We are in Cleopatra Marina to collect our next passenger. Patrick is flying in for a week, but has experienced Corfu before, so we are planning to bring him to Meganisi Island. We got to Cleopatra nice and early to collect him so we could do all our washing and, of course, test out the local taverna (Panos) for Patrick.
The nice thing about this marina is it is VERY close to Preveza airport. So close that we set off walking there from the marina and arrived about 30 minutes later to watch his plane land. He was really tired when he arrived after a whole day travelling and a super early start, but we managed to drag him to Panos, where he seemed to find his appetite! An appetite that has remained for the whole trip!
It was then an early start the next morning to get to the first Lefkas bridge opening at 7.30am (and it takes 2 hours to get there). Amazingly Patrick seemed to sleep through most of this, despite the noise of the engine. So much for complaining that he did not fit in the saloon berth (he is 6’2″). He did have previous experience of sleeping in Barberry from our trip in 2023, where he joined us for the leg from Nice to Corsica. He was therefore not overly keen to spend a week sleeping on the boat in cramped conditions. For this reason we had treated him to an Airbnb room on Meganisi Island, close to where we anchored the boat in Abelaki bay.
He certainly ‘fell on his feet’ with the Airbnb room, as it was luxury with everything brand new and lovely sea views. It was also very close to the locally infamous Boom Boom Bar, which he seemed to actually find a good thing. We were very jealous of his air conditioning. The only air conditioning in Barberry is created by our own sweat and a few small fans, recirculating the stale air.
We planned lots of activities, the first of which was a boat trip around the island. Since Barberry is slow and has a mast, we rented a speed boat, along with a guide, called Spiros. The speed boat could get us around the island in a few hours (whereas Barberry might have taken a couple of days) and we wanted to go inside Papanikolis Cave. The cave is 120m long and boats can actually go inside, but not Barberry, because the mast would scrape on the roof and knock off the stalactites!
Spiros was a great guide. Very relaxed and knew the coast so well that we could go very close in to the rocky shore. We picked his brain about fishing and also the trails around the island, as he was also an ultra-marathon runner. Most of the fishing he did was spear fishing, diving to 30m. Maybe a bit beyond us…
As we arrived at the cave another big trip boat turned up and motored straight into the cave, completely disappearing. It was gone for ages so we started to wonder if there was a different exit. Spiros did not want to go in while it was there and I don’t blame him. Eventually it reappeared and we took our turn. Although the cave was large, it was actually quite shallow, with some rocks at the surface, which was fine for Spiros, but must have been very challenging for the trip boat (glad we did not try this without him).
After the cave we all enjoyed taking turns at helming the speed boat under Spiros’s guidance. Although 30 horse power did not seem much to him, to us it was crazily fast, especially compared to Barberry. He taught us how to get it on the plane and adjust the trim for the most efficient cruising.
The next day we moved Barberry from the front of Minas pontoon to the back, as a flotilla was coming in and needed our space. This was tucked away and very, very shallow. The space was really only intended for dinghies, but we had seen someone do it before, so wanted to try. It was a great spot, as Patrick could easily get on the boat, when he turned up for his swim or his very regular Minas Taverna meals.
When we did swim we could see that there was not much space under Barberry’s keel. Maybe 18 inches, which is probably okay as the tides here are insignificant. We did feel a little uneasy about getting out again, especially if the wind got up and blew us onshore.
We had some lovely walks, to explore the island, despite the heat! We found a ruined windmill, way off the beaten track. Did you know that a lot of the bushes in Greece are thorny? A bit like Blackthorn, only the thorns are bigger. We arrived back with scraped legs and needed emergency large ice creams to recover.
We also hired two electric mountain bikes and had a great trip around the entire island. Kerry dug out her electric folding Brompton, which actually seemed faster than the mountain bikes (unless she is maybe just a faster cyclist?). There were a few off-road sections that would not have suited the small wheels of a Brompton, so Kerry headed back ahead of us, later telling us that she managed to nearly get run over.
Patrick and I then headed out to the ‘tail’ of the island, as far as we were allowed to go by the hire company. Apparently beyond this point was too dangerous, with roads that might subside. We had a great time and Patrick enjoyed some fast downhills despite claiming that his brakes did not work. Mine did work, but I still found the downhills a little nervy, especially when a giant spider appeared, dangling from the front of my helmet, just at the steepest part!
Patrick was keen to have a go at fishing to see how it compares to home. How difficult could it be, since we could see fish swimming around beneath us, in the crystal clear waters? We picked Tele’s brain (Minas taverna owner) and he knew a lot, but was perhaps also not giving too much away. It seemed that spear guns, nets or lines with hundreds of hooks were essential. None of which we possessed. Bait was also an issue, so we were going to need to be inventive.
In an act of desperation I noticed that one of the local fishermen had thrown away his spare bait at the end of his fishing trip. This consisted of small fish, which were rapidly being consumed by slightly larger, living fish. Without a moment to loose I donned my snorkel and mask, diving down to salvage as many as possible. I got about five, which were relatively intact. Without thinking I stored them in Patrick’s shoe for safe keeping. I could not think of anywhere better and this was all for Patrick’s benefit, even so, he was not that impressed.
That night we tried fishing, with no success. We concluded that the fish must already be asleep or full up, as surely our lack of skill was not to blame. The next day we tried again with bread and salami (we had thrown away the smelly fish bait). Again no success. Maybe we should leave the fish in peace and just enjoy them when swimming!
Kerry will bring you up to speed with the remainder of Patrick’s visit next week, and our plans for the rest of our stay in Greece.