Awaiting Sunday’s Survey report – meanwhile family time abroad and aboard

The survey on Sunday was over and our buyers had been promised the report and an estimate for the cost of some fibreglass repairs within a couple of days. They didn’t arrive when we expected!

While we were waiting I flew out of Preveza to London Heathrow for a big family celebration.

My sister Sarah and her husband Martin were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary (although together for many years longer!) and they were throwing an after party in their beautiful garden in Cambridge.

There were also a couple of birthdays to celebrate so it was going to be a busy and happy few days!

We were a little bit late flying out of Greece but managed to catch up some time on the way to London. Unfortunately, that was where luck ran out as the air bridge at Heathrow broke down during the attachment process.   After about half an hour of being stuck in the crowded plane some steps were wheeled up and attached to the plane’s rear exit. Luckily I was at the back so was one of the first to get off. 

Soon I was heading into the centre of London on one of the smart and colourful trains on the new Elizabeth underground line.

The new service was fine but the changeover to the  Circle Line at Paddington was quite a trek with a lot of stairs to negotiate. 

Eventually I arrived in Victoria Station and was quickly on my way to Beckenham where I was met by my sister Julia who gave me a lift back to her place – very welcome after the long trek across London. 

The following evening we had a lovely get together at Julia’s with my brother Pat and his wife Marie and their two adult children Megan and James and Megan’s partner Ollie. 

Later that night our daughter’s husband Pieter arrived from The Netherlands – Hannah was already in London with a friend having a couple of days “musical theatre bingeing”.

It was Hannah’s birthday the following day so Pieter, Julia and I travelled into London to meet her and her friend Jean to celebrate with a lovely birthday dinner at a great deli/restaurant called Honey and Co in Bloomsbury. 

It not only served excellent Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food but was also just round the corner from the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road where we went to see Sister Act afterwards. Such a fun night!

It was my sister Sarah and her husband’s Silver Wedding party the very next day and it was wonderful to be there for the celebration with so many of family members and family friends. 

It was a fabulous day with not a drop of rain in sight and warm enough to sit out in the garden to enjoy a magnificent afternoon tea and lots of catching up. 

Later on, some of us went to my nephew Davey’s (Sarah’s son) fabulous newly renovated house for supper and Hannah and Pieter and I stayed the night there. 

The three of us were heading off to Gatwick the next day to catch a flight to Preveza in Greece where we would catch up with Jonathan on S/V Sunday but we still had time to go back to Sarah’s house for another celebration – brunch for my niece Rachel’s (Sarah’s daughter) birthday. 

There was a direct train from Cambridge to Gatwick so we had a very smooth journey there. Our flight was a bit delayed but it worked out fine as it gave us time to get a foot massage for Hannah. 

We arrived late in the evening so we met up with Jonathan in Preveza and after a quick dinner went back to Sunday. 

I had hoped to come back to Sunday to find the survey and repairs estimate had been sent to our potential buyers (who were then kindly going to pass them on to us).

Although they had been promised the full survey within a couple of days after it had taken place, it turned out that it still hadn’t arrived yet. This was an anxious time as the surveyor had verbally indicated that there were some areas of the Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) that would require repair and /or strengthening (but fortunately not any of the major load bearing bulkheads).  Both us and the potential new owners needed to know the extent of the work and an estimate of the repair costs before moving on with the negotiations. 

Although the report was dated earlier, our potential buyers didn’t receive it (and the estimate of costs) until 12 days after the survey had taken place. As I said, it was an anxious wait!

When the report did eventually arrive negotiations began and with the help of our excellent and very experienced broker Yiannis from YD Yachts, we came to an agreement. 

Everything will be finally confirmed (or not!) when our buyers return to Greece from Western Australia at the beginning of September and the GRP specialist has opened up and investigated the areas in question. 

Once it has (hopefully) been established that there aren’t any unexpected issues and that the estimate will cover the cost of repairs required, the final contract and exchange will take place. 

Meanwhile, we had a wonderful few weeks with Hannah and Pieter to enjoy. 

We moved away from busy Preveza and travelled a couple of hours further into the Ambracian Gulf to one of our favourite places – Vonitsa Bay. 

We anchored close to the enchanting Koukounitsa Islet and enjoyed swimming, eating good food and generally relaxing for a couple of days. 

We decided to sail to the island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea as there appeared to be quite a lot of lovely beaches and coves there – a number of them being only accessible by sea. 

Lefkada is linked to the mainland by a causeway and a pontoon bridge and it can be quite exciting lining up with all the other boats waiting for the bridge to open. On this occasion however, we timed it perfectly, and arrived just as the bridge opened and were the last boat to go through. 

We then headed to a beautiful bay Vathiavali which is actually on the mainland, very close to Lefkada. This beach was only accessible by sea until relatively recently which has made it much loved by yachties. 

The road and the recently built beach bar means the cove is now busier but it is still gorgeous with absolutely amazing clear water. 

Unfortunately there are intermittent patches of weed in some parts of the anchorage and a a long line of swimmers buoys which limit the space for yachts. 

This means it is hard to find a safe place to anchor and we found ourselves making several attempts at anchoring before settling for a spot a bit too close for our liking to our friends Steve and Tracey on their beautiful traditional yacht Dusk. 

The alternative was to anchor in weed and put out a whole heap of chain out but the risk of the anchor dragging was just too high.  So we elected to stay put and keep a close eye on our iPad anchor watch app just in case. 

After all the anchoring shenanigans it was wonderful to finally jump into that heavenly water and watch all the fish swim alongside us. 

Later on Tracey and Steve swam over to say hello and we caught up on their latest news. They came back later and we had an enjoyable evening with them aboard Sunday. 

We left quite early the next morning to get to a spot where we knew we would feel a bit more secure – Vlycho Bay at Lefkada Island. This anchorage has a muddy bottom with excellent holding – our favourite!

There are a number of lovely bars and tavernas scattered along the shore here and that evening had drinks and dessert at a nearby pool bar. 

We decided to use Vlycho Bay as a base and go for day trips to the white sand bays nearby as these were fine to stop at for the day but less favourable for anchoring overnight. 

One of these was Desimi Bay, another lovely bay with super clear water and caves to explore. 

Another day we hired a car and had a wonderful day exploring the island. 

Climbing up the winding mountain roads was quite an experience. The steep and laborious slog was worth it for the magnificent views. 

We saw signposts to the Red Monastery and decided to follow them, not knowing what we would find.  It turned out to be the abandoned Monastery of Asomatos Archangel Michael, an atmospheric and interesting place to explore. 

The monastery is believed to have been founded in the 16th century, during the Turkish occupation, but some say it was founded earlier. 

We entered the precincts of the monastery through a low and long stone tunnel.  As we walked through we all sensed a slightly eerie feeling – as if the many feet that had trodden this way over many hundreds of years had left some sort of echo. 

Walking into the bright sunshine we saw crumbling walls, an old well, ancient staircases and a more recently built Church. 

Our next stop was in the picturesque mountain village of Karya famous for its lace making and embroidery.  

In the centre of the village was a big square shaded by very large plane trees. It was a fabulous place to sit and have a cold drink while listening to a Sicilian folk group who played songs from around the Mediterranean. 

That evening we had a wonderful meal at a restaurant called Hippocampus on the shore near where Sunday was anchored. A perfect end to a lovely day.