It’s a Small World

A first for us! Summer and Fall sails, yes. Springtime? Never. Well, I guess we learned to sail in May, but that’s a far cry from Mar 21, and I use the term “learned” loosely. I don’t think you ever quit learning to sail. Always something new is thrown at you, which is why it’s enjoyable.

This time we were only a crew of five. Nate and Daidre and Ravi. Nate’s are old friends from the war (Israel 12 day) and Ravi was our 18 year old ship’s boy that got bossed around, blamed for everything and always popped up to save the day. Our ship was a 52’ Beneteau called Pura Vida. She had 5 cabins and 3 toilets. She was an extremely steady craft and behaved impressively in high seas unless her sail was up, the wind was strong and you wanted her to run parallel to the waves. That she couldn’t do unless everything was exactly perfect with her rigging, but we eventually figured it out. It always takes a bit to understand the quirks of each craft.

I have written before of all the maintenance we do onboard, but this time was totally different. Pura Vida had sat all winter being patched up and buffed and all the little problems had been solved. She was clean and ready to roll! Chartering in the fall, the boats have been run hard and no one has had any time to really work on them. Hence, we are forced to under less than ideal conditions.

Lefkada D Marina was our charter base. We arrived Saturday afternoon at this huge, dead marina. Almost no one was around, and as we wound our way around all the dry docked boats looking for the office it was almost creepy. I had expected a bustling port with markets, restaurants and hopefully laundry services. Nope. All we could see were acres of sailboats and some very dead looking businesses. Eventually we found the gal we needed, signed our papers and then headed off to look for Pura Vida and the one lone guy who would introduce her to us. He was nice, lone guy, but also didn’t know hugely much about the boat, and didn’t seem to have a very great amount of local knowledge either. We wanted to exit the port via a waterway that had a swing bridge on it. Did he know the bridge opening times? No. Nor did he know if it even opened at all! This was sort of disturbing, as it was an extra half days sailing to get to our destination if we couldn’t go through. Indeed, it would mean a totally revamped sail plan. He also was quite sure that at that time of evening all supermarkets would be closed and they would all be closed the next day cause it was Sunday and, helpless shrug. Well, we would see it to believe it.

While he and Heath finished up the rest of us hit the supermarkets. Yes, there were quite a few open, and within 1/2 hour we had 4 days provisions bought and ready to bring back to the boat. It felt a tad reckless, but we were all tired and just ready to sleep. Meanwhile Heath had found out that the bridge did indeed open at 8am, so we had a start time. Be waiting at the bridge by 7:45am.

With so few crew and lots of storage, we had everything stowed lickety split and after long hot showers on shore, we sank gratefully into our berths. It’s chilly when the sun goes down. The wind on the water is cool and we’re happy for the heater and extra blankets.

Corfu Bound

Castoff went without incident, well, mostly. The marina was packed so tight it took some very serious wiggling to work our way out without bumping too many boats or snagging on the mooring lines. Eventually we were free and headed for the bridge and beyond that, open water. The sun shone, but there was a nip in the air, probably made worse in our minds by the snow capped mountains on mainland. Pretty soon we were drinking hot drinks and curled under blankets dragged up from below.

The sea was calm and unfortunately, so was the wind. What little puffs there were, were from directly behind us, so that didn’t really help if we wanted the sails up. We did actually have a couple hours where the wind shifted enough to throw up the sails and have some peaceful sailing. I love those hours.

We made fantastic time, and Corfu arrived a few hours before we had expected. Kinda forgot we’d be able to go that much faster with a longer boat. Nice! The first marina on our radar was under construction and no crafts were allowed. We checked a second one, but the depths were touch and go and all the deep water spots seemed full of long term boats. Quite a few had people living on them, and one lady had hung her boats toilet seat on the marina’s red entry beacon and was busy spray painting it. Why not? Doesn’t kill the pristine look of the place at all. The third time was a charm, and we docked at NAOK Yacht Club. Pictures on Google Maps are hilariously deceptive. It’s probably a yacht club in season, but that week it was simply a chipped concrete dock with some rundown buildings nearby, some locked toilets that reeked to high heavens even walking by, and a dingy gym that apparently opened occasionally. Old Greek men drove their motorbikes and even cars onto the pier to fish or eat lunch or just gaze over the water. Altogether an ideal spot to feel real Greece. And free! Always a bonus for us.

I had one goal on reaching land. A laundromat. After traveling for 2+ weeks with very little washer access, we were down to rationing the clean bits that were left. I can definitely recommend Corfu’s laundry scene. I found a lovely laundromat with a goggle eyed attendant that drove me mildly wild. Apparently her mom never told her not to stare at strangers. But that’s not here nor there. We all explored a little of town while the clothes washed, then I headed back to read and wait on dryers while the rest went to church. It was Sunday after all. They didn’t seem too inspired with it all, so seems I didn’t miss much.

We ended back at the boat for supper. Someone cooked and the rest relaxed. The view from our boat is stunning! A fortress shining on the hill, ferries coming and going, fishing boats headed out, lights twinkling way out on mainland. Truly beautiful.

Exploring Corfu

Up shortly after the sun to explore the island. Heath had found us a dirty little car to rent and though we barely fit, it worked fine. In spite of the sunshine rain kept wanting to spit, but no major downpours. Just enough to give us some beautiful rainbows over the water.

We toured “our” fortress, a monastery , climbed some hills, scrambled around several old castle ruins, ate oranges and oohed and ahhed at the stunning beaches tucked into little coves. We even slipped and slid down a hill to look at a stunning waterfall that was also the local dump. Totally amazing to see a gorgeous fall like that while you’re sponging around on old couch cushions, dodging refrigerators and old vehicle guts, slipping on empty cans and lotion bottles half buried in the greenery. It’s a legit hiking trail, just also the dump. I guess if your whole island looks amazing why not dump at these falls? The hills are covered with enormous olive trees. Never have we seen such massive ones! Landslides are all over here too, so while we enjoy the lush greens and brilliant flowers, all the rain they’ve had has come with a price. Nate and Daidre were busy with their bird watching app and it identified tit after tit. Really you would think that was the only variety of bird on the whole island!

Evening brought us back to Corfu town with its little cobbled streets, outdoor restaurants and people hanging around in the town square. A definite outdoor culture here! One last stop quick before total dark at the Holy Monastery of Planagia Vacherna, a tiny monastery surrounded by water and incidentally right at the end of the modern runway of Corfu airport. Me thinks the meditation probably doesn’t go quite as good as it used to. It’s the oldest monastery on Corfu, and I’m gonna say has the most ducks and cats to human ratio of any other monastery on the Island. Clearly these monks are animal lovers. There was a row of cardboard boxes sitting on the front steps, a nice variety of sizes, and in each one there sat a cat. It was epic! They certainly didn’t choose their boxes according to box and body size. Oh no. Some were swimming with room, others appeared to be a rather tight fit, but as they say, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

And so ended another day. Heath and I have been watching a storm system forming out at sea and have been wondering how this will shake out. We need to head back south tomorrow so we can be tucked into calm inner waters when it hits. Should be doable.