Akis bar tucked into the south-western edge of Lakka Bay is open all year round according to its owner, Akis. 17 years of continual service to the flotilla affords Akis (It seams) a comfortable if modest lifestyle. “There’s no pressure to make money in the summer before closing,” says Akis. “Were open all year round and our 17 years in business means were here to stay.” Looking around Akis bar is tastefully decorated in teak decking and green canvas, an extensive undertaking that’s not to be sniffed at. Partly tucked under the cliffs. Visitors to Akis bar are able to shelter from the harsh extremes’ of the sun. Choose your spot well and you can watch fresh water streaming out of the cliffs cooling the air around you. A natural water feature Charlie Dimmock would be prowed of. Seated at the waterfront you’ll be rewarded with one of the most idyllic spots on the island.
There’s no touristic Bouzouki here, Latin and salsa is the norm, hidden in the Olive trees speakers ooze serenity and calm. Akis bar could easily be located on a Pacific Island, wooden swing hammocks, and weathered chairs in mahogany and white canvas all ad to an established quality waterfront taverna by the sea.

With Internet access I ask Akis for his website, he smiles and says. “No! I don’t need one, my location does all the advertising I need.”

Tel 0030 26620 31665 / 31665
akisbar@ker.forthnet.gr

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The tavernas on Mourtos town quay is the best location to watch the sunset go down over Corfu.  It’s here that you share a meal and a bottle of wine whilst watching the sun descend through its colours. This spectacular sunset end with the silhouette shape of Corfu against a deepening red sky.

The heat haze in August assures a blood red sunset most of the time with patterned reflections drifting across the water as each breeze disturbs the mirror sea.

[mappress]The town quay is a little artist haven in the evening. At this time in the afternoon/evening, the street vendors and artists stake out their patch along the waterfront in front of the yachts, selling their talents and wares. Interspersed with the ubiquitous street stall are the roasted ‘Corn on the Cobb’ stalls that gives an aromatic air to the nightly festivities.

Walking through the cobbled streets leading into town you’ll find the travel agency shops selling day-tripper tickets to Corfu and Paxos. If you’re eating out on a budget try the souvlaki fast food tavernas, this is where you’ll get a full meal at a fraction of the price on the waterfront. There are no shortage of mini markets here either and their prices are reasonable compared to what you pay when out amongst the Islands. Mourtos & the Sivota Islands are a popular stopping off point for sailors travelling between Corfu and Lefkas and a must see if you’re after spectacular sunsets.

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All this needs to be accomplished before your yacht drifts out of position. Once resting against the 60 degree incline you drop your bow anchor on shore and have a crew member walk it up the beach, burying it in the sand. Once this is done you use both anchors (Front & Back) to hold you off the beach by a couple of feet.

Do all of this too quickly and it all goes wrong. A German elderly couple (Liveaboard’s) were able to do this at a walking pace, no rush, no alarmed voices and competently slow, just as it should be.

Neilson like many other flotillas uses this little harbour on the northern end of Valtos Beach as an overnight spot whilst traversing the islands of Corfu and Lefkas. It’s an ideal place to walk along it large beach and explore the Tavernas nearby. There are regular water taxis to Parga town (you can walk the length of Valtos Beach if you prefer). Yannis and his musical Zorba sounding caique (He has two lounge stereo speakers that competes with his engine for attention) is the officially adopted taxi service for most of the flotilla companies that visit Parga. I remember him and his Hawaiian shirts 20 years ago and nothing has changed there.

Parga authorities have neglected this isolated little corner of Valtos beach preventing the full use of the harbours little quay due to two sunken pleasure boats of about 30 feet in size. Despite this, yacht now choose to anchor bows to the beach using the harbour wall as protection from the elements.

This little corner of Parga attracts the flotilla and liveaboard sailor alike; it’s an ideal location for traversing the Island of Corfu and Lefkas. It’s also an ideal spot for impromptu beach parties and getting to know other sailing enthusiasts.

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So how do you travel in style by sea at a price you can afford? You hire an independent company that specialises in luxury yachts. The guest aboard divides the expense so sharing the accommodation with others is the key to an affordable luxurious holiday at sea.

When you go on a holiday afloat, which would be better a yacht or motorboat? You might think that they’re both the same but they’re not. The yacht has a mast and sails in addition to its engine and generally looks that more inviting in comparison to a motorboat. A motorboat guzzles diesel buy the gallon is noisy and smells. On average a motorboat will have more accommodation space than a yacht due to a yacht needing to accommodate its mast and sails. But then simply going for a slightly larger yacht can offset this.

If you plan to have an extended stay on board, by all means rent a yacht. They are available in various sizes and most of these can even accommodate a large sized family. You can easily book online through numerous charter companies based in Greece, most come with a skipper and hostess so there is no need for you to have any sailing experience. Another advantage of a yacht over a motorboat is that a yacht when its sails are up has a steady motion through the sea compared to motorboat.

But how much will the hiring of a yacht cost you in Greece? The price varies and this is calculated based on the size of the yacht, the number of passengers sharing the yacht and the cost of the skipper and hostess.

For an up to date price visit ‘Sailing Europe’ it has a comprehensive database of charter companies in Greece that operate luxury sailing yachts at competitive rates. So if money is a concern but you still fancy some luxury, check out…

http://www.sailingeurope.com

If you compare the cost per week in a luxury hotel to a cabin on a luxury yacht this will give you an idea of the expense involved. So why book for a hotel on the island when most of the time, you’ll be visiting the various attractions in other Greek islands? Perhaps you’d be better off stay on a yacht and discover the Islands in luxurious style.

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Anti Paxos is a small island 2 miles south of Paxos its 1 mile wide 2.5 miles long with only a few houses, that are very difficult to see on this lush green island. The island has no fresh water or electricity either, what it does have is Emerald Bay.

Named Emerald bay due to its brilliant green/blue clear water, which is created by white ‘chalk like’ sandstone that covers the bay. The clarity of the water has an underwater visibility of more than 300 yds.

Leaving Mongonisi on Paxos and are adopted home ‘Carnayo Gold’ we headed to Emerald Bay. It’s August and the height of the Italian season; Dimitris and Francesca (Carnayo Gold Lounge Bar) recommended to get there early to anchor in a good spot before all the other boats arrive.

Anchoring off shore we dropped our anchor, Cristina said she could see it all the way to the bottom 8 meters below. Once in the white chalk sand we dragged the anchor into a clump of weed securing us to the bottom. All around white cliffs blue/green water and slowly bobbing yachts can be seen.

Swinging on our anchor I make breakfast as Cristina returns from swimming in the aquarium (As she calls it), over breakfast she describes her findings in detail with pleasure. We’d heard plenty about Emerald Bay and were looking forward to exploring further.

Rowing our little inflatable dinghy to shore we soon make camp on the beach amongst the early visitors to the bay, looking back out to sea every colour from dark blue to emerald green in every graduated colour possible can be seen. Just like an abstract painting the white yachts at anchor ad to the scene creating an abstract of primary colours in motion before our eyes. To the north of the beach is a concrete causeway where day-trippers from Paxos arrive, this causeway creates a man made rock pool that’s used to store many inflatable dinghy, as the people from their yachts begin to come ashore.

There’s plenty of opportunity to snorkel along the rock outcrops that extend from either ends of the beach, but for us it was the bays stark natural beauty and specifically the colours that left us mesmerised. Anchoring over night in Emerald Bay is not very safe so most of the yachts return to Paxos in the evening leaving the place empty over night.

Our next port of call was Taverna Voutoumi. Only 100 yards behind the beach and a world away from the hot sun soaked beach. Located amongst the dense green foliage that covers all of Anti Paxos it provides a welcoming watering hole for those that seek shelter during the hottest parts of the day.

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Sailing between the islands of Greece is an experience in itself. Out at sea we’re quite alone; the vast openness challenges our senses. Gliding in rhythmic motion with our surroundings in this biggest of big blue I’m transfixed watching Christina drying her hair, as she seeks far horizons. Sailing together for the first time, our harmony with each other and our surroundings makes us feel we’re seasoned travellers. Our past lives of only weeks before are forgotten, it’s so easy to be a world away from reality in a yacht on a living ocean.

Cristina a marine biologist is spending most of her time at the bow watching our yacht cleave through the water as the rays of sun descend into the deep and pass below our hull.

We’re on Dolphin watch, as Cristina calls it,  waiting for our friends to visit again; we’d been regularly checked on this passage yet the dolphins never stayed for long.

The skyline ‘in this heat haze’ has merged with the sea, only 5 miles from shore we’re too far out to see any landfall. Only our compass and charts indicate our position, it’s times like this that can challenge the senses of many a sailor. ‘Yet for us the vast openness of this ‘big blue’ is a welcome change from the Islands.

We’re happy together, yet we’ve barley spoken during the last hours each of us chilling on our yacht as the wind drives us east to Parga.

The night before we’d sailed through a phosphorescent sea. Plankton disturbed by our wake flashed in alarm, bioluminescence being the result, a shimmering tale of light stretched from our stern as we glided through the night…

Our arrival in Parga was at nightfall; only the afterglow of the sun helped is anchor to the Beach. Our Stern line anchored out in the water prevents us going aground as our bow anchor is dragged up the beach securing us to the land during the night. Sitting in our cockpit an orange moon rises above Parga’s Venician Castle, the next destination of discovery on our tour of the Ionion Islands.

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Reading the Cruising Guide of the Ionion Islands (by Rod Heikell) the reference to big bold rats on the Island did not go amiss.

Pera Pigadhi is an Island off the south east coast of Ithaca. It has a quay that can handle only 5 – 6 yachts moored stern or bows to. It’s a rugged little island with no inhabitance or buildings upon it. Only the quay is manmade the rest of the islands is covered in rock outcrops hidden by thousands of pine trees covering this small little island. “With enough food and water it’s a perfect place to chill,” said Fabrizio. “I don’t use the radio, I turn off the mobile and just read, swim and go fishing which I cook myself”

Questioning Fabrizio about the rats, we’re merely encouraged to take precautions. Neither of us were overly concerned about rats personally but once inside a boat they’re nearly impossible to get rid of.

5 days later we’re moored to the small quay of Pera Pigadhi. An Austrian yacht moored next to us were told by others about the Rats, when questioned we advised them the best preventative measures, whilst reassuring them that as long as they didn’t get inside it was not a problem. However we did underestimate the Rat problem on the island.

Very soon after dark the Austrians were seen using there flash lights scouring the island from the cockpit of their yacht. They made every attempt to stop any rats visiting and even took it in turns sitting in the cockpit during the night. We went to bed with a smile on our faces thinking that their behaviour was a bit excessive. About half an hour later we heard the stifled squeals not so far away. Above us we lost count of the amount of scurrying feet that ran up and down our deck. In time things quietened down and we went off to sleep with all hatches closed.

In the morning we got the full picture from the Austrians. Apparently we had 7 rats on our yacht for about half an hour then they moved on to theirs. Hordes of others had descended from the island and boarded both our yachts whilst the skipper was still in the cockpit with his flashlight. At one point he caught one rat climbing over the rat preventer on a line (by pushing it flat and walking across) with his flashlight. The rat merely looked up into the light and turned 180 degrees balancing on the line, then went back over the rat preventer to the shore. As this was happening another walk across his feet into the cockpit and had a good sniff around (Now I know why the squeal was stifled). In the morning we saw them gingerly lifting their dinghy on deck and opening the anchor locker. None got inside as all hatches were closed although it was an uncomfortable night with the summer heat.

Pera Pigadhi Island is beautiful, remote and rat infested. They have no predators to cull them; any visitors are more inclined to be frightened of them than the other way round. It’s a shame, it would take little to round up some feral cats and leave them on the island for one winter.

If a rat does gets on board, take all the water out of your bilges, they can live on bilge water for weeks. With no water they will soon die or leave if they can. The rat-traps sold in Greece particularly the sticky type only seem to collect rat hair. If you can’t empty the bilges entirely poisoning the remaining bilge water with bleach or a de-scaling product off the shelf will do the same thing. Rat preventers are hit and miss they work with mice it seams but the rats are too big and bold to be prevented. They’re also very good swimmers.

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