{"id":1703,"date":"2015-07-30T12:15:32","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T19:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2016-04-04T07:18:25","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T14:18:25","slug":"opa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/?p=1703","title":{"rendered":"Opa!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_2046\"<\/a>\"DSC_0137\"<\/a>\"DSC_0138\"<\/a>\"DSC_0181\"<\/a>\"IMG_2039\"<\/a> \"IMG_2032\"<\/a> \"IMG_2030\"<\/a> \"DSC_0178\"<\/a> \"DSC_0077\"<\/a> \"DSC_0074\"<\/a> \"DSC_0002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A 26-hour run from Bari, Italy to Corfu, Greece was fairly uneventful and with the wind behind us (well what wind there was). \u00a0Being a foolish captain I tempted fate by commenting to Jennifer, “hey we have nothing to fix after this passage!” – Should have kept my mouth shut. \u00a0When we went to drop the anchor the windlass wouldn’t work. \u00a0Manually dropped the hook. \u00a0Guess what just moved to the top of my\u00a0To Do list? \u00a0At least clearing into Greece went smoothly and we picked up our \u201ctransit log\u201d (required of all cruisers in Greece.)\u00a0 We stayed in Corfu for a couple of days while I\u00a0fixed our windlass and explored Old Corfu Town.<\/p>\n

We sailed down to the island of Paxos, but the main anchorage was overly crowded and the overflow anchorage had poor holding and was littered with coral heads and rock.\u00a0 So we continued on to its smaller sister island, Antipaxos, and dug in at a nice anchorage with a sandy bottom and beautiful clear blue water.\u00a0 During the day, tons of ferry boats come in with partying day trippers, but in the evening it quieted down and we could enjoy the beautiful scenery in a quieter atmosphere. Dante was ecstatic to jump into clear, blue warm water again \u2013 reminiscent of the Caribbean and the Bahamas. \u00a0Jenifer\u00a0and I climbed to the top of the island to have a Mythos beer with a view of the anchorage, the island of Paxos and the island of Corfu beyond that.\u00a0 It was absolutely gorgeous. \u00a0We chatted with our waiter about the looming debt crisis that Greece was voting on that weekend. \u00a0Our waiter was going to vote NO on\u00a0accepting the EU’s proposal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s finally truly warm weather now; reminiscent of our days sailing in the Pacific and Caribbean.\u00a0 We get up in the morning and put on our bathing suits.\u00a0 Not too shabby.\u00a0 It\u2019s a stark contrast to sailing in the Northern Mediterranean during the winter. \u00a0The downside is that winds are light in this region of the Med at this time of year.\u00a0 A cruising boat from New Zealand that we chatted with called it the \u201cMotorterranean\u201d and they should know as they have been cruising here for the past 15 years. \u00a0Needless to say this moniker seems to fit as we have had very little wind with which to sail on our short passages between Greek islands.<\/p>\n

After Antipaxos, we sailed through the Lefkas channel.\u00a0 It\u2019s a small channel dredged between the island of Lefkas and mainland Greece.\u00a0 There is a bridge that has to be swung open\u00a0in order to go down the channel and it is opened\u00a0at the top of every hour.\u00a0 The bridge is around a tight corner in a small channel, and of course there are always boats waiting to go through. \u00a0So you are slowly motoring about trying to maintain your position without playing bumper boats. \u00a0After passing through the opened bridge, we motored down the dredged channel, past the town of Lefkas and to the anchorage at Ligia.\u00a0 It was blowing 20 knots (of course now we have wind when we don’t need it … ah sailing in the Med) as we went down the channel and arrived at the anchorage, but the wind calmed down at night so that it seemed like we were sleeping “on the hard”.\u00a0 We then continued to Ormos Vlikho, a fantastic large and very protected anchorage near the town of Nidri. \u00a0There we met an\u00a0English couple aboard Earl Grey<\/em>, and spent time having \u201csundowners\u201d on Benevento and then all met up for a great Greek dinner in town.<\/p>\n

The anchorage was fantastic, but it had a lot of boats in it (including water-skiers) and we were looking for something quieter and more secluded while we waited for the Blois crew to arrive (our\u00a0friend Erik and his two boys, Lanse and Lukas).<\/p>\n

We motored over to the island of Nisos Meganisi and did a \u201cGreek moor\u201d at little bay of Ormos Kapali.\u00a0 The bay itself is deep up until you get close to shore so you can’t anchor with proper scope. \u00a0So what people do here is drop the anchor in about 30-40 feet and back up towards the shore, then take a long line and tie it to a tree on shore (by swimming or by dinghy to it).<\/p>\n

Our first attempt at this type of mooring must have looked funny.\u00a0 But we went slowly and at the end we were stern-to the island with Benevento in the middle of two stern lines tied to trees on shore, with cones on the lines to prevent any critters (stowaways) from coming aboard. \u00a0This anchorage is definitely a \u201csettled weather\u201d anchoring situation.<\/p>\n

The next day a charter boat with a Belgian couple (Axel and Valerie) came to moor next to us.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t seem to like the way their anchor was set so they re-tried setting it a couple of times.\u00a0 They were taking it slow and doing it right, but I\u00a0got in the dinghy and offered to help, which they accepted greatly.\u00a0 They got settled in, and later that day we had drinks on Benevento and dinner on their boat (until 3 am). \u00a0One fun fact we learned from Axel and Valerie is about the tradition of touching glasses to each other while toasting began in the Middle Ages, when people used to drink in huge wood flagons.\u00a0 They would slam their flagons together before drinking, and in doing this, liquid from each drinking vessel would get in the other.\u00a0 This was a sign of trust because if you end up drinking the little bit of your drinking partner\u2019s liquid that got into your drink, you would trust that he is not poisoning you.<\/p>\n

We made it back to the anchorage off of Levkas Island, where we would meet up with the Blois family. \u00a0We successfully picked them up and spent the next eight days with them on the island of Levkas and at a secluded anchorage about 25 miles south.\u00a0 It was a new moon while we were at the this\u00a0anchorage and the stars at night were incredible.\u00a0 We clearly saw the Milky Way and witnessed traversing satellites, planets and numerous falling stars.\u00a0 There was nothing for us to do but swim, play Hearts, and try to stay cool in the 95 degree heat.\u00a0 Our original intention was to sail past the Oracle at Delphi (which we would visit), through the Corinth Canal and then settle in at an anchorage near Athens.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Benevento\u00a0had a different plan.<\/p>\n

We were getting ready to leave for our next anchorage and performing our \u201cshove off procedure.\u201d \u00a0I\u00a0was checking that the engine thru-hull was open and as I\u00a0did so, I\u00a0noticed that the compartment was filled with a red automatic transmission fluid. \u00a0Jen could hear the alarm in my\u00a0voice when I\u00a0said, \u201cThat\u2019s not good.\u201d\u00a0 Erik took the boys to shore while Jen\u00a0and I tried to sort\u00a0out the problem. \u00a0According to Jen she\u00a0literally felt a cold sweat coming over her\u00a0when I\u00a0at first proclaimed that it was the rear seal for the gear box that had failed.\u00a0 With that realization, we knew our trip in Greece had come to an end.\u00a0 We would have to stay at the anchorage for a few days and then make our way back to Levkas under sail alone, where we could order parts or have the gearbox worked on if it was damaged. \u00a0We were up against the clock as we needed to make progress to Spain where Jen and Dante would fly home from, and I would have to get to Gibraltar by mid October. \u00a0So all our travel time in Greece was now being diverted to this quickly needed repair.<\/p>\n

Erik, Lanse and Lukas were extremely gracious about the change in plans.\u00a0 \u201cWe knew this might be part of the deal,\u201d Erik said.\u00a0 In fact, Erik was well acquainted with the rule of meeting a cruising boat in route.\u00a0 \u201cYou can choose the place or you can choose the time.\u00a0 But you can\u2019t choose both.\u201d\u00a0 Originally we thought we would be in Venice when they would meet up with us, but our plans changed.\u00a0 When we told Erik about the change of location he said, \u201cNo problem \u2013 I bought travel insurance.\u201d\u00a0 He said he had fun telling his boys, \u201cI\u2019m sorry but we\u2019re not meeting Dante in Italy and Croatia\u201d and watch their faces fall, then informing them, \u201cIt will be in Greece instead!\u201d<\/p>\n

We were so disappointed for the Blois family (and for us) and we absorbed the reality of what a busted gearbox seal would mean for us (not the least of which would possibly be\u00a0to have to pull the boat out of the water at a shipyard.)\u00a0 However, over the next couple of days we\u00a0did more investigation and realized that it was the gearbox flange that had slid out of the gearbox because the nut had become loose. \u00a0(The gearbox flange, for our less technical friend, is basically what connects the prop shaft to the gearbox). \u00a0This may not be as bad as we initially thought, but we still need to sail 30 miles back to Lefkas.<\/p>\n

This sounds easier than done.\u00a0 Remember, the Ionian Sea at this time of year if pretty windless.\u00a0 \u201cGive me 30\u00a0knots of winds over 3\u00a0knot any day of the week,\u201d I tell Jennifer. \u00a0I can trim the sails in heavy winds, but I can\u2019t prevent my boat from drifting onto the rocks in no wind\u00a0(well I can but it becomes a lot more work involving our dingy, etc but we’ll get to that momentarily).\u00a0\u00a0So with this in mind, we started to make our way early in the morning (to allow us enough time) to travel the 30 nautical miles to Nidri on Levkas Island.\u00a0 We pulled up the anchor (which took 30 minutes with no engine and light winds – we had to sail off the anchor)\u00a0and safely rounded the point of the island. \u00a0We spent the next 13 hours trying to \u201csail.\u201d\u00a0 It was mildly stressful as we had to avoid drifting onto some islands. \u00a0 As we approached our destination the wind decided to whip up to 25 knots. \u00a0I’m thinking “great plenty of wind to sail us down the channel to our new anchorage”. \u00a0However, as we approached the channel, and came into the lee of a point, the wind died down to less than 5 kts. \u00a0Not enough wind to negotiate the\u00a0narrow channel filled with charter boats, parasailers, wind surfers, dinghies, fishing boats, ferries and RIBs. \u00a0Plan B- heave-to and drop our dinghy in the water (which was on our stern davits), and then swing our 100-pound engine on to the dingy. \u00a0With that done, Erik became our tug boat captain. \u00a0With the\u00a0the dinghy tied to our starboard quarter going at about 1\/4 throttle we piloted\u00a0Benevento to her new home. \u00a0We even were able to use the dingy to back down to set our anchor. \u00a0\u00a0Probably not set as well as would would like. but with a 10:1 scope (all chain) it would take a strong hurricane to move us. Safely anchored after a day in which we averaged less than 2 knots an hour, we gratefully sucked down a few cold beers, happy to have that long day behind us.<\/p>\n

We spent several weeks ordering\u00a0and waiting for the parts so that we\u00a0could make the repairs. \u00a0We hung out at the Vliho Yacht Club with its cool fans, laundry machines at 4 Euro per load (a bargain in Europe), and free wifi.\u00a0 We also did our best to stay cool in temperatures of the mid to high 90s.\u00a0 It is so hot that all the mosquitos have quit torturing Jen\u00a0at night. \u00a0Jen here …. “It is so hot that by 8:30 in the morning we are in our bathing suits literally streaming with sweat if we do more than breathe.\u00a0 It is so hot that we can\u2019t use the stove on the boat or it turns it into an unbearable inferno.\u00a0 It is so hot that the Greek people we meet say to us, ‘It\u2019s really hot, isn\u2019t it?!’ \u00a0However \u2013 I am NOT complaining.\u00a0 I prefer constantly sweating to constantly shivering and I promised \u2013 as we were freezing cold while cruising over the winter \u2013 that I would not complain when it got hot.\u00a0 So I am not complaining; I am merely stating the facts!” \u00a0Back to my honey….<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, our boat repairs robbed us of the time we needed to visit other parts of Greece. We missed the Corinth Canal (something we’d been looking forward to since we left San Francisco), the Oracle at Delphi and Athens. \u00a0The good news is there was no permanent damage done and everything is running A OK now. \u00a0And to boot we met a fabulous Brazilian couple and spent\u00a0a couple of evenings on their boat sharing stories and having drinks.<\/p>\n

For more pictures go to our\u00a0Flickr<\/a>\u00a0site!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 26-hour run from Bari, Italy to Corfu, Greece was fairly uneventful and with the wind behind us (well what wind there was). \u00a0Being a foolish captain I tempted fate by commenting to Jennifer, “hey we have nothing to fix after this passage!” – Should have kept my mouth shut. \u00a0When we went to drop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sailing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1794,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions\/1794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}