Levkas Marina – Sunday 16 September 2018

We haven’t far to go today so we had a very quiet and lazy morning.  After some breakfast we had a swim and read our books.  We decided to leave at 11am which was fine. There is no chance of sailing this morning with the wind having dropped to 2 knots (even though for a change it was on the beam, not the nose).  We said goodbye to Bill and his guests on the way out.

It is another very hot day.  We have no desire to spend it in the marina, so we found an anchorage just under the castle before the beginning of the Lefkas canal.  We remembered the spot because we met with Dutch friends Jaques and Brigitte years ago when we chartered in this area and they were at anchor here.  At first it didn’t look like a very inviting spot especially as the wind had got up to a force 4 on the nose!  But going closer in it was fine and we got the anchor to dig in immediately. I sent Richard out for a swim first and of course being on our own he went skinny.  But we were not on our own for long because within 5 minutes a charter boat with a load of Brits on it came along!  I’m glad I didn’t go with Richard’s suggestion and kept my modesty.

We then had lunch and a nice time just relaxing for an hour or two.  At 3pm we decided we should make for the marina especially as we need fuel and a new gas bottle.  So we headed off to the marina.  We had asked Gouvia to make our reservation.  They insist your home port do that to claim our free nights.  We did speak to Gouvia on Friday and they said they would send the necessary email but we have heard nothing since.  I tried to ring them before we pulled up the anchor but we had no phone coverage.  So we took our chance and there was no problem.  The fuel pontoon was empty and could fill us up and give us a gas bottle. The marina men were at the fuel pontoon and said they would find us a good berth as soon as we were done.

So we are now in a much better spot than before, right near all the facilities.  The office was closed before we got here, but the marina men took our documents and got us the fob to get water and electricity.

It was still very hot when we got everything sorted so we went to the café to get an ice cream and WIFI.   The ice cream was OK, but the place we used before had a problem with the WIFI and although we nominally got into it, it wouldn’t download anything.  So in a fit of pique Richard went to the bar next door and ordered a drink to get their WIFI.  And their WIFI worked just perfectly.  So I too ordered a drink and we sat in the shade reading the last 2 day’s newspapers and playing all the mind games.  We were a bit surprised to find that it was 7pm when we decided to leave.

I cooked the chicken kebabs on board this evening.  They don’t cook so well under the grill, but they won’t let you use the BBQ in the marina, even though ours is the one that doesn’t get hot on the outside.

We are trying to plot our next two weeks or so.  The plan is to get to Gouvia at about 25 Sept, prepare the boat for winter and then go to a posh hotel resort for a few days before returning in the first week of October.  We shall try to sort it all out tomorrow.

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