We arrived back to Splice after a slightly delayed flight due to strong winds. It was 22.00hrs by the time we had picked up the hire car and driven through the tunnel from the airport to the northern side of the inlet where Preveza Marina sits. Even so we couldn't park anywhere around the marina, there were crowds of people and cars as it turned out it was the annual Sardine Festival that evening. We squeezed into a parking space right at the back of the quay and checked out Splice after her rest. She looked fine and not even particularly dirty though there was some brown grit from the southerly winds as usual. We walked back through the crowds of Greeks enjoying themselves, families and groups everywhere around the plastic tables that covered the large car park. The last of the sardines were being grilled off but we have had sardines at a festival before and they were poor quality so we passed and ate a salad and chicken dish in a local taverna.

We spent the next few days stocking up the boat with the heavy and non-perishable items for the coming cruise and doing some bits of maintenance on the boat. Carolyn stitched up part of the bimini that had lost its thread and Chris worked on the engine servicing before we took a day off to sightsee.

Nearby is 'Nikopolis ', built by the Roman Emperor Octavian after the sea battle that brought the defeat of Anthony in the civil war and gave him the Imperial title. It was established on the site from where he commanded his victory and looks out over the seascape from low hills. There is actually little left of what was a large city, many of the inhabitants of local towns and cities were forced to move to Nikopolis to provide a population. There are some impressive restored walls and the remains of the amphitheatre together with some mosaics. It cost E8 per person for entry and though this would have allowed us into the museum in town (we never made it there) was a bit steep for what is provided. We carried on into the hills stopping for coffee in a very small traditional village where the men were all sitting under the tree in the square drinking coffee, water and ouzo. They greeted us cheerfully and after some confusion with the waitress we managed to get served something approximating coffee.... it was strong!

From there we drove further up into the mountains to get to 'Cassopi' one of the even older cities that were depopulated to fill Nikopolis. This was built very high in the mountains and laid out in a formal grid pattern with a standardised plot for each house. Whilst the walls are no longer high it is still possible to see the layout of the town and individual dwellings as you look over the site. This had been much better presented with regular information tablets explaining what you were looking at. We spent much longer here (for 2 euros) and were fascinated by the quality of the cut stone and how such a sophisticated city could be built in such a difficult place to reach - our hire car was struggling with the gradients.

We also came across a large tortoise crossing the road which lead to a debate as to whether there are wild tortoises in Greece... someone was very sure there weren't but, later research (thanks Mr Google), proved the Captain right...... there are apparently.

We drove higher to a cliff where women and children of the local Soulio tribe jumped to their deaths to avoid being captured and enslaved. There is now a large monument to the event (it happened in 1803 when the Ottman ruler Ali Pasha invaded) but we declined the very steep climb in the heat of the afternoon. It's in the high 30's most days at present if you are in direct sunlight.

That afternoon we drove to Levkas about 30 miles away to check out Contract Yacht Services who had been recommended for some of the work on Splice this winter. They seemed very pleasant..... we now wait for the quotes!

We left Preveza Marina on the morning of Friday 31st August and motored the now familiar route through the Levkas canal. As we passed Levkas we not only spotted 'Alexandria II' (BB385) moored to the quay but another Broadblue 435 in the marina. This is the first boat the same as Splice we have seen since leaving the UK. She was called 'Kudos' but looked locked up with no one around. We may have seen her a few years ago in Portsmouth but are unsure if it's the same vessel.

We moored for the night on the other side of the bay of Ormos Vakos in the more eastern corner. Whilst we enjoyed our previous visit this was actually a nicer anchorage with very pleasant outlook. Even more surprisingly another Broadblue catamaran anchored close to us that afternoon, 'Magnificat' is another BB385 sailed by Glenn and Lynn with whom we had a good chat over drinks that evening. Given that Broadblue only built about 14 BB42/435 boats and 20 something 385's, to see three others in one day in a corner of Greece was an unusual event.

The weather here has been almost windless for most of the day with a northerly blast of 18-20 knots around 18.00 each evening for a couple of hours before settling down for the night. This makes for comfortable anchoring (as long as you are prepared for the evening blow) but is not much good for sailing!

We just hopped around the corner to Palairos, a town that we visited 17 years ago on our flotilla experience. We thought we recognised the quayside but little else was familiar. It's a small place that is at risk of being taken over by taverna's for the tourist trade but is pleasant enough. Its main selling point is that there is the Panorama taverna that does real Indian food as the chef is Indian. To sit on the side of the beach eating naan bread, taka dahl followed by lamb biriani and chicken and mushroom curry was a nice change from the standard Greek offerings which can become a bit similar over the weeks.


Apologies for the lack of photos at present. Our internet and Sailblogs don't seem to like each other! This shot is from Cassopi showing the irregular four sided blocks they used to build walls