Nikiana to Vlikho

Saturday 13th September

Achtung! I was awoken from my peaceful slumber at 01.15 by the Germans singing 'My Way', accompanied by a guitar! Naturally, Marco snored all the way through it so I just lay there wishing I had some ear plugs and eventually dozed off.

When we got up at 8am the Italians had already left..we had coffee (surprise) and watched a man fishing at the end of our mole. We were also treated to the bizarre sight of an old man in his underpants tightening his sheets....yes it's them Germans again! It's a funny old life! This didn't put us off our breakfast as you might imagine it would although we decamped from the boat to get provisions and hoped that they would be gone by the time we returned with our booty. We picked up some lunchtime beer, cheese pies and water and when we returned the Germans were just leaving! Hurrah......peace restored, we ate, reading our books and watching fishermen. We left at 10, motoring towards Skorpios. We wanted a relaxing last day and for a change, there was wind in the morning so we had a good sail down. Cloud was building as we motored in to see Onassis's landing platform on the north of the island. There were hoards of daytrippers there so we didn't hang about and carried on. Around the corner we came across a huge super-yacht - so big it had a heli-pad on it! We eventually moored around to the south of the island and dropped anchor in a bay which was sectioned off by a line of buoys. These are there to 'discourage' people from anchoring too close to Skorpios - and while you can swim around in the area, you are not allowed to set foot on the beach. Winspit crossed the line slightly as we spun on the anchor, and......maybe not coincidentally, a little red van whizzed down within 5 minutes to 'eyeball' the area and possibly us! Cameras are everywhere on the island apparantly......and although nobody lives on Skorpios now it has a full compliment of security staff to care for the grounds (and keep out noseyparkers).

We swam and read and decided that next time we come to the Ionian we should spend a bit less time sailing from A-B in a rush to fit everything in and see a bit more of the places we go to. ,

Eventually, it was time to leave and we headed out straight into WIND! We spent an hour or so sailing back and forth between Skorpios, Lefkas and Meganissi and managed around 6kn in 13knots of wind. Woohoo! It was then time to take Winspit home so we took the sails down and motored into Vlikho Bay, following another S.I. yacht. Naturally we forgot to switch the VHF on or radio ahead with our arrival and therefore we didn't hear the message to stay out of the bay for now! Chris sent Robin out to eventually get us and within 10 minutes we were moored up nicely at the end of the quay. We chatted to a group of yotties next door for a while and then got showered and changed for the Pimms party that Sail Ionian host every Saturday to end everyones holiday. Chatted to a newly engaged couple, Dave and Deb for the entire evening, eventually ending up at a restaurant recommended by the S.I. crew.......the restaurant were hosting a pig-roast barbecue which Marco really fancied the idea of. BIG mistake....the owner was friendly enough, but the food was rather ordinary which made for a disappointing last meal. Enjoyed our last Mythos of the holiday though! We all ended up in Vlikho Yacht Club which doesn't really feel like a yacht club at all...rather a bar/restaurant with a nautical name. However, the atmosphere was great and once Dave and Deb had left, we decided to stay for one more drink. Bizarrely, we ended up bumping into a couple whose blog i've been reading to learn a bit about the Ionian. A lovely couple called Tim and Katie who were on their first trip back, having sailed up to Montenegro the previous year. We chatted for 10 minutes or so then we left them to catch up with their friend who they'd come to visit. Back on board, sleep beckoned.....our last on the water for a while! Boo hoo!

.....and another thing.......

the next morning we awoke to menacing black clouds - the first of any colour cloud we've seen in two weeks. The day after we flew home, a violent storm hit Fiscardo and many yachts were wrecked on the rocks....the very place that Marco had wanted to moor just a week earlier. Makes you aware of just how much weather matters when you are a sailor.

yukky black cloud...