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