Sailing Day 10 and 11

September 12 and 13:  We left Sivota just after Betsy spotted a pod of bottled nose dolphins swimming and leaping in the outer harbor.  The morning began with the guys taking a leisurely trip to the bakery for coffee and pastries.  We spent some time slowly motoring out of the harbor and watching the dolphins feeding - they rose showing their dorsal fins, but occasionally one would jump out of the water or flap with its tail.  We were joined by (or we joined) many other boats who were doing the same thing.  

Captain Ron is heading the boat north so we return to Corfu on schedule Friday evening.  As a result, we had a rather short cruise planned to a bay on the north side of Meganisi.  On the way, we diverted over to a sea cave.  Several of our passengers chose to swim over and into the cave.  Then we went on around to the east side of Meganisi. The sea  was too calm for sailing, so we motored all the way.  We drew into a quiet harbor with only a few houses inland and wonderfully clear water.  We had visited the cove a few days earlier on a walk from the village of Vathi and thought it looked appealing.  We laid down the anchor off shore and tied onto  a big rock onshore for double security.  The rock was set at the water's edge just below a large property in the process of being developed.   When we had walked by previously, it seemed to be inactive but today there was a small construction crew at work.

Everyone swam in the clear water spotting fishes and then we had dinner onboard.  Phil helped Jan prepare a big pot of chicken chunks with jasmine rice, flavored with cumin, raisins, tumeric, and celery seed.  It was accompanied by fresh tomatoes with feta cheese.  The moon rose over the boat as we ate, casting a beautiful glow on the bay. 

The next day we left our nice, quiet bay and motored back to Levkas Marina in order to position ourselves to transit the swing bridge and to refill our fresh water tanks.  Our route took us around Meganisi, just north of Skorpios (Onassis' island) and along the eastern shore of Levkas, past the villages of Nidri and Nikiana.  We traveled most of the canal separating Levkas and the mainland.  About midafternoon, we pulled into the marina which was a homecoming of sorts - we stayed here 3 nights waiting out last week's storm.

Betsy, Jan, Ron and I walked from the harbor, along the canal to the swing bridge, and around the lagoon to the windsurfing/kiteboarding beach.  The beach was not sand, but rather pepper corn sized rocks that were very unstable for walking.  We "postholed" about a half of mile to a swimming area/beach front resort.  I went swimming and we all enjoyed a drink.  We walked back to the marina, completing over 6 miles.

That evening, we returned to Ey Zyn, a restaurant we enjoyed on our first visit to Levkas.  The food was again excellent.  We retired early so that we could have an early start in the morning and pass the swing bridge at the 8 o'clock-opening.