Greece Part 10 - The Journey Home - Northern Greece

Monday 27^th June

After 5 days at home during which time we had attended Scott’s graduation and caught up with friends and relatives it was time to return to Greece so we caught the last EasyJet flight of the day from Glasgow to Gatwick where we stayed overnight in the Bloc hotel at the airport.

Tuesday 28^th June

After a good, but short night’s sleep we caught the morning EasyJet flight (EZY 9051) from Gatwick to Thessonaliki. We arrived in Thessonaliki at 11.10 hrs. and as we only had hand luggage to carry we walked the two and a half miles along the side of the busy main road to Vasilladis Marine where both the car and trailer had been stored since early May.

After my return to Kazakhstan in May I had managed to source replacement suspension units in the UK for the trailer and had had a pair (complete with stub axels and breaks) shipped out to Greece in early June. Having arranged with the ever helpful Haroula at Vasilladis Marine to have the units fitted to the trailer in advance of our arrival today, I was keen to see what if anything had been done. 

If the worst came to the worst, I could easily fit the units myself, but that would mean spending a day at the yard and a night in Thessonaliki, both of which we would like to avoid if possible as we wanted to head south to Preveza as soon as possible.

Arriving at the yard we found a mechanic just finishing work on the trailer. The new suspension units were fitted, but the brakes appeared to be causing a bit of a problem as there was confusion about the configuration of the brake linkage. The fact that the trailer was a break-back trailer had not been understood as such trailers do not appear to be common in Greece (in fact the trailer company who carried out the temporary repair in Italy had never seen one either).  Not understanding the way the linkage worked, the yard owner had instructed the mechanic to fit additional brackets to the linkage, which had unfortunately to be removed after I demonstrated that they were preventing the trailer breaking it’s back as it is designed to.

Ready to leave for Preveza

The car as expected started first time and having paid the very reasonable bill for storage and with the empty trailer behind us we set out for Preveza some 220 miles or so to the south west of us.

Our journey across Greece saw us retrace our original route to Thessonaliki from Igoumenitsa on the E90 / A2 until we passed the small town of Mparfe which was just short of Igoumenitsa itself. Here we took exit No 5 and turned south following the E951 / E5 and then the E21 and finally the E952, which took us through the tunnel under the mouth of the inland sea from Preveza on the north side to the marina at the south side.

Just before Preveza we passed what looked to be extensive ruins along the side of the road (E21) these it turned out were the remains of the ancient city of Nicopolis ("Victory City") dating back to the Roman times. The city was built just outside the modern town of Preveza by Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire, to commemorate his victory at the naval Battle of Actium, on 2 September 31 BC.

The battle saw Octavian's forces (Octavian being the adopted son of Julius Caesar) defeated those of Mark Antony and queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Mark Antony committed suicide after losing the battle, in case you have ever wondered what happened to him.

The city is believed to have, at its peak, a population of 150,000 and continued to thrive under Roman and later Byzantine rule and even later experiencing brief periods of Bulgarian rule until the 10th century after which it appeared to go into decline as history records that the modern Preveza grew around a military outpost built by the Bulgarians, following their conquest of Nicopolis.

The ruins looked to be an interesting place to visit, but as it was late in the afternoon, we decided to go back and visit them another day, knowing we would pass through Preveza again when we started our journey home.

Unfortunately we never did manage back to the ruins as our route north took us to the coastal side (west) of Preveza, so the ruins of Nicopolis remains on our “to do" list for the next time we are back in Greece.

Without having to nurse a damaged wheel bearing we had a much better journey across Greece this time and arrived at the Marina just before 18.00 hrs., having stopped once for lunch and fuel.

We left the car and trailer on the road next to the security guardhouse at the marina’s main gate and found Tra Bhui at the pontoon just as we had left her.

Wednesday 29^th June

After breakfast and after Kathleen had spent a considerable time washing and grooming herself, we hauled Tra Bhui out for the final time. The Cleoppatra Marina where we were staying did not have a slipway, but the very helpful and friendly staff at the marina next door were happy for us to use their slipway at no charge.

Recovering Tra Bui - Preveza 

With Tra Bhui back on her trailer we asked the Manager at the Cleopatra Marina if we could use the hose to wash the accumulated marine growth off Tra Bhui’s hull. Certainly not we were told only the marina staff were qualified to do that (qualified to use a hose!!!!) and that as they were busy (sitting in the sun) they could not do it. 

Even if they could do it we would have to pay for this service in advance. Despite pointing out that we had stayed at the Marina for 9 days during which time we had handed over a large sum of Euros and not used any power or water which we had been charged for, the manager was adamant that we could not wash our hull!

Something needs a wash!

We had found that the staff at the Marina were with the exception of the bar staff who were great, to be some of the most unhelpful people that we had met in Greece! The marina has the potential to be a first class facility if you ignore the smell of the water, which in the berths near the toilets really does stink! However the attitude of the management is one of amazing arrogance to the extent that customers are treated with contempt! 

I would be very reluctant to deal with them again especially when there are other marinas nearby.

De-rigging Tra Bhui outside the marina

The rest of the morning was spent de-rigging and unloading Tra Bhui. Everything that came out of her had to be  packed into the car in a manner that would allow us to access things that we would need during our journey home without having to unpack everything each day. This is easier said than done!

Packed at last we made final use of the marina showers before starting our journey home. Our first stop was in Preveza itself as having read about some of it’s interesting history, we wanted to see the town and find some lunch.

The Ottomans re-founded Preveza around in 1477, and over the next 20 years or so further strengthened the fortifications around it.

The naval Battle of Preveza was fought off the shores of Preveza on the 29^th of September 1538, where the Ottoman fleet of Hayreddin Barbarossa defeated a united Christian fleet under the Genoese captain Andrea Doria. This day is still a Turkish Navy National Holiday.

Preveza was hotly contested in several Ottoman-Venetian Wars, during the period between the 15^th and the 19^th centuries until following the Treaty of Campo Formio, where Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the final dissolution of the Venetian Republic, Preveza – like other Venetian possessions in Greece and Albania – was ceded to Revolutionary France and a small French garrison was established in Preveza.

Napoleon Bonaparte, however, focused his attention in another direction, launching the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, placing France at war with the Ottoman Empire and giving little thought to the fate of the small Preveza garrison exposed on the edge of Ottoman territory.

In October 1798, the local Ottoman governor Ali Pasha Tepelena – having great ambitions to make himself a semi-independent ruler – attacked Preveza with an overwhelming force. In the Battle of Nicopolis on 12 October 1798 the 7,000 Ottoman troops of Ali Pasha and his son Mukhtar completely overwhelmed the 280 French grenadiers stationed there.

Though Preveza would remain under Ottoman rule for more than a century, the short period of Greek militias active in the city and the shock of the massacre that followed of the both the Greeks and French as well as the influence of the ideas of the French Revolution had a part in the development of Greek nationalism which later contributed towards the start of the Greek War of Independence, three decades later.

According to the Congress of Berlin in 1878, parts of southern Epirus, including Preveza, were to be ceded by the Ottoman Empire to the Kingdom of Greece, but it was not until 1912 during the first Balkan War that control was finally taken by the Greek Army on 21 October and the city was liberated.

After the Balkan Wars the harbor of Preveza became a significant regional commercial center in western Greece.

Along with the rest of Greece, Preveza was occupied by Fascist Italy (1941–1943) and Nazi Germany (1943–1944) during World War II. After the departure of the Wehrmacht from Preveza, in September 1944, an episode of the Greek Civil War known as the Battle of Preveza took place, lasting for 16 days, between armed partisans of the right-wing EDES and the left-wing EAM-ELAS. The fights stopped after the Convention of Cazerta between Great Britain and the two main Greek resistance groups, EDES and ELAS.

Today Preveza is a commercial harbour and tourist hub, with a marina, 4 Museums, two cinemas, an open theatre, a music Hall (OASIS), many clubs, taverns and cafes, benefiting from its proximity to the nearby Aktion National Airport and the nearby island of Lefkada, a major tourist destination.

Despite it’s historic past we found Preveza to be just another Greek town. The waterfront was peasant enough, but slightly run down and the town itself mainly consisted of mostly relatively modern and not particularly nice looking flatted developments. I would however stress that by no means did we see all of Preveza, it is a big town and we had limited time to spend there, so there could well be hidden gems of buildings, parks and areas that we did not see.

Moving back from the waterfront we found a nice little restaurant with tables and chairs set out in the alleyway outside where we ate a lunch of Greek salad and bread after which we resumed our journey northwards.

We were now route planning as opposed to passage planning. Instead of looking for suitable harbours we were looking for suitable campsites. Our criteria for a suitable campsite was location, facilities, size, how busy it would likely be and most importantly could the pitch or parking accommodate a 30 foot long trailer with a boat on it! The need to park Tar Bhui on her trailer precluded us going to a large number of campsites on the way home as the on her trailer she was simply too long for either the pitch or parking.

Our ferry crossing back to Italy from Igoumenitsa in Greece was booked for Friday evening so we wanted to find a suitable campsite not too far from the ferry, near a beach, near a village or small town (to save having to drive every day) and close to some places of interest. We found a likely site just outside the seaside town of Parga.

Camping Volos is located at the end of a beach just to the west of and within easy walking distance the town itself. The road down to the campsite was impressively steep and twisting and with cars parked along both sides of it we knew that once we started descending down it we were committed to going to the bottom as there was obviously no place to turn before then. 

Had we not been towing Tra Bhui with a powerful 4 x 4 I would have been reluctant to drive down to Camping Volos as while the descent would have been OK, getting back up to the main road after our stay might have been a bit more of a problem with the trailer weighing in at just under 2 tons. But the our Toyota Landcruiser with it’s massive torque dealt with both the descent and ascent with ease.

Camping Volos

Camping Volos was fortunately quiet as we were arriving just before the start of the Greek and Italian peak holiday season.  We found a pretty decent pitch on to which both the car and trailer fitted, but to access it we needed to drive over a number of other pitches. Had the site been busy we would have either had problems getting on to or off of the pitch.

Camping Volos

Once on the pitch and with the car parked alongside the trailer it was time to put up our roof tent for the first time since collecting it from the factory in Italy in April.

Erecting our roof tent for the first time

The tent which is we had purchased was a Maggiolina MC14 made by Autohome in Italy.   Living in Scotland where the sun does not always shine and where rain is not unknown, we had steered away from the larger and cheaper canvas tents going instead for the largest tent made by Maggiolina.

Looking like an oversized roof box, it has an insulated glassfibre roof and acrylic fabric walls which are both waterproof and breathable. The tent came complete with an inbuilt mattress, alloy access ladder, pillows and led internal lighting.

The tent we found to be very simple to erect as it is raised and lowered by winding a detachable handle either clockwise or anticlockwise, something that takes under a minute. An additional benefit of the tent is that pillows and bedding can be left inside when the tent is lowered for travelling thereby reducing the amount of gear carried inside the car.

Camping Volos was pretty quiet when we were there

Having not really planned our return journey before leaving the UK in April we found ourselves wishing that we had brought our folding table and chairs with us, but we solved this omission while at Camping Volos by simply borrowing a table and chairs from a stack of discarded bar furniture that we found stored behind the toilet block.

The restaurant we ate at set on top of the hill overlooking the bay

Our campsite set up we set out to explore the immediate area on foot before eating at a restaurant set high on the hill that separates the beach and bay from the town of Parga.

Thursday 30^th June

After a morning run and breakfast we left Tra Bhui on the pitch and headed south again by car to the nearby village of Ammoudia which was according to our guidebook one of the most likely sites for the fabled River Styx.

The river of Styx is according to Greek mythology the river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld (Hades). The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron, Lethe, and Cocytus all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which sometimes is also called the Styx.

Obviously going to find the entrance to the underworld had all the trappings of a fun day out!

The riverside in the village of Ammoudia

Arriving in Ammoudia which was only a 30 minute drive away we parked up under the shade of a tree behind the town’s perfect, but empty beach and set out to find the promised site of the temple that was used to prepare the bodies. After an hour or so of fruitless searching and with a fair amount of negative comments having been made about Greek direction signs we decided to stop for a cold drink at a bar beside the river before heading back inland to nearby Mesopotamos where we hoped to find some different direction signs to follow.

Sure enough we quickly found better signs which lead us to what was thought to be the site of the Nekromantio Acheronta.

The site was well preserved and subject to a fairly reasonable entrance fee which we paid as we were keen to see the site in more detail. To simply describe it the site contains a lot of large and well cut stones in the forms of various walls, There is large underground chamber which we reached by descending a steep steel stair. On top of the original (ancient) ruins which until fairly recently were all completely buried under metres of dirt a newer church has been built, The church now sites up in the air as the dirt covering the ancient ruins has been excavated and removed from site.

A number of information boards told us about the site

The really impressive underground chamber - built with no obvious means of access

As to the history of what we were looking at; I will leave that to the official information that we were given when we visited the site:-

The remains of a number of walls and buildings were plain to see

Situated close to ancient Ephyra, on the top of a small hill, on the northwestern side of which lies the present day village of Mesopotamos, is the most important and most ancient Oracle of the Dead of Antiquity, the Nekyomanteion  of Acheronta.

It is thought that it was here that the ancients located the Gates of the Underworld which led to the kingdom of Hades.

Charon, the ferryman of Hades carried dead souls across the River Styx to the entrance of Hades, after having received a coin which was placed in or on the mouth of the dead by their relatives to pay for passage.

Upon the bank of the river Styx stood Cerberus, the guardian three-headed hound with a lion tail that ended in a serpent.

Restored vases and urns

Upon entering the Underworld, the souls presented themselves to the four judges, Pluto, Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus who decided over their deeds during their life on earth. Only few mortals managed to descend to Hades alive and come back to life again.

The alluvial deposits of the rivers Acheron(Styx), Cocytus (Mavros) and Pyriphlegethon (Vovos), contributed to the formation of a marsh and later a lake, the Acherusia, which today has dried up. There is a rock with a cave on the northwest side of the lake at the meeting point of the three rivers which was an ideal location to erect the Oracle. A renowned place, also known through Homer's eloquent descriptions (eighth century BC), for centuries a popular destination where mortals turned in order to meet the dead, bring proper offerings, and predict things to come.

One of a number of intact walls which are over 2000 years old

The stonework was really impressive

The physical and spiritual tests experienced during their stay for days on end in the dark rooms of the Necromanteion: the isolation, the magical rituals, the prayers, the summoning’s, the wandering through dark corridors and the common belief in apparitions of the dead created the necessary psychic predisposition in the pilgrim. The special diet which the pilgrims were required to have contributed to this considerably. The main sanctuary is rectangular with 22 m long sides. It comprises the main hall, corridors and reception rooms, and for the staff, preparation rooms, storing rooms where clay jars with visitors' offerings have been preserved, the labyrinth and the actual sanctuary where the oracles were given.

Looking north from the top of the site

The oracle, known to everyone of Hellenic origin since Homer's epoch, was burnt down and destroyed by the Romans in 167 BC. After its destruction, the courtyard was inhabited again in the first century BC. In the eighteenth century the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (Saint John the Baptist) was built upon the ruins of the Oracle, the primary temple (Katholikon) which still stands upon the ruins.

According to Herodotus, the river Styx originates near Feneos. Styx is also a goddess with prehistoric roots in Greek mythology as a daughter of Tethys, after whom the river is named and because of whom it had miraculous powers.

After a very enjoyable visit and full of interest in mythological Greece we set out to walk to a nearby smaller temple which our ticket we thought gave us access to. But as it was Thursday it was shut! So we never found out what the temple was or how it related to or was part of the underworld. Defeated by a locked gate we headed back to the car stopping on the way to buy cold drinks and pastries from the town’s baker.

View back to the beach and river from the breakwater

Returning back to Ammoudia we parked near the river mouth at the south end of what was now a very busy little beach. It was amazing how many people had arrived in the few hours since we had been there in the morning. After a short walk and a swim we headed back to the campsite.

In the evening we climbed over the hill to nearby Parga for dinner. Parga which goes back to the 14^th century is built on what is thought to have been the even older ancient town of Toryne.

Parga was originally built on top of the mountain "Pezovolo". In 1360 the Pargians, in order to avoid the attacks of the Magrebins, transferred the village to its present location. During that period, with the help of the Normans, who held the island of Corfu, the fortress of Parga was built on the hill that we had just climbed over when walking from the campsite to the town.

Parga from the adjacent hill

In 1401 a treaty was signed with the Venetians, and the rule of Ionian Islands passed to them. The Venetians respected the lifestyle of the Pargians who provided, in turn, invaluable assistance to the fleet of the Venetians. At the same time the Pargians fought by the side of their compatriots to throw off the Ottoman rule. As Parga was the only free Christian village of Epirus, it was a perfect refuge for persecuted fighters and their families. In 1797 the area, along with the Ionian Islands and Parga, fell into the hands of the French, and in 1800, proclaimed free city status with broad authority under the protection of the Sublime Porte. In 1815, with the fortunes of the French failing, the citizens of Parga revolted against French rule and sought the protection of the British.

In 1817, following a treaty between Britain and the Ottoman Empire, the British granted Parga to the Ottomans – never trust the British as they swap countries and rearrange borders all over the world with stunning regularity!

Looking up at the castle

This resulted in the Good Friday of 1819 where 4,000 Pargians, having with them the ashes of the bones of their ancestors, their sacred images, flags and a handful of soil from their homeland, exiled themselves in the British protectorate of Corfu where they settled. The former citizens of Parga never ceased to dream of returning to a free country and to participate actively in the struggle for liberation. But they had to wait almost 100 years for this. Parga and the rest of Epirus was liberated from the Ottoman rule on 1913 following the victory of Greece in the Balkan Wars.

From the castle looking west - Camping Volos is 1/3 of the way in from the LHS

With 3 near perfect beaches (to either side and in front) Parga is now a tourist hotspot and even when we were there before peak season, the town appeared to be bursting at the seams with tourists, many of who were British. The town itself had no real appeal to us as it was too busy, full of awful tourist shops, restaurants and bars where fast food and cheap drinks were the order of the day. We were fortunate to find a nice quiet traditional Greek restaurant at the top of small private beach to the east of the main town where we had a very nice dinner before we walked back to the campsite.

Friday 1^st July

We were due to move on today heading north to Igoumenitsa to catch the evening ferry to Brindisi in Italy. After another morning run and breakfast we asked the campsite owners if we could stay on our pitch until the afternoon as the campsite was quiet (almost empty). This would allow us time to go and explore the well preserved 11^th century castle that stands on the headland between the bay where we were staying and Parga.

The Castle and town from above

The Castle was initially built in the 11th century by the residents of Parga to protect their town from pirates and the Turks. In the 13th century, as their control of the region increased, the Venetians rebuilt the castle to fortify the area. In 1452, Parga and the castle were occupied by the Ottomans for two years during which time part of the castle was demolished. 1537, Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa burnt and destroyed the fortress and the houses within.

The ruins are pretty intact if a bit overgrown

There was a number of vaulted buildings and cellars

Before the reconstruction of the castle in 1572 by the Venetians, the Turks demolished it once again. The Venetians rebuilt it for the third and last time creating a perfect, strong fortress that stayed impregnable until 1819, despite attacks, especially by Ali Pasha of Ioannina, who besieged them from the castle of Agia-Anthousa. The Venetians created a perfect defense plan which they combined with the natural fortification made the fortress. Outside the castle eight towers placed in different positions completed the defense. Inside the narrow space of citadel there were 400 houses, positioned so that they occupied only a small space far away from the seaside.

From this castle the free-besieged population of Parga and Souli fought epic battles, retaining their freedom for centuries.

From the faucet “Kremasma” the tanks of the castle and the houses were provided with water. The castle for its provision used the two bays of Valtos and Pogonia. When Parga was sold to the Ottomans, Ali Pasha enhanced it even more by placing both its harem and Turkish bath at the top, which radically improved the rooms within the castle itself.

Sitting on a terrace within the castle overlooking the bay

After lunch at the castle we walked back to the campsite for a quick swim in the sea. Once packed (we left the table and chairs where we found them) we left Camping Volos at a fairly late time of 15.00 hrs. and retraced our route to the main road and then turned north to Igoumenitsa which was only 30 miles from Parga.

Igoumenitsa is the chief port of the Thesprotia and Epirus regions, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Mainland Greece with the Ionian Islands and Italy. The city is built on easternmost end of the Gulf of Igoumenitsa in the Ionian Sea and primary aspects of the economy are maritime, transport, services, agriculture and tourism. The 670 km (420 mi) long Egnatia Highway, which serves northern Greece, terminates at Igoumenitsa, making it the main gateway port for northern Greece and Turkey

Arriving in Igoumenitsa we easily found the ferry terminal and with our car and trailer parked up in the car park outside and having checked in for our crossing we headed into town to have a look around.

It was late afternoon and both of us fancied something to eat. I had my mind set on a frozen yogurt if we saw a shop selling them or failing that a coffee and something to eat. A large and busy town, Igoumenitsa was pretty unappealing as a place to visit – again we only saw part of the town, but that part did include the waterfront and the pedestrianized town centre. I am sure there are nicer parts of the town but we can only judge it based on what we saw.

We struggled to find anywhere selling frozen ice-cream so we concentrated on a coffee and something to eat instead. Surprisingly it was hard – no impossible – to find anywhere selling coffee that either looked nice enough to go into or was selling anything to eat! Eventually we came across what must be Greece’s smallest frozen yogurt franchise, but it was big enough for two very nice and welcome frozen yogurts.

With time to kill we sat in the sunshine outside a large church overlooking the harbour and read our books before walking back along the sea front to the ferry terminal.

Looking along the sea front at Igoumenitsa from old harbour to new harbour

Walking back to the ferry terminal was due to a difference of opinion. Kathleen obviously not having been too impressed with the town thought that we would be better eating in the ferry terminal while I on the other hand had seen nothing but stand up fast food and sandwich outlets at the terminal and thought that we would be better eating in town.

Having checked that the car and trailer were still where we left them and that they had not been tampered with, the possibility of picking up a stowaway from Syria at the back of our minds we headed back into town having discounted eating at the ferry terminal after seeing what was on offer.

We had seen a number of restaurants not too far away and decided to try one of these. The one we chose was not great, but it was cheap and neither of us suffered any ill effects from it.

By now it was time to get ourselves to the queue for the ferry, something that is normally a quite simple affair, that is anywhere apart from Greece! The port entry gate is at the end of the motorway where a number of roads and slip roads come together. This means that there are at least 4 lanes of traffic trying to get into 2 or 3 gate lines within a distance of under 100m. The gate lines make no concession to compensate for where you are coming from so there is immediate chaos as trucks and cars intermingle as they try and get into the correct lane. Matters are not helped by the speed at which vehicles are checked and inspected. Each vehicle takes a while, but not because the checks and inspections are exhaustive, but because the port officials none of whom have any form of uniform and all of whom are smoking, simply move slowly or not at all.

Even more bizarrely one we eventually got into the port – there was no inspection of Tra Bhui which at 26 feet long and with her full cover in place could have been carrying anything inside – you drive into an enormous parking area where there are no lanes or any structured parking of any kind. Here you simply find the berth where you think the ferry may dock at and then park as near to it as you can.

The evening was memorable for all the wrong reasons and Kathleen decided that she was better sitting outside the ferry terminal reading while we waited for the ferry while I remained with the car.

Ready to board, but waiting on the ferry which hasn't arrived yet

The ferry which was meant to depart at 01.00hrs on Saturday morning and which we expected to board around midnight did not actually arrive in port until 02.45 hrs. delaying our departure to 03.20 hrs. A delay which we could have done without!

Ferries by night

With a crossing time of under 8 hrs. we felt that a cabin was not justified, which is just as well as all the affordable ones were taken! We had planned on sleeping on the deck, something that is quiet a normal thing to do on a Greek ferry. We found a quiet corner inside on the upper deck just at the end of the corridor leading to the stateroom cabins where we settled in for the night as the ferry took us out of Greek waters.

Greece Part 9 - Sailing Epilogue

Sailing Epilogue

Returning to Preveza after 5 days at home, we were happy with our decision to finish our passage there rather than continue the last 80 miles or so to Corfu. The weather was now very hot and the bays and harbours we passed when bringing the car and trailer down from Thessonaliki were extremely busy. We had had seen Greece without the influx of summer boats and holiday tourists and we were happy to remember it that way.

However our adventure and Tra Bhui’s voyages were not over as we still had to make our way home at journey of well over 2000 miles, which I will shortly upload here. Although it is really another adventure in itself it is also the concluding part to our time with Tra Bhui in Greece.

During our time in Greece (and enroute to Greece) we had met some really great people who could not have been more helpful or kind to us. In particular we would like to thank the following people:-

George Billis at Angelbay Bungalows – George showed us fantastic hospitality when we stayed at Angelbay Bungalows (Thessonaliki), found and arranged cheap car and trailer storage for us and ran us back to Tra Bhui after we had left our car and trailer there. If anyone reading this post ever needs a place to stay we could not recommend AngelBay Bungalows high enough – they were fantastic!

Haroula at Vasilliadis Marine – We left the car and trailer at Vasilliadis Marine for nearly 4 months. Haroula was really helpful, especially when it came to arranging to have new suspension units shipped to Greece and fitted to the trailer while we were away.

Loukas – who stored Tra Bhui on Skiathos for 4 weeks when I had to return to work in May. Not only did he look after her well but he serviced our Honda outboard when we were away. Loukas although confined to a wheel chair has a larger than life personality and was very entertaining

Athan Velouzos, a fellow Drascombe owner who arranged for us to stay at the Artemedia Yacht Club from Kathleen from to go to Athens Airport left for a 2 day visit home. Unfortunately we did not meet Nathan when we were in Greece, but his help and local knowledge was greatly appreciated.

Vassillis Dimas who is the Commodore of the Artemedia Yacht Club – Vassillis met us with cold beers when we arrived in Artemedia and made sure we had everything we needed during our stay. . The pennant that he gave us on behalf of the yacht club is a great souvenir and we will find a place for it in our study at home.

Phil Osborne from Dragon Drascombes in Nidri – Phil offered us boat storage and use of his shore side facilities when we were in Nidri, but unfortunately we were unable to make use of them as we decided to head on to Preveza. Phil has a good set up in Nidri with a number of Drascombes for hire there.

Gijis van Kemenade, a fellow Drascombe owner from Holland who spends part of the summer in Greece. Gijis generously offered us hospitality, but unfortunately we were unable to take him up on his offer as our passage around the outside of the Peloponnese meant we were too far from his summer home to visit.

  

Of course our adventure would not have been possible without the willing participation of Kathleen, my long suffering wife! I appreciate how fortunate enough I am to be married to someone who yet again willing agreed to spend weeks living on board Tra Bhui, which after all is a relatively small open boat with no on board facilities.

Thank you everyone!

Greece Part 8 - Fiskardo to Preveza

June 2016 - Tra Bhui is amongst the Ionian Islands 

Wednesday 15^th

 A comfy bed, a long lie, being able to walk next door to the bathroom, sitting at a table for breakfast, instant Internet access, these were some of the little things we appreciated while staying ashore!

Tra Bhui (yellow hull) dwarfed by larger boats 

After breakfast it was time to see a bit of the island. Kathleen had spotted an information board  yesterday giving details of local footpaths that we could follow.  The footpaths have been formed by a local group called the Asteris Club and were marked with hand drawn signs and interesting and well drawn information boards that identified the various species of flora and fauna that can be found in the area. The pictures below are not the hand drawn signs which unfortunately I did not photograph.

Footpath information

Walking options

The furthest away destination was the Battaria a substantial gun emplacement constructed by the Germans in WW2 to control access to the Ionian Sea. Today the site is very overgrown and only with careful searching can the foundations for the guns and subterranean tunnels be found.

The path to the Batteria was shown as generally following the coastline to the northwest tip of the island and as it looked as though it would offer us a good walk we opted to follow it.

Local flora

After a dubious start when we lost the path we picked it up again beside a secluded beach after we had reverted to following the road. From then on the path was well marked as it wove its way through the very dense woodlands and vegetation that covers the northern coastline.

Looking north towards Lefkas

Eventually we came to the Battaria which was very overgrown to the extent that it was virtually impossible to see how far it extended. From the elevated site there was however a good view over to the nearby island of Lefkas.

New best friend

We made our way back to Fiskardo via the small village of Antipata where we stopped for a cold drink, as it was an extremely hot morning!

By following the road back to Fiskardo we got some better views of the island and ended up with a circular walk of around 8 miles. This went a little way to justifying a lazy afternoon during which I did little apart from read and use the Internet while Kathleen went to the beach to swim and to read.

Ancient and new lighthouses at mouth the of the harbour

During the afternoon our laundry was returned. It was just as dirty as when it had been taken away and some articles had not even been untangled to show an attempt at washing them! Back to hand washing things myself!!!

Looking south towards Paros

Having had a great meal the previous evening and again wanting to avoid the crowds we returned again to the Nicolas Taverna where we were greeted like long lost friends. The Greeks are generally very hospitable people and the owner of the tavern which is family run and staffed was keen to spend time talking to us and presented Kathleen with a package of local herbs to take with her when we were leaving after our meal.

Later when talking to the crew from another yacht we were told that a number of the large charter yachts which had set out from Nidri at the same time as we had set out from Paros 2 days before had turned back due to the weather conditions and they were in far more sheltered waters than we had been. This just underwrites the Drascombes reputation as a good boat for all conditions.

. Thursday 16^th

Time to move on again. We really enjoyed our time at Fiskardo and the accommodation at the Balhambra Suites. Although the village was very busy – too busy – we had managed to avoid the crowds without any problems as yet again we found that your average yachtie appears unwilling or unable to walk more than 500 m from their yacht and as such presumably never sees more of the country than can be seen either from on board or from a shore side bar or restaurant.

Under sail at last

Rounding Ithica

Our next destination was the island of Ithica where we planned to find an anchorage near the town of Frikes. A quiet night at anchor would balance our decadent onshore stay in Fiskardo.

Unbelievably when we left the harbour at 11.00 hrs. we  had perfect sailing conditions with 14 knots of wind coming from the west giving us a run around the north of Ithica. With just the main sail set we  set we made good progress and averaged 6 plus knots until we became becalmed after rounding the northeastern corner of Ithica. After waiting in vain for the wind we dropped our sails and motored inshore to find a good anchorage.

In search of a suitable anchorage

Despite the wind initially coming from the west, the sea was running from the south  and the beach where we initially dropped our anchor was we decided a bit exposed. Raising the anchor again we explored an number of little coves (some more than once) before settling on a sheltered bay just below the hilltop village of Rachi. Our anchor hit the bottom at 14.00 hrs. after a fairly short 3 hour passage .

Moored below Rachi

After a swim we walked around the bay to the small harbour town of Frikes, which was a bit further than I thought, being 2.5 miles away by road but only 1.2 miles on water, despite the road following the coastline. I am not sure if it was further than Kathleen thought as she never commits to thoughts on distances etc.

The road to Frikes follows the coastline and is pretty much devoid of traffic. After rowing ashore we had to climb up the steep track to Rachi before we could take the road to Frikes.  Rachi as a village although of a reasonable size was quiet even by Greek standards, but it did have wonderful views both towards Frikes (north ) and towards Koni (south).

Frikes itself was a nice enough little village that has origins going back to the 16^th Century.

Although we had sailed in this area twice before we had never actually been in to Frikes. Apart from the shelter of the harbour which was being partially renovated when we visited there is little in Frikes apart from a small supermarket and a few bars, one of which we stopped at for a drink before walking back to Tra Bhui.

BBQ on our own little beach

For dinner we decided to have a BBQ on a nearby beach, which was a nice change from eating on board or at a restaurant.

  

Miles today 10

Miles total 650

Friday 17^th 

From Ithica we crossed to Kastos, departing Frikes bay just before 11.00 hrs. we motored across a glass like sea until we arrived in Kastos just after 15.00 hrs. The weather was extremely hot and with not a breath of wind it was nice to be  on the water where the boat movement created a gentle breeze to cool us.

 

Kastos

The harbour at Kastos was full of flotilla yachts, some of which were in Frikes when we had walked their yesterday afternoon. It was obvious that we were now entering the main summer holiday period and the quiet harbours so far were things of the past. It was also getting a lot warmer, a lot warmer!

With the harbour pretty full we opted to anchor off a beach just outside the harbour where once again the shallow draught of the Drascombe allowed us to anchor in the sheltered waters just off the beach, where other yachts could not get into.

Moored outside the harbour well inside the other moored yachts.

When we anchor off we tend not to put up the tent which cuts down on shipboard tasks, so we were quickly ashore and off to explore.

At anchor off Kastos

The village of Kastos is pretty small. Built mainly on the flat ground around the harbour it extends up the side of the adjoining hill and contains a lot of houses, which we presume, are holiday homes as although well maintained they had closed shutters and looked to be waiting for the summer visitors.

The village has a few restaurants / bars and a small supermarket. With only one dirt road on the island and with most of the houses in or near the village there are only a few cars on the island.

We walked through the village and out on to the small headland at the other side of the harbour  before returning to a bar at the harbour for a cold drink. Later in the afternoon we set out to walk along the dirt road that runs along the south east coast of the island before returning to Tra Bhui to spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in the bay.

Nice location for dinner

When the sun started to drop and loose it’s heat we walked around the bay through the village and out onto the headland where there was a nice looking restaurant with great sea views. Here we had dinner as we watched the sunset over the bay.

Miles today 15

Miles Total 665

Saturday 18^th

Waking to a clear sky and a glass like sea we walked around to the village for bread before returning to eat breakfast on Tra Bhui.

Our passage planning now had another consideration as we were nearing the final destination for this part of our journey – Preveza.  Our son Scott was due to graduate from Glasgow University in just over a week’s time and we had booked flights home from Preveza on Wednesday the 22^nd of June, just 4 days away.

We had been pushing on to make sure we were up in the inner Ionian area in plenty of time for the flights as we did not want to be stuck on one of the outer islands had the weather broken, but now that we were here we had some flexibility on where we went and we could be more relaxed about timescales.

In the absence of any wind and not wanting to spend another  day motoring we opted to stay at anchor here for another day.

Exceedingly hot day even with our sun awning rigged

Tra Bhui with sun canopy

As the day went on it became hotter and hotter. Even with our large sun canopy rigged the temperature on board was uncomfortable. It was too hot to go ashore for a walk so we stayed in the shade where we read and dropped over the side for a swim at regular intervals.

I was interested to see the size of our centre board when down

A number of sport boats arrived and anchored off the beach. Presumably these boats, all of which left in the late afternoon were just families from the mainland out for a day on the water? A nice way to spend a day at the weekend if you are able.

Bar at converted windmill

We ventured ashore at lunchtime and walked around the bay, through the village to a bar made from a converted windmill. Here we sat in the shade and enjoyed cold drinks before returning to Tra Bhui

At last the sun began to sink and the heat went out of it making it more pleasant on board.

Sunset would be soon over Kastos

We returned to the same restaurant that we had eaten at the previous night for dinner. Once again we sat and watched the sunset over the bay.

Miles today 0

Miles Total 665

Sunday 19^th

After our day of rest we needed to head further north and decided that after breakfast we would head to Vathy on the island of Meganisi, which was about 14 miles away.

Departing Kastos at 09.25 hrs. we yet again resorted to motoring as it was another flat calm.

After rounding the southern tip of Kalamos we headed north towards the northeastern tip of Meganisi. As we neared Meganisi a wind started to fill in behind us initially coming from the south but quickly rounding to the west.

Given the variance of the wind that we had experienced since entering the Ionian, I spent sometime procrastinating about whether we should be under sail or not. 

On Tra Bhui, the genoa is quick and easy to set due to it’s roller reefing / furling system and the mizzen can be set equally quickly although slightly more work is required. Our mainsail however which is by far the largest sail of any Drascombe takes a bit more handling. No problem if the Gig is crewed by the 8 sea cadets and helmsman that it was designed for, but more of a task for Kathleen and I.

My procrastination paid off as the wind suddenly started to gust to an unbelievable 30 knots plus (Force 7) whipping the sea up into a frenzy of white horses.  Having no sails up was a decided benefit!

The wind had not finished it’s tricks though and the westerly soon became a northerly  and waves suddenly became very wet indeed as we motored into them.

Entering Vathy it felt as though the wind had suddenly been switched off as the waters within the harbour were sheltered and calm. Sunshine abounded and soon Tra Bhui was the source of clouds of evaporating water as her wet decks dried in the heat of the sun.

Vathy is another harbour that we have been into in the past, but much has changed over the years and it was not as we remembered it with a new marina and many , many more boats. It was far nicer before!

As we entered the inner harbour at 12.40 hrs. we were warned off as two yachts had crossed anchors and were trying to untangle themselves from each other with much shouting and gesticulation. After a pulling back a bit I spotted a empty berth alongside the northern quay right in the corner. Too small for a yacht, but just big enough for Tra Bhui – that would do us while we decided what we were going to do.

Our plan had been to stay overnight in Vathy so we walked around to the marina to see if we could get a berth there.  The marina was pretty full but promised us a berth later in the afternoon which would suit us OK, but after  discussing it over a coffee we decided that Vathy was just too busy for us and we did not want to pay for berth in what was not a particularly nice spot.

Having cancelled our marina berth we decided to walk over the island to Spartochori for lunch. Hopefully in the afternoon the weather would have moderated and we could then decide what to do. We would also use the walk to look at potential anchorages along the coast.

The layout of Meganisi allowed us to take the inland road to Spartochori, which sits high on the hill directly above the harbour of the same name. In the village we found most cafes, shops and bars to be closed due to a large local wedding, which presumably everyone was attending. We did manage to find an open pizzeria with spectacular views over the harbour and surrounding sea area.

Pizza for lunch

Walking back to Vathi we descended to the harbour and then followed the coast road until we came back to Tra Bhui.  Again like most of the islands we visited the roads were deserted and ideal for walking along. There were no obvious anchorages on the stretch of coast that we walked along and the bay below Spartochori was full to capacity of yachts and assorted motor boats. 

By the time we returned to Tra Bhui the wind had dropped and the sea moderated so we decided to head across to Nidri which is the main harbour servicing the islands in this part of the Ionian and so we left Vathi again at 17.00 hrs.

Miles 14

Total 679

Crossing from Meganisi to Nidri

Earlier in our voyage I had contacted Phil at Dragon Drascombes http://www.dragondrascombe.com/  – he hires out a number of Drascombe Luggers and shore side accommodation – to ask about storage for Tra Bhui when  we flew back to Scotland. Phil was really helpful, but and offered us the use of his boat storage, but we eventually decided it was cheaper and more convenient to leave Tra Bhui afloat at a marina in Preveza from where we could walk to the airport. Thanks anyway Phil!

Crossing from Meganisi we passed Skorpios, the island formerly owned by Aristotle Onassis and where he married Jackie Kennedy, the widow of the late President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.

The island has recently been sold to the 24-year-old daughter of a Russian shipping billionaire.

The sale price? A cool £100 million. Eilidh and Scott; if you are reading this – you were obviously born to the wrong parents!!!

Arriving just off Nidri we turned to port and headed in to the  sheltered inner harbour – what in Scotland we would call a sea loch – Vliho Bay. Here we found wall-to-wall yachts all moored in the dirtiest part of the Ionian that we had seen so far. The shore where not covered with boat yards was littered with abandoned boats and sunken hulls. Definitely not an attractive place to stay.

An oasis of niceness - Dragon Drascombes base.

The one oasis that we saw in this area was the Geni Garden Apartments that are used by Dragon Drascombes. We did stop and at the pontoon where two Luggers were tied up and ask if Phil or Matt were around but we were told that they were in town and unlikely to return today, which was a pity as we would have liked to have met them.

Moored just off the shore line at Nidri

Leaving the overcrowded waters behind us we found a relatively quiet anchorage in 24” of water near the Neilson pontoon at Nidri town where with the use of both stern and bow anchors we managed to keep Tra Bhui afloat (just) near the shore.

By the time we secured Tra Bhui it was 18.45 hrs. and time for a beer!

When we had last been in Nidri we had been taken to a excellent restaurant that did not have a menu as such, but which simply brought you dishes of food until you told them to stop. I appreciate that this probably sounds a bit bizarre, you really have to have been there to appreciate it.

Looking for a mooring near Nidri

After a beer at a bar on the harbour front we set out in search of the restaurant which was pretty much where I remembered it to be. After a wait of about 30 minutes we got a table – the restaurant although able to sit a lot of people limits the number of diners at any one time so at least half of the tables are always empty – it works for them!!!!

We had a great if slightly expensive meal – hopefully a memory that we will keep from our time in Nidri!

Miles 6

Total 685

Monday 20^th

Waking to an overcast sky, Kathleen rowed ashore for bread as I tidied up Tra Bhui and boiled water for tea and coffee. We had no reason to stay longer in Nidri and were keen to get going as strong winds were forecast and we had two exposed stretches of water to cross before getting to Preveza.

Heading towards Lefkas on an  overcast morning 

Cloudy overhead, but happy on board!

From Nidri we headed north to the Lefkas canal and a lunchtime stop at the town of Lefkas.. Heading towards Lefkas we encountered a strong headwind and a wetting sea but despite this we entered the extremely busy Lefkas canal and moored Tra Bhui alongside the road causeway next to the town at 11.45 hrs. The canal was busy with boats heading south - it was the start of the Italian holidays we were told and also the start of the peak flotilla season. 

Lefkas canal - looking south from the town with the marina on RHS

Lefkas Canal runs for around 3.5 miles through the low-lying land at the NE end of the island and effectively divides it from the Greek mainland. The canal also provides a busy link used by boats heading northwards and southwards in the Ionian  without having to go around the west side of Lefkas island – a considerable saving in both time and distance.

The canal, which is dredged to a depth of 5.0 – 6.0 metres along most of its length although it tends to be much shallower 3 – 4 m at its northern end

The N part of the canal runs between training walls as far as Lefkas Town and is marked by poles for the rest of its length until arriving at the three pairs of buoys at the S end.

In places, the channel is quite narrow, and north-going and south-going yachts may be competing for the deeper water in the centre of the channel.

There is a speed limit of 4.0 knots in the canal and sometimes an appreciable current of 1.0 – 1.5 knots, usually S-going.

The road from the mainland passes over the canal at its N end via a floating bridge which opens on the hour from 0600 – 2200

Tied up alongside the causeway while we lunch ashore in Lefkas

We had transited the canal before and had even spent a night at the town’s marina but we had never really explored the town itself, so stopping for lunch we decided to put this right after first walking further down the canal to watch the floating road bridge open on the hour.

One of the more interesting buildings in Lefkas!

The buildings which make up Lefkas are pretty nondescript although the town itself is based on the town layout associated with the medieval city plan of Lefkada City (historic name for Lefkas) which was developed during Venetian rule. 

Modern buildings incorporate seismic designed foundations which are necessary due to the areas history of earthquakes. There are a few old and interesting buildings, but newer modern buildings are pretty bland and uninteresting. Recently effort appears to have been put into refreshing the town and encouraging tourism. Such works include a secondary canal / water feature built  to provide moorings for small local boats along the northern edge of the town the side of which we walked along  when heading into town.

New canal feature to provide local moorings

We stopped for lunch at a small café bar called the Lemon Tree (a popular name in Greece) and sat outside in the rear courtyard where we were served small local snacks to go with our cold drinks. For once we did not have a Greek Salad!

Back on board Tra Bhui we headed on down the canal to get to the floating bridge in time for it’s 15.00 hrs. opening. After passing through the bridge it was only a short distance until we left the canal and re entered the Ionian Sea.

Sailing parallel to the shore we kept heading north until we encountered the buoyed channel marking the approach to Preveza. I was keen to get past this section of coastline before the weather broke as the shoreline is basically a surf beach and we have in the past experienced very large seas here.

Following the marked channel we passed through the narrows  and soon after entered the Cleopatra Marina where we had reserved a berth for Tra Bhui while we flew home.

Cleopatra Marina was one of a number of options that we considered when choosing somewhere to leave Tra Bhui. We opted for it as it was fairly new – 2009 – secure, reasonably small (only 100 berths) but with a vast onshore storage area and most importantly within walking distance of the airport. The downside was that it was on the opposite side of the channel from Preveza Town, but as we would only be there for two nights that would not be a problem for us.

The new marina facilities - luxury

On entering the marina at 16 .50 hrs. we were directed to a berth on one of the smaller pontoons close to the toilet block. Our mooring was stern to and on lazy lines, which was OK although the lazy lines as expected were really dirty and covered in marine growth.

Tied up in Preveza

With Tra Bhui secured we celebrated our arrival with drinks and dinner at the marina’s restaurant. Since leaving Thessaloniki in May we had covered 702 nautical miles, which equates to 807 miles or 1302 km!

Tuesday 21^st June

We were due to fly home tomorrow so today was going to be a work day as we needed to sort out our washing as well as to tidy and clean Tra Bhui and store everything away that was not already inside the deck hatches.

First things first thought – breakfast.

Rather than cook on board we decided to splash out and eat breakfast at the marina’s restaurant after which we set off to walk to the airport that was just under an hour away.

Walking to the airport was a dry run for tomorrow to see how long it would take. The airport was easy enough to find s all we had to do was follow the access road to the marina until it met the main road and then follow that south until we came to the airport terminal.

Back at Tra Bhui we got to grips with our chores, including another washing, but this time we had the luxury of a washing machine.

While the washing dried we went for another walk, this time following the beach around towards the airport and coming back by the road. The beach was nice enough but the water was not particularly clean which may have been due to the proximity of the large town of Preveza just across from the marina.

Our original plan had been to continue north to Igoumenitsa some 80 miles further to the north, but after a lot of consideration we decided that we would stop at Preveza as the small and quiet harbours and anchorages that we had enjoyed so far were now becoming increasingly full of yachts and motor boats and the temperature was rising on a daily basis making nights on board uncomfortable.

Washing day!

We hoped that we would not regret our decision to stop at Preveza at a later date, but we had the consolation of already having sailed the waters to the north of Preveza twice before so we would have just been visiting places that we had already been and we had been there when they were quiet!

With our decision made we stored everything we could away in Tra Bhui in the knowledge that when we returned in a week or so with the car and trailer we could unpack everything properly and re stow it then.

Tuesday 21^st June

After an early rise we threw our bags ashore and after putting the cockpit cover on Tra Bhui we set out on foot for the hours walk to the airport from where we would catch the morning Easyjet flight to London and then a connecting flight to Glasgow.

Miles 9

Total Miles 702

To be continued:-

Our return to Greece and the journey home to Scotland