Its been two years since we sold our beloved Anthos sailing yacht, having been liveaboards. Do we miss sailing? To be honest its been a crazy two years building two stone cottages so the time has flown by. We don't miss the stress and the weather watching, but yes there are times when we do miss the freedom and beauty of being out on the water when the mood takes us.
Our friends recently offered us a mini break on SY Cloud Nine. Maverick, busy as always, sadly declined but I had a window of opportunity of which I was determined to grasp.
Our little jaunt began leaving Nidri Lefkada in the Ionian at 5.30 pm on route to (little) Vathy Meganisi, not to be confused with (big) Vathy Ithaka. Calm seas and no wind meant we tootled along with ease to our evening destination. Easily spaced out from others, we moored 'stern to' on the small harbour wall.
We love Meganisi Island and visited regularly with our own yacht.; with its pretty little villages, walks, tavernas, traditional craft making and small fishing boats in each bay offering the days fresh catch. It's so accessible from Lefkada with a car/foot ferry that leaves Nidri at regular times, daily, all year round.
A few glasses of wine, watching the sun go down, we were then ready for dining out with a variety of tavernas to choose from but by now we have our favourites.
The following morning the waters remained still and crystal clear so much so we were able to clearly see the plane wreak in the harbour.
A quick stroll to the bakery for croissants to accompany our strawberries for breakfast, fresh bread, ham from the local butchers for lunch and we were ready to continue our journey. Meganisi is definitely a place to rest and watch the world go by.
Our next port of call was Astakos West Greece mainland. I was on dolphin watch during the journey here but we were not fortunate enough to see any this time, but the scenery with its hues of blue was breathtaking all by itself.
Once in open waters we encountered some stronger winds and choppier waters but again the wind direction was not in our favour and it did not look pleasant watching others healing and breaching.
Astakos is a working town with ferries regularly loading and offloading workers and vehicles at the quayside. The town is a mixture of modern buildings with older pretty balconies and shutters remaining between. A large church stands proud in a central square. There are a variety of tavernas/restaurants on the quayside as well as a selection of shops on a couple of streets behind. The water and electricity is free to sailing visitors which encourages a stop over.
A short stroll along the waters edge led me to a renovated windmill, which I believe cries out for business potential; a missed opportunity to encourage the upkeep of these typical icons of Greece.
I could sit and 'people watch' all day from the deck of the sailing yacht. I fell in love with a cute caravan from Austria which boarded the ferry to Kefalonia. It was unusually smaller than the car towing it and perfect for island hopping around Greece.
Our next sail was to the beautiful coastal settlement of Frikes on the east of Ithaka. Built after the 16th century this picturesque fishing port is known for its windmill ruins towering the bay (one of which you can access by foot for good photo views of the bay). We settled for the night mooring 'side to' along the harbour wall, so as to be protected from the ferry swell as it passes to Kefalonia.
There is a couple of tavernas and a bakery but my favourite place to eat is
Romentzo Restaurant on the waters edge. Using local ingredients there is always a unique twist of flavours to their classic Greek cuisine, which I love. They are also developing a unique business venture in Stavros (the village above the bay). We recommend keeping in touch with them on their Facebook page.
So after a good nights sleep and a breakfast of delicious bakery pastries we motored back to Nidri; this time with an added main sail for an extra push.
Unfortunately I returned with gastroenteritis (no that's not a Greek island nor related to the food eaten) but that really did knock the wind right out of my sails.
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