This is a draft I had written that must have got lost in the realms of wi fi land, so a bit out of time but publishing it anyway....Kalamos to Fiskardo...........Having got up at six am, walked the dogs, taken the rubbish, then had an orange juice at Georges, we were ready to leave Kalamos, the weather looked good and winds forecast should give us a good sail to Cephalonia. Tom and I were aware that Clem and Paul, moored next to us had gone out in their dinghy last night in the dark and dropped an extra anchor, but we were still not prepared fro said anchor, or rather, rope to get tangled in our bow thruster, and also over our chain as we left, Paul came out in the dinghy and managed to get all untangled, as I sat at the helm then on Tom's instructions maneuvered us out of the harbour. All good fun, this sailing lark...never a dull moment!

  Calm at last, but no wind so we motored for the first couple of hours, as we turned towards Cephalonia, we were fairly tight into the wind, but still managed to have a good sail with 6 knots on the clock until we were too close for comfort to Ithaka's rocky coast line, and we had to start engines again.  Came into Fiskardo to see that there were a fair number of yachts already there, but there were a couple of spaces on the town quay, so we dropped anchor and proceeded to go stern to. As we got closer, I saw there were police cones there, and then a man came out and told me that we couldn't go there as the police would move us. So we sort of circled around looking for a place to go, meanwhile ferries came and went and came again,  We eventually went stern to on the end of the South quay, but we were not happy there, so whilst Tom had lunch in a nearby restaurant I walked round the key to find out what all the cones were about. I went to the Port Police, where a delightful young man, who looked like he shouldn't be out of nappies, told me they were expecting a big day trip boat that would be staying the night, he then said that we could go on the ferry quay as soon as the ferry left, so that is what we did, meanwhile another two boats had parked in the no parking zone, though I did tell them they would probably be moved at some point. Low and behold, out came the young port policeman, and then they all wanted to squeeze in beside us, which they did, so we are all very cosy now!!

After saying in my last post that we were not plotting a course, and that there would be fair winds, we set off from Spartahori, in beautiful sunshine, spotted one lone dolphin, and thought we would have a lovely relaxing sail to Kalamos. After rounding the East side of Kalamos the wind suddenly went crazy, and totally took us by surprise, huge gusts of up to 45 knots, tipping Silfrania this way and that, and flipping the dinghy over, though luckily with no rib attached. We were within view of Porto Kalamos, so we thought that was our best bet, as long as it was more sheltered there. The wind must have changed direction what seemed like every ten minutes, battering us and churning up the sea into a very messy concoction of waves. Luckily it was more sheltered within the harbor, so after instruction and guidance from George ( he owns the restaurant there, and always guides everyone into the harbor) we moored safely and I must say with some relief. Although a dear ( older) man on a little classic yacht next to us was surprised when I said it had been lucky we had had no sails up at the time the wind came...what?, he said, you weren't sailing? He made me feel a bit of a wimp!! His name is Clem,  and we spent a lovely evening in our cockpit yapping and downing Amaretto's and his whisky. He exclaimed that he thought he would pop out the next day to buy himself an Amel, and said, much to Tom'd delight, that Silfrania was the creme de la creme and the Rolls Royce of yachts. He brought his wife Roz on boarde today for a look round, plus everyone from the yachet next to them. Clem's little yacht is a sort of time share deal with a friend and they keep it in Nidri in Lefkada. What a delightful couple
   Today the weather was much the same, with gusts of 45 then 37 all morning, our bollard that our stern line was tied to snapped in half...Greek concrete!!!! Just hoping all the others on the key hold with more wind we are expecting tonight. An early night tonight, and weather permitting, which we think it will be fine, we will be off to Fiskardo in Cephalonia tomorrow.

 In Lakka, having lunch, Ronya spent the whole time watching the fish, I must admit we were highly entertained, and saw not only fish but moray eel and very big squid, plus some beautiful orange and beige sea urchin type creatures.

 Jesse hiding under Tom during a very bumpy and a somewhat uncomfortable sail from Lakka to Lefkas.

 Approaching Lefkas, dredging the bottom so as to keep the canal entrance open to yachts.

Having just passed through the bridge to Lefkas. Then I heard someone shout my name, and there on the road alongside the canal was Sari, waving and shouting, bless her, what a lovely welcome.
After a rather difficult, because of currents and wind, mooring to the town key, we had to go alongside eventually. We caught up with Sari and Pet over a few beers and Mezes, then set off again, heading for Meganisi, after filling the tank at the fuelling station in Lefkas.
 Reached Spartahori at around 9.00pm and a very helpful Babis came out to guide us into the mooring at Porto Spilia. After a light dinner in his restaurant, an early night after a long day.
 Today is Wednesday, and after a little rain, we are just going for a coffee, and to say goodbye and thank you to Babis, then we will be off. Not plotted a course yet, but the weather looks good and the winds fair.

Well, it's been a long time since I posted in here, but now a I have just begun a new chapter in my life. It started with meeting my wonderful partner Tom, and has accumulated in the two of us, and our dogs, Ronja and Jesse, living his dream and mine too of sailing away. I have given up my house in Corfu, downsized and moved onto Tom's beautiful yacht Silfrania, a 54ft Amel Super Maramou. We have begun our journey, modestly, with a sail to Mourtos on the mainland, after there was not the right wind for us to sail to lakka in Paxos. Now, a day later we are in Lakka, having left Mourtos early this morning. Once again we sailed here, though the sea was I would call messy, and I am ashamed to say, that for the first time ever I actually felt a little, well. lets just say, not brilliant, though the number of beers and a couple of Mohitos and shots the night before may not have helped!!!!
Our plan? Well we don't really have one, but we do have to be back in Corfu in August to take Tom's car and drive to Norway, via Amsterdam to see my baby boy Eusebios and his beautiful wife Zin. Then back in Corfu in September for a visit from Tom's mother and his daughter. Then, we are away again on the yacht, where? We are not sure yet.
 On this trip we hope to get to Turkey, but there are so many islands out there to explore, we will see, and once again, it all depends which way the wind is blowing.
  I intend to do sketches, take photos and write a daily...ish....account along the way, so this is just a bit of an introduction....more will come.