This morning we left Nidri once again to make our way over to Meganisi where we were invited out to dinner to celebrate Neils’ birthday We anchored in Port Atheni at lunch time and then spent the afternoon making a birthday cake. Cakes are not something we make very often on board so we were taking a chance but it turned out to be edible and looked very good with its chocolate icing and silver decoration. We enjoyed a typical Greek meal in a local tavern overlooking the bay.
Unfortunately by the time we got back to the respective boats the flotilla members were having a disco night at one of the other restaurants (opposite the boat) so it was a little noisy. We only had to listen to the music until 1am so we were able to get a good night sleep in the end.
We decided not to spend a second night in this bay so made our way round to Abelike Bay where it was not too crowded and there was peace and quiet. We also took advantage of getting some washing done.
On the way round to the bay the calibration tests were carried out on “Laerke” and we then discovered that there was an additional problem so that they would have to return to Nidri to get it sorted out.

On Monday morning we left Vonitsa harbour to make our way to Nidri. Thistime we saw some dolphins but they were not very playful. Turtles were more rare although we did see some whilst in Vonitsa harbor but we were never quick enough to film them as they stayed on the surface for very long – their heads appeared only twice to take breath and then they were gone.
Once through the entrance to Preveza we were able to sail for half and hour and managed to make our way into the canal entrance in time for the opening of the bridge. Once in the queue we discovered that the bridge would not open for another hour so we dropped our anchor and waited patiently unlike some of the other nationalities also waiting to go through. Eventually we got through and we were in luck for once the wind was in the right direction so we were able to hoist all the sails and sail through the Lefkada canal and nearly down to Nidri. It was only on the last stretch that we had to start the engine. It was a very pleasant sail and nice to give them an airing. We moored on the Nielsen quay in the later afternoon as we needed electricity for Svein to carry out the installation work on “Laerke”.
We have now been back in Nidri for three nights. Not long after our arrival we witnessed a motor boat burning in the bay. I truly hope that we will never need the services of the fire brigade here as they took a very long time in coming. The boat burned for at least three hours and in the end sunk. We were plagued by the toxic fumes but it seemed more of an attraction to the locals and in the end the ferry boat and one of the tourist boats were spraying the burning vessel with water. What was the cause of the fire is still unknown.
The auto pilot is now installed on “Laerke” and we have also been able to change the windlass battery which also gave up on us and repair the shower pump that had been leaking.
We shall leave Nidri tomorrow morning for Meganisi and our journey further south.
We have now been travelling for 3 months of which 2 have been spent in the Ionian Sea. We have seen a great deal of interesting places and met many travelers over the course of this time. We are looking forward to the next few months where we shall see a new area of Greece and hopefully have many new adventures.