Parga – Ionian Sea Sailing Trip

The flotilla punch party finished at 8pm and we jumped on a boat taxi to Parga town to hunt out some dinner.

The taxi boat seats about 30 people and whizzed through the bay and around the headland. We turn the corner and were met by a pretty town nestled in the hill side with hundreds of bars and restaurants all buzzing with tourists.

We paid our 5 euro return fare and hopped off the boat onto the quay.

Pleased we’d made the trip into town we started hunting for a restaurant for dinner. We have a bad habit of wandering around for ages looking at restaurants but decided we just needed to pick something and go for it. We found a table in a place “Restaurant Gemini” and swiftly ordered drinks.

Dinner was a mixed grill for me and mixed seafood for Colin. The food was delicious but way too much of it, in fact there was so much of it left we asked if they could box it up for us to take home. Perfect for lunch the next day.

Colin asked for the bill and also if we could take one of their candles, to light our cockpit in the evening. Not only did the waiter say yes he went and found us a new one, how very sweet of him.

I’m sure we could have wandered around all the back streets for hours, they were crammed full of gift shops, restaurants, clothings stores and many more but it was really busy and we didn’t have the energy or patience to negotiate our way around the many tourists. I spotted a bakery selling spinach and feta pie, we had it the previous year in Mykonos and it was lovely, and headed straight for it. We bought some to go with our lunch leftovers the next day.

The bakery was filled full of cakes, breads, pastries and also the freezer display units with the prettiest looking ice lollies. Colin opted for a slice of apple pie which they boxed up to take back to the boat to have with coffee later.

We picked up water, ice, yogurt and fruit from a supermarket for breakfast and grabbed a glass of wine and beer whilst waiting for the taxi to arrive to take us back to our boat.

They were selling balloons on the quay, covered in colourful lights. I’d commented earlier that we could do with some fairy lights for the boat canopy, I told Colin if they were 5 euro’s or less I was having one to light up our cockpit. They were exactly 5 euro so had to buy one.

The taxi arrived and we jumped on board. Back round the headland the way we came but this time in pitch black, I have no idea how the skipper knew where he was going but manoeuvred around the rocks with ease. Everyone on the taxi had boats moored in the bay so the taxi dropped everyone back at their own boat, manoeuvring round and locating the boats by torch light.

We had a lovely evening out but were pleased to be back on board our boat, leaving all the hustle and bustle behind us.

We had a quick cuppa before heading to bed, we decided to leave the apple pie for another day.

Shattered from what seemed like a very long day I fell into bed and was one of the few people who didn’t hear all the lead crew and younger people in the flotilla come back, trying to be quite but apparently making lots of noise, at 4am.

We had a 9.30am briefing today so no rushing around today. Lovely chilled morning enjoying a cuppa on the deck and then back across all the boats to the meeting.

All the boats were lined up in a raft and we were 2nd from the end so didn’t have to wait too long before we were off. Same routing getting out of the harbour as we had getting in, following Benjo in his dingy, no beer in hand though at 10.30 in the morning.

Today we are going it alone. Just Colin and I. Henry, our skipper for the last 2 days has got a ride on another boat, which he’ll be pleased about as we are going to Parga, one of his favourite beaches.

We head out of the harbour and out to sea and when we are well clear of land we decided to have a go at putting the sales up. It’s such a beautiful day and much calmer than yesterday but that also means not much wind.

First Colin puts out the genoa sail (the front one to you and I) and it flaps around a bit whilst I steer the boat around to try and pick up the wind. Then the main sail goes up and I turn off the engine. Colin pulls on ropes and winds in winches to adjust the sails until he’s happy and off we go. There isn’t much wind and it’s heading straight at us, not the ideal direction so we decide we need to tack, you know, the zig zagging thing I spoke of before.

Lots of our group passed us with their engines on heading for 2 Rock Bay, a bay stop lunch and swim spot en route.

We spend a brilliant morning sailing, the wind was low enough for us to practice but still be able to use the sails. We headed into 2 Rock Bay at around 1.15am and dropped anchor.

We were really proud of ourselves having made it through the morning on our own.

The bay was stunning. A dozen or so boats all anchored off shore in the bay, people swimming off a small beach and a pretty looking bar up on the cliff.

We decided to make lunch and enjoy the stunning views before having a swim. Nothing too great on the menu. A couple of croissants filled with left over cheese and tomato. The croissants we bought were stodgy and I spent lunch telling Colin we need to plan better for tomorrow.

After lunch we had a refreshing swim and got the paddle board out. I managed to progress to kneeling but Colin managed to get up on his feet.

I paddled around the bay, around the other boats, saying hello to the other boats in our flotilla, peering into caves and taking in the views. I think I could get used to this sailing thing.

We headed out of the bay around 3pm, winched in the anchor and headed back out to sea. It was windier than this morning so quickly got the sails up, the wind still towards us, so more tacking. We managed to get the boat going at a consistent 3 knots, I’m not sure it that’s fast or not, doesn’t feel super fast but we’re still moving along and a steady pace. We were only doing 3.5 knots yesterday in much stronger wind. Although there was some discussion between Colin and Henry yesterday as to whether the speedo was correct and we are going faster than it says.

We spent a good hour sailing, taking, Colin checking the GPS to make sure we were heading for the right bay and then the wind really got up. We need to go straight ahead to go into Parga, our overnight stop, but we were losing speed, in fact practically stopped and doing 0.3 knots. We decided to tack, at thing point everything went wrong!

The wind caught the genoa sail as it dropped and it was flapping around everywhere, Colin couldn’t pull it in straight. We were listing over really bad and there was a lot of frantic talking about which way to steer and to put the engine on. I needed to steer left but the wheel was as far as it could go, I honestly thought the boat was going to capsize. Colin managed to pull the sail in and we got control for a few seconds then we were listing against, I couldn’t steer the boat and I started to panic.

Colin was calling to me to put more throttle on the engine and steer, I was but nothing seemed to help me get control.

He then started to drop the main sail, not easy when the boat is listing and he’s trying to tell me what to do. The sail is jammed, yes JAMMED. Red cable to pull sail in (STOP) jammed, green cable to pull out (GO) jammed!!!!

The wind was getting stronger and the sky blacker, I was panicking even more and Colin decides to go out on the front deck to see why it’s jammed. Not a good idea when the boat is listing so much and I haven’t got control, what do I do if he goes over board? S**t ! I really wasn’t liking sailing at this point !!!

Colin can see the problem but can’t clear the cable, it’s proper jammed. He comes back to the cockpit and heads below deck to radio for help.

“Kamara, Kamara, this is Filiata, we have a jammed sail, can you help?” “No problem, where are you”. Colin had a rough idea of where we were and we were told to head towards Parga. I put the throttle up and started to head in, the main sail now flapping around in the wind.

Yorkie came speeding towards us in his dingy, I slowed down as he pulled up at the back of our boat and hopped on board. Colin pointed out the problem and he swiftly jumped on the front deck, gave the cable a good tug and it freed up. Yorkie jumped back in his boat and headed back, obviously all in a days work for him as he said “no problem, that happens sometimes”. All I can say is I hope it doesn’t happen again to us.

Colin winches in the main sail and we head towards the port, and then the heavens open. It reminded me of the the weather in the alps. Beautiful sun followed by high winds, then the black cloud and then the downpour. We should have recognised the pattern being so close to mountains.

There was a queue to get us moored up, 2 boats in front of us so we had to wait a while just out of the harbour. All sorts was going on, the rain was pouring down, someone was swimming, yes, swimming across the harbour mouth and then the boat in front of us needed pushing in as the engine failed. I just wanted to get into the harbour and stop!

Finally it was our turn, I told Colin he’d have to motor in, we were mooring straight onto a beach. Colin took the boat nice and slow and for some reason I decided to get on the deck. As the boat hit the sand I fell over, Hurriedly getting to my feet un hurt.

Finally we were moored up, anchors down and we could relax. We were soaked from the rain and stood on deck exchanging tales with fellow flotillas about our day at sea.

We were all moored bow to the shore so the only way off the boat was by water, dingy, paddle board or swim.