CORFU, HERE WE COME
Leaving Otranto, we set sail for the northern most point of Greece which is the island of Corfu. It would be a 55nm sail that took us around 10hrs so instead of making it to Corfu town we stopped at one of the islands north of Corfu called Erikoussa and then the next day carried on motoring to the main port of Corfu.
The weather is slowly getting warmer, so the legs are out as well a few other bits catching some of the sunshine and starting on the tan. We anchored near the port where all the ferry ships and cruise ships anchor. It wasn’t the most scenic of anchorages, but it did the job. Tony took off to start the Customs/Port Police check in dance while I stayed aboard. He wasn’t away long, as being a Saturday, the offices closed early. We then got a visit from the people in the yacht next door, they were sporting an Aussie flag as well as a Zimbabwean flag and after introducing ourselves discovered that they were from Mindarie in Perth. This was also their second-year sailing and their story of how they got into sailing was almost identical to ours down to having sailing lessons with the same guy in Busselton! I’ll say it again, it’s definitely a small world.
The next morning, we set off to try and check into Greece and after some toing and froing we got sorted and with our bikes, we rode into the centre of the town. We found a small place to have some lunch before looking over some of the sights of the town.
Later that afternoon, after we were back on the boat, Tony got an unexpected message from a really old friend, Gill. Tony had met Gill and the rest of the Davidson family when he and Gary had been travelling around Europe in 1987. At one point, both Gary and Tony lived with Dan and Maureen and some of their kids, in their home in Tunbridge Wells while they worked to save some money. Like Tony has done with his German friends, he kept in touch over the years so again, 17 years ago was the last time he had spent any time with Gill. Gill was getting in touch to say she and her wife Laura had landed in Corfu that day to visit Laura’s sister who lives on the island. So, before we knew it Laura and Gill were in a taxi heading for the boat. Then in the tender heading towards Phantomas.
It was a fantastic reunion and meeting for the two old friends, and it was lovely for us to meet Laura who is delightful. We had a drink on the boat and a catch up on old times and even a phone call to poor, unsuspecting Mike Wrenn in Perth which ended up being in the early hours of the morning Perth time! Sorry, but not sorry Mike!!
We got off the boat to go out for dinner where the conversations continued. We left that night with the possibility of catching up the next day and the slight chance of seeing Gill and Laura as we motored down the coast. The hotel they were staying at was just south of the airport and after concentrating on watching the continual flow of planes coming into land over the top of us, Tony spotted two swimmers waving at us. And it was Gill and Laura. They swam out to the boat for another catch up before we continued motoring down the coast.
We were heading to Petritis for the nights stop and were soon surrounded by other yachts and catamarans in the bay. We had a BBQ on board before heading to shore for a walk around the small town.