Heading South

We’re back in Lakka this evening, having had a reasonable sail today from the mainland. It’s only the second sail we’ve had on this trip. A few days ago we did think we might try flying the cruising chute as there was just enough wind for a very light sail. Unfortunately however we’ve had a few issues with our spinnaker halyard and it started to jam as we were hoisting the sail. D was concerned that it might get stuck and we wouldn’t be able to drop it if we needed to, so we had to abandon the idea and continue on the motor.

Filling water containers and transporting our water back to Rampage in the kayak. Sadly this was its last trip: note the split in the cover by D’s left knee.

We stocked up on water before leaving Corfu. Duncan had read about a public water fountain ashore so we went in search of it while we were there. Sure enough there is a small octagonal building with taps that we suspect may be fed by a natural spring. At any rate plenty of local people were coming to fill water containers so we made several trips in the kayak in order to replenish our aft water tank.

In fact we have yet to need the extra water as we’re still using what we took on board before launch (270 litres)! This is some sort of record for us and we reckon that it must be due to the fact that we have not been swimming as much as usual and rinsing off every time we get out of the water. When we first launched, the weather wasn’t great so swimming was just not terribly inviting and then, if you remember, there were lots of jellyfish in the water? Even now that the weather is getting hotter, I tend only to swim once a day because the sea is still warming up and I find that I get quite chilled. I did however, have a really brilliant snorkel this afternoon here at the entrance to Lakka bay. It was almost a good as a dive – masses of fish, lots of little nooks and crannies to explore among the rocks and even an underwater arch to swim through!

The lagoon-like tranquility of Ormos Valtrou

A small fishing boat at anchor near the beach

After leaving the anchorage off Corfu town we went across to a little bay north of Igoumenitsa called Ormos Valtrou. It is tucked away and very sheltered – it almost feels as though you’re in a lagoon as you cannot see the open sea once you’re in there. For this reason we’ve used it in the past as a bolt hole when there’s been a blow coming through. There has been a marked absence of wind on this particular trip however and we just went to enjoy the quiet. There is nothing there other than some fish farms and a fishing boat that seems to operate from the small beach. From the surface the water is very green and not clear as it is elsewhere, being full of microorganisms and silt from the Kalamas River. It’s perfectly clean to swim in but there is little point in snorkelling. We spent two nights in Ormos Valtrou before starting to to head back southwards and have been gradually zigzagging our way between the mainland and the islands of Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos.

Sunrise in Petriti looking over towards the mainland

Petriti harbour as the light fades

We returned to Petriti for a couple of nights so we could buy food and then headed back to the mainland again, this time to a place called Sivota Mourtos. We only intended to stay one night because although it is beautiful, it’s not actually Duncan’s favourite anchorage – it is situated between two small islands and tends to be a bit of a wind funnel. However, as I’ve mentioned already, there has not been a lot of wind so we thought we would give it a try.

Views of the anchorage and town including sunset in Sivota Mourtos

Yesterday morning just as we were preparing to go ashore I noticed a couple in a dinghy approaching. They had spotted our Cruising Association pennant and, being members of the CA themselves, had come over to say hello. Naturally we invited them on board for a gossip which meant that by the time we finally got ashore it was lunchtime. We had a fabulous lunch and ate far too much after which we didn’t feel like going anywhere – so we stayed another night! We did go ashore again in the evening for a walk and an ice cream but didn’t need another meal! Instead we enjoyed a glorious sunset, something you don’t really see on either Paxos or Corfu because the anchorages face east.

Tomorrow we plan to try and get to Two Rock Bay, by way of lunch and a swim off Antipaxos, the small island just to the south of Paxos. On Monday night we need to be anchored off the yard in Preveza ready to be lifted out on Tuesday morning. The time has gone very quickly as we knew it would but it’s been great to be here as we don’t know quite when we shall next manage to get out.

Revisiting Corfu Town

We’ve spent the past three days anchored off Corfu. We know the town quite well, having spent a winter in Gouvia marina just north of the town plus we have returned a number of times since. This visit is after a break of some years though and has served to remind us of just why we like it so much.

We took the dinghy to one of the sets of steps that lead down to the water and walked up Leoforos Alexandros, a gracious, tree-lined avenue with wide pavements that leads from the waterfront up into the heart of the modern shopping town. The elegant, pastel-coloured houses are a reminder of the 19^th century British occupation, of Edward Lear and the Durrell family and so many other British ex-pats who have lived here.

Both here and all around the town, many of the majestic old buildings are in varying states of decay: gardens overgrown, railings rusted, facades crumbling and wooden shutters peeling. Yet few are completely derelict despite the lack of maintenance. Indeed modern Greece thrives at street level, as smart boutiques and pavement cafes blossom, apparently oblivious of the dilapidated buildings everywhere. The place buzzes with activity year-round and smartly dressed Greeks work, shop and socialise. In winter when the visitors go home, the Corfiots migrate into the town from the various tourist centres around the island.

Leoforos Alexandros

Turning right at the top of Alexandros Avenue takes you down the main shopping street, past Marks and Spencer and the Vodafone shop. You could be anywhere- except you couldn’t because as you continue you find yourself in the maze of little streets and alleyways that nowadays caters for the tourist market. Here, amid the innumerable cafes and restaurants, little shops sell all the predictable souvenirs: olive wood salad servers, leather bags of every possible colour, t-shirts and embroidered blouses that you’ve never actually seen anyone wear, plus the bright orange liqueur made of kumquats that is special to this island. Yet, for all this, the old town has an unmistakable appeal. Bougainvillea and jasmine arch up over doorways or droop from balconies, the former creating bright splashes of purple and deep cerise, the latter perfuming the air as you brush past. There are little nooks and crannies everywhere, unexpected flights of steps and hidden squares.

Scenes from around Corfu

We came upon a terrific restaurant in one such little square and stopped for lunch. The mixed platter of appetisers, when it arrived was second to none – everything delicious and more than the two of us could finish; it cost us €15. The little square was clearly owned and policed by a battle-scarred bruiser of a tomcat who patrolled the tables, confident of his unassailable right to be there.

A simply amazing lunch!

Beyond the network of little streets is an elegant colonnade of up-market restaurants and a wide paved boulevard that runs the length of a vast, grassy sward where the British once played cricket and where now children kick footballs. Sometimes there are rock concerts here or displays of art or political rallies. It is here too, that at intervals through the year there are religious processions with marching bands, icons and candles, whilst the relics of Spyridon, patron saint of the island, are solemnly paraded. And above it all the old fortress looms, redundant yet undeniably romantic, attracting the cruise ships and floodlit at night.

In the evening the atmosphere changes. The shops remain open, the streets just as crowded and the indiscriminate souvenir buying continues but there is a more leisurely, relaxed feel. People stroll and greet friends while their children career wildly about on bicycles, shrieking with laughter and bursting with energy after their afternoon siesta. Nobody seems to mind; for the most part, small children are regarded with affection and tolerance. In the summer months, swallows flit and dart noisily overhead as the light fades from the sky, and as young people pose and flirt together, music begins to seep out from the bars. This is not the plinkety plonk of ‘traditional’ music laid on for the tourists – the Corfiots are too sophisticated to tolerate that. No this will be a pianist from the Ionian School of Music making some extra money, or perhaps some jazz or modern pop.

 

The Old Fortress, Corfu

As the sun set and we made our way back the dinghy, the rock group that had set up near the bandstand was just getting started. The night was young.

Lazy Days

Over the past week there has been more relaxing and reading going on than rampaging, hence the title of this latest post.

Rampage at anchor in Lakka bay

I did have my first and only swim to date, while we were still in Mongonisi. As we came in to anchor I was puzzled by a long, sinuous blue object in the water – certainly no sea creature I had ever seen before. And then the penny dropped. It was some of the masking tape I had failed to remove before launch. Once we were settled I donned a swimsuit –  somewhat reluctantly it must be said – it wasn’t terribly warm, remember and I’m a very fair-weather swimmer these days.

Anyway in I went and then found that whilst some of the tape had already come off during the sail, much of it was very difficult to get off and left a nasty, sticky residue when it did. I endured about 20 minutes getting the worst of it off and then, feeling quite chilled, got out and had a hot shower. To be be honest you would hardly see there was a problem unless you got very close and I had already decided that all the anti-foul round the boot-top (water line) needs to come off next season and be completely redone anyway.

Incidentally, for those of you who may be wondering why we have anti-foul round the boot-top, it dates from our live-aboard days when Rampage had somuch STUFF on board that she sat very low in the water. Now that we only come out in the summer, I have been gradually taking home things that we no longer need, e.g. winter bedding and clothes*, a pressure cooker, the cockpit tent. We no longer have bicycles either as these eventually died after a dunking in sea water, minimal maintenance and then 3 years of neglect when we didn’t come out because of Covid. When we finally returned last autumn they had effectively died and besides, we never use them in the summer though they were handy when we were in the yard.

Lakka Bay

The lighthouse

Looking down on the town

One of many ancient sets of Viennese steps that lead up through the terracing on Paxos

D relaxing after our walk on Paxos

Scenes from our walk on Paxos

Since leaving Mongonisi we have had three nights in Lakka and three in Petriti. Lakka is a bay at the northern end of Paxos – very pretty and much less busy than we have seen it for years. We haven’t been in this part of the Ionian for some years and it’s fun to revisit old haunts.  We didn’t manage to sail, either on the trip there or when we went on to Petriti which is on the southern end of Corfu. Indeed as I write we are en route for Corfu town and the sea around us is a gleaming sheet of silk; there’s not a breath of wind.

Leaving Petriti this morning

The weather has finally warmed up now – indeed it caught me slightly unawares a couple of days ago when I was sluicing off the boat with sea water to remove all the red Saharan dust dumped by the rain. My back and legs were distinctly pink that evening. Sadly though, I haven’t managed to swim again as the sea has been full of little jellyfish. I’ve been stung by jellyfish in the past; it’s not fun.

Numerous small jellyfish in the water

So really we’ve done remarkably little apart from the occasional trip ashore and walk. We plan to anchor under the Corfu citadel tonight which is picturesque and we should be able to buy a decent new dinghy pump in the town. Really what we need is a new dinghy because despite our efforts to repair it while we were in the yard, it still lets air out and water in. Not ideal.

*I was somewhat caught out by the cool weather during the first couple of weeks of this visit, having taken all my warmer clothes back to UK and wound up having to go and buy a pair of jeans. Lesson learned.

A slower pace of life in Petriti

Rampaging Again!

A Rampaging Skipper – aka The Joys of Keel Grinding!

To be fair, this expedition will be more of a minor skirmish than a full blown rampage since our time in Greece is very limited on this visit. The reasons for this are tedious; suffice to say we are trying to move from Cheshire to a new home some 350 miles away down in Cornwall. Regrettably this must take precedence over prolonged marauding on the high seas.

 

Inevitably, after more than six months on the hard in a boat yard, we needed to spend the first week of our precious month here waking the boat up and doing necessary maintenance. I will not trouble you with the detail as we’ve been here before many times and nothing much changes.

 

The one thing we did do, that we have never before attempted was to put the sails back on before launch. Usually there are too many other jobs to be done and besides the skipper has always been very wary of getting caught unexpectedly by the wind whilst a sail is up. (A nautical variation of getting caught with one’s trousers down, I suppose.)

 

Actually to get caught out like that on dry land that would be very worrying, indeed potentially dangerous, so this is no light concern. However, on this occasion we had the time so, having having repeatedly consulted the weather forecast, we thought we’d give it a try.

 

Bending on the foresail (genoa) is pretty straightforward and quick so we achieved that without too much trouble. Duncan had also prepared all the running rigging (i.e. all the bits of rope) for the mainsail but by then the wind had picked up so we were obliged to wait until evening to finish the job. Even after having done this so many times before, it is still awkward and a bit of a struggle feeding the huge mainsail and stackpack simultaneously into the groove along the boom. Having done this though, the worst is over and the rest of the process went very smoothly. However we had arranged to go out for a meal that evening with our friends Mike and Sandy so there was no time to sort out the reefing lines.

 

There was some delay with the actual launch on Monday which was originally scheduled for 1p.m. When the tractor hadn’t appeared by 3p.m. I went to make enquiries at the office. The staff seemed rather startled to learn that we were still on dry land and the chaps then appeared shortly afterwards! It was therefore somewhat embarrassing to realise as she was lowered into the water, that I had failed to remove the masking tape from round the waterline, having redone the antifoul. I saw one of the guys looking at it with a rather bemused expression and felt very foolish.

 

Apart from that though, the launch went well and we made our way round to Hospital Bay and dropped the anchor just off Preveza town. We were sitting in the cockpit having a drink shortly afterwards when a pod of dolphins appeared, swimming all round the boat for about 10 or 15 minutes. We’ve seen them a number of times over the years but then usually come to play in the bow wave. This is the first time I have known then come into an anchorage. It was very special.

Dolphins in Hospital Bay, Preveza. This pair look rather like torpedoes! (Note the grey skies.)

 

Unfortunately we had to spend the next 24 hours hunkered down as wind and rain made going ashore in the dinghy a very unattractive proposition. Thus is was only yesterday that we got our admin sorted out with Customs and the Port Police, did some shopping and finally got the reefing lines in place.

 

Today we set off, heading north for a change towards Paxos and Corfu.  We planned initially to spend tonight at a place known as Two Rock Bay on the mainland. However, as we left the Preveza channel and ventured out into the open sea we discovered there was a significant swell running from the west. This would have made Two Rock Bay, if not untenable, then certainly very uncomfortable so we had a rapid change of plan and headed for Paxos instead. Halfway here the wind had built enough to sail. Not only that but later we were obliged to put in a reef so just as well we finished the job before setting off! It was a cracking sail.

Anchored in Mongonisi this evening.

 

We now have just under three precious weeks in which to rampage about before we are once again back at the yard to be lifted out and everything is once again packed away until we are able to get back here again.

Packing Up – or a Catalogue of Lists

What follows was written three days ago. We are now back in Cheshire but in the flurry of activity that inevitably follows our return, the publication of this final post for 2022 has been somewhat delayed. Please accept our apologies.

 

So the alternator held out, I’m sure you’re all very relieved to hear, and we made it back up to Preveza. We spent one night anchored off the town while we checked what admin hoops we needed to jump through before leaving the boat and then spent the next few days at an anchorage near Vonitsa on the inland sea that we’ve been to many times before. It’s only about an hour and a half from the yard and very beautiful. It’s known as the Bay of Pigs however, because there are some very large and distinctly scary pigs that roam around ashore. We encountered one once and are not keen to repeat the experience so we don’t go for walks there any more.

Folding the sails while at anchor in the Bay of Pigs

After some torrential rain in last week, we did however manage to dry off all the sails, drop them and pack them away which was most satisfactory. We also packed up the kayak and started to compile a list of what is on board Rampage (and where it’s all stowed).  This is something I have vaguely been meaning to get done for years but never got around to and then this year we both found it very hard to remember after an absence of three years. Thankfully this was not too serious – there were no major items we failed to bring out with us – but it did almost lead to a teabag crisis. I had to ask Polly to bring some when they came out and inevitably of course, I almost immediately found some PG Tips for sale in a tiny shop in Vliho.

 

While compiling our inventory we discovered that most of the medicines etc in the first aid kit were long out of date. Thankfully we have not needed anything much other than anti-itch cream. Our stowage list has resulted in another list however, namely all those things that need to be replaced. This includes, in no particular order, fire extinguishers, flares, anchor chain, dinghy, alternator, replacement shower for swim platform, new aft bumper, fender covers, chart plotter etc, etc … Oh and really we need to replace the standing rigging (i.e. the steel cables that hold up the mast,) which has never been done and Rampage is now 22 years old so this job is over-due. Some of these above items,  you will note, are fairly significant purchases. I think over the winter we shall have to decide on priorities and then decide what we can actually afford to do!

Our rather decrepit dinghy

Our lift-out was scheduled for 08:30 on Monday morning (17^th October,) so on Sunday we made our way back to Preveza, anchored just off the yard overnight and went ashore to eat. Next morning we were up betimes in order to drain out the dinghy and lift it on board. The wretched thing has been gradually dying on us over the past few weeks and now despite Duncan’s best efforts, not only lets water in (never a good feature of any craft) but also leaks air from the tubes and deck so it has to be pumped up with monotonous regularity. Its days are numbered.

Running rigging stowed & hatches covered. Rampage ready for the winter.

After lift-out there are always a number of final tasks involved in putting the boat to bed for the winter, calling for another list! Canvas work and running rigging, (halyards etc,) needs to be stowed away to protect them from wind and weather damage through the winter. There is lots of last minute laundry and cleaning to be done, the water tanks must be drained, the anchor chain is let down to the ground to be rinsed by winter rain, the dinghy has to be cleaned and packed away and, and, and – well you get the general idea.

Sunset on our final evening. (N.B. The schooner the photograph is not Rampage).

It is now all done and I am finishing this as we sit in the airport waiting to board our flight home. All things considered, Rampage survived remarkably well in view of our long absence. Every year there are items that need to be replaced. This time though, the list is much longer because we have done nothing since 2019 plus the lack of maintenance during the period has taken its toll.

 

2022 has been our shortest season ever aboard Rampage. We didn’t go far or explore new places. We just enjoyed the sunshine, the beauty of the place and being able to relax heavily after a busy time at home, renovating our house in Cheshire. Our plans for next year are hazy. Once the work on Chapel Cottage is completed (we’ve done about 80%,) we are hoping to sell and would then like to buy somewhere in Cornwall. However, in the current economic climate, the future is very uncertain so we shall have to wait and see. We do intend to come back out for a couple of weeks in the spring, simply to catch up on maintenance. Beyond that, we simply don’t know.

Battery Problems

We have spent the past few days at one of our favourite haunts: the Abelike anchorage on Meganisi. The weather has been warm enough to swim but not scorching. Most days we’ve gone ashore to walk over the hill into Little Vathi to shop and have a drink at one of the cafés.

Little Vathi harbour

We’ve also spent quite a bit of time messing about in our inflatable kayak. It’s good fun and a bit of exercise – a far better craft in many respects, than the dinghy. As our son-in-law jTommy discovered, the dinghy is a pig to row which is why we nearly always use the outboard. The kayak however is easy to manoeuvre and much more efficient but one is inclined to get a bit damp as the paddles flick water, though this is possibly due to poor technique on our part! Also of course there is not much cargo space in the kayak though Gracie and I did manage to fill it with quite a lot of litter from the Agios Andreou beach the day we went there.

Polly & Gracie in the kayak in 2019 – we don’t actually have any photos from this summer!

Anyway, despite having a rather pleasant, indolent time, for the past week or so there has been a nagging concern about the electricity supply. In Sami there was no mains electricity so we had to run the engine every day to charge the batteries. In Sivota we anchored, so again there was no mains boost for the batteries which now didn’t seem to be charging properly. Duncan began to suspect that we needed to replace the remaining domestic batteries. Accordingly, we only spent one night in Sivota before pressing on to Nidri to buy another two new batteries. We motored all the way which was frustrating as it was perfect sailing weather but we were concerned to put enough charge in the batteries to be able to operate the anchor winch.

Several hundred euros the poorer, we then pressed on to Porto Spilia where we reckoned we could plug into shore power. Unfortunately the electric points at Babis’s did not seem to be working properly and in retrospect the next day we should have found somewhere else to plug in. However, the new batteries seemed to have solved the problem so we opted instead for the anchorage at Abelike since we prefer, when possible, to anchor.

Since we have been here, Duncan has had several attempts to improve the alternator charging capacity. Yesterday he replaced the regulator and thought he had solved the problem.

 

An overcast Meganisi this morning

We had planned to leave here yesterday but for various reasons we both slept badly on Sunday so we decided to postpone our departure by 24 hours. This morning, the batteries look very sick indeed and the alternator seemed to have died completely – running the engine was putting no charge into them at all. The fact that the weather has turned grey and rainy today has not helped as the solar panels are producing very little output either.

Duncan working on the alternator

Duncan has now been working on the engine for several hours and finally seems to have fixed the alternator although he is not sure quite how! He has come to the conclusion however that we should try to replace it so we now shall head for Nidri and see if we can pick one up there. Rampage is due to be lifted next Monday, so either way we shall continue north tomorrow, keeping our fingers crossed that the alternator doesn’t die on us again.

Stuck in Sami

Scenes from a lovely week with the family

We arrived in Sami 12 days ago. Now, Sami is a pleasant little town on the east coast of Kefalonia with a sheltered harbour so it is a good bolt hole in unsettled weather. It is also well provided with restaurants and shops including a reasonable chandlery and an excellent laundry. There is water available on the quay so the only thing we lack while there is mains electricity and even this is not an enormous problem. We have a bank of new batteries this season and although two of our solar panels have died, the other 3 produce a reasonable charge and we can top this up by running the engine for an hour or so each day.

Rampage on the outer quay at Sami

However, though we quite like Sami and whilst we do not necessarily feel the need to move on a daily basis, rarely do we linger in one place quite this long. So why this time?

Well as I explained in my previous post, we originally went there because we’ve had family staying nearby. The forecast looked very uncertain before their arrival so we arrived a couple of days ahead of them. I was quite anxious before their arrival because I so wanted them to have sunshine for their holiday . As it turned out, it was pretty good most of the time and we had a splendid week together although for various reasons we only managed to get out on Rampage once. We went across to Agios Andreou – a small bay on the southern end of Ithaca. We didn’t attempt sail however, partly because it was only a fairly short distance and partly because our guests enjoyed being up on the bow, sunbathing and photographing the view.

Scenes from our day out to Ag Andreou

When we got back to the harbour in the late afternoon we found that the pier where we had been before was completely full so instead we went on the inside quay, in front of all the waterfront restaurants. This had pros and cons: the outside arm or pier of Sami harbour is constructed to allow sea water to wash through openings in the support structure; the constant sloshing noise this sometimes generates can be very tiresome. On the other hand, on the restaurant quay we had the delight of rowdy diners, sometimes singing karaoke, sometimes being entertained by a ‘professional’ singer. Either way it was generally fairly painful to listen to and drove us, on several occasions to shut all our hatches when we went to bed. Thankfully as I mentioned last time, it is now much cooler at night so this was tolerable. On the plus side we were much entertained by all the restaurant pussycats and when Gracie spent a couple of nights on board we were given a running commentary from her on their various antics and activities.

One of the Sami cats debating whether or not to board a yacht

The family flew home late on Saturday evening, having spent the day with us on Antisamos beach and we had hoped to move on the following day. However when we got back to the boat late on Saturday afternoon there was a significant wind blowing so we immediately had to rig springs and a kedge anchor to hold us off the quay. We then deflated the kayak and stowed it below before deciding that we needed to dismantle the bimini. This last was a bit of a rigmarole because we had fairy lights wound round the frame and our main solar panel is secured on top of it. Nevertheless we had no option as the bimini itself was flapping ferociously and starting to get damaged. As the family set off back across the island towards Argostoli airport that evening, there were dark storm clouds over the mountains and we braced ourselves for a long night, taking turns on anchor watch. Thankfully, this proved unnecessary as the wind dropped sufficiently to allow us both to go to bed though I woke at about 5am when Duncan went up on deck to check that the anchors were holding.

D making running repairs to the bimini

It remained blusterous all day Sunday and we were glad to be on the inside wall of the harbour as waves were breaking over the outer quay, at times sending spray into the cockpits of those boats that were on the pier. Yesterday it was quieter inside the harbour but still very windy up in the channel between Kefalonia and Ithaca. It wasn’t until today therefore that we were able to escape. And even then we had some trouble. Initially we were delayed by another boat, also trying to escape but which collected no fewer than three other anchor chains in the process of hauling their anchor. Clearly they were going for some sort of record. Anyway it all took them some time to sort out.

 

Anchor chain knitting

Once they had gone we let our stern lines go and while I took in the main anchor on the winch, Duncan hauled the kedge. All appeared to go well and the main anchor came up without any difficulty, albeit heavy with thick, glutinous mud. The kedge however was even more dug in and it became obvious that Duncan was not going to be able to free it manually. Instead we had to take the line round the capstan which took a few minutes to rig.

Now I should perhaps explain for those who may not be aware, how a kedge anchor works. With Mediterranean mooring the idea is that you drop your main anchor and then reverse back so that the boat is moored at right angles to the quay with the anchor chain straight out in front. If a kedge is needed however, this has to be dropped at an angle off to one side i.e. not straight out from the bow. Now when we rigged the kedge this was not an issue as the harbour was not very busy and there was plenty of space. However by the time we came to leave three days later, other boats had come in and as we tried to haul it, it became apparent that one of these had dropped their anchor over the top of our kedge. Nobody’s fault, just one of those things. This not helped though, by the fact that the boat concerned insisted on hauling in their anchor chain rather than letting it out to create some slack and enable us to extract ours from underneath. Anyway suffice to say it was all a bit tricky but we did eventually get away!

We are currently en route for Sivota on the southern end of Levkada and we are much looking forward to a change of scene.

Coming into Sivota harbour today

 

Wind and Weather (mostly)

I wore trousers on Friday for the first time since arriving in Greece this year. This was not because the temperature has suddenly dropped dramatically although it is getting cooler now and autumn is definitely on its way. This is demonstrated by the fact that for the past few days I have needed a light sweater in the evenings and we have dug out a comforter for our bed. This is despite the fact that by day the sun is still so hot that we still have to seek shade whenever possible and going for a swim is a great way to cool off. However by 8pm it is dark and as the sun goes, it starts to feel distinctly chilly. Earlier in the summer, balmy evenings make sitting out after dark the norm and indeed this is the time when friends and families get together while the children run about, ride their bikes and burn off energy.

By the way, I cannot write a blog post without mentioning a very exciting snorkel I had while we were on Meganisi. When we were there a week or so earlier I had been thrilled to spot an octopus while swimming. I’d been told there were some about several years ago but have never spotted one (or at least not for certain,) in all the years we’ve been coming to Greece. Years ago we would occasionally spot one when we were diving off the coast of Turkey but they are shy, elusive creatures that tend to vanish into a hole or under a rock if disturbed.They are also adept at camouflage since they have the ability to change the colour to bend with their surroundings. Which is exactly what happened this time. As soon as it became aware of me it vanished from sight, but I was thrilled nonetheless.

Image of an octopus (not mine!) out and about.

Ever since I’ve been keeping a more watchful eye out and last week, to my immense delight I spotted another. I stayed as still as possible and kept my distance and after a short while, though I’m almost certain it was aware of me, the octopus got on with its day and I watched for about 10 minutes as it moved about the seabed. It was a big chap and I was fascinated to see how  it undulated and glided over obstacles. It was an immense privilege and all the better for being so unexpected.

Anyway, I digress.  On Friday we made the trip from Meganisi down to Cephalonia. Based on a motoring speed of approximately 6 knots we reckoned it would take us about 5 hours so we set off at 08:30 in order to be sure of a space on the quay in Sami harbour.  At that time of the morning it is still cool and in addition there was a stiff breeze so we both donned lightweight trousers and sweaters. I soon swapped my thin jersey for a sweatshirt!

D preparing to set the kedge (secondary anchor) last week

We had set a kedge a couple of days earlier when the forecast was looking a bit iffy, so that had to be recovered as well as the main anchor as we set off. There were few signs of life from the other boats around us and we were a bit concerned that one or other anchor might be under another boat. However all was well and as soon as we were out of the bay we raised the sails. The wind was about a F5 so we had two reefs in the main and one in the genoa. We later took in even more foresail but as we headed south down the channel between Meganisi and Kalamos we were doing 8 knots at times – about as fast has we ever manage to sail in Rampage.

Our valiant dinghy hurtling along behind us on Friday. We almost certainly should have lifted it before we set off!

This was splendid although it did make having any breakfast a bit problematic. We’d set off without having so much as a coffee before departure so I managed to make us both a hot drink en route but we survived on fruit and mixed nuts until we got into Sami at 14:45. The wind died away later in the trip so we’d had to resort to the engine as we corkscrewed our way through the residual swell. We were at least able to shed a few layers of clothing as the day warmed up.

Rampage (2nd from the left) in Sami harbour

It was some relief though to get into the shelter of the harbour here where there was no difficulty in finding a berth. We then headed for one of the many restaurants round the harbour.  

Both our daughters plus son-in-law and granddaughter flew in to Argostoli last night and have rented a villa just up the coast near Agios Efimia. Had the weather forecast been more settled we would have gone into Efimia and anchored off, (these days the quay is given over almost entirely to charter boats,) but we are better off here if the winds kick off. I’m hoping we will manage to get out for at least one day sail while the family are here but we shall have to see. I also hope that we have some more warm sunny weather but nothing is guaranteed at this time of year. The forecast looks ominously as though we may be in for at thunderstorms…

Looking west over the hills of Cephalonia from our berth in Sami harbour

 

About time for a blog

Julia has been so busy socialising (aka talking for Britain) recently that she has neglected her blogging duties, to the extent that I have been moved to do something about it myself. To be fair, we’ve been in company with Mike and Sandy on Eos pretty much full time since our last update and Julia is a far more social animal than I am (being the strong, quiet type…) so she’s had to carry the heavy load of social interaction.

Anyhow, in our last blog we were in Kastos anchored with lines ashore next to Eos. We’d been there for 5 days and thought we should move on: in particular I was getting irritated by all the semi competent and totally incompetent idiots in boats too large for their abilities. So we looked at the chart and pondered on places we’d been to before and decided to go to Petala, a large bay about 15 miles south of Kastos. It’s so big that even if there were lots of boats there it wouldn’t be crowded. In addition, there’s nothing ashore except a few fish farms, so it doesn’t attract the eating ashore fleet.

Sun setting over the mainland from the Windmill Bar on Kastos

We spent two nights in Petala in the company of a maximum of 4 other boats in a bay that measures about a mile long and a mile or so wide. It’s dark at night, so the skies are amazing: enormous moon and before moon rise it really is wall to wall stars.

Petala Bay – panoramic shot hence the slightly odd perspective….

All good things must come to an end and we’d run out of food so we had to head back to civilisation, which meant Vathi on Ithaca. Relatively empty, we anchored in the bay and went ashore to shop: Vathi’s big strong point from out point of view is the shops are good and not outrageously expensive. That said, we have never been overly fond of Vathi, as it is subject to some weird winds and is often noisy at night. The winds weren’t a problem on this visit but the noise was. Small but very noisy motorbikes racing round to accompany the incessant music from the bars. Ah well, must be getting old I suppose!

At this time of year, we’ve long learned that we need to keep a close eye on the weather as the climate transitions into autumn and high winds and rain become more frequent. It was clear that there was some weather coming through over the weekend and we also needed water (more on this later) so we called Babis at Porto Spilia and booked in for Friday night so we could fill with water and get a good charge on the batteries before we moved to Vliho Bay to sit out the weather. In addition, we needed to find somewhere with a good internet connection for a Zoom chat with friends in the US and to watch the Queen’s funeral on Monday.

The winds favoured us and we managed to get a nice sail with the cruising chute up the Meganisi channel.

Eos joined us in Porto Spilia and we departed the following morning for Vliho (sometimes know as Velcro Bay, as it hard to tear yourself away…) pausing to shop in Nidri. Once established at anchor, Julia remarked about a smell of diesel, which prompted me to check the engine bay. No diesel but a lot of fresh water….. The main bilge was also awash with water.

The biggest pot of nibbles to be found in Vathi!

Now, we’d been having a problem with the water pump since we launched. It was constantly cycling for a few seconds – it should only do that when a tap is opened. I’d already found one leak in the system and repaired it, leading me to suspect the pump was faulty. I’d largely given up on it and resorted to switching the pump off when it wasn’t in use. Until we found the flood. Suffice it to say that I searched through the pipes in the port cabin and found a leaky joint. Luckily, I have a stock of Speedfit plumbing fittings and was able to remove the faulty couplings and replace them. We then spent a happy hour or so getting water out of the bilges and over the side. Thankfully, this seems to have sorted the problem, so we don’t have to keep turning the water system on and off all the time.

Dinghy repairs

Vliho Bay

After watching the funeral on Monday, we met with Mike and Sandy at Vliho Yacht Club and bade them farewell: they lift out at the end of the week and fly back to UK. We are now at anchor in Abelike and will stay here until Thursday or Friday before we head south to Sami to meet up with Naomi, Polly, Tommy and Gracie who are coming out for the week on Saturday. They’re staying in a villa but we hope to do some sailing with them all.

Slipping Standards

I’ve been instructed to write a blog post. This seems somewhat redundant since the Skipper has just spent the past hour writing a post himself. ‘We’ll only duplicate,’ I protested, but he thinks it will be amusing. For whom, I wondered. So what follows is not so much an account of our recent activities as a demonstration to all those who have always regarded me as a somewhat fanatical housewife, (in particular my own offspring if they deign to read this,) that my reputation is no longer warranted!

Evidence of Byrne negligence: the outboard bracket, without question, needs sanding and revarnishing – but it works so not right now!

We are spending this trip pottering about, revisiting old haunts rather than attempting to explore anywhere new. Time is relatively limited and the weather will become less predicable as we advance into autumn so we want to make the most of the time available to just relax & enjoy ourselves. It was for this reason that we only spent a week in the yard preparing for launch. Without doubt, there was more we could have done. Nonetheless I was dumbstruck by one Brit I encountered who told me solemnly that she and her husband had spent the past six weeks working on their boat and didn’t expect to launch at all this year. Bearing in mind that temperatures out here apparently reached 40+C during July and early August, this seemed horrific. For those who may not know, the yard is always incredibly dry and dusty, there is virtually no shade, the mosquitoes are generally vicious and there is nowhere much to swim and cool off. This is before you consider that living on a boat ashore involves hauling everything up and down a ladder. I was completely nonplussed.

‘Is your boat unseaworthy?’ I ventured to ask.

‘Appallingly dirty,’ she told me solemnly.

I refrained from remarking that I thought they had their priorities skewed.

It’s dusty and shadeless in the yard

But then, Rampage is now 22 years old and has been well used, so we no longer feel any pressure to be “shiny boaters” – if indeed we ever did! I remember being taken aback, the winter we spent in Messolonghi, when a lovely friend told me they had spent the day cleaning the bilges! It had never really occurred to me that cleaning the bilges might be a thing. Then again, ours seem to get regularly washed out anyway but that’s another story – see Duncan’s latest post!

Without doubt, living aboard has made me less fanatical than I once was. Another “liveaboard” friend I knew insisted on always ironing all her bed linen whereas I rarely iron anything any more, whether I’m on board or not. I was mildly disconcerted when we returned to Rampage this year, to find that our little travel iron is no longer on board. I have no idea what I’ve done with it – presumably I took it home for some reason. Anyway, I’m coping fine without it!

It is interesting though: in Messolonghi where many of the other boats had circumnavigated the globe, Rampage appeared fairly respectable. We spent the following winter in Sant Carles de la Rapita on the eastern coast of Spain between Tarragona and Valencia. Here, we found that many of the boats were refugees from the UK whose owners had found it as quick and easy to fly in from London for the weekend as to drive down to the south coast on a Friday – with the added benefit that the weather was likely to be better. Many of these boats were extremely shiny and rarely went anywhere further than the Balearics. Some didn’t even do that. The prize for style over practicality however must be awarded to the people who had a chrome bar stool and a pristine, white (!) shag-pile rug on the very shiny saloon floor.

‘They go away when we sail,’ I was assured. Really?

Rampage was, without doubt, one of the smaller and scruffier boats in that particular marina.

One of the wasps nests that we discovered, firmly attached to the curtain. (Note also the fading.)

That all said, I was somewhat mortified at my own negligence the other day: we wanted to watch the Queen’s funeral and having failed to find anywhere ashore to do so, we were obliged to watch on an iPad. This entailed closing some curtains in order to keep the sunlight off the screen and in the process we discovered, not one but two wasps’ nests firmly attached! Thankfully the wasps themselves had long since moved on but I felt it demonstrated that our cleaning efforts before (and since) launch have been less than thorough . I also realised that these little curtains, (which incidentally I made the year we over-wintered in Messolonghi,) have faded in streaks. I may be motivated to make new ones this coming winter as well as some new covers for the cushions. The latter were gifted to us in 2009 before we set off and are now very worn and faded. Then again, I not bother but may instead just embrace a slobbish approach to life… I don’t believe that Rampage yet qualifies for Duncan’s Manky Auld Boat award but we are edging that way.

Cushion covers in need of replacement. Ah well, maybe next year …