Ionian June Leisure Cruise

My second crew arrived at the Athenian pontoon in Nydri, Lefkas on Saturday 20th June 2026: Gabriela, Heidi, Ilse, Herbert, joined by Andreas and Michael from the first cruise. Andreas, Herbert and Michael went shopping for our provisions while I prepared the Lagoon 43 catamaran for the new crew. For our first dinner we went to The Pinewood Restaurant and enjoyed nice meze, fish, shrimps and good wine and spent the first night on board moored at the Athenian pontoon.

After an early Greek breakfast at myBakery we motored with no wind round famous Scorpios island and proceeded south to Atokos island to have a look at the swimming pigs. We continued west to NE of Ithaka, looked at Ormos Kioni and finally anchored south of Ak Agios Illias  on 7m sand. Michael and Andreas prepared 2 wonderful Branzinos on a bed of vegetables in the rather weak oven and we enjoyed the quiet bay. Early next morning some wasps drove us away and we motored with no wind east to the remote Drakoneres Islands while having a nice breakfast. We rounded Nisida Sofia, Provati, and Karlonisi, passed a lot of fish farms and anchored lonely in peaceful Ormos Dioni near the NW entrance to the strait of Patras, where we saw some cows bathing in the warm sea.

Tuesday 23rd with no wind we motored west to the southern tip of Ithaka and anchored for a swim in the middle of crowded Antri Bay  in 15m and continued to the harbor of Agia Euphimia, where we moored at the last NW space in 2m with bow anchor. We replenished our provisions at the AB Food Market and enjoyed a faboulus Greek dinner at Amalia Restaurant. Next morning we had English Breakfast at Fior Di Amore and motored north through Diavlos Ithakis, rounded Ak. Daphnoudi, motorsailed SW to famous Fteri Beach and anchored a bit further north in front of high sand stone cliffs at Ageredes Caves in 4m sand. We spent the afternoon swimming in warm water and slept through a quiet night.

Next morning we motored south through Ormos Kyriakis, passed the Venetian Fortress of Assos and visited the small Assos Bay, then set sail and crossed northwest over to the south coast of Lefkas to crowded bays of Ormos Syvota and Micros Gialos. With no wind we motored east along south coast of Meganisi, passed some nice anchor spots near the eastern ti, turned north and found a nice anchor place in 7m in the middle of Ormos Rementinoú. In the morning of our last day we explored the NE bays of Meganisi: Atherinos, Ambelakia, and Balou. Early noon some northerly wind rose to about 13kn and we tried some tacks and jibes and experienced the good sailing performance of this new Lagoon 43 catamaran. For a last swim we continued southwest and anchored east of Nisida Thilia in 4m sand. In the afternoon we motored back to Nydri and moored safely at Athenian pontoon. Again we celebrated our cruise at Taverna Roza.

We logged 182sm in 6 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps  . 

Rounding Ionian Islands on a New Catamaran

 I met my first crew: Andreas, Christoph, Hans-Christoph, Michael, Peter, and Robert at Hotel Armonia in the south of Nydri in Lefkas on Saturday, 13th June 2026. After completing formalities and buying provisions we boarded our boat, a brand new Lagoon 43 named Emerald, chartered from Athenian Yachts. We had an authentic dinner at Tasty and slept our first night on board moored to the small Athenian pontoon.

Next morning after breakfast at myBakery we motored south passing the west coast of Meganisi. Leaving the channel we checked the new sails. Despite light southerly winds we were happy with the sailing performance: with 7kn of true wind beam reach we were able to do 4kn speed over ground. In the afternoon we anchored in the middle of Filiatro Bay on a sandy path of 7m NE of Ithaka and had  and had sardines in buckwheat breadcrumbs for dinner prepared by Andreas. At 09:00 we continued south with nice NE winds of 14kn reaching 7kn SOG near Akra Skinara at the NE tip of Zakynthos. We looked at the impressive Blue Caves, passed Agios Nikolaos and finally anchored at south of Xigia Cove on 9m sand with a faint smell of the nearby sulfur bath and had Taglatelle Bolognese for dinner carefully prepared by Andreas and Michael.

On Tuesday 16th we motored with no wind into Zakynthos port and moored with anchor in the southern harbor alone at the Athenian pier and got a stronger folding chair as a replacement for a broken down plastic chair from the friendly manager. We replenished our provisions at Kritikos Supermarket and visited the harbor cafe. Afternoon we left the harbor and motored to the Nature Reserve for turtles in Laganas Bay in the very south of Zakynthos , where we anchored in the north of Laganas Beach in sand at 4m.

Early next morning we rounded Keri Caves SW of Zakynthos, visited Porto Vromi and looked at the Panagiotis shipwreck at Shipwreck Beach.
With some NE winds and waves we sailed north and anchored in Spartia Bay on 6m in the south of Kephalonia. Next day we motor sailed along the west coast of Kephalonia, passed Ak. Gerogompos, Ak. Atheras, and Ak. Daphnoudi, and crossed Diekplous Kephailinias. We anchored in the south coast of Lefkas at Standing Stones Beach in 21m in Ormos Kastri where Robert and I prepared pancakes with buckwheat flour worth remembering.

On our last cruising day we sailed east to Kalamos, passed Schinas Bay and Kalamos Marina, rounded Asporgiali Light and continued north to Paleiros, where we anchored south of the port on 5m sand for a swim. Finally we continued SW back to Nydri, where we moored on Athenian pontoon for a crw change and service of the watermaker. We celebrated our cruise at Taverna Roza with a exceptional Greek dinner.

We logged 220sm in 6 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps.