A long 45 nautical miles to the south-west brought us back to Greece, to the small island of Erikoussa just north of Corfu. With little wind in the morning, we first had to motor for a while, still with a view of the high Albanian mountains through which we had travelled in the hire car. Goodbye Albania! But then it was nice sailing with a stern wind.
Francesco greeted us in the port of Erikoussa and took our lines. Only around 60 nautical miles from Italy, there is already a bit of Italian flair here. Every time a boat docks, there is a lot of discussion, often a little heated. Erikoussa is the Greek name for heather. We saw a lot of it on our two walks around the island. However, most of it blooms in October. Then the whole island probably glows purple. We stayed on this cosy and beautiful island for three days.
Pictures of Erikoussa
When we wanted to leave, we hesitated at first. The evening before, we had seen a large sailing boat being pushed onto the mooring lines of the other boats by the gusts of wind. There was a lot of shouting in the harbour, but it went well. We didn't want to experience the same when we cast off, but the gusts didn't stop. Francesco then buffered us with his dinghy. Mille grazie Francesco!
We finally reached our next destination only under sail: the large bay of Agios Georgios in the north-west of Corfu. We had already spent a week here 17 years ago, had a small apartment. Every evening we sat on the beach and imagined what it would be like when we anchored here with our own boat. That's what we did now, a quiet night at anchor with a little swell. When comparing our photos from 2007 with now, we realised that many houses and hotels have been added since then. But it is still a very beautiful and rather quiet bay.
Pictures of Agios Georgios
And then the next day another long distance. We travelled along the entire beautiful west coast of Corfu, first under motor again and then with a nice sailing wind. At the southern tip of Corfu we could say ‘Corfu round after all!’. However, we then sailed to the Greek mainland and moored in the port of Sivota. The harbourmaster Petros not only remembered our boat, but also our crew. The last time we visited Sivota a month ago, there were three of us with Claudia. Petros' first question was “Where's the other lady?” Yes, unfortunately she had to go back home to work.
