We’re back in Lakka this evening, having had a reasonable sail today from the mainland. It’s only the second sail we’ve had on this trip. A few days ago we did think we might try flying the cruising chute as there was just enough wind for a very light sail. Unfortunately however we’ve had a few issues with our spinnaker halyard and it started to jam as we were hoisting the sail. D was concerned that it might get stuck and we wouldn’t be able to drop it if we needed to, so we had to abandon the idea and continue on the motor.
We stocked up on water before leaving Corfu. Duncan had read about a public water fountain ashore so we went in search of it while we were there. Sure enough there is a small octagonal building with taps that we suspect may be fed by a natural spring. At any rate plenty of local people were coming to fill water containers so we made several trips in the kayak in order to replenish our aft water tank.
In fact we have yet to need the extra water as we’re still using what we took on board before launch (270 litres)! This is some sort of record for us and we reckon that it must be due to the fact that we have not been swimming as much as usual and rinsing off every time we get out of the water. When we first launched, the weather wasn’t great so swimming was just not terribly inviting and then, if you remember, there were lots of jellyfish in the water? Even now that the weather is getting hotter, I tend only to swim once a day because the sea is still warming up and I find that I get quite chilled. I did however, have a really brilliant snorkel this afternoon here at the entrance to Lakka bay. It was almost a good as a dive – masses of fish, lots of little nooks and crannies to explore among the rocks and even an underwater arch to swim through!
After leaving the anchorage off Corfu town we went across to a little bay north of Igoumenitsa called Ormos Valtrou. It is tucked away and very sheltered – it almost feels as though you’re in a lagoon as you cannot see the open sea once you’re in there. For this reason we’ve used it in the past as a bolt hole when there’s been a blow coming through. There has been a marked absence of wind on this particular trip however and we just went to enjoy the quiet. There is nothing there other than some fish farms and a fishing boat that seems to operate from the small beach. From the surface the water is very green and not clear as it is elsewhere, being full of microorganisms and silt from the Kalamas River. It’s perfectly clean to swim in but there is little point in snorkelling. We spent two nights in Ormos Valtrou before starting to to head back southwards and have been gradually zigzagging our way between the mainland and the islands of Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos.
We returned to Petriti for a couple of nights so we could buy food and then headed back to the mainland again, this time to a place called Sivota Mourtos. We only intended to stay one night because although it is beautiful, it’s not actually Duncan’s favourite anchorage – it is situated between two small islands and tends to be a bit of a wind funnel. However, as I’ve mentioned already, there has not been a lot of wind so we thought we would give it a try.
Yesterday morning just as we were preparing to go ashore I noticed a couple in a dinghy approaching. They had spotted our Cruising Association pennant and, being members of the CA themselves, had come over to say hello. Naturally we invited them on board for a gossip which meant that by the time we finally got ashore it was lunchtime. We had a fabulous lunch and ate far too much after which we didn’t feel like going anywhere – so we stayed another night! We did go ashore again in the evening for a walk and an ice cream but didn’t need another meal! Instead we enjoyed a glorious sunset, something you don’t really see on either Paxos or Corfu because the anchorages face east.
Tomorrow we plan to try and get to Two Rock Bay, by way of lunch and a swim off Antipaxos, the small island just to the south of Paxos. On Monday night we need to be anchored off the yard in Preveza ready to be lifted out on Tuesday morning. The time has gone very quickly as we knew it would but it’s been great to be here as we don’t know quite when we shall next manage to get out.
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