dimanche 25 août 2019

Sailing the Northern Islands

The Islands north of Corfu: Erikoussa, Othonoi, Mathraki and down to the bay of Paleokastritsa.




The trip to Erikoussa was almost entirely on engine since as usual the wind was in the nose.
anchored in the smal bay of Erikoussa, swim and went to a fish restaurant, that in the end did not have any fish that was on the menu.










Next morning we sailed all the way to Othonoi island with a nice breeze at 60º, while trying to fish with a drag line. Ofcourse no fish.
We managed to moor at the wooden pontoon with just another 2 places free. All th eother spots were taken by Italian ships on their way back home.
We had a long swim between the rocks littered with any size of fish.
Had a walk in the small village and decided to try another fish restaurant. This time the waiter, George, took us to the kitchen to choos the fish we wanted, we made our choice and it was delivered shortly with vedge and tajiki + 1 l of red wine and ice cubes.
Helene made sure the stray kittens got their share of the fish, which was very nice.
Walking back to the boat we saw the great expanse of the Milky Way, far away from interferring city light. We also met 2 italian kids trying to hike a boat to Italy.













Electric works


Nex morning, nearly all the Italian ships had left very early, we had a swim and mainly motored to Mathraki Island, while fishing and catching zip zero.
At Mathraki we anchored in a blue lagoon.




Early afternoon the wind came up NW and we sailed all the way to Paleokastritsa, where we anchored in a small spot between rocks in a very protected bay, while motorboats were zooming past in front and in the back
Just before turning into the bay we saw a couple of 1m long tuna fish jumping out of the water. Ofcourse impossible to film or photo.
The greek boatsmen know only full speed and stop, nothing in between and fly past at tiny distances from other boats or swimmers. Weaving their way with or without waterskiers or floating mattresses.
Only after 7 the mayhem stops and the water turns flat again.


Next morning we left early to avoid the water racing and the wind in the nose. Only near Kassiopi the NW wind finally came with all its force. So we sailed to a small bay; Kalami.









And the day after back to Gouvia Marina.

samedi 17 août 2019

Syvota Islands

We sailed from Gouvia across to the Greek Albanian mainland and then along the coast littered with fish farms. Arrived at the 2nd bay we found a nice quiet creek to anchor. Except after a while a queen wasp decided that the boat would be a nice nest. A bit of a wasp invasion.


Next day we visited the village in the bay, not very interesting and went on to the Syvota islands. A group of islands separated by small canals with many creeks. A bit full of boats, but we go back there in September when its quiet.





samedi 3 août 2019

Paksos & Anti-Paksos

We sailed from Gouvia to Paksos an island just south of Corfu. Very beautiful with nice bays and deep calanques. Click the map below. Picturesque town and blue transparent water. Wind mostly took us there and back with a strong S wind of 20 kn.
We'll go back out of season and might meet some dolphins and maybe sea turtles.