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Trip Start Mar 24, 2011

Trip End Sep 08, 2011

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Flag of Greece Corfu Town, Ionian Islands, Greece
Saturday, June 25, 2011

We crossed from Dubrovnik to Corfu in one hit to avoid Albanian waters and their minefields. We sailed for just under 53hrs non-stop and we were all pleased to arrive. The crossing was uneventful with the wind behind us for most of the way. Poor Josh suffered from sea sickness but still managed to soldier on during his watches with Mark. I had a queasy belly the whole time but this might have been more due to the fact that I was very anxious about sailing at night. I was on watch with David and he did most of the helming overnight and I did more during the day. Andrew was in charge of himself for the crossing as the rest of us were either on deck or resting. Mark cooked a great feed the second night under quite rocky conditions which was an excellent effort and most appreciated by those on deck (me and David!). The wind died off at 1am on our second night, when we were 10 miles from the top of Corfu and we furled the sails in and took turns doing "bob" watch until the sun came up

Rachel not confidently helming!

. We motored from about 9am until we could see the harbour and of course the wind picked up! We decided to put up the genaker and due to tiredness and not thinking quite right we managed to get it in the water, giving Mark and myself rope burns in the process. We hauled it back on board and David dived in to unhook the rope from around the rudder. Mark and I applied cold beer cans to our burns and discovered that this was surprisingly effective in taking away the sting and we were fortunate enough to not have any lasting damage.

We checked into Greece at Corfu town and saw a few big cruise ships in the harbour. Then it was on to the marina and our first taste of land for 3 days. The marina had a pool that the kids spent the next 2 days in, and a well stocked marine shop that Mark spent the next 2 days in! He picked up all sorts of things that were on the maintenance list, the most important being a new compass that doesn't spin around 360 degrees in swell!

The marina is about 7 kms from the old town of Corfu and David and I hired a scooter to ride into town and buy a sim card and internet stick for the computer. Due to a variety of reasons we ended up doing the trip 4 times and I didn’t scare David too much! You can hire a 50cc scooter with just a driver’s license, and in my case, no experience

Resting in the saloon

! Top speed was 55kms and the hardest thing was remembering to drive on the other side of the road. Old town Cofu is similar to Dubrovnik with paved streets, narrow alley ways and plenty of tourist shops. Everyone speaks very good English for which we are grateful.

Tonight we are on the anchor just outside the marina, and David and Andrew spent their money on a ski boat ride. Andrew went in a donut behind the boat and David had a turn on the wakeboard. Our plan is to head for Paxos tomorrow.

Rachel

During the overnight crossing I couldn’t sleep very well. It was very tiring. I like swimming in the pool at the marina. The donut ride was really fun and I would like to do it again.

Andrew

Corfu Town hotels Slideshow