Arrived in Greece
Next stop into Catania, a tiny marina at Porta Conta…. A very sheltered and shallow draft marina but suited us and was a only a short walk to the lively town. We left passing Catania and anchored in Buccali Bay after a swim and a rest we carried on to Syracuse.
We enjoyed the town for a few days and then returned to Catania to collect Sheryl for a week…… We stayed in Porto Conto and enjoyed 2 delicious aperitivo meals at 9/10 euros each including a cocktail. The seafood aperitivo was stunning and we tasted our first raw sea urchin which was gorgeous…. We went on a guided tour in a land rover safari to see Mount Etna, we were lucky as we had forward facing seats our Australian companions didn’t!! Our guide showed us the recent lava eruption and the lava caves and we walked up the active volcano!
A lovely experience especially in the lava cave where there was a thin string stretched across with a sign 1.5 km drop!!
We stayed well back…..
We also stayed in the old town port to see the other side of Catania where we tried Arancinis for the first but not last time.
Leighton motor sailed to Syracuse and Sheryl and I did some shopping and caught the train to meet him in Syracuse.
We loved Syracuse a lovely town with a brilliant market where the “sandwich man” did the most gorgeous sandwiches with lots of tasters and the most delicious smoked mozzarella… we took 3 vacuum packed cheeses but wished I had taken more….. One of the boards broke in the marina while I was walking on it but luckily the croc flip flops saved any broken skin just a bruise……
A lovely week with Sheryl.
After Sheryl left we made our way back up the coast anchoring at Taormina followed by Roccella Ionica which was a 70 mile trip back to mainland Italy. We had an early start after a very rolly uncomfortable night; The wind was giving us a good sail until the jib knot failed ….. Luckily Leighton rolled it up quickly before we lost her…. the wind died anyway at this point so motoring wasn’t such a poor option. We stayed a couple of nights in Roccella Ionica sorting out the sail and doing some other little jobs.
When we left for Castella it was flat calm so we motored and anchored by the castle and were buzzed by a drone…… blooming things ……
Flat calm again heading for Crotone….. Some fishing but no fish…. wind picked up so a good sail into Crotone past the gas rigs…. a lively town with very helpful locals when we lost a wheel off our shopping trolley…. Lovely beaches and shelving sands.
Into St Maria Di Leuca where we topped up with Italian bits (love their mushroom stock cubes) and diesel as not sure of availability in Greece at the mo due to their “crisis “…. Oh and topped up with delish Puglia wine. 
Another early start as we have 60 miles to get to the island of Othonoi our first touch of Greece. We had forgotten several things about Greece…. The cats and wine carafes.. We liked the waitress’s solution to the cats…. A water pistol!! We anchored fore and aft which was very effective against the swell…. surrounding boats were rocking and rolling like crazy.
Next stop Erikousa…….. dramatic cliffs and a pretty snorkel but coolish water for July. 
Wind direction prevented us from staying in Casseopia on Corfu ….. looked pretty though.
Good breeze and a good sail to Agios Stefanos (Corfu ) , a cute village with a good choice of restaurants.
A short hop to Kalamari beach where the Durrel family lived in the “white house“ (we thoroughly enjoyed the tv series which has been shown since).
We walked in a procession to celebrate the family and ate at Thomas’s place which seemed apt and not only did we have a lovely meal it was a lovely view too.
Next stop an anchorage just outside Gouvia Marina, it was lovely and the sea temp was a brilliant 30.3 degrees centigrade…… We had to go into Gouvia marina to buy our permit to allow us to sail in Greece. We had to pay for water here as well as a pricey marina not impressed.
A strange little town but the marina area was good.
Next anchored off Corfu town, near the castle – the water was very warm but smelly and Leighton ended up with an ear infection (1st time ever!) Loved the town, lots of shops but too hot to enjoy them.
Onwards to Potriti where we did our first med mooring against a town wall while using our anchor whilst being watched by several sailors, the second time we did a good job… A very busy quay.
The water tap wasn’t working on the quay but at least the closest tap although up a hill was free; freaked us out a bit as we thought it was the shape of things to come. There were several Egyptian fishermen living on their boats for the summer.
A flotilla was in with a young set who entertained us by doing the Greek dancing in the sea, a good idea as it had to be cooler.
Leighton’s ear wasn’t getting better so anchored just outside Lefkimmi canal and took the dinghy up the canal to see the doc and get a course of antibiotics. Had a good meal and motored back and managed to get on board before darkness descended. We were about 4 miles from Kavos but it sounded closer.
A good sail to Paxos which was a lovely anchorage , beautiful water and a cute town with good restaurants. Met up with Ann and Tony on Razzamatazz, great to see them again.
Our niece Lyndsey has arranged to come over with Leighton’s brother Rodney and Sister in law Jane in August to Zante and we pretended to be staying in Corfu so wouldn’t be seeing them… Its quite some distance to Zante so consequently we didn’t stay as long as we would have liked. 
A good sail to Preveza but as we approached a horrific thunderstorm closed in on us. Luckily we were on the edge of it and it didn’t last long. Leighton put the kindles, phones etc in the oven to protect them… lol who knows. The lightning was very close and there were a few girly screams….
. While we were in Preveza we secured winter storage in a yard recommended to us by Tony and Ann and then left heading for Zante to surprise Leighton’s brother and and Oh what a surprise it was………