Sailing in the  Ionian

One of the best things about our gypsy life is that we no longer live by the clock.  We do not have to get up at a certain time each day, we eat our meals when we are hungry and we set sail for a new destination when we feel like finding a new taverna or want a change of scenery.

So far, in all our travels, we have found the Ionian Sea to be the best place to sail. Each morning we wake to water as flat as glass, gradually the wind builds up through the day until, by mid afternoon, we have a 15-20kn. sea breeze, ideal for sailing from one island to the next.  By 9 p.m. the wind and sea swell have totally died, the water becomes like glass once again, and it is so still  that one could  play billiards in the boat throughout the night!  That suits me just fine as, with no movement, the boat is QUIET, with no squeaks and creaks and no water slapping at the stern. It means that I can sleep undisturbed.

Morning mist in Amvrakikos Gulf

The Ionian islands are very beautiful.  They seem to have a higher rainfall than the rest of Greece, as they are very green.  Many have fairly high, cloud-capped mountains and the lower slopes are treed with Pine and Cypress. 

Kefallonia Island-cave with emerald water

Bronze age village from the time of Homer's Illiad - these people may have fought in Troy!

 The towns and villages are small and, although not white as in the Dodecanese, are very quaint. The people are very friendly and all have the “Filoxenos” ethos – translated as “Friend of strangers”. They will think nothing of inviting a stranger to join a family celebration, giving you a lift to the next village or helping you out in any way needed.  Tying up your boat alongside the quay is free and most tavernas offer free shower facilities to yachtsmen if you have a meal with them.

There is a lot of history here, these islands having been taken at some stage or another by the Minoans, Romans, Venetians, Turks, French and English. We are now on Kefallonia, the little island of “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” fame.

Since we left Corfu, we have met few land-based tourists.  People who are sailing their own yachts here are mostly British. Many have had their boats here for 8 – 10 years and they spend one or two holidays a year in this area.  Some people live aboard permanently and we saw four French boats in a little bay, tied securely to trees ashore, where they live permanently (free of charge), home schooling their children and going into the nearby village for supplies. Charter boats are also prominent, but the further south we move from Corfu, the fewer we see.   

We are not yet in full summer season so there is always plenty of space on the quay to tie up.  Having said that, we have not tied up once this summer, except while we were in Albania, preferring to anchor.  It is better for the boat, quieter away from other boats, roads and restaurants and we are away from mosquitoes, and most importantly – rats!  Rats are a very big problem for boats.  They are prevalent in all waterside situations and in ports and they find no problem running along  mooring lines to get onto a boat.  Once onboard, it is the devil’s job to catch them, and meanwhile, they merrily chew the boat’s electrical wires etc.

The water is crystal clear and one can watch the  anchor drop and see exactly where it lands. The weather is now warmer and we are beginning to swim.  We see little fish which school around the hull.  In the large Amvrakikos Gulf we saw many dolphins.  There are large fish farms there and the dolphins are always feeding nearby.  Perhaps some of  the fish from the farms escape, or else the food they are given attracts other fish to the area.     

Dolphin escorting us into the Amvrakikos Gulf

The Amvrakikos Gulf is a beautiful, unspoilt wetland.  It consists of an  area of 400km.sq., there are two river deltas in it and it attracts the largest concentration of waterbirds in Greece.  It is connected to the Ionian Sea by a very narrow entrance, so sailing within it is more like sailing on a lake than on the sea.  It is a very quiet place, with several small, quaint  villages and many quiet, deserted bays to anchor in.  Few yachts go into the gulf, preferring to stay on the nearby islands so mostly, one has the place to oneself.

On our own, outside the little village of Vonitsa

After leaving the  Amvrakikos Gulf, went through the Levkada Canal. This is a narrow waterway through shallow water between Levkada island and the mainland. At its entrance, cars go over a barge with a two-lane motor way on it.  This barge is turned sideways every hour for boats to pass through.

Opening bridge in the Levkada Canal

The Ionian islands have many little bays so it is easy to find an anchorage.  Usually one finds a waterside taverna there as well, even though it may be quite some distance from the nearest village. 

Waterside taverna, Vathy, on Meganisi island

We have found that there are no strong winds, like the Boras of Croatia, it’s much cheaper and the beaurocracy is much more obliging, too.

On our way to the island of Meganisi, we passed the island of Skorpios.  This is the island that Aristotle Onassis owned.  It has no natural water of its own and Onassis bought a mountain on a nearby island so that he could get the water from there and have it shipped in to Skorpios.  We saw his home and the beach house he built for Jackie.  It has a beautiful beach which Onassis also had shipped in for her!  It is in a very sheltered spot, hidden behind a headland.  Aristotle, his son Alexander who was killed by sabotage at the age of 24 and his daughter Christina, who died of a drug overdose at age 37 are all buried there. Sadly his granddaughter Athena, now his only descendant, living in Sao Paolo, showed no interest in the island and it has now been sold to the 24 year old daughter of a Russian billionaire.  Onassis bought the island in the 1960s for £10,000 and it has now sold for £100M!  Not a bad investment!

That’s all for now folks.

Fair winds

Artemis and Dimitri.