Dry land for two weeks

Decided to loan yacht to a friend for two weeks so we could have a change of scenery and do some sightseeing on land. Instead we decided to catch up with all the paperwork that we hadn’t done before we left NZ. The whole process was not as easy as just jumping off the yacht and forgetting about it!

First, we needed a place to stay with good internet!! Found one in Afionas in Corfu and they assured me the internet was good!  Next we had to deliver the boat to our friends who was going to look after it for two weeks but only had a night to change over and understand all about Eleuthera!! Thought that we would need a couple of days. The weather blew up and we could not get onto the quay side at Argostoli as Eleuthera does not handle 20kts side on to the bows in bad holding!!! So ended up anchoring at the head of the arm in Kefalonia and uplifting the captain  from the beach in the middle of the night. Nice sheltered spot. Thank goodness for google maps. Cab driver was concerned that he did not know where he was going.

Wrote a huge list of instructions. A brief run through the next morning then off we went back to the town of Lixouri to try our luck there and pick up his friends. No luck still blowing a gale and so the port let us anchor in the harbour while we picked up his friends and dropped us off.

We stayed the night in a hotel in Argostoli in case of any issues. The next morning we went for breakfast so Hew could refuel, looked around, and went to book ferries or aircraft out for Monday.

Found nothing available Monday so the option was that afternoon or Wednesday. Quickly booked flights from to Corfu the rushed back to the hotel packed our bags and off to the airport. Meanwhile I read Captain Correlli’s Mandolin again – great story especially when you are right there where it was based.

All seemed to be going well  with the yacht and so we left feeling good. Arrived Corfu at 7pm and got a taxi to our apartment in Afionas arriving there about 9pm very grateful to sit down for dinner and a drink looking out over Agios Georgios.

Arose the next  morning to a lovely day, very hot and just relaxed. Walked down to the nearby Port Timoni – a beautiful spot with and old harbour wall origins lost in time. Really rough steep track and the secondary track was covered in rubbish – not very well looked after but great spot and very popular. Very hot walk back up the hill.

Next day we got a call from the yacht saying the dinghy outboard was not going – we had not had a single issue in two years – lots of discussion ensued but in the end it would need a technician. We were trying to get through some paperwork and found the internet very slow(probably due to concrete walls of the rooms) so Hew moved to using the cafe as his base – handy as they made a good Freddo Cappuccino. Very hot in the afternoons so these turned to siesta times. 

We settle into life on land. Hired a scooter to get up and down to Georgios Beach, and  checked out a different restaurant each night and all the aspects of the sun sets in the area. Afionas is on the top of a hill above Porto Timoni and has a great view both ways.

Restaurants are many and of varied standard. Scooter allowed us to range over a wider area through the next few beaches. Noticeable on land that you do not consider from the sea is the bad standard of the roads and the amount of rubbish on the road sides. Often the roads are only one lane wide – reason for the 20k limit signs, and the  other half of the road is a huge pothole. After a couple of days we were getting used to  avoiding these or stopping if traffic was coming the other way and also avoiding the holes. 

One of our expeditions took us to the Fort Angelocastro- spectacular road to the top of the hill on the way and magnificent view NW and N of Corfu.

By the end of the week we were missing the yacht and got a rent-a-boat for an hour and went out around the Porto Timoni headland and out to the nearest island. Great to be at sea again. 

Meanwhile we decided that Eleuthera did not like being lent to anyone. They had had continuous little issues- some easily solvable with knowing the yacht and some not so easy. The music log on(fixed), the air conditioning(over use and lack of understanding of power draw), the dinghy motor( passed to mechanic as it had never not stopped before), toilets (lack of understanding of system), shifting winds at midnight causing immediate removal from dock to an anchorage! Lots of phone calls… 

To top the week off I got a call from home to tell me that not all  was well with the aircraft engine – more cost!! Waiting for the final assessment.

The summary of the first week ashore was availability and variety of restaurants, sunsets and  views, clear water and great beaches, pot holes and bad drivers, very hot afternoons, slow progress with the paperwork – but at least there is some.  Where we are everyone watches the sunsets and eats early so the days seem short. Breakfast late like 830-0900, a bit of work, swim and lunch late 1430-1500, siesta, sunset and dinner – usually finished by 2130!! Where has all the time gone.

Hoping the the next week will be more productive and Eleuthera less temperamental.