A very slow and relaxing week this week.
We sailed from Zakinthos north up to Kefalonia in light winds, our first stop being at the bottom of the island at a place called Scala. Anchored off the beach, we sampled a beach bar before heading to a place we had heard about called Captains Bar. Lovely little place with a great atmosphere and good value drinks, the cocktails were delicious, and strong!.
Captains Bar
Next stop was Vathy, a larger town on Ithaca. We anchored in the bay and invited the neighbours round for a beer or two. Staying two nights allowed us to explore the town the next day and enjoy breakfast in a taverna, before heading further up the coast to Kioni. This village is billed as one of the prettiest in the area and we wouldnt disagree. However some dodgy port pricing took the edge off the experience - charter boats pay 1/3rd of the price private boats do for the same boat size! Kioni was beautiful though and a great stop.
Kioni
Travelling further North, we stopped at Meganisi for two nights. We took a walk into the town, also called Vathy, taking a wrong turn meant a longer one than planned but still pleasent. Returning to the boat we found it surrounded by lots of fish, something that is becoming more common as we move north in this area. They probably associate the yachts with food, its noticeable how many charter yachts are around here compared to the rest of Greece. We are coming towards the end of the season, it must be really busy in mid summer.
From Meganisi we travelled 6 miles further North to Vathiavali, a beach anchorage with a beach bar and a single road in/out. A very chilled spot.
Vathiavali beach bar
Kerensa is performing well, with dare I say it, none of the breakages we got used to earlier in our ownership. Barring a still to find, intermittent electrical connection on the freezer, there is nothing on the 'urgent' list. We have 4 months in Tunisia over the winter to carry out all the other jobs on our list. Weather wise, its still sunny and hot but the nighttime are noticeably cooler. We experienced rain a few days ago for the first time in months and the wind patterns are changing.
Next we are making our way back south to Kefalonia again to pick up friends and take them north to Corfu. We had planned to hop across to Italy from there but may now leave that until next year and go direct to Malta from Greece. The beauty of this lifestyle is that all plans are flexible!