A week on the hard - Preveza

A six hour sail from the island of Paxos, broad reach in 25 knots to mainland Greece. There's a channel approach to Preveza, well buoyed and mega shallows outside the channel, so best not to divert, though low keel Catamarans can, and they do.We decided to sail to Cleopatra marina for our 'pull-out'. This means getting the boat lifted out of the water and put on the 'hard' in order to do essential checks and servicing below the water-line. The boat will also have her bottom jet washed to remove weed and encrustations of barnacles etc. The main reason we chose Cleopatra is because they are highly professional and have the most amazing lifting gear, they are also 350 Euros cheaper than Corfu that only have a crane! No brainer...

Having come alongside, this remote controlled lifter does it's work - they have another one that can lift 300 ton boats. That's  nine tons of Lerryn Lady suspended in mid-air and the Cornish flag flying above the ensign :O) Preveza town in background.

Suspended in mid air...

Here you can see her long-keel which is copper coated - she's been in the water for two seasons and hardly a weed on her! Copper coating is very eco-friendly...

 

A short ride away and she's on the 'hard' with a fancy stair case so that we can still sleep onboard :O)

 

Gaios on the East coast of Paxos

The island of Paxos is small. For me it's the jewel in the Ionian Crown. Not much to do other than sail, snorkel, stroll through ancient alleyways and wander to a taverna for Ouzo. The place weaves a spell ...

 

 This is the view from our forepeak.

Once a day two tripper boats arrive from Kavos, Corfu - far too big ( in my opinion).  We were entertained this afternoon as they tangled their anchors and spent nearly an hour shunting, shouting and generally causing mayhem in this tiny beautiful harbor - you could hear the collective sigh when they left!

A local day tripper boat to anti Paxos - more our style.

Even more up our street - next time we pass through we'll sail in here, berth to the tiny weeny pontoon ( 2 boats only), or maybe anchor off, have a shower then dance the night away.

These two fly the few metres from the islet opposite our mooring every afternoon ( they wait for the tourists boats to leave) and stroll about the quay chatting away. The sky is alive with larks, swifts, orioles and hawks


Mooring is stern to the quay - no charge.

 

Onwards to Gaios - island of Paxos

Great sail across the Straits from Petriti to Paxos - Broad Reach in 18 knots - Lerryn Lady scooted along happy to be sailing, as were we. En route we had a Minoan Cruise ship cross our bows. This is what that information looks like on our navigational screen below:

 The dotted red line is our set course that day. The little red boat shape is us, the BIG red triangle to the right of us ( partially eclipsed by the black info box) is a Minoan Cruise ship. The blue triangle to the left and below us is another yacht called 'Bergfjord'. You can see our position on the planet is N39"08.488' E20'19.513. We are sailing, Cruise ship is motoring at 25.3 knots, he gives way to us. At this point in time the Cruise ship is 809 metres to our Port side ( left). He can see us on his screen as well. Sea depth is 120 metres. Continuing on this course the nearest that Cruise ship will get to us is 787m in about 18 seconds time - then he's gone :O)

 Here's she is off to our Port side, 800m away and  travelling at 25 knots - schedules and all that!

And here she's crossing our bow.

Greek Owls :O)

Isn't he cute? I've been followed by Owls since November 2013. No matter where I go, every night I hear an owl and see images of them all over the place. I thought I would be free of them in Greece - but No! Imagine my surprise when I was told the sweetest birdsong I hear at night is that of the owl. Greek owls have a totally different call to those in UK (the link below is the song of a Greek owl). Kind of sweet really :O)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Km3D2jq1HoQ

And the History and Myths that surround Greece Owls are legendary - used on coins still.

Petriti - A few tavernas and five trillion firelies

Such a dear little place, two hours sail south of Corfu town ( still on Corfu island). This traditional Greek fishing village that has given up a little bit of the quay to yachts. You can anchor here but it's shallow throughout. We were fortunate to be able to come stern to the quay in 2 metres of water with our depth alarm going off continually LOL.

Fishing fleet - you can't see the little village for them.

They go out late afternoon and return early next morning - we didn't hear them or feel any surge - they sell the catch straight off the boat - brilliant.

This little dude was allowed two small fry - see the remains of the other on the left - very neatly done cat!

This is what happens when you ignore the charts! This yacht has been here since 2012, just fifty metres from us.

For the kids...large and small.

To the theme tune of 'Jaws' this flotilla of holiday boats head for us - they ended up rafting outside the harbor. That's mainland Greece in background.

Clouds and clouds of jasmine everywhere and at night we stood in a meadow full of firefires - magic!

 

Petriti was our first sail after leaving Corfu at lunchtime. Just a short hop to check the sails and equipment and all was well. So good to be out on the sea and heading off again!

 

A blot on the landscape - or perhaps a 'bott' is more apt.

Yesterday the sailing holiday yachts cleared the marina and I posted a pic of our lovely view. Last night the motor boats started to come in around us and the view has changed slightly... from this:

to this...

and this...

Views from our cockpit in Corfu

Just before sunset

Mostly cafes and chandlery along the front

Breakfast time