Corfu

June 18 -20

We left the lovely bay of Lakka, Paxos and headed up the coast to Corfu (35 miles) for some much needed water, power and provisions. This was our last stop before heading out of the Schengen zone.

view of the old Venetian fortress in the old town of Corfu

Venetian buildings 

Venetian buildings

the marina below the fortress

We opted to head up to Gouvia and moor at the marina as were uncertain how protected the marina near the fortress would be (it would be a quick visit as the price was higher). After we had docked Shaun headed to the port police and noticed there was a restaurant that had a pool. He came back and we all headed up. The girls hopped into the pool while we sipped beverages.

At one point we washed the boat because when we were in Lakka it rained red and we were unable to clean it properly. We also were running out of clean clothes so this gave us a chance to do a bit of laundry.

The water front area was full of restaurants and tavernas and was quite touristy. We all visited the restaurants for wifi on a regular basis.

On one of our trips to the grocery store we ran into a couple of ladies who were sailing on a New Zealand flagged boat (Donna Smyth and Janet Quarrie). We later caught up with them as they were moored just up the dock from us. The captain Mark graciously offered us his Montenegro courtesy flag as we haven't yet purchased one and in exchange Paige drew the Albanian flag on one of Shaun's old red t-shirts. I forgot to take a picture oops.

The day before we were leaving Shaun and I went for our big provisioning shop. Lucky for us they offered delivery service which included us. The fellow that was driving explained that him and his family were in the process of leaving Corfu, Greece for a new home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We asked hi why and he explained that it was becoming too difficult for him and his family to survive in Greece. Shaun proceeded to explain that Winnipeg is extremely cold and for the fellow to ask his friend currently in Winnipeg to explain wind chill factor. We were very surprised that he wanted to move there.

Later Shaun was speaking to Mark about boat stuff and where they were heading. It turned out they were trying to make it to Gibraltar by July (this is a lot of miles). They also were making their way to Albania and we would see them in Saranda.

Follow our video adventures on our YouTube channel: Video adventures of s/v Element

Paxos - Lakka Bay (paradise and fellow Canadians)

June 8 - June 18

We left Lefkada marina with the knowledge that the engine parts were on order.  Instead of waiting the week or so at a marina we were heading for an anchorage that Shaun had been wanting to visit for over a year on Paxos (Lakka Bay).

In order to leave we had to time the swing bridge. It opened at the top of every hour so we dropped anchor in the bay and prepped lunch. As it was getting close to noon we weighted anchor and headed towards the bridge along with several other boats. The bridge opened in Greek time (15 minutes after noon) and we all filed through.

heading through

the floating bridge with a fender just in case

Once through the bridge and safely out of range of other boats we turned and faced the wind to raise our main sail. We had a lovely sail up and only had to furl when the thunderheads were threatening.

We arrived into the bay at around 6:00 PM and could only find a suitable spot near the entrance as the bay was full. The following morning when boats started to depart we pulled our anchor and found a great spot closer to the beach. The bay was a slice o paradise with clear blue water and lovely scenery. The town was very close and quaint.

Our dinghy fuel was old so Shaun and Paige syphoned it out and we took empty containers over to the town. We had to find a taxi to take us to the nearest gas station and ATM as the one in Lakka was out of order. As Shaun was organising the taxi the girls and I went to the play park to wait. While we were at the park I met Carmen and her daughter Eleni from Slovenia. Eleni is the same age as Jordan and they hit it off. They had just arrived for a one month holiday.

our view of the beach

Paige had swam to the beach one morning and came back quite excited/anxious about seeing two octopi that swim at her. She also noticed their eggs (which disappeared in the coming days). Jordan and I decided that we would head over to take a look but were unable to spot them. We saw many flounders and saddled sea breams along the way.

swimming to the beach

On our second or third day we noticed another Canadian boat anchor. The following day they moved a bit closer. We finally met them and found out they are from Vancouver. We promptly invited them over for a beer or two.

our new Canadian friends leaving our boat

When we had taken the taxi to grab money and fuel the driver had suggested a lovely coffee shop for us to visit. We took the dinghy over to the Lakka and started our walk. What we didn't realise was how far the town actually was. It turned out to be a 4 km walk uphill. The walk was beautiful through the tree lined street. We finally made it and the cafe was beautiful and well worth the walk. We all decided to grab a taxi back to Lakka.

the café underneath a grapevine

In the following days we hung out on the boat swimming in the stunning clear waters and enjoying the slice of paradise. We were not alone in the bay as you can see below. At one point there were over 60 boats at anchor.

a shot of the water

We ran into Carmen and Eleni daily and finally invited them over to the boat for a "play date". It was wonderful. We swam drank wine and ate olives and the girls played on the trampoline.

swimming with new friends

Eleni on the starboard side

made to order plastic food

fast friends

playing Clues Jr. with our new friends

To pass the time Jordan loves playing in the dinghy and we took a couple pictures while she was chilling. I was able to catch up on some trashy reading in the shade as well.

reading in the shade

the beach right near our boat

Shaun and Jordan returning from land

closer up picture

Shaun had arranged with a restaurant that we frequented to receive our parts for us. We were so lucky that we were able to wait for boat parts in such a lovely place. It was hard to say goodbye.

The island of Paxos is a gem. We fell in love with its quite and quaint beauty and hope one day to return.

Follow our video adventures on our YouTube channel: Video adventures of s/v Element

Lefvkada - Sivota Bay & Lefkada Marina

June 4 - June 8

We stopped in two places on Levkada. The first was Savota Bay and the second was Lefkada marina.

Savota was a quaint bay where we tied up to the quay for free. There were many tavernas and fish restaurants. One fish taverna the fellow would always allow the girls and I look into the fresh fish and tell us the names of the fishes we were unfamiliar with. The girls loved this as it was always fun to go back to the boat and look in the fish book to compare what we had just seen.

We walked along the waterfront and took a look at the grocery store and see what was available. I was so excited to see Crunchie bars (my favourite) available. Shaun happened upon a British yaughting magazine and low and behold we found an article written by our friends Maggie and John on s/v Calidore. Shaun and I found a great taverna at the end of the waterfront that had a great vibe after the sun went down (inside there was a traditional stone olive oil press). We walked with the girls to the small beach for them to look at the rocks. We also found some lovely dresses for the girls as the temperature was rising.

We ended up meeting two families (Wales and British) who were on a flotilla. We got invited to spend some time with them after they finished their dinner and allow the kids to play. Bonus was the kids spoke english. We ended up running into the family from Wales at the Lefkada marina later that week.

On our last day in Sivota I finally went into a shop that sells local goods (soaps, wine, olives etc...) and I recognised the lady there as the one from the grocery store. It turns out she works at the grocery store but owns her own shop. Lovely lady.

the article "Food for Thought" written by Maggie Ping of s/v Calidore

We left Sivota for Lefkada Marina. Once we were out we had a great close reach/beam reach sail across. We ended up losing our wind due to another island shadowing it. We furled in the fore sail and started the motors. Jordan was inside and she happened to hear the s/v Kerpa on the radio. To our surprise and happiness it was our friends that we met in Finike, Paul and Kerstine from Sweden. We promptly radioed them to see where they were headed. It turned out they were heading to the same marina.

Shaun was concerned about the channel as on the charts it was extremely narrow with infrequent markers. Once we arrived at the entrance we were released to see many markers and they continued the whole way up to the marina.

in the channel with the dredgers

more channel

passing a dredger

a sunken dredger

the edge of the channel

some of the boats we passed in the channel

looking out to the marshlands

Before we entered the marina we looked for a spot on the town quay as it would have been a lot less. Being a wide boat there was no space so we had to bite the bullet and go back and pay marina prices. It worked out alright as the girls were able to check out the sea life. Paige worked on her fishing skills and caught 10 fish (she was very proud). Two were yellow striped sea bream that were big enough to eat. One went to the marinaros and the other I ate (YUM). We also got to see our new favourite sea creature first hand, a sea hare (a type of sea slug). I took some pictures but they don't do it justice.

On a walk along the waterfront in search of a chandlery we ran into Paul and Kerstine from s/v Kerpa and had a beer with them. We also invited them for dinner the following evening. It was so nice to see familiar faces and to catch up.

the yellow striped sea bream I had the privilege to eat.

the sea hare

The other reason (and Shaun would argue the more important reason) we came to Lefkada was our port engine had a leak in the cooling system (where the sea water comes in) which had us pumping the bilge pump in the engine room every 15 minutes so it wouldn't fill up. This leak was a huge concern as we didn't want the engine to overheat.

In the marina there was a pool which Jordan had a blast at. I met an Irish lady there who was helping with the refuge situation. She was so nice to Jordan and it was nice to chat with another adult for awhile.

Shaun was able to order the hoses that we need to repair the leak but it was going to take 7-8 days to get them so we decided to leave and head up to the island of Paxos and anchor. Once we were there we loved it so much that we had them send the parts there.

Follow our video adventures on our YouTube channel: Video adventures of s/v Element