Spring Sailing in the Ionian Sea
- kelligwiggins
- 1 hour ago
- 9 min read
On March 22, 2026, we began our journey back to Greece. We left Wichita in the early morning, and flew to Chicago. It was like deja vu - our flight in Chicago was delayed, and unfortunately we missed our next connection to Athens. Once again we spent the night at a Newark hotel. On the evening of March 23 we departed from Newark, and landed in Athens on the morning of March 24. (2nd note to self, avoid that darn Chicago/Newark flight in the future)!
Anyway, we had an uneventful flight to Athens, and these pics were actually taken out of the plane window. Check out the snowy mountaintops!
From Athens, we took a couple of busses to the Cleopatra Marina in Preveza, walking the last mile in the rain. We were very happy to be back on our boat, although she still had some work to be done before dropping back in the water.
Randy and I put a new coat of anti-fouling paint on the bottom of the boat, after first lightly sanding some of the old paint off. We also removed the old registration numbers from the hulls.
We replaced our dinghy with something stronger and more durable. Bonus, it has a sturdy aluminum bottom, and doesn't leak air like our old one!!
On Wednesday April 1st, (our son Taylor's birthday), we dropped the boat back in the water and prepared for some cool spring sailing.
We hung around the marina for a day to make sure everything was in working order, then set off across the Ambracian Gulf to Hospital Bay near Preveza. We spent a couple of days checking the boat back in with the Port Authority, and gathering provisions and water for the next few weeks.
On Tuesday April 7 we left the anchorage bright and early and made our way toward the island of Meganisi, in the Ionian Sea. On the way we had to travel through Lefkas, and there is a floating bridge. Boats can only go through at certain times of the day, because the traffic has to be stopped. Here is a brief video of the 'bridge' opening to let us through.
We continued along the canal south of Lefkas. It is beautiful and very peaceful.
We sailed on to Abelaki Bay, off the island of Meganisi. The restaurants were not open yet, and there were only a few boats in the bay. We spent five quiet nights, exploring much of the hilly island during the days.
Here are a few pics from our walks around the island. The spring flowers are gorgeous!
These small shrines or chapels, called eikonostasia, can be found along the roads all over Greece. They usually contain pictures of saints and a flame of some kind. You will be seeing more of these as we go along!
We left Meganisi on Monday April 12, back through the floating bridge, returning to Preveza. More spring flowers!!
After several days waiting for a clear weather-window, we decided to sail back to Albania, to reset the boat's 18-month VAT clock. On Monday April 19 we sailed to Corfu, Greece to stay for a night.
On Monday April 20 we sailed north to Sarande, Albania. The sunrise was beautiful.
We were able to sail for much of the trip. On our sail to Albania, the odometer on our chart plotter clicked past 3000 nautical miles. This is the number of miles we have sailed since leaving Pattaya, Thailand. This was a pretty exciting accomplishment for us! We estimate our total sailing mileage at around 4000+ nautical miles.
Once we reached Sarande, we tied the boat to the wall at a very small quay near the ferry terminal. Randy contacted our agent there, and she got the ball rolling to get us and the boat checked in to Albania. We spent four nights here, hiking to some beautiful sites in the surrounding mountains during the day.
Our first walk was to the Lekuresi Castle, which was built in 1537. It was not open, but the views of the surrounding countryside were amazing.
The next day we hiked to the ruins of the Monastery of the 40 Saints, which date back to the 6th century AD.
We also found ruins of the Basilica Synagogue of the Onhezmus Castle right in the middle of the city. Tools found on this site date back to 1400-1100 B.C.
After getting our boat paperwork in order, we sailed south again to Corfu to check ourselves and the boat back into Greece. We stayed at anchor for one night, then headed further south to an anchorage called Bella Vraka. Located between the island of Mourtemeno and the mainland near the town of Syvota, it is a narrow waterway with crystal clear water. It was peaceful and beautiful.
We happily shared the space with just one other small sailboat, until a large tour boat from Corfu came along, and anchored right next to our boat. We were on shore enjoying the small pebble beach, when Randy saw that the tour boat was so close that the captain was reaching over our railing to push away from our boat. Randy jumped in the dinghy, and went to investigate. The tour boat pulled up its anchor, and dropped it again further away. The people swimming in the water had to get out of the way - it was quite a fiasco. Luckily no one was injured, and our boat came out unscathed! You can see Randy in our dinghy at the bottom right of this photo.
We spent several days here, hiking around the area. No more tour boats arrived, thank goodness!
On Tuesday April 28 we moved further south along the coast to Alonaki Fanariou, also known as Two Rocks Bay. The water here was also crystal clear, and we anchored in the large bay with just three other boats.
After a quiet night, we sailed south to Preveza, and replenished our water and groceries. The full moon on May 2 was amazing!
On May 3 we sailed back south past Lefkas to Nydri, and anchored in the huge Vliho Bay. The bottom is thick black mud, causing sailors to nickname it 'Velcro Bay', because anchors tend to stay put. It's nice not to move, but when we bring the anchor up we have to use buckets of water to clean the mud off of our anchor and chain!
Since changing our boat registration from the US to the UK, we had to have the MMSI number on our VHF radio and the AIS transponder reprogrammed, due to changing our boat registration from US to UK. Randy removed the AIS component from the boat, and dropped both off with some technicians from Lefkada Yacht Service.
We stayed here for several nights, exploring the nearby town and hiking trails.
These ruins near Nydri are the site of 33 circular burial tumuli dating to the Early Bronze Age (2600-2200 B.C.). These are the earliest burial tumuli found in Greece.
We hiked up a steep road to a shelter overlooking the Bay. The goats didn't want to move out of the road!
On Thursday May 7 we sailed east to the island of Kalamos, anchoring near a small marina named Episkopi. We took the dinghy into the small marina, and found a couple of what Randy calls 'Popeye boats'. We took a short hike up the hill. It was a beautiful forest, and we discovered the most amazing roses!
We didn't stay here overnight, but decided to head to Vathy in Meganisi. We stern-tied to the wall, and enjoyed several days relaxing and hiking the hilly roads to Katomeri and Sporochori.
One afternoon, a woman on the dock caught a small octopus in a net. She proceeded to squeeze the ink out of it, then killed it and put it on her grill for supper!
Randy bought some fresh sardines from a fisherman, and he grilled some for his lunch.
On May 12 we headed north to the mainland and anchored at Varko. The water was clear and clean, and we could see our anchor on the bottom. The next day we took a walk to the nearby town of Pogonia.
We headed back to Vliho Bay near Nydri for the weekend. Weather reports were predicting strong winds and rain for Saturday and Sunday, so we wanted to be more protected. Sure enough, the wind picked up, and we had to keep an eye on our anchor, as well as all of the other boats around us. Randy saw several boats dragging, but luckily none were close to us.
We picked up our updated VHF and AIS components, and Randy reinstalled the AIS on the boat. Now we are all up-to-date, and Sunspot Baby is officially registered in Jersey, UK. The screenshots below are from the Marine Traffic - Ship Tracking app. Its a free app you can use on your phone to keep track of where our boat is at any given time. Its pretty cool - we use it to find our sailing friends. We also used it to track the cargo ship when our boat was being moved from Phuket to Genoa.
Back in Nydri, we had breakfast with our friends Dave and Trudi, the Aussie/UK couple who now own Zoe. We had met them last Fall. It was great to see them again and catch up. We learned that they live on a houseboat on a river in Australia when they're not sailing around Greece on their catamaran!
Randy and I also dropped our laundry off at a laundry service (love these!), then took a hike to a nearby waterfall - it was really pretty.
On May 19, we moved back over to the east side of Meganisi, to a small anchorage with our new UK friends John and Sharon, and their dog Cleo. They have a beautiful catamaran that they just bought, and are enjoying sailing around the same areas that we are.
For this anchorage, we decided to try something new for us. So we dropped the anchor, backed up toward the beach, and Randy jumped in the water to swim to shore with a yellow stern line. John gave us a hand tying the lines to rocks on the shore, and the first photo is John giving Randy a ride back to the boat on his paddleboard. In the second photo, you can see the yellow stern lines off the back of the boat.
The bay is called Ormos Barbarezou, but we found out later that the locals call it the Nude Beach. We really had no idea!
We had a delicious barbecue on John and Sharon's lovely boat, and enjoyed two nights at this quiet anchorage.
On May 21 we moved around Meganisi to Vathy, and stayed at the city quay. Again we dropped our anchor about 40 meters from the wall, then backed up and tied our dock lines to rings on the dock. We hooked up the water, filled our tanks ,and gave the boat a good washing.
We did some more walking around the island, visiting a beach bar, a pizza restaurant run by a Frenchman, then saying farewell (for now) to John, Sharon, and Cleo.
On May 26, we were so excited to pick up our very first overnight guests on the boat. My high school buddy Phyllis and her daughter Mavis are traveling in Europe, and were able to spend a few days sailing around with us as well. So Randy and I left Vathy and headed north to Lefkada, where we met their taxi along the canal right before the swinging bridge. It was great to see them, and we turned around and headed back to Vathy for the night.
We sailed south, then tied up to the jetty at the Taverna Karnagio, near Vathy, and enjoyed a quiet night on the boat. We had dinner, showers, and breakfast at the restaraunt there.
The next day we motored over to Nydri, and stayed in Vliho Bay. We took them for a dinghy ride to shore, then walked to the waterfall, where Mavis took a quick dip in the icy water. We enjoyed some delicious Greek cuisine, shopped for souveniers, and had a very nice time catching up.
On May 28 we sailed north, through the swinging bridge at Lefkada, then on to Preveza. We spent their last night in Hospital Bay, and took the dinghy to shore for more yummy Greek food. Back on the boat, we spent several hours reminiscing, listening to some classic 70's and 80's tunes. It was a great time! I think they had a nice time, and we are looking forward to having them back.
The next morning, we took them back to shore so they could catch the bus in Preveza back to Athens.
Randy and I headed across the bay to the Cleopatra Marina, and we pulled the boat out of the water that same morning. We spent the next several days storing items away, cleaning, and getting Sunspot Baby ready for three months of dry dock storage.
On Wednesday June 3 we flew from Preveza to London, to Boston, and we are heading back to Kansas on Saturday June 6.
While in Boston, we just happened to catch one of the last Triumph concerts. Randy had seen the band in concert over 40 years ago, and has always wanted to see them again. Apparently he had planned this several months ago, and wanted to surprise me. You know, I was wondering what made him choose to spend a couple of days in Boston on our way home!
Anyway, the concert was amazing, and I'm really glad Randy had the opportunity to see them again.
We are back in the States for about three months.
We plan to return to Greece in late August, and sail during the months of September and October. Visitors would be most welcome!
Γεια σου!!
(Bye for now!)