North to the Ionian

We spent a few days relaxing Kalamata - Marion and Hugh left on the early bus to Athens on Sunday and then we shopped in the amazing AB supermarket. They deliver free within a couple of hours if you spend more than €60 which isn't hard to do! They have lots of things that are very hard to come by in Greece such as Lea and Perrins, Branston Pickle, suchi ginger, wasabi and papadoms!
We had a final dinner and a sad farewell to David and Jilly. We've been sailing in company with Meanderer for two months but they have to stay in Kalamata and lay up the boat while we have to make our way to the Ionian for the summer.
At 9.00 on Tuesday, we sailed off to Kioni. We had to motor most of the way but picked up enough wind to sail the last few miles, intending to anchor then see the town. We put the anchor down 3 times on the eastern side of the harbour but on each occasion, the ground had no strength and we just pulled through it. We call this stuff "toothpaste". We tried on the Western side and seemed to get a good bite. After lunch, I snorkeled over the anchor to find that it had dragged 20M in a light wind! So we reluctantly decided to move on. Our initial plan was Porto Longo but the wind insisted on Finikounda so we bowed to the inevitable and spent a nice peaceful night there.
Next day we braved a stiff wind and a nasty swell to slide over the few miles to Porto Longo.
on the almost uninhabited island of Sapientza. The original plan had been to go for the North East anchorage but the wind wouldn't let us. We saw the other anchorage next day and were very glad we hadn't stopped there. Porto Longo was superb shelter with a large area of excellent holding. The other one was much more exposed and we would have had a sleepless night.
Next day we had a fast though lumpy sail up to Navarino Bay, anchored in the North West corner and had a lovely warm drowsy afternoon and night.

Navarino Bay

Next day we had decided to try to get through the, very shallow, Northern passage and save ourselves 10 miles (a couple of hours) off the journey. So we did our usual checks including testing the bow-thruster when suddenly all electrical power disappeared. No thruster, no instruments, no anchor windlass  not even the engine starter motor. Panic! It took me 10 minutes to track it down to the Sterling battery monitor shunt that measures the total current going into or out of the batteries. It had failed open circuit. I pushed it with a finger and it sparked and seemed to work but one touch on the bow thruster and it was open circuit again. More panic! I dismantled it all and decided there was a dry and possible corroded joint. Hopefully some contact spray and a few good whacks with a hammer have sorted it out!
So off we went to the shallow passage. I had already sounded it out when we were here during the rally so I knew that most of was 1.2M of water over sand. No problem for us. The tricky bits were a few rocks scattered around on the sand and a rocky ledge right at the seaward side of the passage. The first were easily seen and avoided but the ledge was more of a problem as its depth varies from 0.6M (too shallow for us) and 1.5M (no problem at all). Luckily some locals had made a buoy out of a few plastic bottles tied together, a bit of string and something heavy on the bottom and had placed it by one of the larger deep bits. So off we went and made easy if slow progress over the sand. It was too shallow for our ultrasonic depth sounder so Lindsay did it the old fashioned way and dangled a weight on a bit of knotted string over the bow and called out the depth. We spotted the buoy and headed for it. It was only when we passed it that I realised it had moved and was no longer on the ledge! We approached very gingerly and with great trepidation went over a patch of 1M depth and just tipped the keel on the ground. and then, with one bound, we were free! A 6 hour sail and motor got us to Kiparissi.
On the way down there had been loads of space but this time most of the space was taken up by a huge trawler and a couple of smaller fishing boats. Luckily, we spotted Mike and Gilly on Eos of Mersey who kindly let us come alongside.

Marathonissi -  island in Lagana bay

We stayed there for two days, shopping and socialising and then set off for Katakolon and after an uneventful night at anchor, sailed for Limni Keriou on Zakinthos. This tiny port is part of the Marine park protecting the turtle nesting grounds of Lagana bay. However it's in Area C which permits navigation below 6knots and permits anchoring. We were needlessly worried that regulations might have changed etc. In the event, there appears to be little or no enforcement even in areas A and B whioch prohibit navigation. Power boats large, small and day-hired were zipping about everywhere and several sails were skirting the (prohibited) coast. Still, since it is all about protecting rare turtles, we stuck by the rules and wished others would do the same.

Keriou from the taverna above

Limni Keriou turned out to be a little gem. Small, friendly, green and rugged with crystal clear water and excellent holding. We stayed there for two days, swimming, walking and doing a bit of work.

Zante Port

Next stop was Zante - the main port for Zakinthos. It's a huge commercial and ferry port with not a lot to recommend it. We were met by "Robbing Bob" who we had been warned about (thanks Anne). He is unofficial but makes like a harbour master. Takes lines, gives water and electricity, takes down boat details and then take papers and returns them stamped by the Port Police. He then charges upwards of €25 - all without explaining that its all off his own bat. The only real charges are the normal port-police taxes of €8-12 depending on size. We said we would do our own papers and didn't need water or electricity and he slouched off in a huff. The port police turned out to be miles away at the opposite corner of the harbour beside the big church so maybe the service is not that bad value. I just don't like being charged for stuff as if it is an official fee when actually I am paying for an optional service.

The blue cave near Aghios Nikolos - Zakinthos

Aghios Nikolos harbour

We only stayed a night in Zante and then headed up to Aghios Nikolos on the north east tip of the island. It's a lovely spot with an incredibly helpful local family (Dimitros). They offer free water, electricity and even showers and don't even require you to eat in their restaurant. I have to say though that I would feel guilty not doing so at least once. They also run the garage right above the dock and are delighted to either fill cans or run their tanker down to the boat. We bought 66L of diesel. They also run boat trips up the coast to the blue grotto (similar to,  although a lot smaller than, the one in Capri). We took the trip and were very glad we had. Trying to do it in our own boat would have been very difficult, someone would have had to stay on the boat and it was only €7 each.