Sailing Day 2 and 3

September 4 and 5:  Today (Sunday),on our first full day of cruising, we went from Petriti to Longos, Paxos, motoring the whole way.  Paxos is the first island south of Corfu.  We departed around 11 am and arrived at Longos by 2:30 or so.  We dropped anchor and then dragged a line from the stern to loop around a rock near the shore.  Everyone went swimming.  Betsy and I swam over to the town pier and walked along the harbor front, with pastel-colored stucco bars, cafes and tavernas (full restaurants).  We determined that there were space to back the boat up to the town breakwater/dock and encouraged the captain to relocate.  Betsy and I watched from shore as Ron and the crew moved over.  Obviously we could not help with the move.  It took three tries to get the anchor at the right place and to get backed to the dock.  I went swimming again and rinsed off at the back of the boat.  Varis and I bought some water from the only town market.  We are drinking lots of bottled water.  

By the end of the afternoon, the pier was fully lined with yachts and there were a few boats anchored in the bay.  There were also vacationing Greeks on the island who had taken a ferry from the mainland.  We had dinner at the recommended cute 'taverna' on the waterfront along with the many other sailing groups.  We strolled briefly around town and retired to the boat for the evening.   

On Monday (Labor Day), we traveled from Longos to Levkas Town, located on the island of Levkas.  Our strategy was to travel far south to a safe port because a strong storm was forecast to arrive sometime Monday night or Tuesday.  We motored most of the 40 nautical miles but did a 'test' sail a couple of miles outside of the swing bridge/canal that separates the mainland from Levkas Island.  It was a good refresher for raising and lowering the sails and for tacking.  We were killing a little time because the swing bridge opens every hour, on the hour except for 1:00 and 3:00 pm and we knew we would not make the 2 o'clock opening.  So, we had to wait for the 4 o'clock opening.  We joined the 15 other boats milling about in gusty winds just north of the swing bridge. We ultimately dropped the anchor and sat still for 40 minutes.  Just before 4:00 pm, we weighed anchor, and followed the other boats through the passage.  The Debs II was the last boat through; immediately the swing bridge closed and the automobile backups cleared in about 10 minutes.  We puttered down the canal to the marina, were directed to our 'parking' place along the pier, and moored the boat, using a lazy line on the bow and two stern lines.  I was instructed on the proper rope technique on the cleat - OXO.  We shouldn't use a locking loop.

The Levkas Marina is Moorings' other base in Greece.  After securing the boat and having a meeting to talk about how things were progressing, we took a dip in the marina's swimming pool and cleaned up for dinner.  We had a nice dinner at a recommended restaurant on the water opposite of our berth (Burano).  I had sausage slovaki and Betsy had chicken slovaki (chicken bits on a skewer).  The latest weather forecast was for lots of rain and strong wind overnight, and for possibly several more days.  Mooring's sent me a message which I received on my phone.  My SIM card worked for the first time since Corfu.  I was able to hotspot my iPad and computer so I received e-mail, paid a bill and checked on some other things.

We retired and indeed a thunderstorm struck at 4:00 am.  The rain followed.