We remained in Vathi for another two nights following the Medicane, we needed to ‘reboot’ and ‘recharge’. On the morning of 21st September we headed northwards. We were aware of the fact that there had been a huge amount of damage to Cephalonia and had spoken to Amanda & Jonnie who were still shell shocked from their experience in Sami. It would be Alistair's birthday on the 22nd so Judith had arranged with as many friends as possible to meet in Sivota on Lefkada to celebrate. It would be a happy release after the experience we had all just gone through. In the meantime we headed towards Port Leonne for a quiet anchorage overnight.
Approaching Port Leonne
Port Leone is the former harbour on the small island of Kalamos, one of two islands adjacent to each other, Kastus being the other. The port was deserted following the 1953 earthquake leaving only the church standing. We decided to fish on route and were lucky enough to catch a beautiful Mahi Mahi, our favourite fish. Supper was sorted!! We also passed a huge amount of debris floating in the water. A plastic chair was ‘rescued’ and eventually passed on to one of the restaurants in Sivota that had lost a number of theirs during the storm.
Our Anchorage for the night complete with resident goat!
After a relaxing night at anchor we departed for Sivota and a party with friends. Sivota, on the Island of Lefkada, is a beautiful bay, with a hidden entrance, which provides safe shelter and is surrounded by numerous restaurants. It has been developed over the last few years which means it is a lot busier but it is still a pleasant place to stop. Most of the pontoons at Sivota are managed by the restaurants and the mooring comes free with a table booking! We had booked in advance and Miss Chips (Di & John), Infinite Blue (Amanda & Jonnie), Galene (Anthea & Paul), Caresse (Casper & Aline) were already waiting for us. Jonnie & Amanda’s daughter had also finally managed to join them following a slight detour to Athens to await the passing storm. We joined everyone onboard Caresse for early evening drinks plus a presentation to the Birthday Boy and then moved over to the restaurant to enjoy a fabulous meal with superb company. It was lovely to be back together.
The following day we left Sivota and headed slightly north on the island of Lefkada to Nidri. We booked a slot on the Iris Quay belonging to a hotel run by Sailing Holidays. When empty, the Quay is available to book and the facilities of the Hotel are free. We had a number of items we needed to purchase from the chandlery in Nidri and we needed to stock up at the supermarket. We had also booked an appointment with a local firm run by a British lady to try and arrange Greek Temporary Residency which we hoped would enable us to remain in Greece for longer than 90 days after Brexit. We enjoyed an afternoon by the swimming pool and then headed to the office to attend our appointment. It was extremely straightforward. After we had provided financial information, photographs, our passports and other basic information we were taxied to the local police station and after a wait of 30 mins were presented with our Residency Beige Cards!!
That night, tied to the Quay at the Iris Hotel we were ‘hit’ by a squall during a thunderstorm. For 20 minutes we fought to keep the unmanned adjacent charter yachts that had pulled their mooring lines, away from the topsides of Money Penny. The rain was torrential and the thunder deafening and such a short time after the Medicane our nerves were completely ‘shot’! Judith hadn’t even had time to get dressed and sat on the topside with her waterproof jacket over her underwear. Everyone was so busy trying to help us that no one noticed, or so she hoped! The charter yacht owners appeared just as the wind died down. They laid anchors to secure the boats and we eventually returned to our bed!
The following day we motored off the Idris Quay and out of the Bay of Nidri. Port Athene, an inlet on the Island of Meganisi was our next stop. Meganisi is separated from the Island of Lefkas by a mile wide channel. There are three inlets, Port Athene, Kapali & Abelike and a small quay, plus a pontoon along side a local taverna, but we decided to anchor and tie back against the shore in one of the coves along the inlet. We had radioed Annastasia (Alex & Kuni) to find out where they were and they were also heading for Meganisi.
Having been joined by Alex & Kuni we enjoyed the rest of the day catching up on our experiences during the Medicane, paddle boarding and swimming before settling down for a well earned calm, quiet night onboard.
Alex & Kuni were soon to return to Germany so the following day we said our goodbyes as we headed further North towards Preveza.