Fiscardo - take II

Before arriving in Levkas, both feeling like I'd put the mocker on it in previous blogs, I called my friend Andreas of Sail Land regarding the Windlass. He trouble shot on the phone in an effort to avoid the need for us to make the journey but to no avail, work was required that I was unable to do.

If anybody reading this blog ever needs anything done on their boat whilst in the Ionion, there is no beter man to deal with than Andreas Gabrilli. He just exudes integrity and wastes not a word. The job is always done when he says it will be done, the cost is always reasonable and the work is always done well.

I explained that we really didn't want to stay any longer than necessary so he arranged to have the electrician meet us when we docked. Remember we are headed into the high season here when businesses like his are flat out. We docked, the electrician turned up and diagnosed the problem as a faulty relay switch which turns the windlass clockwise. He'd be there by 9:00am with a new relay switch. He'd also take me through the entire electrical charging system to ensure everything was hunky dory and to give me a better idea as to how to manage it.

We had one of those Saharan desert rains where a dust storm in North Africa gets blown into the sky and comes down onto our nicely cleaned boat as mud. The Gurney was required and a couple of hours to get the stuff off. You can only do this when hooked up with water and power and you have to get onto it quickly before it cakes in the sun.

At 2:00pm on the 18th June we untied and motored, destination Fiscardo four hours away. Once south of Levkada, the headsail went up in a good 25 - 20 off the starboard stern quarter and we made 8 - 9 knots all the way.

Turning up anywhere at 6:00pm is not a good idea as you'll have difficulty finding a parking spot. Turning up in Fiskardo at 6:00pm is crazy. This is a very buzzy town, a flotilla target, ferry's, charter boats, private yachts, you name it. There used to be a long wooden pontoon here with power and water, but on entering the harbour it was obvious, that was no longer there.

In its place was a line of yachts with long lines ashore. At the end of this line looked to be a space on the wall, obviously too shallow for yachts with keels, but we decided to poke our nose in and suss it out. A very articulate gentleman on the wall shouted that we had about two meters depth, which was music to our ears. We pirouetted, dropped the anchor and started reversing. Getting close to the wall, the water so clear you could see everything, it just didn't look like two meters from where I stood at the helm. We slowly edged our way in, Sally directing me around obstacles as we went.

Well, we made it. This shot taken from the top of the mast.... Don't ask... Once we were in and set, I donned goggles and snorkel and jumped in to take a look. The starboard rudder was on the ground, we had missed a huge concrete block by less than a foot on the way in which we had thought was deep enough had we gone over it NOT. We were left wondering... if that was two meters what was this chaps idea of 7 inches! He was now nowhere to be seen. However, in the end, my bad, not his.

Nothing for it but to dig a big hole under the rudder and tie the boat so she would not move because there was no way were giving up this prime spot over that minor detail.

The big screen TV in the cafe under those brollies you see to the right was close enough for us to watch the world cup without leaving the boat if we'd wanted to. Australia was playing that evening and we managed to persuade the cafe to give us water and power.

Our friends Beat and Deborah, their son Luka, Will's mate from school were joining us from Aus two days hence so we decided to stay put so they could experience this town. Nobody we've spoken to has liked Fiskardo much, but we think it s a great place. We'd have to say that our jammy setup has a lot to do with it but it has a real buzz about it and within a couple of days, Sally was known by all as usual and we felt quite at home again.

Not much room on the quay if you want to get right on to the wall and because of the curved shape of the quay, crossed anchor chains are a given here and a real pain.

Tavernas and bars the entire length of the quay, in the back streets and around the town square.

In the foreground are the line of yachts with long lines ashore where the pontoon used to be.

The entrance to the harbour, looking east toward Ithaka and a big storm brewing.

 A flotilla.

There were two of them here, each consisting of 13 boats. These guys are parked on the northern shore line with lines ashore.

The problem here is the prevailing wind blows along the line of boats and can get pretty strong. One anchor goes and it's dominoes and all hell breaks loose! Usually in the middle of the night...

Prime position. Bikes off and you can see the waiter in the cafe with the  big screenTV off his left shoulder.

A Skype with Beat and Deborah in Zurich revealed the size of effort they were to make in order to get to us.

After the exhausting trip from Aus to Zurich, it was a flight to Athens, a bus to Patras, a ferry to Sami and a taxi to Fiscardo. When they got to Patras all ferries had been stopped from there, so nothing for it but to overnight in Patras and bus to Kellini. A ferry from there to Sami then Taxi to Fiskardo.

At 6:00pm on the 20th, they finally made it.

And no messing about, it was straight to work for them!