5 a.m. Cast off and set sail with the first bit of light. At first we have relatively smooth seas, but that changes again after just one hour. Poseidon has probably noticed that we are sailing on and sends his greetings with wind and waves, and then again a good 40°C, the very warm wind doesn’t really cool us down. Lefkada is an island connected to the mainland by a bridge that is like a ship. Every full hour the bridge ship leaves for 10 minutes, you can pass or you have to wait. In any case, it saves you the tedious walk around the outside of the island. Behind the bridge, a canal-like passage awaits us and first a petrol station, diesel in Greece between 1.85 and 1.95 euros. Now I am not sad that we are travelling slowly, the consumption per hour is now only 20l, before it was sometimes 50l at 25 knots speed. Passing Kalamos, Itaka and Kefalonia, with Zakynthos in sight, we turn into the bay of Patras. We leave Patras on the left and reach the Strait of Corinth at the bridge of Rio. Patras would have been too early to anchor, so we continue. But there is still a lot of wind and waves, so we don’t make it to the next marina (which doesn’t exist either, as we saw the next day). In a mini village near Seleanitika we find a fishermen’s buoy and moor up, which the friendly contemporary allowed us to do afterwards. Very restless night, checking the lines every hour, because we weigh much more than a fishing boat and are also longer, who knows if the buoy anchor will hold. In addition, there was a good swell all night. Meaning: 5 o’clock we let go of the line, hardly slept and had a good shake.
Finally we can continue our adventure and hope to reach Cyprus without any major problems. We are very happy when we get into the water, but then we have another problem… The workshop mixed up forward and reverse when assembling the two drives. To fix this would mean that the boat would have to be taken out of the water again, as it is the weekend and there is no lift space available on Monday, we would lose another week. We decide to cope with the situation, although it means that we can only sail at reduced speed, but it saves a lot of diesel and we need between 12 and 14 hours for the daily stages instead of 8 hours. There is also a change in the crew. Bernd is now back in cool Germany, but I am very happy that my son Phil has taken time off.
With daytime temperatures of almost 40°C, we finally set sail around noon, steam down the coast of Corfu, then cruise towards the mainland with the destination of Lefkada. But Poseidon sends us his greetings on the way, wind 5-6 and over 2m waves, after 4 hours of mighty exertion we have had enough and head for the port of Preveza. Here we need the help of another 4 strong guys to get our boat to the pier, the wind is so strong. Beautiful marina, appropriately named Cleopatra, good restaurant, but also on the other side techno party until 5 in the morning when we leave here again.
We got up early, cast off at 5:15, then to Vlore Port, through the middle of freighters and ferries, harbour tugs and excursion boats, moored at a pier, problem because of the huge wall, but somehow managed. Customs formalities and passport control done and now time to leave the country within 24 hours. Around 9:00 we were at the exit of Vlore Bay and could set course for Corfu. A few waves in between, but still a pleasant trip, to save a bit of diesel, only 14 accounts. more »
Refuel, clear customs and cast off. In Montenegro everything really worked out great and nice people everywhere. Like the last 60 nautical miles in Croatia, we now have to sail the next 200 nautical miles without the protection of offshore islands. This means a bit more wind and waves, but the boat runs great, dances over the waves, so we can increase the speed a bit to over 20 knots. This means more diesel consumption but also faster progress. more »
Actually, we wanted to sail from Korcula to Cavtat, the last port in Croatia, so that we could leave there properly. On the way there, we passed Dubrownik and were able to marvel at the fortifications that served King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones series from the sea. The day at sea was totally relaxed and twice we had the pleasure of seeing dolphins close to the boat. On the other hand, Croatia remained an unpleasant memory, more »
Unfortunately, we could only leave Split at noon, and in the morning we had to replace a broken V-belt. The part had been replaced during engine maintenance, but it still didn’t last long. So we went to the shop and bought a few more V-belts at the same time. You never know what will happen and whether you can get parts. After leaving port, calm seas, hardly any wind. That would be pleasant for the rest of the journey. more »
We cast off as planned at 5:00 am. After leaving the sheltered bay of Sukosan/Croatia, we felt the greetings of the wind bora. Waves about one metre high, rain and of course good wind. The „cloud roller“ over the mountains is approaching the coast. We consider turning back, but decide to walk further south to get away from the storm or to head for a sheltering harbour or bay if necessary. After a good 90 minutes more »
Finally, after more than a week’s delay, we can have our boat lifted into the water. It was quite an act to find an articulated lorry that had time to transport the boat the 2km from the dry dock to the lift station. But we were not allowed to lift with the crane that loaded the boat, the crane had to do it on site. The total cost of the lift was around 800 euros. We hope to make up for the delay on the water with hopefully calm seas, but the treacherous wind Bora is approaching and may hold us up for another three days. The plan is therefore to get up at 4 am and sail out with the first morning light. We’ll see, because it’s been pouring with rain all day.
First a „puh“… found a good service partner for the two Volvos. A few things that were a bit of a headache again, but could be fixed without having to remove the engines. But then: the cooling system has a problem, a pipe is defective. Now we have to get the part and at least one engine has to come out. Organised here too, but now it’s the weekend, which means standing around for 3-4 days longer. We use the time to polish a bit, repair seals and stock up on food and anchor beer. Now it’s also clear that I won’t be going on tour alone, but that a friend has hired me as a „sailor“. I quickly decided to get on the plane to Zadar and hired him. Great joy and gratitude.
Before we set off on the big journey from Croatia to Cyprus, there is still some final work to be done. It will certainly take longer than expected. Some checks have not yet been done and unfortunately some things have been stolen: all lines, fenders and clamps
Now it’s almost time for our next adventure. We are transferring our „Sancy“, our boat, from Croatia to Cyprus. It goes down the entire Croatian coast, past Split and Dubrovnik, past many well-known holiday resorts and diving spots. Then we pass the coast of Montenegro and Albania, reach Greece. more »
Thank you very much for your booking. With the pretty ladies we had to make a stop at the rock of Aphrodite, of course. You can download all the photos with the LINK we sent you.
Thank you very much for the really fun hours in the mountain village of Lefkara. Especially our coffee break with homemade cake will remain in our memories. Please ask for all pictures to download. See you again soon?
SanCyTours – Cape Greco Tour. At Cape Greco we really discovered a unique nature, wild coasts and culture and enjoyed the time with you, our dear guests, thank you very much. Remember Bridge of Karaka, Lover´s Bridge, Green Bay, Chapell and Smugglers Cave, Sculpture Park, Cape Greco View Point
SanCyTours – Nicosia Old Town Tour. We visit some historic places, the Ledra Street, crossed the border, tookn lunch in the turkish part of Nicosia in Büyük Han. Many thanks to our guests, you can download all photos with the LINK we emailed. Enjoy the remaining days on the island.
SanCyTours – Troodos Tour in Winter. With the big snow surprise from 1000m altitude. And all that under a bright blue sky. Many thanks to our guests, you can download all photos with the LINK we email. Enjoy the remaining days on the island.
Many thanks to our guests. Some photos of our Larnaca tour are online. High resolution photos can be requested by email.
Watch our new video from the Underwater Sculpture Park Musan.
If you would like to enjoy it live, contact us per Email: service@sancytours.com
Discover the sights of Larnaca with us.
Castle, churches, Roman architecture, the new seaside and much more. Finally, we invite you to our hometown of Oroklini for an unforgettable meze dinner.
After the 2022 season, we will take the time to create a photo gallery and podcasts for our tours.
So you have the perfect opportunity to see what awaits you on our tours together
The 2022 season is coming to an end.
We thank you for the trust, the lots of fun with you, the romantic hours on land and on board, and the many great conversations with you.
You guys were just fantastic!
Experience the ancient sites of Paphos. You’ll the major historical attractions in the area, as the Paphos Castle and the Tomb of the Kings.
You’ll also get a chance by a stop at the rock where Aphrodite emerged from the sea.
Choose your date and book now:
