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The journey home Cruising donkeys
Cycle to Vonitsa
April 14, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
Nice day today so after John has applied another coat of paint to the inside of the old gas locker than he had cleaned a few days ago, I managed to persuade him that we should go for a bike ride. Not too many directional choices from here so we headed North past the end of the runway at Aktio Airport and were then going to decide whether to go left or right, Vonitsa or Agios Nickolas. I am secretly hoping that we can get to Vonitsa as not sure there is even a cafe in Nickolas.
At the end of the runway we find the unfinished A52 motorway and are directed onto it for a short stretch before being turned off to the existing roads but as the motorway seems to be going in the right direction we decide to stay onboard as we were the only traffic and there were no work vehicles either.
We have a beautifully smooth ride 11km to the Vonitsa turn off and a delicious lunch at one of the cafes before riding back along the lonely the motorway. Great day out.Read more
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The journey home Cruising donkeys
Greek bureaucracy
April 11, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
Well sadly we are still here in the yard at Preveza waiting to receive the transducer that will fill the 2inch hole we currently have in the bottom of the boat. You really wouldn’t believe what a palaver it’s been, the transducer took I think it was 36-48 hours to get to Athens then three days of doing nothing we then contact DHL to enquire about the problem and they say they have been trying to contact us as apparently we have the wrong address on the parcel, by the way we have no missed called or emails obviously. We get sender to send revised customs invoice with amended address. No news call them again invoice has to have a number, sender sends another amended customs invoice with a number, through DHL Guernsey as cant be forwarded by us apparently. Next hoop, next day, we have to send proof of payment, I try to explain that we wouldn’t normally pay for goods until we receive the goods but to no avail, sender sends us invoice and we pay and send confirmation to DHL Athens. Next day I call again and they want a letter from sender saying exactly what is printed on the customs invoice, i loose it, why another thing that says the same. They should as we didn’t hear back now be clearing the parcel, but who knows?
Rant over. We have been doing some useful things with our additional dry time, john managed to stop an irritating leak we had on one of the portholes, wiped the rust streaks and washed exterior and has now replaced all the fender ropes. I have done more internal sanding and varnishing finally finishing all the portholes, and some external touch ups, not as much as I would have liked as still scattered showers every other day.
I have also finally finished baby Sophia’s cardigan and one bootie other is ongoing and have posted Sam and Nathan’s baby sleeping bag to them, I am hoping it’s a boy, well not really there just wasn’t as much colour choice as i would have liked so it’s in pale grey, pale blue and turquoise.Read more
Laura PrestonThe boat is looking good, glad you are on the water again and thank you for all the lovely knitting. Catch up soon xx
4/24/19Reply
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The journey home Cruising donkeys
Boat maintenance done!
April 6, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Hurray we have finished the antifouling, and received the completed insurance survey. Survey was great just need to replace one of the rollers on the anchor bow roller, we had noticed but then forgot about it as you do while in a marina using their slime lines. Boat bottom is darker than before as now covered with Seajet 33 mid blue previously it was Micron International blue. Looking good even if we say so ourselves, also liking the new red bar on the rocha anchor, done to enabling more accurate estimations of where it is once released.
Will be back in the water as soon as the sounder transducer arrives, we know it arrived in Athens Wednesday evening but no one knows how long it will take to clear Greek Customs fingers crossed 🤞 not much longer.
We have booked our flights home to a Guernsey for the summer, we will be there 9/7-9/9 so if anyone would like us to house/pet sit please let me know as we currently of no fixed abode for those summer months.Read more
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The journey home Cruising donkeys
Ionion Marina Yard in Aktio
March 30, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
The boat was lifted yesterday a little late due to a scheduled power out but all chucked by 13:00, nice and close to power and water but sadly the toilet block next to us is out of action as they are installing new water tanks. The view across the fields and the Preveza Gulf is beautiful. Boats bottom was a lot dirtier than last year but we, well I have now scrapped and sanded it down, popped the bubbles and scrapped out wet bits and John has wire brushed back to steel where needed so almost ready for primer. Having a break now that we have finished the smurf jobs.
Only problem at the moment is that even though we have now properly cleaned the transducer, the downward facing sensor, for the depth sounder we are still not getting a reading, it ticks and the receiving screen appears to function OK just no depth. John is hoping to hear from Robin shortly.Read more
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The journey home Cruising donkeys
Cruising again the start of the return
March 25, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We had a great last night in Levkas Marina there was even a party in our honour, well almost, it was both for the marina leavers and to celebrate the owners of the Porto Cafe having managed it for 5 Years. They provided nibbles a party cake and flowers for their staff.
John was awarded a Golden Compass award for his carpentry skills having saved the New Years Eve party by constructing a wind proof surround for the outer area. Other awards were for eco warrior, cultural bridging, community spirit and a special one for Shadow the first marina baby 👶. It was a great night with Ugly Potatoes providing great live music and vocals.
We left the Marina today, Greek Independence Day and headed south to Nidri just to check that all was well. We did encounter a small problem as we were preparing to leave, it looks like while tidying up some wiring and adding extra sockets John may have inadvertently removed the aerial cable for the small stand alone GPS unit!
Tomorrow we plan to return to Lefkada town and anchor off for a night, this means I can go to knit and natter one last time before going to Preveza on Wednesday ready for a lift out on Friday at Ionian Boat Marina when we will start the re antifouling process.Read more
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Agias Nikitas
March 20, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
With John having Man flu this week, it was just me and Pete on the cycle up to Tsoukalades and then down to Agias Nikitas on the west coast, yet more stunning views, Lefkada island has some hidden treasures. On the way back we saw a wheelie bin that was being staked out by the local cats, and stopped for a great coffee in Tsoukalades at the top of the hill. Pete generously bought some of TTs (tall Tony’s) favourite cakes so we delivered them on the way back and at his flat I found some freesias, smelt them first obviously then saw them, they remind me of Guernsey so much.
This week was also a good one for me in the quiz, our team won, the credit goes largely to Steve and Mags but I do remember getting one answer correct, how many points is the letter L worth in scrabble! Well done me.Read more
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Cycling to Karya
March 15, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 12 °C
We had a great morning out yesterday when Pete and Irene took us on a very scenic and little travelled route up to Karya in the centre of Lefkada island. The uphill section took a very long time and at each corner Pete assured us we had done the worst bit and that we were nearly there only for us to turn the corner and it appear even steeper. Pete used to be in advertising, you can tell. A restorative coffee and cake in Lazarata meant we made it to Karya. OK this section was mostly flat then downhill towards Nidri with gorgeous views across to Megannisi, before the flat costal section back to Lefkada.Read more
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Lefkada Carnival
March 10, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
This weekend was carnival weekend on the island with Nidri celebrating on Saturday night and Lefkada town celebrating Sunday night, some serious effort went into floats, costumes, routines etc well done everyone we had a great time at both evenings watching the festivities even if our ears are still a little sore.Read more
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Melissa Gorge Walk
March 8, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Took part in the Melissa Gorge pre walk today walking 16km, almost all of it was on secluded lanes, with some absolutely stunning scenery. Thank you Bill Jo Alex and Ian for your company. We won’t be able to do the actual walk as we have other commitments but Bill being the Boy Scout wanted to be prepared and know what it was like when tackling the route with the larger group.Read more
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Summer is definitely on its way
February 28, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
After a very windy long weekend Tuesday was glorious and we went with our Swedish friends on a lovely walk inland, it was number 17 in the Lefkada on Foot book John got for Christmas. On Wednesday while John was working on repairing a passerelle I and the other knit and natter ladies helped Trudy with her Levkaxit sculpture that is made from single use plastics. Trudy is a British artist based in Lefkada for the winter she is well known for her work on recycling and with plastics.Read more
Laura PrestonLove your hair Beth x
3/3/19Reply
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Cruising Donkeys to Greece Cruising donkeys
Cold spell
February 24, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 9 °C
We woke up this morning to snow on the hills, we should have realised it was a cold night when the cat came to join us in bed, (photos courtesy of Lefkada Press). Overnight gusts reach 67knots but we are nice and sheltered on our mooring, others not so lucky so a few shredded foresails around and other cover damage.Read more
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JVK Birthday
February 23, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 10 °C
Our return trip from Athens was hassle free and we had some great views of the Gulf of Preveza where we are likely to spend some time next month before our lift out for antifouling and the 10year survey.
We made a random purchase in Athens of a stylised fishing trawler that is also a light, we love it.

On the Saturday night we had a Chinese night to attend at Vliho Yacht Club. It was a great meal, lots of variety, good company and alcohol free ginger beer all for the bargain price of €15 each.
John’s Birthday was the following day and it was an odd way to spend a birthday but we took part in the Clean up your Gyras, which the equivalent of a Beach Clean we picked up litter on the north edge of the Lagoon both on the beach and on the lagoon side. There was a huge amount of plastic and a lot of tyres as well as some fly tipping of electrical gubbins. But I definitely felt a sense of achievement after 3 hours of work, John did pack up a bit earlier but OK it was his birthday.
We have now settled back into the swing of things and have had some great weather, it was so good yesterday that unfortunately John felt the need to take off his shirt 🤪 while working, not sure the other marina residents were really ready for that. On Wednesday night we took part in the quiz again and managed a creditable third, which as our team mate Pieta put it means we are starting to fill our heads will too much useless knowledge.
Today we said welcome to our boat guest Zinghy, who is with us for 10 days. He has settled in and made himself at home already.Read more
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More sites in Athens
February 11, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
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Acropolis
February 10, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
I was getting very confused looking at the signs around the city. The signs said Acropolis but the tickets were for Parthenon. It took me a while but I have finally figured out that the hill is called the Acropolis and within it is the Parthenon, the Odeon of Herod, and Theatre of Dionysus. They are very impressive, as John would say, ‘piles of ancient rocks’, though not so much of a pile nowadays as a lot of architectural reconstruction has taken place. The Odeon, which is like a small theatre is used in the summer for performances. We also watched the Sunday ‘changing of the guard’ with the brass band and funny walks and uniforms of tutus and pom-poms. I suppose in reality their uniforms are no more ridiculous then Beefeaters outfits.Read more
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Less touristy sites of Athens
February 9, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We have also seen some of the less popular tourist attractions. We visited Voula’s on the beach front and then Flisvos Marina using the Tram, the marina is full of very very impressive yachts (look up Radiant, it was originally commissioned for Abramovich’s rival) as well as what appeared to be a historic naval ship. We also met Steve ‘Brody’ whom we originally met in Almerimar on his Amel 48, he was headed to Leros where the boat was resting for the winter before he takes it to Turkey for a refit later in the year. He is still very smitten with the boat and has been around most of the north of the Mediterranean already.
We also saw a Royal Enfield garage.
At our lunch stop on the steps in the Anafiotika district where we had a delicious Greek Meze plate, we saw this adorable if not very friendly Persian cat.Read more
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Some Athens sites
February 9, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Well my parents were due to fly into Athens at 19:30 but due to fog their flight to Gatwick was first delayed then cancelled. Sod’s law, the flights before and after were fine. This meant obviously they missed their flight to Athens. Bryony was able to find another flight but it was from Heathrow and arrived at 03:30 and to quote a famous film ‘what does the 0 stand for, oh my god it’s early’. Thankfully they made it though and after a long lie-in we started to explore the city. Here are some of the photos of the sites we visited.Read more
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Athens
February 6, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
We are in our rented Airbnb apartment we have a week in Athens now, my parents were due to arrive this evening but sadly they will now arrive in the middle of the night well more like very early morning, what a nightmare!
We have done a bit of wandering around getting our bearings seeing the sights from a distance but waiting for our house guests to arrive before we visit Parthenon etc.Read more
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Earthquake
February 5, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
We had a rude awakening this morning at 4:25am, the boat rattled and there was a noise like going over a rumbling bridge. We have experienced our first Earthquake.
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Wacky Walkers
February 3, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
So today’s walk gave us some great views, I’m not in the photo as prior to this I went ahead to look for a route with Ian and we were then left behind😠.Luckily everyone made it to lunch OK. The boat is in the Villa pool you can rent it through Air BandB.
Other piccy is one Victoria took while doing a walking photography tour in Lefkas, we were on our way to the repair cafe in Z bar where John repaired a chair and table. Other people were doing electrical appliances, sewing, knitting and recycling by weaving plastic and crocheting plastic bags, all very ECO. I just drank coffee and chatted.Read more
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Still in Lefkada
January 28, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Hello everyone sorry it’s been a while since last post, but we aren’t really doing much that seems worthy of mention. That said on Saturday we took a cycle to Plagia on the mainland with some of our new friends and Sunday there was a Porto Wacky Walkers outing so here are some photos I have taken off Facebook as we didn’t take the iPad with us.
The photo of just me is because I got the ‘snowball’ question after the quiz on Wednesday and won the pot! Just pleased the question wasn’t a tough one, ‘how old was Blue Peter in October 2018?’ Well I knew it was older than me and guessed at 60! In the quiz we improved marginally and were second to last this week.
I have also attached a photo of the engine room to show the work John has been doing, for those in the know and who actually care, we have cleaned insides of water storage tanks and John has fitted new hot water cylinder and pump as well as cleaning, sanding and repainting most of engine room. Things didn’t go completely smoothly with the water refit though, the pump came in it’s box but without instructions and the filter was inadvertently put on the out not the in and blew off yesterday so things got a little damp, water spraying everywhere until i switched off the pump but all OK now thank goodness. I should say it is ridiculous how quickly and how often you forget that there is no running water and try to turn on the tap😋.Read more
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Keeping busy
January 17, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
So when the weather is decent we are outside sanding, varnishing and painting but when it’s lousy (wet and windy) it’s harder to find things to do. Fortunately one of my new friends was kind enough to lend me a sewing machine and I have made mosquito nets for all the portholes and blackout curtains for the bow cabin port holes. I am also able to work on my knitting skills, there is a Knit and Natter group (tues afternoons) and they have shown me lots of new stitches and techniques. The photo is of a baby sleeping bag I knitted for Gabe and Mark’s daughter Shadow who was born on December 27th. I am now working on a new one for Sam and Nathan’s new addition.
We go cycling in the mornings if it’s dry, then there’s walking on Sundays if the sun is shining, here are some photos from last weeks walk, forecast for this week not great so might not go anywhere.
Quiz nights are on Wednesdays, John and I have for the last three weeks been last, the only way to go from here is up!Read more
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Birthday in Greece
January 8, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
BIG thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes. So far it’s been a great day, coffee and cake, a scratch card win, lots of birthday cards, a big fluffy blanket to snuggle up in and we are ordering a take out for tea. What’s not to like?
Well in reality overnight all the standing water had turned to ice and that’s right here in the marina next to the sea, so I suppose I would have preferred a little more heat and not to have the sniffles, but Hey the sun came out to celebrate so all is good
Thanks again everyone, at least being here I don’t have to do the press-ups that are obligatory to all circuit training participants on their birthday.Read more
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Epiphany (Twelfth Night) in Lefkas
January 6, 2019 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 5 °C
Today we walked to the bridge in town to watch the Epiphany celebrations. There was the local marching band, after their arrival the priests blessed the water and then people threw last years oranges in the water and dunked the new ones three times. Apparently you keep the dunked oranges in your house for the year to bring you luck. After that young men, lads really, jump in the water to try to be first to reach the wooded cross the priests threw in, the one to get it will have luck throughout the year.Read more
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Happy New Year
December 31, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 7 °C
Here’s wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2019.
As you can see the weather here in the Mediterranean is very British it’s cold, wet and windy!
In preparation for the party tonight John and I helped to build some plastic screens to enclose the outside space and decorate the area.

Καλή Χρονιά!: Happy New Year!
We had an awesome night at the Porto Cafe New Years Eve Party well done Victoria MooresRead more
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Happy Christmas everyone
December 25, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Well we did it a quick swim but very windy so no real choice for location. You can see Santa Maura fort behind us and Lefkas town and marina. Having a warming Latte now, lots of the cafes are open like normal, weird. We are off for Christmas Day lunch soon at Vliho Yacht Club. We had a delicious meal made all the better by not having to prepare it or tidy up afterwards and the vocal entertainment on the bus home is a memory I will treasure for a while, my ears are still recovering.
Boxing Day was a much quieter affair, we cycled to Nidri for a coffee and on the way back I had a swim at Karyates, John acted as lifeguard being the hero (wimp) he is. Swimming again for him was out of the question. Later we had roast chicken and veg, even sprouts and trimmings, pigs in blankets and, courtesy of the Christmas Day meal, some gluten free stuffing, glad we went for the bike ride earlier.Read more
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Settling in at Lefkas
December 18, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We have now been here over a week already, time is flying by. We have done some work on the boat, sanding and varnishing for me, sanding and priming for John, but the weather hasn’t been great with lots of rain and at night thunder storms, last nights was really loud. The rest of this week is supposed to be fine so I am hoping to pressure clean the decks, we want to do this before our neighbour comes back to his new boat (he bought it end of last year brand new) after Christmas, he is a bit precious and we are sure he would object strongly to the mess. If we do it soon there is bound to be rain before 5 Jan when he returns, to wash it all away. We also want to do some grinding but not sure we will get this done before neighbours return so might need to construct a sheet tent around john so no mess can jump.
We took part in the quiz last Wednesday for the first time and came second to last, we started well but gradually drifted backwards, only saving grace was the last place team had 6 members whereas it was only John and I on our team. Also attended Happy Hour on Thursday and met more Marina residents including Ray, an ex truck engineer with lots of Volvo experience so John spoke to him for ages and got some good advice. On Saturday we went on a free bus trip to the local Ikea where there is also an H&M, Intersport and Jumbo (a huge shop that seems to sell a bit of everything). We had fun and as it pretty much rained all day it was a good way to use the time.
Friday night is Christmas party night, Friday morning is carol singing, Sunday morning is Secret Santa so we are keeping ourselves busy.
Oh yes more on the weather last Tuesday when we woke there was ice, yes ice on the deck of the boat and this isn’t the coldest month. We are now looking at ways of adding further insulation mainly for the windows in the salon.
I am attending the gym regularly and doing Greek Pilates classes, I have been able to help a couple of English speaking people with some ‘at home’ exercises and John and I have done a couple of runs as well.
Oh yes on a non Christmas note not sure I said but on our trip up the canal to the marina we saw, flamingos, pelicans, herons, greater egrets, egrets, plovers, gulls and an odd sort of black duck that wasn’t in our book 📖.
Off to the timber yard tomorrow to see what they have, ideally we would like some teak faced ply, but it is likely that this is an ask to far, but who knows, we will also go to Lidl as almost next door to buy our Boxing Day meal ingredients, not sure what we will have, depends what they have in stock.
All the best everyone.Read more
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