Back to Lefkas

Posted by Johnny

Leaving Corfu with the three of us onboard we headed to Voutoumi Beach for a swim before the long journey to Lefkas.  As we were leaving Paxos we were joined by a large pod of dolphins who raced along at the bow.  Julia managed to film them and will add the video soon.

The wind and currents were finally in our favour and we had an easy downwind sail averaging six knots for almost five hours.  As we approached Lefkas we decided to motor sail for the last hour to catch the six o'clock bridge opening.  This meant charging at full speed while constantly trying to shave minutes off our ETA.  In the end we timed it perfectly and were the last to pass through with only seconds to spare.

Lefkas town quay was crowded but there was one spot free where it's very shallow.  We cautiously winched ourselves in checking the rudder for contact with the bottom.  Once in place the passerelle was too short so the dinghy would have to be our means of getting on and off.  A new problem arose after we came back to the boat and the wind had swung the dinghy around and out of reach, leaving me to climb across our neighbours boat and stretch out over the water.

We hired a car to explore the beaches on the west of the island as they are not safe to reach by boat.  The water was a crazy shade of blue that looked amazing but was too milky for snorkelling at the first beach.  The next was crystal clear and full of fish and the last was windswept and popular with kite surfers.

The next day Manraj had to head back to London and Julia needed to fly to Warsaw for an important event so I prepare for a weekend marooned in Lefkas town.  Before they left we bumped into our friend Stephan and went out for supper and a few drinks.

In preparation for the days ahead I drew up a to do list and began planning a few jobs.  The cover for the gas storage was loose as the threads had been stripped and cracked.  I fixed it by drilling out the old fiberglass and rotten wood fillets and replacing them.  With new holes drilled and hinges refitted the lid is now good as new.  I also needed to buy more data for our Greek sim card as we accidentally roamed too close to Albania and instantly lost all our credit! 

Over the last few days I've done lots of cleaning, fixing, polishing, upholstery repairs and also found time to sketch and paint.  The heat makes every task a lot harder and I'm longing to be away from the town and in clean water so I can swim.  Technically I have had a swim although I wouldn't want to do it again; I was washing the seat covers and decided to wash my watch strap at the same time.  When it came time to chuck the dirty water, my watch went overboard too!  The water is really filthy here in the town but I had no choice but to don my mask and lower myself in.  Luckily I found it and was back on deck showering in seconds.

My AIS tracking website let me know that my friends Dirk and Anneke from the yard were afloat at last.  I got in touch and they decided to come over to Lefkas.  We had a great evening hanging out on their boat and eating in town.

Since then it's been more cleaning and working through my list.  The heads were looking spotless so I took some wide angle photos that might be handy one day.  I also found a carved Buddha in town who I hope will keep a watchful eye over Bumblebee and her crew.

Click to enlarge the smaller images.

I've set up a second blog page where we will post in more detail on matters of nature, architecture and the like.  The main blog is already quite image heavy so this seems like a good idea.  See 'Notes' in the menu above.