Greece, Cephalonia

Cruising Log of Greece: Cephalonian Flotilla, Ionian Sea, Greece

August 26 to September 9, 2002

This records a two-week Sunsail Cephalonian Flotilla trip taken by two couples. One couple owns a Sunsail boat in the Caribbean and the other couple was Moorings boat owners. Both couples live in the USA. Since we have all had experience sailing, we shared the work by alternating jobs. This means that one of us was “Captain” on even days and the other “Captain” on the odd days. We have done this on previous trips to Tahiti, St. Martin and the British Virgin Islands.

Since Sunsail has a strong presence in the U.K. we started the trip by flying to London and joining a Sunsail charter flight to Prevesa, Greece. The charter flight was on an Air 2000 jet and consisted of people going to the Ionian area for Bareboat Charters, Bareboat Flotillas and Sunsail Club vacations ashore. We were met at the Prevesa airport by four chartered busses that took us to the Sunsail Club and Marina at Vounaki, on the west coast of Greece.
Each Flotilla has a lead boat with three Sunsail people on board, a Flotilla Leader, an Engineer and a Tour Guide. All together there were 9 boats in our Flotilla counting the lead boat. They were from 30 to 40 ft. in length.

Day 1

We arrived at the Vounaki Base at 7:30 PM and immediately moved onto Julia Too a 40 ft. Jeanneau Sloop. We had dinner ashore, a BBQ, at the Sunsail Base Taverna.

Day 2

The group met at 8:30 AM for Breakfast and a Briefing at the Taverna. After the briefing we picked up our provisions and completed the remainder of the paper work and were able to get away from the base at about 1:00 PM. We sailed a distance of about 8 miles to the port of Vathi on Nisos Meganisi arriving at 4:00 PM. (Nisos is the Greek word for Island.) Winds were light and we had a relaxing afternoon sailing. This was the first time that either of us had Med moored. We were assisted by the Flotilla leader on the dock that signaled to us when to drop the anchor and took the stern lines when we came in. We found that it was much easier than we had expected. We were able to come in very slow since the winds were very light and crosswinds were not a factor.

The Sunsail people put on a punch party on shore at 7:00 PM and then we all went to the Rose Garden Taverna for supper. Our dinners consisted of appetizers followed by three orders of Sea Bass, one of Mousaka, a bottle of white wine and dessert. The total came to €60.00.

Day 3

We met at 8:00 AM in the Taverna for our daily briefing which consisted of the daily weather report, the location and docking procedures for our destination that afternoon and suggested stops in between for sight seeing or lunch.

Julia Too got away from the dock at 10:00 AM and we sailed over to Nisos Scorpios, Onassis’s private island. No one lives there, but it is still maintained by his estate. We then sailed south through Steno Melganisiou (Steno = Channel) to the port of Frikes on Nisos Ithaki. We had good sailing until we were through the channel and then the winds died. We motored for about one hour and the winds picked up again allowing us to sail for a while until they died completely. We motored into Ormos Frikou (Ormos = Bay) and tied up alongside the quay. Total distance for the day was about 15 miles. Two other boats from the flotilla tied up along side us until we were three deep. Mooring in Frikes was an assortment of boats tied alongside, boats med moored stern to the quay or Med moored bow to the quay.

The remains of two old mills are on the hills beside this town, one at the end of the bay and another on the south side. They are lit up at night and create a beautiful scene on the hillside.

We found that tying up alongside was definitely the easiest, followed by Med mooring stern to the quay. For our boat coming in bow to the quay was the most difficult since we had a 20 Kg (45 lb) anchor with about 50 ft. of chain and what seemed to be a mile of anchor rope that had to be brought out of one of the seat lockers to drop on the way in. Some boats had their stern anchor hooked over the cockpit rail with the chain in a bucket, which did save them some work, but I don’t know where they stored the anchor rope while sailing.

One of the disadvantages of going alongside (and being the first boat in) was that everyone had to go over your boat to go ashore and come back in later (some much later). By morning our deck looked as if it had a goat path starting amidships on one side, running forward and around the mast and back to amidships on the other side. After having people walking over our cabin all night, I was ready to put up ropes the next day to restrict traffic to the deck.

We had dinner with the group at Penelope’s Taverna. We had one baked cheese and one Onion pie appetizers, one Mousaka, one Red Snapper, one Sword Fish and one Seafood Risotto (which was excellent), 2 bottles of white wine, Baklava for dessert and coffee. At €91.00 this was the most expensive dinner for four that we had on the entire trip.

Day 4

The morning started out overcast with heavy winds. The morning briefing confirmed that a storm was coming our way. Our next two days were scheduled for free sailing so the briefing suggested several ports to visit for those two nights.

The outside boats did not get away until 11:00 AM, heading for Fiskardo on Cephalonia. They ran into heavy winds and high seas going around the north side of Ithaki. When they did reach Fiskardo, they were turned away as very few boats had left and there was not room in the harbor. They turned north for about 8 miles of minimal visibility with the waves breaking over their deck to reach Vasiliki on Lefkas. Two of the boats turned around a mile or two out of Frikes and came back into the harbor. We followed the progress of the others by radio and decided to stay in Frikes for the day. Rained heavy all day.

We had dinner at the Symposium Taverna. The service here was much better and the food was excellent. The bill with appetizers, 4 main courses, wine and dessert came to €68.00. The proprietress gave us an after dinner drink, a cinnamon raisin liqueur called Tentura. We asked if we could buy a bottle and she gave us two small bottles of the liqueur.

Heavy swells during the night made the bay very rough and we swayed all night long. Another night of three boats across with everyone stomping over our cabin roof.

Day 5

We left at 9 AM and sailed approximately 10 miles to Fiskardo on Cephalonia (Kefalonia in Greek) arriving at 11 AM. Fiskardo is the only town on Cephalonia that was not destroyed by an earthquake in 1953. Cephalonia was also the setting for the book and movie, “Captain Correlli’s Mandolin”. We med moored stern to in the most picturesque harbor in the Ionian Sea with Tavernas around the quay. When we stepped off our boat it was only 3 feet to the nearest table. The ladies had to go a little further, about 15 feet, to the first of several shops lining the harbor. Dinner for four was €67.50.

Day 6

It was a journey of about 9 miles through Stenos Ithakis into the wind, which was very light and non-existent at times. We had to turn on the motor twice when the boat stopped dead due to lack of wind. Our destination was Agia Efimia (Agia = Saint), another picturesque harbour. We tied up alongside with the boats only 2 deep that night. Dinner was at the Fitikis Taverna right across the street from our boat. We made arrangements to pick up a rental car the next morning for a half-day island tour.

Day 7

We picked up the car, a Suzuki Samari, at 8 AM and missed the morning briefing. We drove to Argostoli and stopped to visit a bakery in town. We then continued around the town and headed southeast to Agios Georgios Castle (St. George’s), which was built by the Venecians in 1504. After walking through the old Castle we had a nice lunch in a Taverna right outside the Castle gate. A jolly Greek man and his English wife owned it. After lunch we headed back towards Sami in heavy rain. We saw Agios Gerasimos Nunnery, stopped at Drogarati to visit the caves and then drove through Sami where they filmed Captain Correlli’s Mandolin, then went back to Ag. Efimia where we turned the car in at about 2:15 PM.

We left port at 3 PM and motored around Ithaki to Big Vathi (16 miles) and arrived at 5:30 PM. No winds at all today. Vathi is a deep, well-protected harbour. We moored stern to the quay in a small bay just before entering the town harbour area. This was the only night that we ate on the boat. We enjoyed Spaghetti with a tuna sauce and a bottle of wine.

Day 8

At the morning briefing we found that the next three days were for free sailing. We then walked into town and did some shopping for gifts, provisions and lunch. We were back on the boat by 2 PM. No winds again so we motored to Kioni a quaint little village about 4 miles north of Vathi. We moored stern to at the quay. Had our first swim in the crystal clear waters just outside the mole that separates the harbour from the bay.

Day 9

Winds were light. We started to sail but had to motor most of the way to One House Bay on Nisis Atokos where we stopped for lunch and a little snorkeling. After lunch we continued on to the Greek mainland to Ormos Astakou and the town dock at Astakos (Greek for Lobster) - 20 miles for the day. Astakos is a small city that does not get much tourist trade, but does seem to do a big local business at the Tavernas that line the docks. Very little English is spoken here.

We had supper at a small Taverna next to the Stratos Hotel. Due to the language problem and the fact that they do not understand their English menus, I ended up with a “hot cheese” appetizer instead of the baked cheese one that I ordered. It turned out to be very good and something that I would not have ordered otherwise. Total €65.65 for the four meals.

Day 10

Left Astakos at around 10 AM. We sailed in light winds southwest out of the bay and then north towards Nisos Kalamos. The winds died for about _ hour and then picked up and we were able to sail to the town of Kalamos. Distance covered 12 miles. Arrived at 4 PM. We had a hard time med mooring due to cross winds coming parallel to the shore. We ate at the only Taverna in the harbour, Georgio’s. We had an excellent fish soup and main course of lamb and potatoes. With 2 bottles of white wine the total came to €65.00.

Day 11

After the morning briefing we walked up the hill to the bakery and visited a church on the way up the hill. It was open with lights on and candles burning. Very clean inside and the altar and walls were very ornate. We sailed around the northeast end of Nisos Kalamos to Ormos Atheni on Nisos Meganisi. We had good winds and sailed for a while before going in to the harbour. Distance from Kalamos to Atheni was about 12 miles, but we must have covered at least 20 miles due to the great winds.

We tied up along side the quay with one other boat tied up along side us later. Some of the smaller boats went bow to a small dock right below the only building in the bay, a Taverna. The food was excellent, two orders of spaghetti with mussels, one of stuffed eggplant (aubergine) and one lamb. With appetizers and wine the dinner came to €65.60. After we finished eating the Taverna owner and his chef put on a demonstration of Greek dancing and then got everyone involved. It was a fun night.

Day 12

This was another free sailing day. We had good winds so we sailed through Steno Maganisi to Sivota on Lefkas. It is a well-protected harbour with several Tavernas along the quay. We sailed about 8 miles and had the best winds so far on this trip. We filled our water tanks from a coin operated water station on the dock near our boat. It cost €0.50 and gave us about 60 gallons of water. We had not topped off our rear tank so we put another €0.50 into the slot and then found that those tanks were full. Since there was no way to shut the water off, we washed the boat and then passed the hose on to another boat to top off their tanks.
We had another great meal at one of the Tavernas along the dock.

Day 13

Another day of good winds. We sailed from Sivota on Lefkas through Steno Meganisiou, around Nissos Skorpios to Ormos Abeliki (Ormose Ambelakia on some of the charts), a distance of 13 to 15 miles. We took advantage of the good winds and sailed around the area before going into Ormos Abeliki on Meganisi. We met the other boats on one of the side bays and rafted 8 of the boats together. We dropped anchor, came in stern to alongside the next boat in line and then took our anchors ashore and dug them into the small stones that take the place of sand in this part of the world. There were dark clouds and a little rain and then it cleared up. Lots of sheep on the shore, all with different sounding bells so that the flock made a constant dull ringing sound. We went in for a swim and then went ashore for a beach BBQ with the rest of the group. It was dress up night and several of the group improvised with various costumes. A small red Fox tried to join our party, but he was sent away. After dinner we had a cocktail competition with about 6 entries. During the cocktail judging, the skies broke open again and we had a heavy rain soaking everyone and all of the left over food.

Day 14

It rained until 11 AM. We had to motor back to Vounaki Base due to the lack of winds. We stopped on the way back for a great Salmon Chowder lunch and were back at the base at 3 PM. Everyone was expected to clean up their boats and fill them up for water for the next charterers.

We had a group dinner at the Sunsail Taverna with assorted prizes awarded.

Day 15

We had to be off the boats by 9:30 AM so we walked to town for a late breakfast. After walking through the town we came back to the base and read until 4 PM when the busses came to take us back to the airport. The incoming flight was 2 hours late so we had a long wait at the airport. We left at around 9:15 PM and arrived back in London at 11:15 PM local time. We had reservations for the night at one of the airport hotels and then flew back to the U.S.A. the following day.

A few of the specifics in this sailing area:

• Boats are required to use their holding tanks in all bays and empty them at sea at least one mile off shore.
• All boats carry a 2” x 10” x 6 feet long gangplank with two short piece of line on one end to fasten it to the boat.
• No toilet paper in toilets, on the boats or ashore. Wastebaskets provided in all Taverna toilets for the paper.
• The water is crystal clear in most of the harbors and bays.
• No sand on the beaches, only small round stones.
• Most boats med moor in small towns. Very few anchor out.
• Most people eat in a Taverna on shore. Very few cook on the boat.
• No rain gear, flashlights or BBQ Grills on the boats.
• Turnaround time for boats between charterers about 8 hours. From 10 AM when guests are required to be off the boats until 6 to 7 PM when the next group arrives at the base.
• Charterers are encouraged to clean their boats and fill them with water before departing. This helps the dock crews to prepare for the next group arriving that afternoon.
• All the islands appear to be very old and volcanic in origin. Little vegetation at the top with more closer to the shore.
• The winds were very light to non-existent.
• Most harbors are very picturesque and have sections reserved for the local fishing boats that are also quite unique.
• Most of the charterers in this area are from the U.K. with the next largest number coming from the Netherlands.