Wednesday 29 June 2017 – Oxia (just into Ionian Sea)

Up early to make our way into the Ionian.  The weather forecast is for no wind and that is what we get.  For the first three hours the sea is glassy.  A few ripples arrive after that, but that is all.  We are making our way to a tiny uninhabited island with a very pretty sounding anchorage.  After two days in a big town that sounds great.  Richard is hoping it will be so quiet we can skinny dip.

We get to Oxia just after 2pm.  The pilot book says that there is a fish farm in one bay, but now there is another taking up most of the second bay.  However, the corner Richard thought would do for us to anchor in is not affected by the fish farm.  However, there is another boat anchored so it looks like skinny dipping may be out.

The problem with this anchorage is that it is very deep.  Also it shelves steeply.  So there is not enough room to put out the extent of scope we want without hitting the shore!  But Richard does find a spot that is “only” 15 metres deep so we drop the anchor and put out 40 metres of chain.  Then Richard takes the dinghy across and manages to put a line ashore, which we tighten up on the winch and we seem to be fine.

It really is a beautiful bay.  All very wild with cliffs covered in trees and bushes.  The other boat goes off, so we do get our skinny dip.  It is very hot and the water is delightful.  But quiet does not last too long.  After about an hour a large catamaran anchors on the other side of the bay.  It is full of children and they make a lot of noise and bring paddle boards and kayaks over to where we are anchored.

In the meantime we are getting worried about our anchor.  We seem to be moving closer and closer to the shore.  Our line keeps slackening.  It may just be that we are being blown a bit from side to side, but we are concerned.  We really have two choices.  They are to reset the anchor or to go off to another anchorage before it is too late to get there in daylight.

We decide on the former.  The catamaran also leaves and as two boats where anchored where she was we decide to try there to see if there is shallow enough water for us to anchor and swing free.  Well, there wasn’t.  We don’t know how much chain those boats had, but we can’t find anywhere under 20 metres to anchor and with that depth we need 60 metres of chain which will put us on the shore.  So in the end we wind up in nearly the same place we started.  However instead of being in 14 metres of water we dropped the anchor in 17 metres and have put out just over 50 metres of chain.  We seem to be holding fine and are well away from the shore.  (In the Solent we are used to 5-8 metres of water!)

As there is nothing here, I have to cook on board.  I am trying out a new recipe for sausages with peppers, tomato and aubergine.  However it takes a lot of frying.  So I spend nearly an hour below in 31C cooking.  Not good.  I am dripping with sweat by the time I finish and all I can think of is to jump in the water, which I do.

We eventually eat our dinner.  It is tasty enough, but I don’t think the recipe is worth the effort.  I won’t bother to write it up for my column.

So we sit here now in the dark with no one else around.  We have no internet connection, so this will be posted tomorrow.