17th April - Vonitsa Score: Virus 10 – Leighton 11 (after a week-long struggle)

First picnic on the beach - the view towards Kalamos


We are horrified to discover the reason why our PCs have been behaving mysteriously for a while – we’d put it down to just another annoying Microsoft glitch - is because they have both been infected with a thoroughly insidious virus. Because we haven’t manage to connect either PC to the internet yet (another long saga I won’t bore you with) Leighton is forced to spend several hours in a noisy internet cafe over the course of a week trying to work out how to zap the virus. At last, he’s beaten it. Because our memory sticks were infected as well, we haven’t been able to post anything up on the blog until now – hence the complete silence.
















Serious Rummikub concentration - Frank is the champion!

Meantime, Cathy has been soldiering on with the deck. First we have to chisel out all the old caulking which has perished in the sun, clean out the seams and stick down any loose boards before applying new black caulking (the consistency of marmite) into the seams. The caulking sticks to absolutely everything apart from baby wipes, so as you can imagine it’s a messy business. Anyone who has been onboard will know there’s an awful lot of deck to do! We want to crack on with it while the conditions are right for the job. At the moment it’s not too hot, and apart from a light sprinkling of rain one evening, completely dry. Our hands and feet look like they’ve emerged from a tar pit, and our work clothes will have to be thrown away, but we are now almost finished. Another three days should do it, then we can start sailing – yippee!

It was very sad to say goodbye to our Dutch friends when they left this week to sail south to Patras. We have so enjoyed spending the last two months with them, and they have greatly enriched our stay here in Vonitsa. There’s now a huge space beside Makarma where their boat used to be - we will miss them a lot.
















I’ve left the most important piece of news until last – Edd and Nat have got engaged! The date of the wedding is set for June 2011. Our heartfelt congratulations go to them both.

4th April – Easter Sunday, Vonitsa. Easter celebrations

Last night found us standing outside the Greek Orthodox church in Vonitsa carrying candles which we lit inside the church a moment before. The black robed priest has come outside to address the crowd through loudspeakers. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes for the occasion. When the clock chimes midnight, the priest cries ‘Christos Anesti!’ and a roar goes up as everyone replies, ‘Christ is risen indeed!’ The bells ring out and fireworks explode into the sky. Thunderflashes go off under our feet. It is absolutely deafening. Later our candle makes it safely back to the boat still lit to bring us good luck for the coming year. Lighted candles can be seen flickering inside cars as people drive home.

Orthodox Easter is Greece’s big holiday. In the run-up to today, rows of lamb carcases have been hanging in the butcher’s, and the candles that bring good luck are for sale everywhere – many of them elaborately decorated with Barbie dolls, footballers and coloured charms. Vonitsa has filled up with local holidaymakers. Today family and friends get together to eat roast lamb and kokoretsi, a long sausage made of the animal’s entrails and innards, which is cooked over a charcoal brazier in the garden or out on the street. Everyone exchanges ‘Kalo Paskha!’ greetings and red eggs. We enjoy a huge lamb lunch in a taverna overlooking the bay before staggering back home to sleep it off.















After our launch, we sailed the 7 miles to Vonitsa from Aktio on a gloriously sunny day. Mo Fay-Jenkins, who’s sailed single handed across the Atlantic came along for the ride.

We are tied up on the quay alongside Frank and Anneke’s Victory 40, Panteleimon. Vonitsa harbour is sheltered and the little agricultural town is delightful. We are getting to know our way around well. One day we joined Mo and her husband Paul on their junk rigged Fay40, Ti-Gitu for a sail around the gulf.



















On another day a brisk afternoon breeze gave us a fantastic sail in Pantaleimon.
















Spring is truly here in the Ionian. The fields are a vibrant green and dotted with colourful wildflowers. The almond, cherry and apple trees are in blossom, the trees are now in leaf and the house martins are nesting under the eaves in town. The orange and lemon trees are laden with fruit. Fresh local strawberries are starting to appear in the shops. The bad news is the weather has warmed up enough now for us to tackle the daunting job of recaulking the deck.


























Anneke valiantly trying the kokoretsi (lamb's entrail sausage) grilling on Easter Sunday - verdict - thumbs down!

Thursday 18th March – Aktio. To Hell and back – we’re working on the boat!

We aren’t sorry to leave the coldest winter in UK for many years for spring in Greece. However it’s always hard to say goodbye to the family and to our many friends who’ve given us hospitality and support (especially Laura) while we’ve been back home. We enjoyed our three month stay in Devon, but we’re keen to get back to living on the boat.

Towards the end of February we flew from Bristol to Bergamo, then took the train to Venice, where we met up with our Dutch friends Frank and Anneke, who drove down from Holland in a 30 year old Volvo. Their boat is also at Aktio in the next door boatyard.

Although Venice is in the grip of freezing fog, we spend a magical two days taking in the sights and smells of the city, muffled up against the cold. The sun comes out as the Anek ferry bound for Igoumenitsa sails out of the Venice lagoon, and we have a last glimpse of St Mark’s from the deck before the ship sets out down the Adriatic. It’s a comfortable overnight passage and in the morning we can observe close up some of the coastline of Albania that we may explore later in Makarma.

The usual round of boatwork in the yard begins. We start to put some of the Greek we’ve learned over the winter to good use getting around and sourcing materials. We’ve installed our new DSC VHF radio and Nutlink fanbelt; insulated the fridge with aerogel; the kitchen’s had a makeover; the hatches have new mozzie boards, and the usual servicing, painting, antifouling etc. gets done. Sometimes it seems like we’re pushing a river uphill because anything new invariably has teething problems. But overall we’re pleased with progress.

Cathy has joined a group of writers contributing to a new English language magazine, The Ionian – www.theionian.com. Her first article is an interview with Tiger, a 9 year girl who has only ever lived afloat.
Here's editor Babara Molin with the first issue!













Every Sunday we down tools to have a day off with Frank and Anneke and we drive somewhere inland in their elderly car. Highlights are a visit to the hilltop town of Kassiopi (abandoned when its inhabitants were forcibly relocated to Nicopolis by the emperor Octavian) and the gorge in the Acheron river (reputed to be where Charon ferried souls to the underworld) that is known as the Gates of Hell!
































Dressed overall to celebrate Greek Independence Day on March 25th














Independence Day parade in Vonitsa