The Road Once Traveled, again

There is snow in the mountains of the Peloponnesus. More snow on the peaks to the north across the Gulf of Corinth, the Parnassus range above Delphi.  Patti Smith is belting out "Because the Night" in my ear phones. The highway is new but rough along the south coast of the gulf and I'm headed west to Preveza on the bus from Athens. This is a road we've traveled much and the olive grove plains and vineyards yield to  mountains within a few miles and to what was for 900 years the old Spartan stronghold.

Gulf of Corinth

I  don't think I have many illusions concerning the Spartan way of life but the classic stories of good and evil are easy to visualize in this country. When Phillip II was threatening to come down out of Macedonia and invade the Peloponnesus he sent a diplomatic threat to Sparta. If he entered Spartan territory he would lay waste to the land. The Spartans sent back a one word reply, "If". Neither Phillip nor his son Alexander the Great ever invaded Spartan territory.

Its a cool sunny morning and the gulf is deceptively calm. It can be a bitch beating to the west against the prevailing gulf winds in unsettled conditions. Best to hang out along the north shore, pick your times and/or sail/motor westward in light air.   There was a reason for galleys in the Med.

City front at Preveza

We've had a death in the family. So my emotions have been on edge the past few weeks. Janet kindly describes my usual personality as "double A" . I've probably been 'triple A'  lately. The right song can tear me up. Something stupid is said about something that meant a lot to me long ago and I get all angry again inside. Lately I've actually been missing flying, the "band of brothers", etc.  Greece seems more evocative than ever. Time to get back to the boat!

Wauquiez Pretorian 35 on the quay at Preveza

And that's the plan. In few hours I'll see how things have gone at Cleopatra Marina over the winter. I hope to find the trusty steed reasonably clean and well kept. If the work I contracted to have done (installing a new water heater, not a simple job) is actually done and done well I'll be delighted. We're nearly to the rather magnificent Rio-Antirrio bridge at the west end of the gulf. Led Zep's "All of My Love" playing, Robert Plant at his best. To the north towards Preveza the way is beautiful. Life is good. 

Headquarters, Cleopatra Marina

Soooo…………… got to Preveza and caught a taxi out to Cleopatra Marina where I have a room for the night before becoming a live-aboard tomorrow. The boat looks nice, they've polished the hull as requested. Nothing seems to be damaged and all the electronics fired up normally which is always very good. The old water heater has been removed and the new one has arrived…………….BUT, BUT, a very big BUT, its the wrong heater! A two month shipping time and they sent the wrong heater! This one is electric only, no engine heat exchanger. Essentially useless in a cruising sailboat. The yard is very apologetic. They are working on possible solutions, tomorrow (the word is "auvrio" in Greek) there may be an answer. No point in bringing up the fact that if they'd ordered the heater six months ago, when it was requested,  we'd have had four months to solve this little dilemma, not two weeks. I learned long ago that when the Greeks screw up, and know they've screwed up, there's no point in twisting the knife. I tell them my sweet wife will want her water heater and they understand completely. They'll work very hard to make up for it given the chance and they work best for their friends. Stay tuned  for the water heater saga to continue.

Airstream awaits

Love to all,

Bill & Janet

Home again, home again....

Nothing goes to weather like a 747.  But a 767, 777 or even "the bus" are almost as good at getting one home, I'll admit , despite my love for the mighty "whale". So we're back in the USA. It feels good. Our home and our pets had been well cared for by our house sitter. We're ready to enjoy being here in a season we especially enjoy and haven't experienced for several years.

Old Amsterdam

The trip went very well considering its the height of vacation travel time and that we're lowly retired airline, standby type passengers. We couldn't get on a flight we wanted out of Athens to New York but got on another to Amsterdam and spent a nice evening in the heart of the old city. Next day we got in World Business Class  (oh joy! )  from AMS to JFK and then caught the first  flight to SFO. We had another nice night with family in Mill Valley and then drove a rental car home on a lovely day. Quite a good trip as non-rev travel goes.

On the hard at Cleopatra

We left the boat on the hard at Cleopatra Marina in Preveza, Greece. The marina had been recommended by several friends. The haul out and hard stand work was very professional and we have high hopes for a favorable experience  with Cleopatra.

Haul out at Cleopatra

Preveza and Cleopatra were the culmination of three months travel that began in Marmaris, Turkey back in April. We put  eight hundred and ninety three nautical miles on the boat, by far the shortest season of "voyaging"  we've done since beginning this trip in 2008. We did no overnight passages and the longest single day was about eight  hours. But we visited thirty-nine different anchorages in that three months which seemed satisfying enough.  Looking back on the summer and trying to answer that question, "What was your favorite place?" is a pretty difficult task. Kioni, on Ithaki,  is high on our list, Astipalea was a very neat island, Naxos had a lot to offer and Naphlion was a nice city. We could go on and on.

Remember Astipalea?

Preveza itself is a nice small city, near the ancient city of Actium, on a peninsula at the entrance to the gulf of Ambracia.  Just off that entrance on the 2nd of September 31BC, in the naval battle of Actium,  the long Roman civil war was pretty much finally decided. The fleet of Octavian with Marcus Agrippa met the combined fleets of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra and defeated them decisively after a long bloody afternoon.  Cleopatra absconded  for Egypt and Anthony escaped to Samos and then to Egypt. Both committed suicide within a year as Octavian's forces pressed on. Octavian became "Augustus" Caesar and thus began the Augustan age.

The quay at Preveza

For several months before that battle the Anthony and Cleopatra forces were based inside the Gulf of Ambracia. Cleopatra Marina is located beside an ancient fortification which dates back to that encampment. The gulf would certainly be an excellent place to hole up with one's  fleet.  Its a very well protected inland sea surrounded by low mountains but with fertile, well watered valleys at the southern shores. The one disadvantage, mosquitoes! We had very few during our stay but those ancient fleets suffered greatly from malaria. The old swamps have been drained over the centuries and the gulf is a lovely place today. 

Near Vonitsia

We motored into a gulf anchorage just a mile  east of Vonitsia called Koukounitsia and had  very sweet day. The anchorage is well protected and uncrowded, there were only two other boats, with excellent holding and lovely surroundings. The town of Vonitsia is quiet and rural with a little Greek tourism. There's an especially interesting castle above and some nice taverna's on the quay. The country descending down into the gulf reminded us very much of the northern wine country of California, vineyards and orchards amongst the mountains. 

Vonitsia, from the castle

We enjoyed a night anchored out and used the dinghy to go into town for a nice dinner ashore. One of the few times we've used the dinghy with its engine all summer. Next morning we went back into Preveza Marina, prepped the boat for haul out and spent a last night in town. Preveza is a very Greek town but does have a university so the evening club scene and the volta are lively and fun. It was a good way to say goodbye to the cruising season.

Vonitsia

So after the haul out and final storage work we did a night at the marina rental rooms and then a six hour bus ride to Athens. Had a night in the over priced Sofitel Hotel at the airport and began the trek home. So endeth the year.

This is as good a time as any to do some commentary on the Greece as a country and a place to visit. I've made no secret that Greece is one of my favorite places and the Greek people amongst my favorite peoples. I first worked in Greece flying a project for the Greek government with  an American company in 1981. I did the same thing again in '85 and was in the country working or traveling every year from 1981 till about 1993. So last year was the first return in twenty years. It would be hard to overestimate how much the country has changed. In '81 Greece was still pretty much a third world country. Its ties to the west were tenuous at best. There was some question as to the direction the county would take. Would it turn towards the west and the modern world or remain in the Balkan back water between east an west? The question as to whether or not to join the EU was a very big issue. The conflict with Turkey over Cyprus could have become open warfare at any time. Since that era the Soviet Union and the eastern communist block are no more. Greece turned irrevocably(?) towards the west. The country is far wealthier than it was in the early eighties. The roads and general infrastructure are greatly modernized. Consumer capacity, the ability of the individual to purchase goods and services,  is much greater. On a materialistic level  people are far, far better off than thirty years ago. There is a flip side of course. A lot of that wealth was financed by debt and that debt came home to roost recently. And guess what, the government had no way to pay it off. Worse yet the government had grossly understated the levels of debt. Outright government fraud was a major factor. So that rapid increase in wealth came to a crashing halt and a whole lot of good people with high "expectations" found themselves deeply disappointed. Unemployment, especially 'under' employment amongst the well educated young, was and still is a huge problem. That crash seems to have stabilized over the past couple years. You hear little talk about leaving the EU and returning to the Drachma. There's considerable resentment against the Germans.  Pasok, the Greek political party in power during much of the good times, has lost just about all it had ever gained. The Cyprus question has been a quiet issue for several years and relations with the Turks have been civil.

Harbor fortification, Naphlion

So can there at least be some form of stability in the future for Greece? The country has been at the seam between east and west since recorded history began. The Greek world once included much of what is now Turkey. A quick summary of the movement of that "seam" might include the Persian invasions from the east of the 5th century BC.  Alexanders move to the east as far as India.  The Roman conquest and the inclusion in the Roman empire. The eastern invasions of Mongols, Goths, Visigoths, Huns, Vandals and the fall of the Roman empire.  One thousand years of Byzantium. The conquest by Islam and the rule of the Ottoman empire. The Greek War for Independence and the ultimate the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WW I.  The Greek invasion of Turkey and its failure and the "exchange" of populations. The German occupation during WWII and the Greek civil war afterwards. The military dictatorship of the "colonels" during the seventies and the membership in the EU. The history of the land  has been one of chaos. That seam between east and west shifts periodically and Greece is twisted and torn  during the shift. For now that shift seems to be pretty strongly towards the west. And its hard to imagine a return to the east. But its also hard to predict the political future  ahead a century or two.

Everybody's idea of Greece, the Parthanon

For now, I have high hopes for my friends the Greeks. Their native decency, industry, individuality, independence and energy have survived the millennia. For whatever reason you may have,  visit the place, get to know a little of the country and enjoy the feast.

Love to all,
Bill and Janet
SV Airstream

Corfu Considered

Its a quiet morning in the anchorage at Platerias. There are a few scattered clouds over the mountains surrounding the village and a cool breeze off the deep bay. By this afternoon it will be hot but there will still be the breeze and it will still be quiet and lovely. 

On the quay at Platerias

Platerias is not to be found in the Lonely Planet guide to Greece. Even though that thing seemingly most desired by Lonely Planet readers, a good beach, is very much in evidence at the head of the bay. There is some tourism here, to the level that some services are better than what might be expected from what was once an old fashioned fishing village, but the place is essentially for yachties and those tourists who can read between the lines and maybe have a map. Sometime in the last twenty years the local peers  decided to invest a bunch of money, probably EU money, in a modern quay and harbor facilities. As a result we are stern tied to a broad, well made and well maintained concrete quay with a rock wall to seaward. The view is lovely. Everything works if you want water or shore power or fuel. And the town is still friendly even in the heart of the "season" when folks are starting to get burned out on "guests" in their towns.

Platerias Harbor

Just a few miles to the west the view is of the island of Corfu, certainly one of the best known tourist destinations in Greece if not the world. We just arrived from there yesterday. The contrast is striking. Corfu is a big island and a comparatively complicated place. We liked it, but we got lucky in my opinion,  and started off in Corfu at the very best of places.

The "Old Fortress" Corfu

For a yachtie that very best of places in Corfu is Mandraki Harbor just under the northern walls of the Old Fortress in Corfu Town. The massive fortress sits on on high peninsula over the bay and the walls extend directly into the sea at most points. Beneath the north walls is a narrow quay and the harbor is built out from that point. It is not a large place but its run by the Corfu Sailing Club and they have a clear idea of what every yachtie wants. 

Entrance to Mandraki Harbor

That includes good shelter for the boat, a world class atmosphere (where else are you tied up against the wall of a Byzantine, then Venetian fortress that has withstood every assault for the last seven hundred years) a great view, fine restaurant, nice little beach, showers, fuel, water and shore power. All for 40 EU a day.

At Mandraki Harbor

 And to exit the club you walk up stone stairways and ramps through multiple massive stone archways into the inner keep of the fortress. From there over the multiple moats and  quadruple walls into the heart of the Old City of Corfu Town itself. And the Old Town portion of the city is charming.

Entrance to the Corfu Sailing Club

Old Town Corfu seems to be more a miniature, quieter, cleaner Rome than any other city. The Italian influence evident elsewhere in the Ionian is very strong. The architecture of the city is a wonderful mix of French arcades topped by Italianate shuttered facades and tile roofs. Throw in a couple English neoclassical palaces and you have a beautiful city.

Corfu from the fortress

The fortress from Corfu

 There are really good restaurants, especially Italian restaurants. There is great ice cream. We had a Janet's  birthday dinner at 'la Cucina' that was memorably excellent. We had every morning coffees and snacks at a lovely cafe along the esplanade. This was civilization at its best. We give Mandraki Harbor and old town in Corfu an A+.

Street Scenes, Old Town Corfu

We rented a car for a day and drove around much of the northern part of the island. The island itself is mountainous with a rugged and much indented coastline that is very beautiful. Unfortunately almost that entire coast is covered with beach resorts, most of the rather tick tacky variety. If you drive the coastal road you will never be out of a rather continuous crowded strip mall like arrangement of small resorts and tourist conveniences of some sort. However, turn inland onto a secondary road and make one more turn onto any country lane and you very quickly enter an entirely different world.

Corfu Island village

The villages become Greek mountain villages with only a very occasional villa for the more adventurous soul. The views out over the island and the sea are spectacular. The 'roads' are narrow, very steep to and not for the entirely faint hearted. Its a part of the island probably much less than one percent of the "all inclusive"  fly in, fly out tourist ever sees.

Inland drive, Corfu

So what  is Corfu? Its certainly one of the most traveled places in Greece. Its physically very beautiful but much of that beauty is spoiled by less than beautiful development. Its a place where, if you're stuck in Manchester or Frankfort and want to get the hell out to somewhere, you can get a cheap charter flight and a package deal for a few days on a beach. For a yachtie the few out anchorages are very crowded and the one big marina, Gouvia, is not convenient to anything interesting. However, Mandraki Harbor is a very excellent spot to be and the Old Town of Corfu is not to be missed.

Mandraki Harbor

Would I visit Corfu as tourist? Yes, but I'd get a good pension in old town and rent a car to see the island. For a yachtie its definitely worth the trip and we highly recommend Mandraki Harbor.

So for today we are relaxing in Platerias. Tomorrow we'll probably head back to Port Gaios on Paxos Island which was our anchorage previous to Corfu. Port Gaios is one of those spots we visited twenty five years ago on a bare boat charter. 

Moon over Port Gaios

Its still pretty but greatly changed and much more developed. Its now on the season circuit for day trippers from Corfu and every afternoon about six trip boats disgorge maybe a couple thousand trippers to wander the waterfront for about two hours and then be gone. We'll spend one more night there and then be gone ourselves.

Quayside taverna, Port Gaios

So since the last blog update we have left Meganisi and gone north to Levkas through the Levkas canal. And I will add "without incident" because when we went  up the canal twenty-five years ago we ran aground twice! We spent a night at the marina in Levkas which was nice enough and the town of Levkas was actually very nice, busy and bustling, but for real and very sweet.

Girl bouzuoki band in Levkas, very sweet

We made the thirty mile motor job up to Port Gaios in Paxos easily in flat calm conditions. And the twenty-five mile motor job to Mandraki Harbor in Corfu in equally glassy calm weather.

Ionian morning, another Cape Horn moment

So we've almost entirely avoided the prevailing northerly winds in the Adriatic that, if they move into the Ionian, can make progress northwards a real pain. We're headed south now, which should be equally easy and within a few days we'll be in Preveza preparing to haul out the boat and go home.

Love to all,
Bill & Janet
SV Airstream

Ionian "Holiday"

One good way to get a wry laugh out of most cruisers is to inquire about or comment on their "holiday". You will most likely be informed that it is not a holiday, it is a way of life, for better or worse. So it is with considerable trepidation and with fingers crossed, wood knocked on, etc, that I say this time in the the Ionian Islands has approached "holiday" status. 

Sami quay, very international

And like a lot of "holidays" some of it has become rather a blur. I'll dig out the logbook….on recommendation of some English cruisers we went from Agios Andreas to Sami on Cephalonia rather than Euphimia, from there on to Kioni on Ithaki, Sivota on Cephalonia, then Nea Thilia off Meganisi, Spartochori, Ormos Abelike, and now back to Spartochori on Meganisi.

The harbor at Sami, Cephalonia

We did a bare boat charter here twenty-five years ago, our first bare boat charter actually. And we loved the Ionians. As we expected, some things have changed. There are about a gazillion more boats in the area than twenty-five years ago. The bay at Sivota we sailed out of in 1992 had one small "hotel" with a few rooms and one little taverna. Sunsail had a little wooden quay. Now its still a beautiful place but the shore is lined with tavernas and shops and I counted over a hundred boats at the quay.

The quay at Sivolta

Where we once pretty much had anywhere we wanted to ourselves we now were rather amazed to have a lovely anchorage in the channel between Meganisi and Nea Thilia without another boat in sight for the night. Most any Ionian anchorage mentioned in Rod Heikell's "Greek Waters Pilot", the bible for sailing Greek waters including the Ionian, is certainly occupied and often crowded. However, with a little research and  use of the Mark1A eyeball it is possible to find places not mentioned in Heikell. And there are cynics who feel that's exactly what he has in mind. You really wanna solitude, you find it yourself. 

Kioni, Ithaki

This afternoon we're back in Spartochori on Meganisi, one of the few places we've visited twice on this trip. Babis, the proprietor of Tavena Porto Spilia, is about as professional as they get and has a good taverna in a beautiful and unspoiled location with free electricity,  water, showers and good fast internet. Just eat a meal at his taverna and he's a friend for life. His docks are well maintained and the friendliness is genuine. As a result, Babis and Company seem to be doing very well. Good guys do win out in the long run. 

The view from Spartochori

We've been kind of alternating between anchoring out and being at some quay for the night. We haven't paid any dockage fees since Patras nor have we seen a port authority. Yesterday evening, for the first time this year, we had to move the boat because of a wind shift that put us in a nasty position too close to a rocky shoreline. A mile away in a tiny  cove we anchored again, stern tied to shore and had a quiet night with some other boats who had done the same. 

Passage making, Ionian style

Tonight we'll enjoy a good taverna meal. Janet has taken off for a hike up the hill to the village of Spartochori, which is a gem, and I'm slaving away over a hot laptop. Tomorrow we'll make a major move, ten miles at least, through the Levkas canal up to Levkas town and we may actually be in a marina for the night. Either the town quay or the marina will get a few Euros out of us and I'll have to do the right thing and check in with the port authorities for once. Next day we plan on a true passage, by Ionian standards, of thirty-five miles up to Paxoi Island. And the next day up to Corfu where, thanks to a tip from SV Rozinante, we have confirmed reservations at Mandraki Marina which should be very nice. Thank you Skip and Bobby. 

In the village, Kioni

So it will be goodbye to this kind of inland sea formed by  Levkas, Cephalonia, Ithaki and the other Ionian Islands. Any good vista will reveal a scene not unlike Puget Sound on a sunny summer day. There are boats underway where ever one looks and  a rugged,  much indented coastline with mountains all around. If the mountains aren't  quite so high,  the water is warmer. The sun can be a little oppressive at max heating, but you're not likely to encounter any foggy stuff. 

Janet above Spartochori

We've been quite lucky with no nasty noserly winds to fight and few charter boats have threatened our anchorages. I've had to break out the "anchor thief" only once to escape an anchor laid across our chain. Although we've done little sailing we have had great swimming in wonderfully clear waters. We've had warm days and cool nights and blue skies every day.  Although it is  much more traveled than it once was this is  still a wonderful area and just maybe its our favorite island group in Greece.

Love to all,
Bill & Janet