Cruising The Med - Sandy and Rob's Excellent Adventure: September 2013

Motoring through the Levkas Canal Enroute to Preveza

Having decided to pull the boat at Preveza and store it for the winter, we felt it was time to head in that direction and prepare to haul out.

We also wanted to take the scooter off the boat and do some more touring as Preveza is on the mainland.

The Levkas Canal is just under 2 nautical miles in length and provides a great short cut for those heading down the Ionian Islands without having to sail all the way around Lefkas which is quite far.

It is also very popular as it leads down the the Gulf of Patras which is home to the Corinth Canal, the gateway to the Cyclades Islands where we will visit next summer.

The Lefkas Canal starts with two typical buoys so it is easy to find and quickly deteriorates to some nothing more than old pipes, many without port or starboard signs to mark them. Despite the poor markings, we found it quite an easy passage.

We passed first by some old salt pans, fishing boats and fisherman, and then we reached the town of Lefkas and the Lefkas Marina which is quite a significant facility. We had toyed with staying there a night but upon seeing the local garbage dump on the canal next to the marina, we moved on. The prevailing wind would have made for some nasty odor at the docks at the otherwise great marina.

We waited about 45 minutes in Lefkas for the bridge to open which is hourly and passed through, round a sand spit and out to the Adriatic.

Preveza was only an hour or so away so we took the time to enjoy lunch (again flat water and no wind) on our way to its canal.

We entered the canal following the buoys and enjoyed the view of the old Fort Walls on the beaches.

As we entered, we saw the three major boat yards on the right, Cleopatra, Ionian, and Aktio and the town of Preveza to the left.

We moored in Preveza at the town Marina which is now run by Cleopatra. This has turned out to be a great spot. We moor 'side to' as we are all used to in North America. This meant we got the scooter off in less than 10 minutes and were able to pull the dinghy out to avoid scum lines and also it provides a great venue to do chores.

We have met many lovely people here and it is a fun atmosphere as we are all doing pre haulout chores by day and drinking wine together in the evenings.

Departing Palairos - Local Town Marina in the background

Touring the Mainland Coast past a Fish Farm

Entering the Lefkas Canal - Red Buoy Left - Green Right

Countryside as we pass through the Canal - Looks a lot like Tuscany - Wreck in the water in the foreground

Fishing boats

Channel Marker - Wait it gets funnier...

Channel Markers !!! I kid you not!

Touring along - there was a 2-3 knot current through the canal

Local Fisherman Working His Nets in the Canal

Lefkas Town Ahead and on the Left.....?

Garbage Dump! So.... Don't eat the fish caught in this canal!!!

Fuel dock and Marina at Lefkas Town

Convenient Spot to Stop on the way to the Southern Ionian

The Bridge Begins to Pivot to let Boat Traffic Through

Passing through the Bridge Area

Old Lefkas Fort Walls as we exit Lefkas Canal to the Adriatic

Fish Offerings at Meltemi Taverna - Ours was already on the Grill

Hold Still!!! This crab bit our server!

Sea Bass Grilled over Charcoal

Happy Customer!!!

Labels: Bridge, Lefkas Canal, Preveza

Aristotle Onanis' Skorpios Island - Palairos, Mainland Greece

As we left Nidris, we took the time to tour around the island of Skorpios, owned by the famous shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis who married Jackie Kennedy there in 1968.

Skorpios has many lovely inlets and the entire island has been planted as a park so it takes many permanent employees to keep it beautiful.

We enjoyed touring around the island seeing the homes (or rather glimpses of them) as we passed by.

Tour boats come here every day and we learned that on there was a particular beach home on the south west corner that Jackie Onassis favoured. (See pics below)

Skorpios is self contained as has its own farm providing eggs, milk and they make their own cheese as well. We saw some trucks and employees on the road that cirlces the island likely off doing daily chores.

I also learned from some research that in April this year, a billionaire heiress from Russia (age 23) has bought Skorpios from the only Onaniss living today, Christina's daughter who is just 24 and lives in Brazil with her show jumping boyfriend. The sale is quite controversial as Aristotle had clearly stated in his will that the island could never leave the family. The island sold for 100 million british pounds, or a quarter of a billion dollars.

Apparently, Bill Gates and Madonna tried to purchase Skorpios in the past but were unsuccessful.

After our tour, we headed across the water from the Lefkas area to Palairos. We noticed a resort next to the port and headed over to find one of the largest Sunsail Charter bases in Vounaki.

They have a full service marina but in addition to that, a large hotel with a beach chock full of Lasers, Kayaks, Hobie Cats, and wind surfers all available to guests with or without instruction. They have many marks placed in the water off the beach so the guests have something to sail around and we saw at least 3 coach boats teaching or just making sure everyone was safe.

We anchored just outside the harbour at Palairos. Many cruisers go into harbours everywhere but we really prefer anchoring and taking our dinghy in which gives us more privacy, cooler breezes, and less chance of rats coming aboard.

Yes, rats! I haven't written about this nasty critters but they are around here and many places we have been the pilot books have warned us to take precautions. Other than the obvious creepiness of having one of this critters on board, they can wreak havoc with the electronics, chewing on the wiring.

Old water bottles cut off and run on the mooring lines are a good deterrant and we met a couple who place an old frisbee on their anchor chain after learning a rat swam through tranquil bay and climbed someone's anchor chain! I did not know they can swim but many people we have met have confirmed this. Yuck!

Back to the fun...

Palairos is on the mainland of Greece and the mountains rise just about straight out of it topping 5,000 feet which makes it very scenic to approach from the water. There are cruisers here but the town mainly supports the locals who are mainly in agriculture. We could see some fields being farmed as we toured around this area.

We took the bikes into Palairos town and rode along the waterfront and up a few hills completing a pretty good cirucuit and feeling like we got great exercise as well as a chance to explore.

After descending back into town, we found our way to a cute beach bar for a cold beer and then back to the boat for dinner and a quiet evening.

Looking back at Tranquil Bay as we head to tour Skorpios

We drink coffee and eat breakfast on the go... Nidris in the background

Lefkas - Nidris local islands

These signs are all around Skorpios deterring visitors from staying here although they don't own the water and it is OK to anchor here according to our pilot books.

The Edge of the Main Bay at Skorpios - The red marks are strewn accross to deter tourists from getting too close

Waterfront building to the right - there is a main dock to the left in the shade where Christina, Onassis' yacht could pull up

Not sure but this looked like a Beach entertainment building for parties, etc...

One of the many homes on Skorpios

The famous Beach House Jackie Kennedy loved

Sailing (motoring as usual in no wind) towards Vounaki (Sun Sail base and Major Resort) and Palairos

Close up of the Marina at Vounaki

Palairos Beach Bar

View of the Beach Bar from the water - Nice Shadow on the Photographer!

Old Taverna in Palairos

Rob coming back from a ride up the hill and back

Looking up the tight stone streets of Palairos

Labels: Onassis, Palairos, Skorpios, Sun Sail, Vounaki

Loutrolimni Bay, Meganisi - Nidris, Lefkas - Tranquil Bay

Sept 23rd we left our comfortable Odysseous Marina and headed for a quiet bay on Meganisi.

We toured past all the famous bays which had several boats and chose a really small one on the outside of the island on the North East corner called Loutrolimni Beach/Bay. We were the only boat there and enjoyed swimming, cleaning the water line and I did my ususal paddleboard.

The followind day we headed accross to Lefkas to Nidris which was very close by (8 miles or so) and anchored in a lovely anchorage called Tranquil Bay accross from the busy little port of Nidris.

On the way over, we passed an island with a mansion that belongs to the gentleman who is a famous greek poet and also wrote the Greek National Anthem.

Nidris itself has many restaurants and many water sports centres in addition to tour boats.

We have not seen any Canadians cruising around like us so we were really surprised to finally find a couple in Tranquil Bay. They called over to us as soon as we anchored and we took the dinghy over to meet them on our way over to Nidris.

They were crusing on their trawler, La Reve, and are from Arthur, Ontario, just a few km west of Orangeville so quite a small world in the end.

After our chat we headed to Nidris for a bike ride and some late lunch/early dinner.

We found a restaurant online called Basilico and it did not disappoint!

After dinner, we took the dinghy further up the bay which is called Vhliko Bay and enjoyed the scenery.

Another great couple of days!

Looking south through the Meganisi Strait - Lefkas on the Right, Meganissi Left and Cephalonia and Ithaka in the far distance

Our new Dutch friend from Meganissi - Bullet Freddy (5 time winner of his cruising class and the Southern Ionian Regatta in Sivota on his boat, Take Five