunisia so the Skipper was happy (the Admiral less so but some red wine helped).

We refuelled at Cleopatra Marina as we left which was pricey at E1.57/litre and they only accept cash (when we paid E1.49/litre in Gaios from a quayside fuel tanker by card), but going into the islands to the south we were happier to have full tanks.

Levkas is an ‘island’ created by digging a canal between it and the mainland. It does save a longer trip around the peninsula itself so we set off for the ‘on the hour’ opening of the swing bridge that allows boats to transit. We arrived about 4-5 minutes early and joined the 9-10 boats (including a large motor yacht) that were waiting to progress through. The bridge was a couple of minutes late but, with care, we passed through OK and motored the few miles down the canal to emerge into the ‘Inland Sea’ of the Ionian.

Passing the canal bridge (the structure to the left of shot) which rotates to clear the channel

It gets pretty busy in the Canal

The winds here were very fluky, one minute we had 18 knots , the next 3 knots and then 15 from the other direction leaving sails flapping. We managed to sail most of the way to our destination in Nidri before giving up and motoring the last mile or so when the wind decided to go home early.
We had our first flotilla holiday with Neilsen in Nidri in 2001 so wanted to see how things had changed. We had planned to anchor in ‘Tranquil Bay’ opposite the town but as many comments had told us it no longer lives up to that name. We did drop anchor briefly in the only spot we could see but it was stupidly crowded and when an Austrian cat we had been moored next to in Preveza came passed we followed them into the larger and much quieter bay of Vlikho.

The view from our anchorage in Vlikho Bay towards Nidri

That evening we dinghied into Nidri and stopped at the hotel we stayed at previously. The Hotel Athos had hardly changed, it looked just as it did 17 years ago so someone has kept up the maintenance. We had a drink at their ‘Tree-Bar’ that had had previous custom from us but concluded that the standard of the clientele hadn’t been maintained as well as the hotel. In fact that was our overall conclusion on walking around Nidri, it was quite commercial when we last came but now there was nothing but restaurants and tacky tourist shops, when you get accosted to enter bars and restaurants as you walk down the street, then we switch off. We returned to Vlikho Bay and set out to try a restaurant Carolyn had spotted on Trip Advisor. The ‘Seaside’ doesn’t sound like a great name but the place sits on the side of the bay with a pontoon for dinghies and a great view over the assembled yachts. As it was now late and we didn’t have a reservation we were a bit concerned, but the staff were very friendly and after a wait of 20 minutes nursing a carafe of white wine, a nice table was found and the food was excellent. Chris is not good at waiting for his food but even he agrees it was worth the visit.

Chris trying to look relaxed whilst waiting for food! (Splice at anchor in the background)

The owner came over to chat and the bill was very reasonable for what we had, if a bit higher than normal for Greece. A definite Splice recommendation.

Main Photo: Prevesa Marina in build