Kioni & Nydri

On the 21st of July we arrived in the little harbour village of Kioni on Ithaca.  We had been here ten years before but our memory was hazy so we looked it up on this blog:

This blog post was very early in the season. It would be impossible to anchor in the middle of the bay now -all around us boats were squeezing into any available gaps.

We arrived around lunch time and only planned to drop in and have a look around.  Once we had two lines secured to the land, a slight breeze picked up and made the heat bearable so we decided to stay.  For days now the temperature had been building and it was becoming uncomfortable. We remained on deck for some lesson time with Zefi and Dor and watched as boats kept arriving.  The slight cross wind made manoeuvring difficult so we were relieved when our neighbours were securely moored.

Kioni is a beautiful village and memories from a decade before came flooding back. Julia rediscovered her favourite jewellery shop and picked out a little necklace.  We had a drink on a rooftop terrace and supper beside the water.  In keeping with tradition we bought a bottle Ouzo and a bag of ice on the way back to the dinghy.

The next morning we sailed north to Lefkas in anticipation of some incoming weather and waves. We were meeting friends in less than a week and needed to cross while the water was calm.  We arrived at a tiny little cove and initially took lines to shore but were just finishing up when a couple of dive boats arrived.  With two lines to shore you effectively cut off access to the space between.  Quite rightly they divers complained and asked us to remove a line. We removed both lines and went in search of a more peaceful spot to anchor. 

We ended up in a secluded little bay called Kate'sCove, just around the corner from Nydri.  We enjoyed the afternoon here before deciding to move once again as the light was fading.  Just twenty minutes away was Vliho Bay, a very safe lagoon where many boats take shelter and are even left for periods of time on anchor.  The heat had been building and storms were forecast so we decided to play it safe and position ourselves for the worst.

In Kate's Bay there was a beautiful Eagle 38 and a speedboat moored up beside the entrance to a villa.  We often think a bigger boat is the dream but it might be that a smaller boat should really be the goal.  Of course only if it is a beautiful day sailer like this and comes with the speedboat and villa!

After a night on anchor struggling with the heat we made the decision to put out lots of chain, fender up and spend a couple of nights on land.  We booked into a cheap hotel in Nydri and packed our overnight bags.  With a thunderstorm expected there was no point waiting it out onboard when the anchorage appeared safe enough to leave her and find a swimming pool for the children.

Nydri was just a small fishing village before shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis bought Scorpios Island next door and married Jackie Kennedy there in the late sixties.  Fashionable parties on the island spilled over and the village of Nydri grew into a destination of it's own.  We were here ten years ago on Bumblebee too, when Mike and Sue invited us to their lovely villa in the hills above the town.

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Our hotel 'Lefko' fitted the bill perfectly -it had a great pool for the kids, a suite big enough to play hide and seek in and it was cool at night.

Thursdays is BBQ night at the hotel so we dug out some clean clothes and joined in a jolly evening sat amongst guests from Wales and Finland.

On Friday the 24th we were woken up by thunder, lightning and a sky heavy with marshmallow clouds.  It was also Zefi's birthday, she is six years old!

While we waited for the storm to properly unfold we discovered a happy coincidence -Dragonfly's previous owner Daniel was in Nydri with his family on his new boat.  We knew he was in the area but it was just luck that he was a couple of minutes walk from our hotel.

After catching up, we wandered back to our hotel pool, stopping at several interesting little shops along the way. Jozefina was fully aware it was her birthday, even though her party was delayed a few days until our friends arrived. She used this to her advantage, successfully dragging us into a few toy shops.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed the pool and waited to see if our weather forecasting apps were reliable and there really was a storm coming..