July 30 – August 2, 2015 —
After leaving Preveza, we headed back through the Levkas Bridge and south into a beautiful anchorage we have heard about many times. It is referred to simply as “Maganisi”. It is on the northeast corner of Meganisi Island which is a small island off the southeast corner of Levkas. The anchorage channels look like branches of coral, and it is so tight the only way to anchor there is with a long-line ashore. Sara is getting good at swimming ashore with the line in her mouth and chains tied around her waist… (just kidding–the chains are actually attached to a float which she swims to shore with, and she trails a floating line with her free hand). Our late dog, Bentley, would have had an important role to play with this drill–all we would have needed to do would be to throw a tennis ball to shore!
After taking two long lines ashore and adjusting the anchor chain which we dropped in 40 feet of water, we positioned ourselves only 50 feet from the rocky shoreline. This is not for faint of heart. The anchorage is beautiful and the swimming incredible in the crystal clear blue water. There is not coral like in the Caribbean, but the underwater rock formations are pretty and there lots of colorful fish. The only thing wrong with this picture were the pesky hornets that showed up in time for happy hour. Who invited them?
On Friday, we made an early departure for Fiskardho, Cephalonia, to hopefully get a spot on the quay. We are told if you don’t get there by 1100 you can forget about getting a prime spot. Here we will get ready for Sara’s sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Brad to arrive.
Fiskardho is on the northern end of Cephalonia, unfortunately the airport where they are arriving is on the far southern end. Why did we pick this destination? We decided Fiskardho would work for several reasons. 
First, Fiskardho is a must-see town; a beautiful village of waterfront shops, restaurants, and cafes, surrounded by every color of bougainvillea one can imagine. It is the only town on the island to escape the devastating damage of the 1953 earthquake that wiped out all of the towns in Cephalonia so the architecture is original. Lastly, it would enable us to see much of this interesting island as we drove the two hours across switchbacks and around hair pin turns to and from the airport. The drive was probably the best reason–the views, elevations and terrifyingly narrow roads with minimal or no guardrails was like nothing we have ever experienced.
Cephalonia, in ancient times, was part of the kingdom of Odysseus. Archaeologists have been able to find some evidence of sites referred to by Homer. More recently, a bond has been established between Cephalonia and Italy. During World War II the Italians, under Mussolini, invaded Cephalonia. In 1943 the Germans arrived. The Italians not only did not support the Germans, but actually fought against them. Only 3,000 of the 9,000 Italian troops that had arrived initially survived. The remaining 3,000 troops, it is rumored, under the direct orders of Hitler were lined up and executed. Only about three dozen survived; one by swimming to the next island of Ithaca, where locals hid him.
The movie “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” with Nicholas Cage (1998) is based loosely on this story. The movie was also filmed here.
Fiskardho is a small harbor which is popular with cruisers and charters but also supports a local fishing fleet. The small fishing boats are all painted in a range of bright colors, all looking very Greek. There is no official marina–it is first come first served for a space at the town quay. The quay is a rough stone bulkhead with shallow rocky ledges and outcroppings. There is no electricity or water, just rusty infrequently spaced rings for stern lines. Waterfront cafes are cheek to cheek right up to the water’s edge. The athletic prowess required to leap the last two and one half feet from the boat pasarelle (boarding walkway) to the shore without taking out a dinner party became the local entertainment.
The quay in Fiskardho where we med-moored, with boats stuffed into every available inch of space, has a rather unfortunate configuration. The quay is elbow shaped. The result was an “X” created by all the boat’s anchor chains crossing about 150 feet out. It starts with one boat’s chain crossing another, then a third and fourth boat comes and goes, laying their anchors over everyone else’s, and the web of anchor chains becomes more and more confused. Great patience is needed when leaving and finding your anchor tangled in one or more others. Along with bringing the boat to a complete stop, the undoing of the mess while hanging over the bow of the boat can be frustrating. Our little group of five or so boats had already started to plan the exit choreography. As a side note, our boats were from Norway, Italy, England, and Malta. Fortunately our common language was English. Bob offered to dive on the anchors and do a survey of the situation. As we all hung off our bows and watched his bubbles he was able to unravel several anchors. The Italian boat wanted to leave right away so they were thrilled when Bob dove again and actually dragged their oversized anchor half way back to their boat and cleared it for them to have an easy exit. Bob then cleared another boat’s chain who was planning an exit later in the day. Bob became the neighborhood hero for the day. We’ll see how we do with our exit after the coming and goings of the next several days. Off to pick up Kathy and Brad–by car.