Paxos and Antipaxos

Posted by Johnny

​After a gruelling 3.30am start in London, we flew into Athens, found our hire car and drove the five hours to Preveza to be reunited with Bumblebee.  We went out for a quick sail to find our sea legs again but there was no wind so we headed back and tied up once again on the town quay.

Voutoumi Beach, Antipaxos

​The next day we got up early, slipped the lines and set sail for the paradise islands of Paxos and Antipaxos.  Setting sail actually turned out to be motoring for six hours in a flat calm.  We spotted a navy blue hull up ahead who we thought might be Steve and Pam, friends we met in Patras and Preveza but as we caught up it turned out to be a different boat.  As I write this a few days later, they are by coincidence, moored up next to us in Lakka- It’s a very small world here in the Ionian.

We swung by Voutoumi beach as we reached Antipaxos to see the bright azure water but headed on past towards Paxos where we had a grid reference for a good snorkelling spot and the hopes of meeting Stephan and his crew who we met in Preveza.  An hour later we pulled into a deserted little cove with deep caves and cliffs all around.  We had missed Stephan but decided to check the place out.  We nervously dropped the anchor on a tiny patch of sand in ten metres with savage looking rocks all around.  Upon successfully securing ourselves we felt quite heroic until a local tourist boat showed up and motored past us right into the cave!

​Around about 4pm we pulled up the hook and headed north to the little bay of Lakka.  The place was scattered with anchored boats and the turquoise water was crystal clear.  I keep saying it but this was the best anchorage so far.  We anchored in just 2.5 metres and took a couple of lines ashore.  We were a bit concerned that we had an insufficient amount of chain out so we subtly swam past the next door boat who had miles of chain out.  To resolve the situation, Julia kept the lines in place with the dinghy and I fired up the engine, picked up the hook and dropped it much further out.  This was a good move as we fell in love with the place and are now spending our second night here.

We went for a walk up the road and out of the bay.  Not knowing where we were going we followed the road and ended up in an idyllic cove with a beach bar and gin clear water.  After a cold beer we set off again only to find an even more idyllic bar at the next cove, so we stayed and had another beer.

​Beers finished we headed back to the boat, picking up a few groceries on the way.  Julia knocked up a Greek salad, we digested, then went snorkelling.  Later we took the tender ashore and went for another walk, this time along the rocky coast.  We found a path heading inland and proceeded to get completely lost.  We were lost for long enough to build up a good appetite so when we emerged back into civilisation we were ready for supper.

Lost on Paxos