It took Odysseas 20 years to return to his beloved Ithaca from Troy but we hoped for a much shorter trip considering we started from Meganisi and we wouldn’t encounter any witches, mythical creatures and Poseidon’s Fury. Indeed, it took us a few hours of beautiful upwind/half wind sailing and speed that even reached 7.5 knots with a reef on! We arrived in Vathy, the capital of Ithaca on the afternoon of Wednesday, 7th September. We threw our anchor in the middle of the bay, a short dinghy ride from the center. What a great spot that was!

It was the perfect combination of anchoring (beautiful surroundings, quieteness) and the perks of the city! Ithaca was a pleasant surprise of an island. As it is not touristic, its nature is unspoilt, the city is clean and it emits an air of relaxation and calmness. Adding to that great weather, tasty fish food and charming little streets, our time to Ithaca was truly magical!

On September 11th we decided to visit a famous sandy beach only approachable by water so we took Libra out of the bay and threw our anchor in the Gidaki beach. Steep,green, stony cliffs embracing the sandy and pebble beach with the clear, light blue waters- there are worst places you could spend a Saturday for sure!

On Monday we put our anchor to the test, with 25 knots of wind and it passed with flying colors! The next day, we rented a car and drove a bit around the island to explore the seaside villages Frikes and Kioni and Ithaca’s oldest vilage, Anogi.

Very early the next day we took the ferry to Kefalonia and after a 20-minute ride, we arrived to Sami, the island’s main port. Kefallonia is a big island with much to see, so we tried to squeeze as many sightseeing as we could in a few hours! We drove up to the Agia Eufimia harbour and the famous Fiscardo, the picturesque harbor village and the only surviving one after the 1953 earthquake, where we enjoyed a stroll and fredo coffees. We gazed upon the breathtaking beach of Mirtos but we swam in Emplisi beach as it was better sheltered. We continued our trip down to Asos, a little village in the west coast with its imposing Venetian castle and unique placement. We finalized our trip with a visit to Drogarati cave, an impressive water cave with stalactites, stalagmites and limestone formations! Unfortunately Elena had fallen asleep in the car so she missed this last stop but Jelle and I were fairly impressed! We returned late afternoon at our trusted Libra to prepare as the next day we would sail away!

On the morning of the15th September we left our trusted anchorage in Vathy after 8 (!) days. The wind was not as predicted and we had to motorsail most of our way towards Porto Skrofa. An amazing quiet bay, we picked up one of the beachbar moorings and we spent our night in complete stillness and quietness. The next morning, Elena and I explored the very swallow sea with the long sandy beach and then Jelle joined and we all enjoyed a great lunch at the beach bar before we left again for our next destination; Messolonghi! We spent two nights in the Messolonghi marina, just to fill up on water and electricity after all these days of pure anchoring. We did not even visit the city; we spent our days cleaning up and enjoying coffees and snacks in the marina bar. One worth mentioning event though; our first night in Messolonghi, 16th September, was our 10-year anniversary with Jelle. Who thought we would be spending it in our sailboat in Greece with our 2,5 year daughter? #blessed

Do not miss the next post as we cross the Rio-Antirrio bridge with 30 knots of wind!