May 13
Argostoli to Nisis Petalas
As soon as the shops in town opened we began our resupplying mission: fruit, vegetables and Alpha atop the list. There was a quick goodbye to our French neighbors and then it was anchor up for the 50 mile trip to Nisis Petalas - a small sheltered bay near the mainland.
The original plan (yup, another original plan out the window) was to sail 50 miles up the west coast of Kefalonia to Fiskardo - the only village in Kefalonia to escape major damage during the 1953 earthquake. Unfortunately the winds weren't looking very cooperative so instead we would sail down the west coast, across the south end of the island and then and east towards the mainland. After a night in Nisis Petalas we'd head back west to Ithaki for a couple of nights before eventually making our way to Fiskardo from a different approach. Now, if that sounds a lot further than just heading up the west coast, yeah, it is. And as for Nisis Petalas, the Ionian Pilot sailing guide describes it as having no facilities and a cave. With a giant vulture. Right... so, not exactly the Greek Islands as I envisioned them.
We set off to a soundtrack of reggae and French and Portuguese tunes. Then there was the French and Portuguese reggae. Not what I expected but better than it might have been.
About two hours into the trip the boat's radio sqwaked alive with what sounded like trouble. We listened more closely when the announcement switched from Greek to English. The call was a "mayday relay" but we could only hear one side of the conversation - coming from what we guessed to be either the Greek Coast Guard or Navy. The boat in trouble was near Oxia, which was not far from where we were headed but in sailing terms "not far" still meant a solid eight hours - so we wouldn't be able to assist. The calls continued for the better part of an hour until word came over that a helicopter was on the way. The official asked the crew to be ready to abandon the boat. And that was the last we heard of it - leaving us to write our own story as to what went wrong and how the rescue went down.
As for us, at this point our trip was going as well as we could have hoped - averaging nearly 6 knots down the west coast. It was when we made the turn across the south end of the island that things got interesting. And wet. Very wet. The change of direction started well enough and despite Francis' assurance that we'd never catch a fish, I looked back to see two snared on the lines we had trailing the boat. We pulled them in and just like that, dinner would be fresh caught tuna.
Soon though, it appeared the sea got a little ticked off at us for taking the fish. The waves quickly became unpredicatble in their direction - kind of a mish-mosh of a sea - and began crashing over the side of the boat leaving us soaking and cold with five or six hours to go. About that... it's definitely not summer here in the Ionian yet. And on the water with the whipping winds and a little cloud cover, yeah, it's cold.
With Nisis Petalas finally in our sights our sprits brightened depite our ragged state. From a distance the island appeared a series of rolling green hills - perfect for a morning hike. Let's just say the island looked a lot better from distance. Upon entrance into the bay the hills revealed themselves to be shrub and goat covered rocks. The island was basically a mountain. Still, there was the cave to check out. Except that you had to climb a mountain to get to it. All was okay though when we remembered the fresh caught dinner waiting to be cooked - and it was every bit as good as we had hoped.
May 14
Nisis Petalas
The crossing must have been even more draining than we had thought. It's not easy to sleep in on a boat. In fact I don't think I've made it to 9am on any of my previous trips - and for me, that's saying a lot. Today, I was the first up... at 10:15am.
After motoring into the bay the previous night Francis noticed that there was no water cooling the engine. A big problem that could have been disastrous if we had motored longer or set out again without noticing. While Francis started on the repair, Erika and I paddled the dinghy to the island to try and get to the cave. We brought Dodger along to ward off the goats. From the boat it didn't look like too bad of a climb. We found a not-as-rocky-as-the-rest-of-the-coast spot to tie the dinghy and jumped up onto the island. Then it sunk in: to get to the cave we would pretty much be climbing the side of a mountain. It was slow going - trying to figure out where to step next and what to hold on to. Then there were the spiders. Really. Big. Spiders. And Dodger was of no use keeping those away. We reached a bit of a plateau about three quarters of the way to the cave and that was far enough for me. The more I thought about it, the less I really wanted to go into a cave anyway. Erika kept going and a few minutes later called down from the mouth of the cave with news that it absolutely stunk - apparently the goats spent quite a lot of time in there - and I was quite pleased with my decision to wait it out a level below.
We rowed back to the boat to find Francis still working on the engine problem. Water was going in but not being pumped out. Without a fix we'd be stuck with the goats for a while. As the day got later our little secluded bay began filling up with more boats looking for a place to spend the night out of the way of the now-whipping winds and waves. Shortly before dinner time Francis finished the repair - we'd be good to go in the morning. Unfortunately though, we wouldn't be going to Ithaki. The winds had changed again and that meant another detour to another secluded bay to wait for more favorable conditions. What should have been a simple move up the west coast of Kefalonia would now be at least a three day journey.
May 15
Nisis Petals to Port Pandelimon
The sail to Port Pandelimon was quite nice actually. The seas were calm, we stayed dry and the wind kept us moving at a decent pace. Unfortunately, Port Pandelimon sounds a lot nicer than it actually is. We were basically anchored off of a bizarre mash up of Lost and Animal Farm. First there was the strange sound, a somewhat steady screeching noise coming from somewhere near a tiny jetty. A quick look in that direction through the binoculars revealed two fishermen, a car and a pack of cows - certainly nothing that should be making that noise.
Erika had some work to do (Czech/English translations) so Francis and I rowed ashore with Dodger to check things out. We waved hello to the fishermen and followed the noise towards the jetty. First we came upon an abandoned house now overrun with cows. We continued towards the noise only to find the dirt road blocked off by some more cows. We did however spot the source of the screeching - a spinning metal cap atop a sort of chimney pipe.
These beasts, as Francis called them, were big and loud and ready to tear us to pieces. There were five of them in all - the worst of the bunch was the biggest and the loudest and clearly foaming at the mouth. Right behind him stood three others also barking and slowly moving towards us. The last one, standing in the back of the pack had only three legs - and I'm convinced it's because the big one bit him. Dodger was barking back at them but they clearly didn't care. The big one charged at Dodger who hid behind Francis (so basically Dodger was now standing right next to me). Francis grabbed a rock and held it up towards the dog which started backing away. Now at this point, it seemed to me the move would be to head back towards the boat but instead we kept going - walking backwards to keep an eye on the dogs who followed us for a good 100 yards before retreating back to the farm.
Thankfully once we moved past the dogs the countryside was filled with wildlife of the less-scary variety, although I was already dreading the return trip. We turned around at the main road and started back to the boat. T-minus 30 minutes and counting until another potential run-in with the dogs. This time though, I'd be prepared. Francis suggested a stick to keep them back. I also thought a rock would be a good idea.
Like clockwork as we approached the farm a dog started walking out towards the road. Thankfully it wasn't the foaming-at-the-mouth monster, it was Dodger's buddy from the jetty - and he walked right along with us again.
As we were nearing the abandoned farm there were some new animals waiting at the curve in the road - and I could swear they were pigs. Cute at first - until we realized there were two huge wild boars protecting a bunch of piglets. Dodger, not one for keeping a low profile, started barking at them and our cover was blown. One of the big pigs started walking towards us. Probably wasn't a great idea to ditch my stick and rock on the side of the road after we passed the crazy dog farm. Then Dodger's friend approached the pig and started barking while the other pig led the piglets across the path to protect them from the dog that was protecting us.
With our new bodyguard distracting the boar we kept walking and finally made it back to the dinghy for the short row back to the boat. We couldn't leave Lost Animal Farm Island quickly enough.
2025-02-07