After a really nice two weeks we have now managed to get away from
Spartahori! I can't believe it has been two weeks. Boats have come and gone
but we managed to stay put. It was a great place. The food in Babis
restaurant was always great and the company fantastic. It is the same boats
that come back time and time again for a couple of nights each week so you
quickly get to know a lot of people.
The head cold that was preventing me diving turned out to be solved by
taking an antihistamine tablet (Duh!!!!) so I was able to go diving again
with Tony. All in all I managed to do 4 dives down to 24 metres (which isn't
bad for a beginner). I picked up so much useful information from Tony - so
much more than what I got on the PADI course. The last two dives were to a
wreck site, with lots of greek urns (I forget the technical term!) at least
2,000 years old. Of course, all the good ones have gone but there are lots
of bits left. Pam was very keen for me to bring her back some octopus - well
at least one. Hearing the stories about how they squirm up your arm - I will
leave that until I have a bit more experience. There are plenty around if
you look for them.
There was quite a lot of talk about rats on the quay with some getting on
boats at night. We therefore nipped over to Nidri to buy a rat trap but none
seem to have got on board yet. I hope it stays that way. We bumped into Tom
Bradshaw again in Nidri and spoke for a few minutes before he rushed off to
do the Ionian rally. 200 boats took part. Only 5 finished. It wasn't
windy!!! In fact after the start gun there was virtually none.
Tony and Margaret finally caught us up on China Blue. If you remember (and
have been paying attention), we left Lagos in April to sail to Turkey in
company with China Blue but lost them on the first passage and haven't seen
them since Gibraltar. It was great to catch up on all the news and find out
where they had been for the last 4 months. That's the last of the Lagos
boats into Greece then.
This morning then, Saturday, we left Spartahori to sail a full 5 miles to
the bay next door and the Karnayio Taverna on the right as you go into
Little Vathi on Meganissi. The plan was to sail down to Sivota and then down
to Ithaca but the Ionian rally finished in Sivota on Thursday so we are
giving them another day to disperse before we go there. We don't know a lot
about this place but there is a nice little Taverna with a "catwalk" for
boats to moor up to. It's got lazy lines and water and power at a cost. We
were also told it has some rats! We will find out tonight.
The vodaphone dongle thingy that I bought has not been working too well for
the last few weeks in Spartahori with pretty bad reception - hence the lack
of posts. It doesnt seem too much better here but I guess it will be better
in Ithica and then back to full speed when we get back to Messolonghi -
likely now to be at the end of the month.
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