We decided to leave and head for 2 Rock Bay on the mainland. Paul and Janet had left so that they could prepare my birthday dinner!! What a feast! Had a wonderful time eating, drinking and playing cards.

2 Rock Bay is aptly named as there are two very large rocks in the bay. It is a lovely anchorage and popular with day cruisers. The biggest downfall is it is rolly! If it had a bit more comfortable we would have opted to stay another day!

Next stop was Monogonissi on the Island of Paxos. The anchorage was very nice, quaint place with a small tight anchorage. Paul and Janet had some excitement as a boat that was anchored in front of them started to drag. It was a bit scary for them as the folks (charter boat) were panicking and they had to tell them what to do (like start your engine, get your fenders out). They did end up on top of them but fortunately Paul was able to fend them off until they got sorted.

We had a nice little walk before heading to the taverna on the shore. You can tell it is still quite early as we were the only people there!

The next day we walked to the town of Gaios where it is considered to be quite expensive to tie up on the town quay, $24.00 euros per night. We had a nice wander through watching the port police collect the fees.

We decided to head off to Lakka on the north end of the island and also protected from the south. A very pretty anchorage, busier then most we have been in. Lots of taverna's and tourist shops. This is a very popular place.

We were expecting a bit of a blow from the south in here and it did not disappoint. Along with that of course comes swell which unfortunately happens a lot it seems in the Med.

We had another very exciting night due to high winds. Around 3 am a catamaran dragged onto a monohull with lots of lights flashing and some raised voices. When it seemed that they were separating the cat ended up on top of them again and this time both of them started dragging on top of another monohull. Next all three were headed towards a smaller sailboat at the bottom of the bay. Somehow they managed to separate just as they got to that little boat. Another boat behind him had already got smart and pulled up their anchor and moved.

It was a bit nerve wracking as the three boats wandered around the harbor trying to re-anchor. Of course no one really wants them to anchor anywhere near where you are! Finally peace reigned and we were finally able to go back to bed at 5:45 am.

We did see the one boat that had significant damage to his forward pulpit and stanchions.
Due to lack of sleep and winds we decided to stay another night. We had planned to go across to the mainland and then to Corfu but we had to change our plans and decided to head to Corfu on May 13, 2017.

The goal was now to get to Preveza in order to check out of Greece no later than April 30, 2017. Because we can only stay in the EU for 3 months and have to leave for 3 months we needed to be focused on getting to Albania and north where those countries are not part of the EU or at least do not practice the Schengen rules. This is the place we were also hoping to get an in water survey done for our insurance company.

We made a few stops along the way, just overnight anchorages. I did not really take a lot of pictures. We did stop at a pretty place called Abilike Bay on the Island of Meganissi. This was a lovely anchorage. We were able to take our dinghy to shore and then walked to the town of Vathi on just over the hill.

You have to travel a very well marked channel to get to Levkas. The wind was just too strong for us to try and med moor. We ended up side tied on a not so great wall with only a few inches to spare under our rudder. We hiked around the town a bit but not too much to see here. It is a busy boating place as a lot of people leave their boats here in the winter.

The next morning we did a bit more shopping only to realize when we came back that we had waited too long and the wind was quite strong pushing us against the wall. Onyx carried on and we agreed that we would meet them later. We did prepare to spend another night there but were very glad that the wind switched in the afternoon and we were able to leave with no issues.

We had to time our departure as the swing bridge only opens on the hour. The event reminded us of the many times we went through the swing bridge in Little Current, Ontario.

Next stop Preveza, again! Onyx elected to stay in the marina and we elected to stay out in the anchorage. Preveza is a good anchorage with lots of room. We went ahead and checked out of Greece.

This is when we discovered that our windlass had failed. We had happily got our survey done (for the insurance company) so we ended up phoning the person who did the survey. He agreed to meet us on the Monday and Reg would remove the windlass to determine if it could be rebuilt or be replaced.

The Amvrakikos Gulf is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About 40 km long and 15 km wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece. The towns of Preveza, Amphilochia (formerly Karvassaras), and Vonitsa lie on its shores.

There is or was supposedly a family of bottlenose dolphins that live in the Gulf. I suspect that number is exaggerated. We saw two and they were the same two every time. The gulf suffers from pollution, overfishing and other issues.

We had hoped to see more birdlife there but were sadly disappointed as all the marshes were closed off and the shore was too shallow to get too close. It is a protected area but not sure how much money is being spent on this area given the current state of affairs in Greece.

We went to the far end but the anchorage was pretty much a bust. We headed back to Vonitsa where our contact was going to pick up our windlass to see if it could be repaired or replaced.

Reg got quite a bit of exercise bringing up the anchor by hand.

It was a very frustrating and slow time. The anchorage in Vonitsa was very nice and it was very easy to take the dinghy ashore and walk to town. Our man took two full days to tell us the windlass was pooched and then it took another two days to get a new one (at great expense). No wiring cables were included and our current ones were not long enough. Needless to say we had to go back to Preveza and get some cables and of course it was Sunday so nothing was open.

We agreed that as soon as possible on Monday Reg would get his cables and we would leave and do the wiring later!

Time to practice med mooring again!! We are so lucky to have Paul and Janet of Onyx to help us. It is hard to med moor on Three Sheets mostly because there are very few town quays at this time of year that have staff on land available to take our lines.

We only had a few inches under the keel but the harbor is well protected so not much chance of a lot of movement. Having said that the wind was quite strong but was blowing us off the dock, which was good.

A great seaside town that reminded us so much of Bayfield, lots of little shops, kafeterias, and taverna’s. It is early in the season here so we were lucky to enjoy this town without the myriad of charter boats that swamp the place in the summer.

We were quite happy to miss that completely. The island (Kefalonia) has great hikes and we enjoyed two of them during our stay here.

We took our picnic lunch and enjoyed it in one of the bays. Apparently this is one of the areas that was used in the filming of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. We made a brave attempt at YMCA as you will note in the pic.

Our next stop was a small place called Vathi on the Island of Ithaca. Vathi was a great anchorage. We made a short visit to the town and had a nice meal at a tavern.

Wind was quite strong on the way back we all got a bit wet in the dingy!!!

It is still quite cool here, especially if it is windy and cloudy. The nights are definitely long pants, hoodies, jackets and or sweaters.

Katacolon seemed to be a sleepy place although bus tours seemed to stop there on the way through to the Ancient Site of Olympia.

We were able to side tie which was nice as it was not busy at all. There were many, many cafes (kafeterias) and certainly on the weekend they were quite busy. The Greeks love their mixed cold coffees of every description.

Greek coffee is exactly the same as Turkish coffee – and it was in fact called just that in Greece until Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, at which point, for political reasons, the Greeks decided to rename their coffee “Greek coffee.” The process and preparation, though, are identical to the Turkish way. It is an acquired taste!!

We rented a car and set up to visit the original site of the Olympics. The Olympic games were held every four years throughout Classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.

Geometric and Archaic periods (8th century BC). Classical period between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, was the golden age of the site at Olympia. Hellenistic period was the late 4th century BC to 200 BC. The Roman period, 150 to 100 AD or thereabouts.

The site suffered extensive damage from earthquakes in the 3rd century and again in the 6th century with the site being finally abandoned in the 7th century.

The exact site was re-discovered in 1766 by the English antiquarian Richard Chandler. The French “Expedition Scientifique de Moree” did not carry out the first excavation of the sanctuary at Olympia until 1829.

They did a fairly good job of storyboards that tried to recreate the site and what the various buildings etc. were for. The site was buried and the theory that it was from numerous tsunamis caused by the earthquakes. If you are at the site it is hard to imagine that happening!

The site is huge and you need quite some time to get through it and try to visualize what took place. You can see in many places where the columns were just toppled and mostly left there. The cost to restore this site would be unimaginable!

We enjoyed our visit and were very lucky the rain held off until we were just finished.

Gythion to Methoni - April 12-13, 2017

We arrived in the harbor of Methoni in mid-afternoon. The old fort is quite impressive from the anchorage.

We took a quick trip to have a look around so that we could go and see the fort the next day.

The town was very neat and tidy. The harbor was good and well protected.

The history here is overwhelming. The town's history goes back to the Byzantine Era where the town was once promised to Achilles!! The town has been occupied by the Spartans (the Spartans had to cross the formidable Taygetos Mountains), the Venetians, and Crusaders. This is the time period where the town etc. reached its zenith as an important centre for trade and staging point between Venice and the Holy Lands.

The Castle of Methoni is a medieval fortification in the port town of Methoni, Messenia, in southwestern Greece. The castle of Methoni occupies the whole area of the cape and the southwestern coast to the small islet that has also been fortified with an octagonal tower and is protected by the sea on its three sides. Its north part, the one that looks to land, is covered by a heavily fortified acropolis. The Venetians built on the ancient battlements and added on and repaired it during both periods that they occupied the castle.

Next came the Ottomans (Turks) and Russians. During the Greek war of Independence (1821) the town was inhabited by Turks while the outlying areas were inhabited by Greeks. It took some time but finally the French defeated the Turks and took control of Methoni in 1828 and in 1933 when they left they returned control to the newly established Kingdom of Greece.

When you are walking around this old fort it is so difficult to imagine the hustle and bustle that must have went on. There would have been many, many ships in the harbor.

I would have loved to see this town throughout the ages (invisible of course) to watch the course of history unfold.

So many events and so many different peoples!!

The Castle and old fort of Methoni was well worth the visit and the views were outstanding.

Gythion-Mystra

Next stop was to catch up with Paul and Janet on Onyx who were heading to Gythion from Crete where they had spent the winter. They are also heading north to Albania, Montenegro and Croatia before returning to Preveza and heading back to Dubai and work!!

A very nice sail until we reached the entrance and then we ended up with 20 knots heading right into the harbor which was very unpleasant. Paul & Janet had already med moored. Just as we entered they radioed us to tell us that they were asked to move as they were using a space reserved for a large fishing vessel (a fishing vessel that never did show up!).

Unfortunately there just was no room anywhere else. There were quite a few derelict sailboats that were tied up and perhaps abandoned. We both left the harbor to try and anchor outside but it was just too rough and rolly. It would have been nice to anchor there by this small island just outside the harbor. This was where the two lovers fled to that started the whole tragic Greek-Trojan war.

Back in we came, again very rough and hard on the boats. We decided to try and tie up against a wall and raft off together. We were going in first as we had the heavier boat. Finally the port police and a few guys off of a big salvage ship decided to come and help us (after Janet had to use the radio to get them to come out).

It was tricky but we both finally got tied up. Not a great place as there was a lot of motion but it was better than nothing at the end of a long day. Just after we got tied up a large cruise ship (Turkish style) docked very close to us. That was quite a site to see him maneuver and get tied up.

The big attraction here is the old fortress and town of Mystras. Mystras is situated on the slopes of Taygetos Mountain (still snow covered). The archaeological site stands above the modern village of Mystras and the city of Sparta.

The area is mostly famous for the Spartans. Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (Spartan citizens, who enjoyed full rights), mothakes (non-Spartan free men raised as Spartans), perioikoi (freedmen), and helots (state-owned serfs, enslaved non-Spartan local population). Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed considerably more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world.

This area has a long and complicated history and I truly suggest, if you are interested, you look it up in Wikipedia. It is just too long and involved to go into here. I have posted a picture of a sign that gives you a very brief timeline.

We rented a car and headed up there. On the way up we stopped for a quick pic of a hedgehog. The first I had ever seen in the wild! There are great views of the new city of Sparta. There is virtually nothing left of the warrior nation of Sparta. These people did not build monuments or buildings. They lived a minimalist lifestyle. Everyone remembers the last stand of the Spartans. Lots of movies etc have been made of this era.

The site itself is quite beautiful and the views are fantastic. It was well worth the visit. We had an interesting stroke of luck. We met a teacher at the very top who studies and teaches classical greek history. He gave us a great, albeit quick, overview of the history of the area and talked about the Spartans. That was the highlight of our day!!