After breakfast this morning we set off for Agia Efimia. It’s not far so we can have a good sail on the way. Elaine is great on the helm, she got Konstantinos up to 8 knots which is flying along for a yacht.
Another lovely village, squid & chips for dinner.
Last night we were parked opposite a nice bar – we thought it would be handy for breakfast. When we got back from dinner there was a huge party going on.
Limited sleep for the crew of Konstantinos!
Our destination today is the port of Sami. It’s on an island called Kefalonia. Here’s our track from the chart plotter.
Sami is very pleasant.
Some big ferries call in here.
Mind my boat!
We tied up alongside a yacht flying the Welsh dragon. Thought we’d better get ours up.
I’ve written from Little Vathi on Meganisi a few times in the past, but today we travelled to Big Vathi, which is the capital of Ithaka. It’s not far from Kioni where we stayed last night.
When we mentioned to the people on the boat next door that we were coming here they took a sharp intake of breath and said ‘ooh, windy Vathi’.
Anyhow off we went and here we are. Our neighbours were quite right, it took 3 attempts to get Konstantinos moored to Val’s satisfaction (she’s the anchor expert).
Lovely place.
Once you’ve moored your boat you are at liberty to watch everyone else trying to achieve the same thing. Reversing up to a quay in a strong crosswind isn’t easy.
The bigger the boat the harder it gets. This 56 foot catamaran was a proper handful.
Lovely dinner later on. It’s a really nice town.
Today the weather has improved, so we’re off to a little port called Kioni on the island of Ithaka. Some nice boats about today
Val steers us south.
It’s Friday, so the flotilla sailors all have to head towards their home ports – most of them need to go north.
We arrive at Kioni and the little quay is already crowded with yachts. We squeeze Konstantinos in.
Latecomers circle like vultures hoping someone leaves. You sometimes get lucky.
There were thunderstorms today, so everyone just mills about doing nothing, or more likely fixing things that have broken on the boat. We need to renew all the catches that hold the internal doors open, so its off to the chandlery to get some new ones.
Here’s our pontoon.
The blue boxes supply water and, if you have a very posh boat, mains electricity. We don’t have this luxury – we have to make our own power. Normally this isn’t a problem, as the engine on the boat generates plenty while we’re leaving our berth and mooring again at the end of the day. On days like this however, when we haven’t been anywhere, it’s easy to use all the power in the batteries. This is a pain, because it means no lights after dark, no music and worst of all the wine and beer in the fridge gets warm.
To help us with this problem we have a small wind farm on the back of the boat.
It’s better than nothing, but even on a windy day like today we only get enough to charge a few phones and the ipads.
Up early this morning and we’re off to Nidri on the island of Lefkada. Val does the sailing today.
We do a bit of shopping, have lunch and go and visit Yiannis who works in the bar at the Athos hotel. It’s a magical spot with a lovely pool. Val jumps in for a dip, Konstantinos is tied up on a pontoon just behind the palm trees.
Storms are forecast for the next couple of days, so we’ll get our laundry done and do some shopping for some boaty bits that we need tomorrow.
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