After our nasty night in Vathy, where Barberry took some damage (the extent of which we were still not entirely certain), we set off northwards once more, travelling vaguely towards our home port of Preveza, but with a few more stops planned along the way.
Our first stop was the small seaside village of Frikes, at the northern end of Ithaka. This was somewhere we had visited on a flotilla holiday some 33 years ago, and were keen to see again. It looked almost unchanged, with just a small harbour, where we had tied alongside all those years ago.
After Frikes we stopped once more at Karnagio. This time for a couple of nights, mainly because we had begun to really like it there. It had everything we needed in one place- showers, toilets, a safe mooring, amazing snorkelling and a taverna.
We met up with Lyn and Frank that night, who also love this place and introduced us to it, as well as a Dutch couple, Vera and Ron. The two couples’ boats were either side of Barberry and we joked that we would tie Barberry onto them if the wind got up! We were still a bit shaken from the Vathy experience, even though Barberry has proved a tough lady and, once again, looked after us.
Next stop was Lefkada, where we had the rather unglamorous job of having our fire extinguishers serviced. This involves contacting one of the few places that does it, they turn up and collect the three extinguishers, take them away for the day, put a sticker on them, then bring them back, and then we pay them some money. I moan about it a lot, but unfortunately it’s a legal requirement to get this done annually and without it our yacht insurers would be unhappy (or maybe happy, as they would not need to make a pay out if Barberry burnt to death?). While this was being done we had free time to enjoy and went for a meal out.
After dinner we took a walk along the narrow streets of Lefkas, which seem endless and also seem to rearrange themselves each night, a bit like the staircases in Harry Potter. We have never managed to find the same route twice.
After a rainy day in Lefkas (hiding in Barberry) the sun came out again so we dug out the electric and non-electric bicycles and set off on an explore. It is actually flat around Lefkas, a great rarity in Greece, so we made the most of it. Along the coast we discovered never-ending sandy beaches and ruined windmills, giving a glimpse of what it was like here in the past.
Sadly it was getting close to our departure date, so we sailed the last leg of our return journey, back to Preveza, where we planned to do a few maintenance jobs on Barberry, before her lift out on 21st October. There was a rumour that the floating bridge at Lefkas would not open that day, which would have trapped us on the wrong side, but fortunately it did and we shot through. We got some lovely film footage of it from our friends Alice and Ralph, who had stopped off in their hire car to cheer us on!
Once back on Preveza marina we got busy with jobs, including the engine service, removal of sails, storage of our dinghy and fixing some of the damage to the stern that was caused by the concrete quay at Vathy. The weather was not done with us though and that night the wind picked up to gale force. Fortunately for us we were very secure, in a berth on ‘C’ pontoon, that was really meant for 50-60 footers (Barberry is only 33 feet). This meant that the lines were thick as my wrist and we weren’t going anywhere! Even so we were fairly tossed around.
Our poor friends (Lyn and Frank) on the public quay were less fortunate and took some damage in a fiasco that led to a rope wrapping around their prop. They were really unlucky and had a sleepless night, followed by a lift out the next day to check for damage.
We downed tools on 19th October for our 35th anniversary and planned a day of fun and relaxation! Of course this involved a long cycle to a very pretty beach, where the swimming was amazing. Not bad weather for the end of October!
Dinner was planned for a taverna called Kalafagos, where we had been to before. It was an extra special place, perfect for our anniversary. We turned up starving and it was closed (apparently it always closes on Mondays, but Google somehow did not know this). We ended up going to the restaurant just beside it (see photo). It was still good, but not as good. You have to realise that we are very spoiled in Greece, which means our expectations are always very high. Everywhere here is better than British food!
It was lift out time once more and we motored the short way to Cleopatra marina (named so because Cleopatra did actually live there!). We were nervous about the state of Barberry’s keel and rudder, as we thought we might have grounded on rocks at Vathy, when the 50 knot winds pushed us onto the quay. But there was no visible damage, thank goodness. Barberry’s thick keel and protected rudder have proved a real asset, compared to most other yachts, which have exposed, vulnerable ‘spade’ rudders.
We had a couple of days in the marina apartments (a sort of converted attic above the office block, but quite luxurious for us). We could have stayed in Barberry in the yard, like some other owners do. It really comes down to not wanting to use a bucket for a toilet, or the other option of going down the rickety ladders and long walk to the toilet block.
Finally we locked up Barberry for another winter and said goodbye to her. We felt quite emotional and somehow it was a harder goodbye than usual. We know that she is just a load of old fibreglass, but we feel that she has a soul and really looks after us when we need her to. It’s strange how you can become attached to a non-biological entity.
I’m writing this from Groomsport, in the middle of a storm. We got home yesterday (23rd October) after a long day’s travel. This started off poorly, when we went to the bag drop-off and were told that there it was not possible to put our bags in the hold and we would have to take them on the plane with us. Our bags are monstrous things that we could not imagine lifting into the overhead lockers. Yet this is clearly what we were being told to do. The man behind the desk then asked if we had any liquids in our gigantic bags. Of course we did, loads of liquids: some alcoholic, some not. We would apparently have to dispose of these. We offered the alcoholic ones to the man, but he said he did not drink. He did point to another member of staff and say that she might take them though. Really, this is not a joke!
This made no sense and we pointed out we here transferring in London to another flight to Belfast. Somehow this seemed to get through to them. Meanwhile the queue of passengers built up behind us. There was much talking on phones and radios (all in Greek) and then they said they could allow our bags in the hold. We were lucky, as many others had to man-handle their bags into the overhead lockers, which were creaking under the load. Also, our friend Frank told us his bag, on the same flight, never turned up at Heathrow, so I guess he was one of the unlucky ones and it’s still lying in a pile of abandoned bags at Preveza airport.
Eventually we landed to Belfast. We were a little delayed, but Kerry had already given this information to our pre-booked taxi from Heathrow, as well as our flight number, so they could be aware of the arrival time. The taxi driver phoned us when we landed and we told him we just needed to wait for our bags to appear, but there was also a slight risk that they never made it on the plane the first place. Maybe this lack of certainly was our downfall, as moments later, a lady from the taxi company phoned and said we had lost our deposit and would need to pay another deposit and wait for another taxi (as we had not informed them of these unforeseen issues). Kerry was a little tired at this point but made it clear that we had informed them at every stage. We did not think anything we had done was unreasonable or could have been done better, but the next thing we knew the woman from the taxi company slammed the phone down and it seemed that was that. Our advice- don’t use this taxi company- we won’t be!
Our son, Patrick, saved the day, by zooming out to collect us from freezing to death in the short-stay carpark.