After the kids visited, we had 10 days to ourselves before Nautilus needed to be lifted out ahead of our trip back to the UK. We decided to go back through the canal again to do another loop of the northern Ionians. We headed down to Kefalonia again before before turning left and back up the mainland coast of Greece to Preveza. It was a fun trip and we got in a bit of exploring before getting back up ready for lift-out.
It was a lovely trip, but we got some serious rain. Tied up in Ithaca, the heavens opened and we had a serious thunderstorm right on top of us. Fortunately we were right under the hill, so didn’t feel threatened about a lightning strike, but it was hitting the hills around us. There was blue light everywhere and huge claps of thunder.
Eventually it was time to head back to the UK, so we arrived at the yard early in the morning. We ended up being the 2nd boat out of the water that day.
The plan was to get lifted out a couple of days before our flight so we could sort everything out before heading back to the UK. The lift went without a hitch (although it was all a bit tight getting into the slipway). Nautilus was then picked up on a tractor trailer and driven onto her berth for the next few weeks. All sorted, it was off to the airport and we got back to the UK for mum and dad’s 50th
Getting back to Greece was a bit of a pain-in-the-arse. We had an early flight from Gatwick and needed to get a 3am taxi! Halfway to the airport we got a text from Easyjet saying our flight had been cancelled (DOH). Anyway, to cut a long story short, we got booked onto a flight the next day and ended up down in Brighton in a hotel for the night. It was nice to be back in the city for 24 hours. Once back in Greece, we had 48 hours to get the boat sorted before we went back in.
Given the type of antifoul we have, we needed to apply a new coat to both hulls to make sure everything stayed activated. After a quick wash and polish we were all set to go back in the water! Tates even managed to finish off a new tent for us to have on the bow to give us protection from the sun (and rain), when we were at anchor.
Steve, Jackie and Harry were coming out to spend some time with us on Nautilus. Harry for 4 days and Steve and Jackie for 10. The plan was to sail down past Lefkada, via Ithica to Kefolonia where Harry would fly home. We’d then push on to Zakinthos and spend some time exploring there before Steve and Jackie would go back to the UK.
Step one was to go back to Preveza port police to get the transit log stamped so we could leave that afternoon. So I trot along to the office to see captain grumpy and ask for the stamp, he asks for ALL my paperwork again and then proceeds to tell me the rules have just changed and my 3rd party insurance is not sufficient for sailing in Greece!! According to him I now need four time more coverage and he refuses to stamp the logbook. I’m now a bit stuck , our friends are due to land in a few hours. I jog back to Nautilus and ring the insurance company, who are very good and a couple of hours later have new papers over to us. I get them printed, run back to the port police and get the papers stamped with 30 mins spare before they shut at lunchtime for the rest of the day. Captain grumpy looks at me now sweating the other side of his desk and now decided it’s ok to put a stamp in the book.
With freshly stamped logbook in hand, we head over to the other side of the bay to pick up Steve, Jackie and Harry to start the adventure.
We had a wonderful time exploring the old town around Lefkada and working our way down to Kefolonia. We did a mix of staying on town quays and anchoring up in quiet bays. The weather was beautiful and we got to go to all the places we planned.
After a lovely few days with Harry we dropped him off in Kefelona to fly back to the UK. We then headed South to start exploring Zakinthos. We kept away from the more tourist areas and found some lovely places to explore. It’s fascinating that so much of the Ionanians was devastated by an earthquake and rebuilt about 100 years ago,
This inland lake was amazing. We took a boat tour across the lake and into this huge cave. The light and colours were beautiful and we got there early, so it wasn’t crowded
The plan for was say goodbye to Steve and Jackie on their last day before we headed off to mainland Greece and work our way down to Kefolonia. However on the Saturday night we got the devastating news that a good friend our ours had died suddenly from a heart attack. We immediately changed our plans and after some rapid passage planning decided we would be leaving at first light on Sunday to get back to Malta to support Pam.
The weather window wasn’t great, but if we didn’t leave then, we’d be stuck in Greece with big electrical storms for several days. It was definitely a mixed crossing. The first day was zero wind and we motored the whole time. After that the wind got up and we we hammering along in 30 knot winds with 2.5meter seas. We needed to route north to get above the thunderstorms that were due to form that night and we managed to get around them, although we did seem them in the distance behind us. After a lumpy couple of days sailing, we decided to stop in Siracusa for a night to get some sleep before an easy(ish) sail back down to Malta the next day.
It was terribly sad to be back in Malta so soon, but nice to see friends and we gave Andrew a good send-off.
Ode to Andrew
Night has fallen, the rigging’s slack,
You’ve captained Scoops through your last tack;
You’ve done so much, you’ve seen the world,
But now it’s time for sails furled;
Your voyage has finished, yet a new one starts,
and we wave you off with broken hearts;
Weighing anchor with your crate,
Which broke all records to repatriate.
So, fair winds my friend and travel light,
But whilst you’re there, don’t pick a fight;
We know you’re up there, looking down,
To keep us safe, so we don’t drown;
We’ll meet again, to sail with you,
Your ever-loving, Malta crew.
After our time in Malta it was time to say goodbye and head off to our winter berth in Sicily. Looking at the weather forecast there wasn’t going to be any wind for days, so we decided to leave at 9pm and sail through the night. With a quick set of checks to ensure we were ready we set off on a dead run up to Sicily. What a difference to 4 months earlier there this was a big step into to unknown, where as now we considered it to be more of a short hop to Sicily!…..
