Sailing Day 12, 13 and 14

September 14, 15 and 16:  On Wednesday, we got up early and left Levkas in time to catch the 8 am swing bridge opening.  Ron was somewhat concerned about negotiating the passage, but it went smoothly.  We motored north a few hours on glossy seas to the little island of Antipaxos to swim in Emerald Bay, along with lots of others.  We enjoyed a swim and snorkel, seeing a few fish, sea urchins, and underwater rock formations.  Our final destination was Mongonisi, where we put down two anchors and ran a stern line to a rock on the shore.  We had dinner onboard.  Phil helped Jan prepare an Indian vegetarian dish called dalbaht - one big pot of spiced lentils plus a big pot of spiced jasmine rice with cashews and dried fruit. It was sophisticated cooking for a small galley.  Betsy made tsassiki - chopped cucumbers, garlic, and thick Greek yogurt, which was a nice accompaniment.

On Thursday, we watched the sun come out over the mainland.  Then we motored from Mongonisi across to Mourtis, on the mainland.  We landed at the pier on the north side of the village.   We put out an anchor and had a lazy line, with 2 stern lines.  Prior to leaving Mongonisi, we 'dinghied' to shore for a walk across the causeway to the south end of the island of Paxos and up on the jagged limestone cliffs.  The rock formations were amazing, layered and holely.  There were also some interesting plants growing among the rock.  After our walk we paused for coffee and pastries at a beach side cafe, enjoying the calm, quiet morning.

After arriving in Mourtis, we had a lazy afternoon, hanging out in the shade of our boat to avoid the hot sun.   About 4 pm, Betsy and I walked over to a beach via the "Path of Love" for a swim in the ocean.  We came back to the boat to cleanup in time for happy hour.  The group walked into town for dinner and had an engaging waiter who asked numerous political questions.  Guess what he wanted to know.  Upon questions from us, we learned he was born in the US and lived there until he was 10 years old.  He also said that about 50% of the people he talked with  who were from the US supported Trump.  He theorized it was driven by capitalist thinking - people who can afford sailing vacations  

Today (Friday), we had our usual breakfast on board and then motored quickly over to the Blue Lagoon, a small bay with patches of white sand underwater that give it a turquoise color. Everyone snorkeled for a while, checking out the rocky shoreline and the little beach.  It turned out the most interesting fish were hanging out by our boat.  We then motored 22 nautical miles west and north back to Corfu and the Moorings Base, arriving about 2:30.  We vacate the boat early on Saturday, so we needed to refuel the boat and complete the boat debriefing Friday afternoon.  The quay was crowded with all the other boats on the same schedule.  Once we were docked, the Moorings team checked on any problems that needed fixing and we started packing and cleaning.  About 6 pm, Betsy went ashore to take a nice long shower at the marina wash house.  It felt good to get all the salt washed off.  

About 7, the group walked in to the village of Govina for dinner at Zorbas, as recommended by one of the Moorings guys.  Although the restaurant was tainted with cigarette smoke and mosquitos and a single guy was serving as waiter and bus boy for all the tables, the food was good and generous.  We shared a big house salad with boiled eggs, croutons, carrots, and the rest of the usual stuff.  Then we had 3 appetizers - fried eggplant slices, grilled feta with tomato sauce, and baked saganaki cheese -  a sort of Greek tapas.