Goodbye Greece … for now

The crossing from Paxos to Corfu was easy going to start with. Again, we were able to put up our sails which made the die-hard sailors on our boat very happy. But as we got closer to the city of Corfu where we’d planned to anchor, the winds picked up and we could see a storm building over the ancient fort. We decided to hang back and watch the thunder and lightning from a distance hoping it would quickly pass. We were only about 15km south of the city. As we watched we noticed a small town with a marina on the nearby coastline with the sun shining overhead. A quick change of plans saw us heading over to check it out and radio in for a berth.

The town was Benitses and the marina was only two years old. The marina staff were very friendly, even giving us a voucher for a welcome drink at the adjoining restaurant. We checked out the town and decided to book in for another night. The nearby waterfront had a small beach and we had a great view of the steep green hills that were a beautiful backdrop to the town. Across the street from the marina was a strip of shops and tavernas where we ate that night.

We decided to hire a car the next day and drive to Corfu to complete our customs and port authority business and then go up the coast and back down the centre of the island. Sailing gives you a unique view of a country but you can miss so much by only seeing the coastal areas. Our business with the port authority was happily stress-free and gave us plenty of time to experience inland Corfu. We were pleasantly surprised to see how green and lush it was in some areas, although we drove through many small villages that were desolate and empty.

Back at the marina we cooled down with a swim at the small nearby beach, thankful that there was no sign of the jellyfish that had invaded many of the islands we’d sailed around last year. But we were just lucky as one of our crew went for a quick swim before departing the next day and was told by some children they’d been spotted in the water that morning.

After taking a bus to the city to pick up a friend who was joining us for the next three weeks, we farewelled Benitses and sailed north past the ancient fort and old town of Corfu – always an amazing sight.

We continued on to Agios Stefanos, a bay we’ve anchored in a few times before and nicknamed Eucalyptus Bay because of the many old gum trees overhanging the beach. The water in the bay was clear and there was no sign of jellyfish so we enjoyed an afternoon swimming, relaxing and checking out the nearby boats. There is always something to look at when you’re sitting on a boat in a bay or marina. We were amused by a small dingy that passed us with seven people on board on their way to dinner on shore – we’d never seen so many people on such a small boat and marvelled that it stayed afloat.

That night we took our own dingy across to a taverna and ate dinner on the beach under the eucalyptus trees. It was to be our last Greek dinner for this trip as we’d decided to take advantage of the good weather conditions and make the crossing to Italy early the next morning.

We are excited to be exploring new territories, but our departure from Greece is bitter-sweet. We have sailed the Ionian Islands three times now and will miss their beauty and charm. We’ll also miss the friendliness and generosity of the local people and their warm hospitality. And so we say farewell Greece … for now.