Cruising The Med - Sandy and Rob's Excellent Adventure: Tour to Top of Zankithos and on to Ithaca - BREEZE ON

Monday morning we left Lagana Bay as the winds were light and thought it was a good opportunity to get ourselves back to the north end of the Island of Zankithos.

We got some shots of the bay as we left and we were off on a 6-7 hour tour of almost 40 nautical miles north. It was a light breeze in the bay but less than 1/3 of the way up the coast, the winds kicked in and we were bucking right into the wind.

We made it to the top of the island, home of another set of caves which we did not get to see as the weather was forecasted to be 100% cloudy the following day.

We also learned from the locals the wind was forecasted at 55km per hour with gusts to 88km. Breeze On!!!

We left the next morning at 7:03 hoping to get across the open Adriatic back to Ithaca before the wind and waves became untenable.

At around 9am, we saw a consistent 30 Knots plus as we turned around the bottom of Cephalonia. The waves dropped as well and the wind and it was a relief.

Not for long. We met again with the wind and this time it topped at 32 knots sustained as we passed the channel that runs between Cephalonia and Ithaca which forms a funnel for the wind and waves.

The boat was covered in salt water from the spray of the waves but handled itself really well in the weather. Rob was pleased the scooter also held it's place on the deck nicely.

We decided to try a main bay in Ithaca called Vahti but the gusts there looked bad and as we passed so did a huge squall with sheets of rain. Also known as free boat wash!! It took all the salt spray off the boat which was a bonus!!!

We continued up the coast and settled in a Bay called Kioni which was great. We met with another hugh squall as we entered so we motored slowly and waited to drop anchor. There were still huge gusts through the balance of the afternoon but we were in a very calm protected harbour and felt good about spending the night here.

We enjoyed a well deserved beer at 2pm having been in the weather for 7 hours.

Kioni was really pretty and we went ashore to look around and have a great dinner at a Taverna called "The Mill" which was excellent.

Kioni has more houses than people. Many although they look well maintained are closed up. Apparently there were many expatriates from Australia and the US who lived here. They all left but keep their homes following the 1953 Earthquake. School enrollment here went from 600 to 20.

A lovely end to quite a day!!! One of our biggest travel days in spite of the wind, waves, and rain.

Making our way Down Wind in 30 knots and waves with Zankithos in the back ground