Welcome to 2014!

I didn't bother to write this blog last year because it seemed a lot of effort and I was feeling particularly lazy (for the entire year you understand). However, a new season is upon us and I feel moved to record it, so here we go again...welcome back to Zaffina to the Med, although perhaps I should rename it Zaffina to the Aegean.
We flew to Corfu a week ago and arrived to the start of beautiful weather, after a bout of particularly bad conditions over Easter and onwards. Zaffina was looking fab, and a sea trial the day after our arrival showed that most things were in order, save a few small tasks that needed completion before our departure. This gave us time to enjoy a couple of days in this lovely island where we spent several weeks last year, so we naturally revisited our favourite restaurant in the old town and also hired a car and went to Cassiopi, a beautiful little port recommended by Adam after he spent a night there last year.
The Ionian Islands are at their spring best, withe splashes of yellow broom on the hillsides and the scent of orange blossom in the air. It seems that nature is coming alive again after the winter, and celebrating a return to the balmier climes of early summer. We saw our first swallow, and after commenting that one was insufficient to herald the new season, another swiftly made an appearance. Huge dandelion clocks threaten to disintegrate when the wind comes up and skinny Greek cats are vying for areas of sunshine in which to stretch out and while away the warm hours of the day. Pretty soon they'll be searching for shady spots but for now the temperature suits them to perfection.
We slipped out of Corfu marina on Friday morning and sped over a calm sea to the beautiful little island of Paxos, one that had become a firm favourite last year. Port Gaios was almost empty when we arrived, but surprisingly the tripper boats are already operating, and an hour or so later, they were disgorging the day visitors onto the quay. When we were here last September, one of them hooked our anchor on departure which caused quite a hassle, and we ended up with an irate skipper and crew yelling at us across the water. They were especially unamused when I grabbed my camera and video to record the moment. Just for the record, we were already at anchor when they arrived and had done nothing to cause the entanglement, but they still seemed to blame us!
Paxos was even more delightful off season and we would happily have stayed for another night or two, but we wanted to press on southwards and the following morning saw us heading down to Lefkas where the entrance to the canal opens on the hour. We calculated that we would have about two mins to spare, so increased our speed to ensure we were ready for the moment the bridge/boat swung back and allowed us through and into the oil calm waters of the canal.
As we came out at the south end, the wind was blowing a little more but conditions were pretty good for the time of year, and passing Messalongi, Skorpios and Nidri was a trip down memory lane after all our cruising in this area last year.
We crossed the channel south of Lefkas, and keeping Ithaca to port, charted a course to the beautiful little town of Fiskardo on the northern tip of Kefalonia. And it was just as beautiful as we remembered! Since we were last here, the pontoons have been removed leaving us no choice but to tie up on the quay in very shallow water. With the wind blowing us sideways, it was quite a tricky manoeuvre to get into our berth, but we managed without embarrassing ourselves and then just stopped to drink in the beauty of our surroundings.
Again it was just a one night stop, but one we thoroughly enjoyed with a pleasant dinner in a little square overlooking the port. Our British neighbours on a small yacht spent a memorable evening in a music bar and re-appeared the following morning looking jaded and somewhat worse for wear. After a stroll to the showers they reported to us that there was a car in the sea around the corner! To our surprise, this wasn't an alcohol induced hallucination and there was indeed a small, white car neatly parked beneath the surface by the entrance to the marina. Apparently the driver had parked on the nearby hill but omitted to set the handbrake!
When we left Fiskardo port,  we were delighted to see an old friend moored nearby. We have spent a coupe of very enjoyable cruising holidays in the Caribbean in Sea Dream, and there was one of their two cruise ships in front of us! We called up the captain and Frank had a chat with him as we idled nearby. He regretfully informed us that she was being chartered, and otherwise we would have been invited alongside and on board - what a treat that would have been! Promising a return visit in due course, we turned south again, stopping for lunch and an afternoon sunbathing in an anchorage we'd nicknamed One Eye Bay, before sailing down to Aghia Efimia.
We spent many days here last year and were welcomed back like old friends. Our favourite spot on the quay was ready for us and George and Magis, the harbourmaster and his assistant, were in hand to welcome us alongside. It feels like we've barely been away!
And that's it for now. I'm sitting in the sunshine at a cafe on the port, drinking in the fresh orange juice and the atmosphere and falling in love with Greece all over again. Tomorrow we turn to the east and start a new journey to a cruising ground in the Aegean, but first we have to negotiate the Corinth Canal, and that should be an interesting experience.