Lefkada

From Meganissi we headed back up to Lefkas Marina to give the boat a good scrub and to find a launderette before my parents came aboard. In true Mediterranean style on arriving at the airport mum and dad found two differing bus timetables and were then informed by a fellow traveller that the bus to Lefkas was actually leaving at a third, later time! The German was right so after a stint at the local cafe, mum and dad finally made it to Odyssee to start their first week as sailors!

The following morning we put our new crew to work with mum at the helm and set off to a new part of the inland sea, a town called Palairos, with a stop at a bay on the approaching coastline for lunch and a swim. Knowing mum isn't the most confident swimmer (after an incident last time they were in Greece 40 years ago) I bought her an inflatable flamingo ring. Unfortunately the flamingo was not on best behaviour and no sooner had it been dropped into the sea than it drifted away in the wind towards the beach, requiring a rescue effort in the dinghy! It was then towed in disgrace to our evening anchorage. Palairos is a pretty town and we had a delicious dinner on the waterfront overlooking Odyssee.

The next day we decided to take mum and dad to one of our favourite anchorages, next to the windmill on Kastos. Again we had the bay to ourselves and could enjoy the crystal clear waters and even managed a bbq. After a drink up at the windmill we went on a dinghy tour along the coast and came across the local goat herd on the neighbouring beach.

Continuing our animal tour we set off the next morning for a lunch stop at "pig bay" and were very excited to find that there were two new litters of piglets since we'd last visited! This time I'd kept our food waste separate from the coffee so they got our fruit and veg compost this time and Sam realised they weren't such good swimmers after all as he threw a watermelon rind a little too deep, swiftly followed by an excited oink and then a bululubulub! From Atokos we went to Kalamos for the night and taught mum and dad how to paddleboard. They were naturals and both got standing on their first attempt, even more impressive as I'd decided it was far too hot to be pumping and given up well below the recommended pressure!

With our crew fully trained up and in charge of steering the boat and pulling lines now, Sam could concentrate on more important tasks like fishing . Now on occasion Sam can be a salesman dream, this was one of those occasions. Whilst in a chandlery the store owner had sensed he was a man desperate to catch a tuna and had seized his opportunity by telling Sam that "everyone is catching tuna these days, stocks are up post-covid, but they all use this particular lure, no others will work". Despite having a boat full of lures we left with this new one, time will tell if the chandler's claims are justified!

From Kalamos we made our way to a new town called Sivota. After failing to get our anchor to set three times in the main bay we were waved over to a pontoon owned by a local restaurant. Here we had free access to electricity, water, toilets, showers and a washing machine as long as we ate dinner at the taverna! Not a bad deal as we were planning on eating there anyway!

The next day we set off again back to one of our favourite spots in Nidri and trekked up to the waterfalls. Luckily there was still water flowing through them although they were much busier than a few weeks earlier but definitely worth the entertainment to see some of the poses people were pulling for photos. And just like that our brilliant week with mum and dad was over and we were back in Lefkas Town.Read more