Greece, Finally.

Corfu, Greece

We had about two weeks left before we needed to start looking for a weather window for the trip back to Sicily, so we decided to pop down to Greece. When we left Montenegro on a 24-hour passage to Corfu, in the Ionian Islands of Greece, there were a few clouds in the sky. By the time we were 30 minutes out, we were surrounded by black sky, the wind was howling, and lightening bolts were striking the water sending shivers up our spines. One of us wanted to run north and hide. One of us thought we should find a way around the storm. We spent the next three hours slowly weaving our way through the clouds and lightening. Not the start we had hoped for on an overnight passage, but best to get the bad stuff over in daylight. The rest of the trip was quiet. The dark sky made way for huge, white, puffy clouds, the thunder silenced, the wind calmed and all we heard was the sound of Berkeley East’s engine.

We arrived at the marina in Corfu the following morning to check into the country. After three seasons in the Med, we had finally made it to Greece! Arriving in Greece was new, refreshing and just a bit spooky. The language, the customs, the signage, it was all very foreign; you might say “Greek,” to us. For the next ten days, we got a small glimpse of two of the seven Ionian Islands, Corfu and Paxi. On Corfu, we explored Corfu Town, anchored off the old fort and spent a few nights in some quiet coves. It was a nice mix of touring and relaxation, a good introduction to Greece.

Our time on the island of Paxi was a completely different experience. We pulled into the Lakka anchorage on the north end of the island and found a lovely, very shallow bay and beautiful little town.

We enjoyed swimming and relaxing before going to shore for the evening where we found an excellent restaurant, and live Greek music and dancing.

It was ideal, just what we expected of Greece, and we decided that we were going like cruising in Greece again next season. Had we known what was in store for us, we would have stayed that night and danced until the music stopped, as it would be our last time off the boat for five days.

On Day Three of “The Downpour” in our “Idealic” Paxi, we began to look for animals that needed rescuing from the flood. Instead, we kept finding boaters who wanted to anchor on top of Berkeley East; in a squall, in the dark, in full sail. With BE’s engine running, we put on our life vests and clipped onto the boat for safety, then waited for the wild wind to die and the rain to subside enough so that we could see beyond the cockpit and have time to bail out the dinghy before it sunk. We rejoiced when we saw 45 knots become 20, and the torrential downpour turn into just a constant rain. “Ha, ha, just kidding,” we imagined the Greek rain god was saying – it seemed like it would never end.

When the weather finally subsided, we got BE ready to move (she was cleaner than she had ever been), but as we tried to raise the anchor, it would not budge. After five days of wind and rain, Berkeley East had decided to stay put. We thought we had probably hooked another boat’s anchor, but it turned out that during the storm, BE had spun around so much and pulled so hard that our anchor had just screwed itself deep into the mud. Once we were free, we had a peaceful motor on a clear sunny “rainbow” day to Othonoi, a small island off the NE tip of Corfu, to position ourselves for the passage back to Sicily.

What should have been a two-day passage to Siracusa, Sicily, ended up being just 36 hours, as we were able to sail at 9 knots for most of the first day. When we pulled into Siracusa, we recognized many boats in the harbor, and saw more American flags than we had seen in months. We were hailed on the radio as we anchored and visited by fellow cruisers in their dinghies, it was like coming home. After a couple of days of catching up with friends, we were off again, this time to Marina di Ragusa to put Berkeley East to bed for the winter. The summer was over.

Previous Comments 

12 Dec 2012

Mike and Linda

Fantastic! And frightening! Wow, you two have nerves of steel. Love reading your blog and seeing your beautiful pictures. (See you soon)