Looking Northwest from our vantage point we could see many yachts lying in a sea of green/blue with Northern mainland Greece behind. In the very far distance you can just make out the mountains of Albania.

Looking down a couple travelling the world in their yacht have swam to shore to read and swim. In the next small beach there is a small makeshift Tavern, it’s seats and rickety tables are distributed amongst the olive trees. Well sheltered from the sun, this Taverna can be seen from the anchored yachts and is very popular judging by the amount of tenders along the shore.

Walking further along; the dirt track becomes overgrown and care should be taken by covering up, but if you make the effort to explore you’ll be rewarded with an idyllic view of Lakka’s village with the yachts anchored in the foreground. Lakka has become very popular over the years and a haven for many Italians during their August annual holidays. It’s at this time things become a little too crowded. If you want to avoid a crowd then visit Lakka outside of August. The commerce in Lakka is tasteful and restrained, however it does suffer from too many day hire boats but then’ its the same for all of Paxos as these day boat with bimini and outboard are used to explore the myriad of undiscovered beaches and very popular for snorkelling. Lakka is an idyllic location that must not be missed, its colours and rustic, restraint style of tourism is its main attraction.

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All that time on his own heightened his appreciation of others, reinforced by the unique cosmopolitanism of international sea travel. He spoke with feeling about a kindly Greek consul in New Zealand, to whom he had gone to execute a legal document. The consul went out of his way to pick him up, was delighted at Piero’s basic Greek, and embraced him after the work was done.Did the trip alter his perspective? “If I’ve changed,” he ventured, “I love people more than I used to.” Everywhere, he insists, “people are nice. That’s my experience. They may speak differently from you, but they try to help you.” Only at tourist spots did the picture dim; there “they have dollar signs in their eyes.”

Yet realistically, he says, “I think at this age you don’t change much,” even after an epic tour. But “I think I have gained a lot of experience, human experience and not just sailing experience.” It’s hard to argue with that.

Full story can be found at eKathimerini.com

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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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One man in a boat: facing wind, wave and sleeping upright (http://www.ekathimerini.com)

Piero Pieroni, seen in the cabin of the Quo Vadis one day after returning from his circumnavigation. Some of his instruments are seen in the back, and his reference library on shelves behind him.

“I hope I did something not so bad;” this is hardly the expansive summation you might expect from someone who has just circled the globe (and then some) alone and under sail, including the howling gales and treacherous tides of the Magellan Strait. Then again, Piero Pieroni is hardly your typical world-beater.

He made his penultimate landfall last Thursday in Lavrion, on Attica’s southeast coast, met by a small but noisy local flotilla. His boat, the single-hulled and masted Quo Vadis, now sports brown stains, peeling paint and a tattered Cypriot flag fluttering astern — worlds away from the spiffy white trimarans that grace nautical magazine covers. But it was clearly built for anything and is now proven for everything. And it is spacious: 16 meters (53 feet) in length, 4.87 meters wide, and a generous 2.80 meters deep, which created problems in some shallow harbors.

In deference to the intense attachment formed between a solo voyager and his vessel, he continually began sentences with “we.” Inside too, the boat reflected the man: no-nonsense, exhaustively equipped, and properly aged, including the biggest stash of rope you have ever seen. “Even with all that,” he insisted, “you can run out of them.” I felt a curious kinship with him, not least because of a shared distaste for what he eloquently termed “blah, blah, blah.”

Pieroni retains remarkable agility for a man pushing 70. Laconic to the point of shyness, he has the small, observant eyes of an Ernest Hemingway and an unpretentious Italianate elegance, along with a classic seafarer’s white beard and deeply tanned face. It took over two hours before I found out that he had rounded the globe with a balloon in his chest, installed after a serious heart operation.

His voyage defies easy romanticizing. He knew precisely what he wanted to do, saying without a trace of arrogance: “I never thought I would be lost. I was very confident.” He is a sea warrior, but a quiet rather than swashbuckling one, direct but not gruff, one for whom actions speak louder than words and results count most of all. He went looking for adventure, not trouble; he was canny enough to wait out the foul weather and return in one piece, guided by an unfailing inner compass.

What his story may lack in the gruesome or titillating (there was no living on seaweed, getting washed aboard or fending off sharks with a paddle), it more than compensates for in various mishaps, lonely times, interesting characters and island paradises experienced.

‘I always liked adventure’

Traveling with purpose but without deadline, Pieroni opted for the western, more difficult route: First heading across the Atlantic, he also chose to forgo the Panama Canal in favor of rounding the dangerous tip of South America, then tracking northward again, crossing the Pacific to the South Seas and Antipodes, across the Indian Ocean to Africa, around South Africa and angling across the southern Atlantic to Brazil — his official crossover point — before a second transatlantic crossing brought him homeward. All this meant he actually did far more than circumscribe the globe; his trip from Greece across the Atlantic, and back again, amounted to extra mileage.

Unlike Slocum, his 19th century guide, Piero did not have to rely on sextant and gut instinct alone. He managed with the help of GPS (global positioning system), accessible via his laptop, and frequent weather faxes. But lacking enough charts and maps at the start, he obtained some from fellow sailors, along with a needed computer connection bought in mid-Pacific. He also secured a 3-CD sea map covering most of the world, which he updated anew in South Africa. “So, by the time I arrived back here, I had everything!”

Wild and woolly

Pieroni anticipated the rough South Pacific seas, in some cases (as in New Zealand) waiting out the worst for an entire cyclone season. The Quo Vadis “withstood them very well. She did fantastic.” Was he ever in danger of capsizing? “No, no, never.” Extreme conditions arose elsewhere too. Off South Africa, for example, the wind often runs against the current, which “plays a real bad, terrible, dangerous sea, with freak waves, a danger to big ships too. So you just don’t move.” This frequently requires infinite patience leavened by awareness: “You wait, wait, wait, wait, and then you find 15 boats all leaving at the same time.” “Maybe you’ve heard,” he related, “that [the tip of South Africa] was once called the “Cape of the Storms.” Then they changed it to Cape of Good Hope, hoping!”

A similar cat-and-mouse game with the elements was required while threading through the Magellan Strait, half a world away: “The wind here (Punta Arenas, which lacks a decent harbor) is normally southwest or northwest. If it’s south, you cannot stay. There is a lot of movement, a lot of going up and down, as the wind changed.”

Following this venture into the bone-chilling “screaming fifties” (south latitude) he was hit by the biggest storm of his trip west of South America: “I was heaving to. Very big waves, say 8–10 meters, wind 50–55 knots, lots of wind, for roughly 36 hours.” Later, though, came the sailor’s dream, the trade winds, blowing reliably at 25–40 knots, 17–19 degrees south of the equator, “and I went really fast.”

Difficult sailing actually came right in the Mediterranean. On his outward journey, heavy traffic and fear of collision kept him in the cockpit for two days running, while on the return leg he made it through Gibraltar with great difficulty. “When we arrived, we had the wind against us, from the east. It was just impossible. I tried two times to go through, and finally I decided to follow the instructions! No chance, so finally I gave up,” anchoring at Cadiz. Once through, “we had three days of gale, the wind against us all the time, always from the northeast. During the night, we sailed to Africa, going up and down, up and down.” Nature finally relented for his last kilometers.

His longest single sail, without seeing another human, was 44 days, from Cape Verde to Mar del Plata in Argentina; many other legs took 30–35 days.

Life aboard

How did he pass the time on board? “There is quite a lot of work. Especially in the tropics, you have the trade winds, sometimes you fish but forget about pulling in the line, and a big fish got the other fish, then maybe a shark came, and you don’t have anything!” Plotting his progress was not taxing, and studying “the Admiralty,” a nautical reference work, saved him grief; his eastward Atlantic crossing took 33 days, while another yacht, leaving the same day but on a different route, took 43.

What about the psychological challenge of facing long stretches alone? Piero, a stoic by the book, was already inured to solitude while working in the desert.“Yeah, it’s nice to have somebody, but sometimes you don’t. But, of course, you feel alone, sometimes you wish you had a companion.”

The matter of sleep without a co-pilot is always a dicey proposition. Piero managed on little: “During the day sometimes I would sleep sitting here, 15 minutes, 30 minutes. During the night, I put an alarm clock; I slept one hour; I woke up, have a look around, check the sails, this and that, and then I set the alarm again, sleep another hour. But then after the third time you don’t sleep any more, you stay awake, read something, make a tea. It’s what you have to do.” However, he never felt pushed to the wall. “You keep going and you don’t feel tired, but when you arrive somewhere you have a good meal, and then you have a good sleep, 12, 15 hours.”

During the 36-hour storm west of South America, he “was exhausted and slept over there [on the cabin couch, not in Chile] sitting down. No anchor there!”

An admitted non-gourmet, Piero subsisted when at sea on spaghetti, lentils, canned goods, and other basics, and occasionally fresh fish. He carried a 700-liter tank of fresh water, which never once ran out. He missed fresh fruit most of all when at sea. New landfalls, of course, brought local treats; thick Argentinean steaks are still recalled with gusto.

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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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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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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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As a sailing enthusiast. The progression of learning to sail generally starts from Dingy sailing. After that, the next level of learning is probably on a Flotilla sailing Holiday. Then maybe a charter or two in which you go bareboat and sail to destinations without the watchful guidance of a flotilla skipper. It’s at this stage people generally either stay happy with bareboat charter or they feel sufficiently experience and knowledgeable to consider buying their own yacht.

Those that own their own yachts in Greece are generally at this level of experience. However the Aegean Sea can be quite dangerous as it can produce its own local weather patterns, giving you little time to seek shelter. The main trade winds that blow through the Aegean can remain very strong for days on end and knowledge of some Heavy Weather Sailing is a must.

There maybe no tidal currents to deal with in the Mediterranean but the changeable wind velocity in the Aegean can be quite challenging. For many years I’ve been following a Sailing Couple that have lived on there yacht for decades travelling around the world. They regularly produce Books and Videos on sailing matters for yacht owners and Liveaboards. Although this video is not Greek specific it has a relevance for those considering sailing the Aegean.

Below are some book recommendations for those considering sailing in the Aegean and beyond.

Cost Conscious Cruiser
The Capable Cruiser
Self Sufficient Sailor
They’re all by Lin and Larry Pardey a couple that have sailed the world since 1976