Casting Off - Live the Dream

June 09 Valletta –Malta

From Sami on Cephalonia we depart Greece, at this point we were rather sad as this is now in effect the return journey. I can’t tell you how many discussions we’ve had ... “should we turn left or right!”  

With a good forecast we head south with a view to reaching Sicily if all went well and Italy if not.

Three days and nights later with the roughest sea that we have encountered so far we reached Sicily. Oscar was a superstar, he slept through the worst of it. Pondlife just took it in her stride, such a sea worthy yacht, thank goodness!

Last year we cruised from the west , north and east coast and just loved it. Siracusa was the icing on the cake...The old town Ortiga was founded in 734BC by the Greeks.  Siracusa was the capital of Sicily and pretty much ran most of Italy for a couple of hundred years.

The cathedral is a great piece of architecture dating back to Roman times, it has been restored many times over the centuries, each time not losing its heritage, just being added to.

Whilst we were there they had erected the most amazing sculpture of Neptune rising from the sea, it looked as though he was trying to grasp at the cathedral. [We will try to get a picture downloaded].

The market in Ortigia was to die for. The fish and vegetables were so fresh and so-so cheap!  1 euro per kilo of vine tomatoes the same for bananas, we were spoilt for choice. The other good buy was ... Pizzas..Yippeee! We found an excellent pizzeria right opposite the marina 5 Euros for a pizza that was enormous and full to brimming with toppings, enough for Oscar and me to share, on our last night they brought us out cakes on the house! [No, the diet is not going well]

Next stop Malta, with a weather window of four days before strong winds were due, we decided to travel through the night, with a forecast of 3-8 knots at least we would not have the same experience as our last trip.  As usual we did have more wind than anticipated, but with only a slight sea we had a fantastic sail all the way.

When entering Malta the magnitude of the walls that protect Valletta are truly impressive. We decided to head for Msida marina [the cheapest] at first they said they were full but then chased after Paul to say they would squeeze us in!  Few what a relief, as we had to do some maintenance work on Pondlife.

The buses here look very similar to my old school bus of thirty five years ago! What fun, we took one into Valletta, Oscar was pleased with himself as he could reach the handrail, no health and safety here, zooming along with the doors open.

Valletta is very grand, rather like being in London all the shops were English [double the price] Zara, Next  etc. We had a wonder around, unfortunately the church I wanted to see was closed ,on a Sunday! [Sorry can’t remember it’s name] It was a shame as it has the second largest unsupported dome  in Europe. We can see it from where Pondlife is berthed.

Our neibours in the marina, Maxlene and Mark have been very kind, running us around to do shopping, laundering our bedding and letting Oscar play with their dog, he is an enormous Husky called Dewey. Os said that when he grows up and has his own house he will have a Husky!             [I’ve refused him one as they moult too much]

It has been so,so hot here, we would not like to visit in August!

From here we plan to visit Gozo and then a little island called Pantelleria, that’s if the wind permits. We are debating popping into Tunisia, but we have had some tales of woe. Any comments would be appreciated....

1^st June 09 - Sami on Cephalonia

With the arrival of my mother we depart from Corfu and head to Platarias, on the mainland of Greece. Sonja and Micheal our German friends had recommended the harbour to us as it has a free water supply. We both had a good sail over and we thought the village was charming.  Paul and Oscar spent the evening playing their guitars on the break water rocks, whilst mum and I watched the most beautiful sunset. Sunsets are a rarity in the Ionian as you tend to sail on the east side of the islands, with high mountain ranges the sun gets blocked out.

From Platarias we head south for about 10 miles to a very pretty harbour – Mourtos. It felt more like Italy than Greece, the redevelopment of the area has been finished in a sympathetic way and looks like it will age gracefully. Unfortunately we didn’t stay long as we had been warned by another cruiser that the port police were horribly officious or should I say over zealous - another boat had been questioned for the most part of a day as they couldn’t prove their last port. As it happened we would have been in the same situation as Paul had thrown our previous receipt away! So we decided to head off to Paxos.

Once again back in Lakka, we do like it here. The sea is turquoise blue and so clear. Oscar and nana spent most days swimming; it is very warm here now although the sea is still a little chilly.

Next stop, I can’t believe it we’re back in Levkas! We were waiting for a parcel to arrive from England so we spent our time doing another big food stock-up and it was very nice to see some familiar faces.

This part of the Ionian is in our opinion the best, it was very nice even a second time round to visit some of our favourite haunts.

Starting with Nidri, then past Skorpios [the Onassis Island] and through the Meganisi channel. We didn’t stop until we reached Savota; this is where we caught fish with our Aussi friends last year. [Well Cam, we didn’t even get a sniff this year!]

Unfortunately this is where Oscar and I contracted worms!! [As you do] Sandra my French friend said garlic was good for getting rid of them, but I didn’t know whether to eat a load or rub it in!?

The next day we made a quick dash to Vasiliki, to the pharmacy. Ver tablets for all of us. Yippee...

Vasiliki is known for being windy, it is very popular with wind surfers and dinghy sailors. The town quay was rather nice, a good place for a sporty holiday.

My most favourite place next, Friscardo on Cephalonia, with its picture postcard water front.  We walked through the pine forest and swam every day.

Mum really wanted to spend some time on Ithaca, so we made our first port of call Kioni, this is where a cat landed on my head in the middle of the night. This time we were prepared all hatches on the jar, although we were kept awake with the pitter – patter of little feet! [Not Oscar’s]

We found a lovely little cove on the left of the harbour, the water was nice and warm and spotless, so again we were able to have our daily dunk. If you need water here you have to pay for it as it is tankered in from the mainland; this is why we try our best to go for a swim and then give ourselves a light rinse off afterwards.

With provisions running low we decided to give Vathi a visit, the Carrefour has a good selection. We didn’t stay long as some friends had recommended an anchorage just outside on the right of the bay.

Skhoinos was a delight, a little bay surrounded by pine forests and with sandy beaches a treat. Pondlife was one of four boats at anchor, we felt we had the place to ourselves. It was really nice being able to swim from the boat to the shore. Oscar would lie on his lilo and paddle to the boat.

With Mum booked to fly from Cephalonia we thought we should head back to the Island and show her  Sami. We walked and walked, mum said she would need a hip replacement by the end! Great to go exploring, right at the very top of Sami we found the ancient remains of a monastery complete with painted walls in deep reds and blues dating back to the 6^th century amazing that they had not completely faded away.

Paul layed down the gauntlet to Oscar, to see how much money he could make from busking, with Paul doubling his earnings! Well in under an hour he had just under 10 Euros!! Dinner is on him!!!

I must say we thought he was very cute and incredibly brave, there is no way I would ever go and stand in front of a whole restaurant and play to them- Os was not phased in the least.