David's Diary: Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Omous Roumos, Levkas to Vathi, Ithaca

I was up early and went ashore to find a local market. I found the market, but as it is early in the season and this is a tiny village it is not open. We have enough food for today, but supplies are getting low. On my way back to Dragonsinger I stop and take photographs of the beach and the perfectly calm bay.

Caves on Meganisi

We head out around 10:00 and motor over to the caves on Meganisi that we were going to visit yesterday. I stay onboard Dragonsinger as Karalee takes the kids in the dinghy to one of the large caves. Karalee returns and with the kids back onboard Dragonsinger, she and I motor into the cave at the same time as a tour boat with fifty people onboard arrives. We enter the cave and stare up at the ceiling high above us. The tour boat stopped at the edge of the cave and several people from the boat went for a swim.

Jocelyn Sailing

We return to Dragonsinger and head off for One House Bay on the island of Aotoko. We arrive just before lunch and after two tries we manage to get Dragonsinger anchored in a sand and weed bottom. The bay is pretty, but the wind starts to increase making us nervous. By mid-afternoon the wind is blowing over twenty knots. Steve and Deb and concerned as are Karalee and I. Nowornot starts dragging their anchor and we decide to sail to Ithaca.

Approaching Ithaca

Ithaca was the home of Odysseus and as a sailor I wanted to make sure that we visited it. The boys travel on Nowornot, so Karalee, Jocelyn, and I get to sail Dragonsinger by ourselves. The wind is still blowing twenty knots, and there are ten knot gusts so we have to reef the sails, then reef again. Dragonsinger flies along and without the boys onboard we can keep up extra sail and heel over without the boys complaining.

Around 18:00, we round the final point that leads into Vathi, the main town of Ithaca. We anchor in the bay and Dragonsinger swings back and forth in the wind. It looks like the wind will not stop at sunset as it usually does. We invite everyone from Nowornot over for dinner. The kids eat down below while Steve, Deb, Karalee, and I eat in the cockpit as the sun dips below the hills surrounding Vathi. It has been a busy few days, so we all agree to stay in Vathi tomorrow and do some exploring.