Mon 20 May – Vonitsa to Vlicho

Sleeping at anchor is always a bit hit and miss, and we woke up feeling quite smug about having slept a full night and then some. We would probably still be in bed to this day if it had not been for a crow that had landed right on the top of our mast and decided to use his little beak to send pings down the rigging and the mast straight into our bedroom. Shaking the mast did not seem to disturb this little fella the slightest bit, so we just shrugged our shoulders and went for a quick run before heading off into “downtown Vonitsa” to get some breakfast.

It was an interesting contrast to see this little town on a Monday morning as opposed to Sunday afternoon. While Sunday is characterized by empty streets and tavernas full of live, Monday morning is apparently the time where all the men meet on the street for cigarettes, coffee and banter while all the women mind the shops and stores. We were definitely the local attraction as we were walking down the main road to hunt for chocolate croissants and coffee, blatantly violating the gender roles in this little Greek town, sporting our running gear. Our efforts were rewarded with the most epic chocolate crossaint ever, so it was all worth it.

With its chocolate spread evenly over face and clothes we headed back to the boat to get going towards the Lefkas canal. This canal south of Preveza is guarded by a swinging bridge that opens once an hour. We got out of Vonitsa and sailed past Preveza in perfect timing to just miss the opening of the bridge. Oh well, after hanging around the entrance it finally opened and we stormed into the canal with about 20 other yachts. The bridge itself is an interesting contraption, it looks like a long barge and seems to be driven by it’s own diesel engine, as evidenced by the big roar behind us as we just made it past this steel monster as the last boat of the lot. 

The Lefkas canal is a narrow buoyed canal that opens up to a large bay east of Lefkada island. Our hearts made a jump when we saw the boats in front of us raising their sails, and sure enough once out of the canal we found a nice wind. Of course it was coming exactly from where we were planning to go, so more short tacking was on the cards. If I finish this season looking like a NFL quarterback then this is why. We tacked and tacked our way down the east coast of Lefkada, and made it into Vlicho bay, were a few of our cruising friends were already anchored.

This is another change to last season. Last year we were all by ourselves whereas this year we are part of a bigger group of sailors that all met over the winter and that have a somewhat similar cruising plan for the summer. We were quite excited to see a few few friendly boats anchored in this massive bay. We dropped the hook and joined the sailing crew in the local yacht club for a few adult beverages before enjoying another calm night at anchor.