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Mediterranean Odyssey

September - October 2023
A 53-day adventure by SailingSealaVie Read more
  • 30footprints
  • 3countries
  • 53days
  • 235photos
  • 7videos
  • 1.9kkilometers
  • 875sea miles
  • 306kilometers
  • 11kilometers
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  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 51–52

    My last moments in Athens

    October 28, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    A sunset finish of the Acropolis and the final morning's walk in the park and pool swim.
    I ❤ Greece🇬🇷!

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 49

    Haulout and Athens 1

    October 26, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Wednesdays haulout and cleanup went well. Working and sleeping on the boat while up on the cradle has its challenges: climbing up and down the ladder, passing things up and down, and experiencing the sensation that the boat was moving!
    We left the boat and Preveza on Thursday in a dramatic thunderstorm. We took the 51/2 hour bus trip to Athens. The scenery was varied and spectacular passing the Ambracian Gulf, inland lakes, small villages, deep green orchards with contrasting yellow lemons, silvery leaves of olive groves, rocky mountains we tunneled through and driving over the deep and narrow Corinth canal. Upon arrival at the bus station, Google directed us on a less than appealing walk to our hotel but we made it safely and then wandered down to the area below the Acropolis. It was surprising to see the busy cafés, tavernas and shops after leaving the islands which were shutting down after the summer season. The Acropolis was spectacular lit up.    Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 46

    Last sail.

    October 23, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our heavenly cove cleared out pretty early so we had it to ourselves once again. Bob was scrubbing the deck so I took a row to the beach and along the rocky shore. Where the Solitary Man camped looked like a perfect spot and he left no evidence that he'd been there. 👍 One mystery though, a large manure/dung pile. As we've neither seen nor heard animals, I can't imagine what left it except possibly a cow. I rowed along the shore hoping to see an elusive octopus peeking out of a rocky crevice but instead saw a bright sea star and schools of small fish. We had our last skinny-dip and set off for Preveza. We hoped to catch the 1300 swing bridge but the wind was too light so we drifted and had lunch and watched boats coming and going around us. We motored up the channel and followed the parade of boats, with a couple of boats in a hurry budging in front. The wind was a lovely westerly 10 knots from the open sea so we put up the sails. A perfect finish. We motored into the anchorage off the town where we'd been before and finished our idyllic day watching the sunset, drink in hand.Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 45

    Repeats:Tranquil Bay, our heavenly cove

    October 22, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After a very still, warm night in Abelaki, I sat in the cockpit before the sun came up watching and listening to the world awaken. Boats left early and since there was only the French boat and us, I decided to follow the French woman's example and do yoga on the foredeck then have a skinny-dip! Bob did too after he finished his morning scrubbing on the deck. We had a great chat with the French couple after enquiring about their dinghy engine, a small electric one recharged by usb cable! They are hauling out in Preveza too so we said we'd see them there. We decided to explore another bay and anchored beside a UK couple having lunch. In our chat, we learned their son has gone to Whistler to work for the winter.
    We ended up not staying as the forecast predicted thunderstorms⛈ again and we didn't want to have a repeat of the previous time 😬 so we moved back to Tranquil Bay. As it turned out, we could have stayed as the storm never appeared. So, Sunday morning, we decided to walk to the "magnificent Nydri waterfalls" which turned out to be a trickle! The map said 3.6 kms but as we wandered past houses, olive groves, the dry river bed full of boulders, it certainly felt further. It was pretty though and eventually we came to a café where the road switched to a narrow path up the gorge to the bottom of the falls where there was a small, cold pool. Swim forsaken. Back we walked, stopped at the grocery store and Bob rowed us to the boat. Our walk ended up just over 9 kms. We had lunch and once again, thought we'd explore another anchorage for the night. Too deep; the next spot buoyed off, at which time we decided to go back to our heavenly cove. Sailed with the jib only as the wind was gusting to 17 knots and as the cove came into view, horrors! a catamaran was already there! We came in anyway and as it turned out, we weren't the last! Obviously our treasure cove had been discovered! No matter, there was room to share and everyone enjoyed the cove with quiet enthusiasm. As the French women were topless sunbathing, it seemed fitting for another skinny-dip. Another glorious night in our heavenly spot with the 1/2 moon and stars shining brightly.    Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 42

    Abelaki Bay, a bit of Heaven with 🎶

    October 19, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    As we left our heavenly anchorage, we had lunch floating on the breeze. A good wind picked up so we put out the jib and sailed along checking out the bays and watching other sailboats cruising along. We came into Abelaki Bay and anchored between 2 small docks on each side of the bay. We weren't sure about staying because there were 3 catamarans docked and playing loud music but soon realized they were guests for a small wedding and we had front row seats! The music changed to our era (Simon & Garfunkel, Clapton, Elton...) and an excellent guitarist and singer played during the ceremony and after. The ceremony was by the sea, under the olive trees with the sun shining. Magical.
    We decided to walk up over the hill (huff, puff) into the harbour town, Vathy, and poke around. The rest of the day was swimming and enjoying the music and laughter from the wedding and watching boats come into the bay doing their anchor dances (here, there, up, down, turn around) and settle for the evening. The most interesting though were the 8 charter boats reversing from half way down the bay at a good clip and backing into the dock! Reversing is one way to get where you're going! 🤪🤣
    On Friday, we were again going to go one bay over to Paradise Beach, Port Atheni, but the wind had kicked up to 18knots with waves and swell so we did a quick reconnaissance and decided Abelaki Bay was the calmer choice so back we went, almost to the same spot as the night before. Fewer boats were anchored and the catamarans with the wedding guests had left as had the 8 docked charter boats. We walked to Vathy again taking a different route to pick up the required bakery items and beer. Greek wine is expensive (by Bob's standards🤑 )and not that great compared to the good Italian wines for €2!
    Except for being bitten by bugs, we had a good dinner outside at the taverna. We're one of its last customers because the sailing/tourism season is ending this weekend and most restaurants and tourist shops shut down until April. We didn't realize how dependent these places are on the 24/7 - 7 month tourist season to pay for the next 5 months of no work. A very different lifestyle.
    After the very windy start outside the bay, the night was calm, still and quiet.    Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 42

    A piece of Heaven

    October 19, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    The morning after the storm, we mopped up, bailed out and hung cushions to dry in the sun and breeze while we went for a bike ride! We rode to the end of the fjord along the shore and in a lane under lemon and lime boughs, bright pink bougainvillea branches and rows of potted trees and flowers. We stopped at an ancient tumuli, burial site, and of course, a bakery 😋. We packed up and as we got into the channel, we sailed past Skorpios Is., formerly owned by Onassis and now by a Russian princess. We checked out a few bays and decided on the one I'd originally chosen, Platygiali Cove. A small pebble beach, olive and cypress trees behind, hills on 3 sides so well protected, and clear water. We had the cove to ourselves, except for the Solitary Man who appears to live in a tent well hidden. Boats passing by were far enough out and we were far enough from the beach that we skinny-dipped. Memories of cottage nights 😍. The Solitary Man had his bath and sat on the beach until the sun went behind the trees. We sat listening to birds chittering, chattering and chirping and water lapping until it cooled and we went below. The sky was clear and the stars brilliant in our dark cove.
    The sun didn't hit us in the morning until 9:30 but it was bright and the birds were happily singing. A fisherman rowed in and he showed us the octopus he'd caught. Happy for him (dinner?) but sad for the octopus. I went snorkeling and saw different schools of fish. Solitary Man went off on his bike and we picked up our anchors leaving our one-time glorious cove and set off looking for our next perfect spot.    Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    Day 40

    Levkas Is.

    October 17, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    From Preveza heading south, we sailed to the canal separating Levkas from the mainland providing a passage through the salt marshes and down the east coast of Levkas Island. The earliest canal was dug in the 7th century BC and again by Augustus in Roman times. There is a swing bridge which opens on the hour and since we were late for the 4 p.m., we had to wait. We made 3 attempts to dock but the wind kept us off until Bob leapt off and pulled, tugged and held the lines until my shorter legs could span the distance between boat and pier. It brought back memories of other frightening dockings! After the siren, both ends of the floating bridge go up and it pivots to let boats through. Single lane only so we motored through while boats heading North waited. A full catamaran cheered, "Canada!" as we motored past. Probably too much retsina! On either side were sand spits and shallow lakes. We motored past Levkas Town and as we came out of the channel both coasts rose up with forested hillsides. We anchored off a small harbour at Nikiana for the night.
    The wind picked up in the morning and we had a speedy sail a few miles down to Nydri, a busy little port. After anchoring in Tranquil Bay, just opposite the town, we took the dinghy to check in to the Port Police. They don't make it easy as it was on the street behind the harbourfront, with a small Greek sign sideways to the door which had a no entry symbol, and it was upstairs in a dark hallway! After getting our requisite stamp, we did a little dinghy tour. Tranquil Bay is a mixture of boats permanently tied to the shore, rafted boats, sunken boats and transient boats surrounded by wooded slopes of cypress and olive trees. It's quiet (except for the boat running a generator 😡 - a few of us clapped and cheered when it was shut off) but became noisier as the lightning, thunder and rain descended on our Tranquil Bay. During the deluge, Bob thought our anchor was dragging so out we went in the storm with Bob at the bow lifting the anchor and me driving. Nicholas & Ella happened to call right then and Nicholas wisely said, "Gramma, go inside!" We motored slowly through the maze of anchored boats closer to the town docks and dropped the anchor again. Bob got into the dinghy to bail for fear it would sink with the amount of rain filling it up! The storm finally moved off and it became calm and quiet. Wet but tranquil.    Read more

  • TravelerMediterranean Odyssey
    1
    Day 39

    Preveza

    October 16, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The name means "Passage" because it is between Epirus, Central Greece and the Ionian Islands. It is where Octavius Augustus defeated Antony & Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. There are ancient monuments all around the area and we will visit them later. We spent 2 nights anchored off the town and wandered the lovely lanes festooned with gorgeous vines and flowers, swam at the beach with a mineral spring where the locals swim for good health (so I'm cured of any unknown ailments!), and had an amazing dinner with 4 other B.C.ers. Fortunately Bob kept his opinions about catamarans (condo boats he calls them) to himself since 1 couple has one! They spend a lot of time here so had a favourite restaurant where we were treated royally with ouzo, bread, spreads, olives, dinner plates, wine, dessert and liqueur for €12 each! We spent 4 hours sharing adventures, foibles, repairs and boating life.
    We had coffee the next morning with a UK couple who also spend a lot of time here and they shared their time, stories, information, funny anecdotes and kindness. We'll see them in the Spring too.
    We did some reconnaissance after taking shelter from the rain⛈ and found the tourist office, bus station, customs and Port police where Bob was admonished for not going to the Port we said we were going to upon leaving Corfu! More administrative, bureaucratic challenges. We bought pastries to make the paperwork nonsense more palatable!    Read more

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