The Ionian January 2012

The Ionian January 2012 Volume 3. Issue 1 www.theionian.com COMPLIMENTARY/∆ΩΡΕΑΝ Please recycle: give to a friend or neighbour when finished.

Rod Rod Heikell’s Heikell’s Ionian Ionian memories memories Page 9

Our annual photo competition Absolutely Fabulous winners Dolphins

Debating with A home in the sun dolphins Page 12

Corfu orchestra Page 7

Plain sailing Dances with dolphins Page 5

Casting off Casting off Plain sailing Page 11 in the sun A home

Page 10

Our annual photo competition Absolutely winnersfabulous 8 CorfuPageorchestra

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The Ionian Address:

Lefkadiou Chern 24, Lefkada 31100, Greece Email: barbara.molin@theionian.com Website: www.theionian.com Fax: The Ionian c/o (0030) 26820 61306 Telephone: (0030) 69486 46764 Founding Publisher: Publisher/ Editor: Deputy Editor Business Advisor: Business Advisor: Accountant: Greek Editors: Layout: Printing: Advertising: Distribution: Subscriptions:

Justin Smith Barbara Molin Martin Stote Yannis Dimopoulos Ryan Smith Pavlos Dagla: 26450 23008 V. Gigi and V. Lekkas Barbara Molin Plamen Rusanov Colleen Asprodaki Barbara Molin Barbara Molin

You can download The Ionian as a PDF document from our website: www.theionian.com.

To subscribe, please call: 0030 69486 46764 ΑΦΜ: 148426549. ΛΕΥΚΑ∆ΙΟΥ ΧΕΡΝ 24, ΛΕΥΚΑ∆Α, 31100. ISSN 1792-4650. The Ionian is published monthly. Published on the last day before each month, approx. Publication is for informational purposes only. Although The Ionian has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions it may contain. The opinions expressed by the contributors are not necessarily held by the publisher.

Cover Photo: Calm Katelios Evening by David Evans www.kefalonia-captured.com. Born in Ashbourne in the UK, he has lived on Kefalonia for 18 years. He studied photography at Wiltshire College Salisbury, and first worked as a commercial photographer; his main interests now lie in landscape and location photography.

Happy New Year!

The Ionian is two years old in March, and this is the first time we have published a winter edition, which will be distributed at the 2012 Tullett Prebon London Boat Show as well as in the islands. So we have three sailing articles, all on very different tacks.

Rod Heikell needs no introduction. In Ionian Memories he recalls his early days as a flotilla leader, having arrived in the islands in 1977 with a “20 foot ply boat...and an empty kitty”. In Casting Off, sailing novice Louise Kjaertinge tells how she and her husband Martin Joiner rented out their home in the UK last year virtually on a whim, bought a Nicholson 35, and spent a month cruising in the Ionian. They plan to return to Greece for the whole of this summer. Like Rod Heikell, they loved it here. And in Plain Sailing, Stephen McIntosh, a highly-experienced yacht broker based in Lefkas, explains how buying a boat can be just that, if you follow a few important guidelines.

Two internationally-acclaimed professional photographers, Clay Perry from London, and Yiorgos Depollas from Athens, kindly agreed to judge our 2011 calendar photo contest and select two pictures for special mention. You can see the two photographs inside, and all twelve finalists on our website at www.theionian.com.

Our deputy editor Martin Stote had prepared a piece about the Philharmonic Society of Corfu, only to find himself completely upstaged by the beautiful British actress Joanna Lumley who reported on the same subject in her series Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, screened

by ITV1 in the UK late last year. Undeterred, he rewrote his piece, now renamed Absolutely Fabulous Corfu orchestra, to record her visit. (I have never seen a man work so hard to get a photograph).

In Dances with dolphins, Vasilis Lekkas and Venetia Gigi reveal some of the secrets of these highly-intelligent and graceful creatures, often spotted in the waters of the Ionian and shown off beautifully in images by Aris Christidis. And in A home in the sun, Brigitte Karis explains why, if you fancy owning a place in the Ionian, now might be a good time to buy.

I would also like to welcome Colleen Asprodaki to our small family at The Ionian, and to thank all our contributors and the advertisers whose continued support in difficult times has helped to make this edition possible. I wish all of you and our readers a very Happy New Year.

Enjoy reading... ~~~_/) Barbara Molin

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Dances with dolphins Photography - Aris Christidis Text - Vasilis Lekkas and Venetia Gigi

Many sailors plying the waters of the

Ionian, particularly off the northern coast of Meganisi and in the Amvrakikos Gulf, will have enjoyed the thrill of having a pod of dolphins slipstreaming in the wake of their bow, their bodies glistening like sleek rubber bullets as they arch through the water.

No other animal has enchanted, touched and inspired humans so much as these beautiful and playful creatures. From ancient times until today, dolphins have been part of human culture all over the world. The Aborigines, the native Americans, Africans, and of course the ancient Greeks, used dolphins in literature, myths, poetry, art, coins, even as gods.

Aristotle in “History of Animals,” analysed the natural history of dolphins 2,350 years ago in such detail that even today there is little we can add.

Dolphins belong to the order of Cetacean creatures, mammals best adapted to aquatic life, which also includes whales and porpoises.

As mammals they give birth to calves, produce milk for their young, and the bond between mothers and calves is strong and lasts many years.

They spend all their lives in the sea and although they breathe air through a blowhole on the top of their heads, they can dive down to 300 metres and hold their breath for several minutes at a time.

Dolphins are known to be highly intelligent and social creatures, live in pods, and have a strong sense of community. Aristotle wrote: “In cases where a dolphin is drowning, others of the pod will come to help it by supporting it on their backs and deterring other animals from killing it”. The sonar they have in their forehead helps them track where they are, locate their prey and communicate. They do that by whistling, by burst-pulsed sounds and by clicks that they produce in their nasal air-sacks located just below the blowhole.

Recently, scientists managed to decipher their language. The team of researchers was able to teach dolphins simple and complex sentences involving nouns and verbs, revealing that dolphins comprehend elements of human language, as well as having a complex “visual” language of their own.

The dolphins you will see in the Ionian, in the area between Lefkada and the mainland and also in the Amvrakikos gulf, playing in the bow wave or the wake of your boat, are mainly bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus or common dolphins Delphinus delphis. In fact, in the Amvrakikos Gulf there is an indigenous

community of bottlenose dolphins (about 150180 individuals) which is the densest community in the Mediterranean.

Vasilis Lekkas and Venetia Gigi share their knowledge and passion for the marine environment by taking guests Eco Cruising, in the Amvrakikos Gulf and the Ionian Sea. www.eco-cruising.gr Aris Christidis is a naturalist and a keen photographer from Kavala, with specific interest in sea birds and cetaceans, also a member of the Hellenic Wildlife Hospital, www.ekpaz.gr and partner of the Hellenic Ornithologic Society.

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Absolutely Fabulous Corfu orchestra Martin Stote

brave brass helmets of a fire-brigade pattern, glittering with white plumes.”

While Durrell’s description of the music may saint’s day or during a religious festival may have been deliberately waspish, the magnificent have seen the marching band of The helmets and plumes remain an essential feature Philharmonic Society of Corfu, the rattle of their of the spectacle. But the society is now known drums and the resonance of the brass section as the Old Philharmonic to avoid confusion with echoing around the squares and streets, the the Mantzaros Philharmonic Society, founded in musicians proud in their splendid uniforms.

1890, and a third, the Capodistrias Philharmonic For others, their first introduction may have Union, set up in 1980. come from watching Joanna Lumley’s Greek Corfu boasts a long and venerable musical Odyssey, broadcast in the UK heritage. The Venetian occupation of the island on ITV 1 late last year. In the fostered a strong operatic tradition from the second of her four-part series early eighteenth century, and led to a significant she visited the island, and told Italian influence on Corfiots’ musical tastes.

The original aim was to create an Italian-style musical academy which would allow men and women from any social group, no matter how slender their income, a rounded, free musical education which could include learning an Ioannis Tryfonas instrument, be it strings, wind instruments, piano, or singing, and musical theory, including reading scores and composition.

During the 19th century until the interwar years the artistic leadership of the institution was entrusted to some of the major musicians of modern Greece, such as Nicholas Mantzaros (1795-1872), Domenikos Padovanis (18171892) Dionysius Rodotheatos Joanna Lumley (1849-1892), Demetrius Andronis (1866-1918) and how the orchestra was formed in response to a Spyridon Doukakis (1886-1974). ban by Queen Victoria – the island was then a They all came from Corfu and had studied in British Protectorate – on bands performing at Italy or Germany. Many of the musicians of the non-Protestant events.

Philharmonic later became distinguished The Philharmonic Society of Corfu was composers, soloists, musicians and conductors, established on September 12, 1840. It first making a rich contribution to the musical performed in the procession of St Spiridon in traditions in Greece during the 19th and 20th November 1841. A hundred years later century.

Lawrence Durrell described the spectacle in his Nicholas Mantzaros is probably best known as book Prospero’s Cell, which depicts life on the the composer of the Greek national anthem. He island in the late 1930s. wrote a musical score for the poem, Hymn to “The procession is led by the religious novices Liberty by Dionysios Solomos, the first and clad in blue cassocks and carrying gilt Venetian second stanzas of which were adopted as the lanterns on long poles…” he wrote. “After them Greek royal anthem in 1864, and as the Greek comes the town band - or rather the two national anthem in June 1865. municipal bands, bellowing and blasting, with

Anyone who has been in Corfu town on a

On September 18 2010 a museum was opened in Corfu town, the Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros, celebrating the island’s musical heritage, and in particular the history of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu. Its opening coincided with the 170th anniversary of the launch of the society. The instruments and memorabilia on show may be old, but they are presented in displays which are modern, witty, and elegant.

Nowadays about 150 musicians play in the band, which remains the most popular of the society’s ensembles.

During the Easter festivities that number is almost doubled to 250-300 musicians because of members living abroad who can play only at that time of the year. The symphonic orchestra has about 60 musicians, and there is a student band of about 70 members.

The band’s educational role remains vital. Hundreds of students make their first contact with music through free wind and percussion instruments classes. Some of them discover a genuine musical talent, and pursue a career in music.

Professional musician Ioannis Tryfonas, a 31 year-old university graduate who plays the violin, the viola, and the baritone horn, has been a member of the band since he was 12 years-old, and a member of the society’s symphonic orchestra since when it was founded in 2004. He says, “Playing in a band of such historical importance is an honour for me.

“Most members of the band and of the orchestra are amateurs whose profound love for the art of music is such that they do not mind dedicating their free time to rehearse and participate in the institution’s events.

“It is great to be a member of both band and orchestra. In the band, pieces written or arranged for wind instruments are performed, but in the orchestra I have the chance to perform the original greatest pieces of classical music ever written.

“Both ensembles are equally important and supported by the locals whose love for music runs in their blood. It is not surprising - most Corfiots had been given music lessons and have developed a critical ear”.

And for anyone who wondered who had the onerous task of maintaining all those uniforms – white in the summer, deep blue and red for the winter - that is down to the musicians too. “The uniforms are provided for free by the society but we are responsible for looking after them,” Ioannis said.

Joanna Lumley sensed the pride and dedication involved in that, and conveyed it with whimsical attention to detail. “There’s a lovely slight smell of Brasso coming out of this cupboard –everything polished and looking so shiny,” she smiled, as band members collected their uniforms.

Prospero’s Cell passage reproduced by kind permission of Faber and Faber, London.

Photograph of Joanna Lumley courtesy of ITV London.. The DVD of Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, in which she visited many parts of Greece, is now available.

Other photographs courtesy of Ioannis Tryfonas.

Read his blog: www.johncorfuworld.blogspot.com

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The Ionian 2012 Calendar Photography Competition Winners

Two internationally-renowned photographers generously agreed to judge our competition and each singled out one image which they thought worthy of particular mention. You may see all of the results at: www.theionian.com

Clay Perry lives in London. His work

includes portraiture, landscape, botanical studies, and reportage. He has travelled the world taking photographs.

He has worked for the Sunday Times magazine and has had his work published in more than 22 books.

He studied at the Guildford School of Art. In the late eighties he and his wife Maggie bought an old stone house in a village on Crete, and travelled widely throughout Greece to record its traditional way of life.

Vanishing Greece, published in 1991 by Conran Octopus, boasts 250 photographs, and is a wistful and affectionate chronicle of the people, landscape and rural heritage. Clay Perry said, “I have very warm memories of Lefkas and the Ionian sea where many of the photographs in the competition were taken. I think for me the best way to judge a photograph is to say to myself, ‘Would I have taken that or would I have photographed it in that way?’

“In a sense all photography is subjective, but when I come across a photograph that I can say I wish I had taken that, then some significant communication has been made. I feel that of all the photographs in the competition, some of which are very competent, the one that to me has the most depth and atmosphere, is Sunset 2 Agios Nikolas by Dionisia Mari.

“The cloud composition and depth created by the dark foliage in the foreground, and the sun setting over the distant headland have all the elements of the quickly changing weather patterns of Greece, but evoke for me the work of English landscape painter Turner, the master of skies. There were some really good sea shots in the competition, also action shots and observations of nature. It was very difficult to choose the best for the calendar.”

The other books in which Clay Perry’s work has featured include English Cottage Gardens, Old English Villages, and David Austin’s English Roses. He has a book coming out this spring, called Heritage Fruit and Vegetables, and is working on a book about Morocco.

Dionisia Mari is 17 years old and a keen

amateur photographer. She lives in the village of Agios Nikolaos near Aktio. She is in her last year of high school and plans to go to university to study economics next year. Her parents run a taverna where she helps out in the summer. She said, "I used a Sony digital camera the day I took the photo. We were walking with a friend and I saw the sunset. I thought it was beautiful. I ran back to the house to get the camera."

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Yiorgos Depollas, who is based in

Athens, was a leading figure in the New Greek Photography movement which pioneered creative photographic images in his native country in the 1980s and 1990s. He remains a huge influence at home and abroad, has exhibited throughout Europe and in the USA, and has had his work published in many books.

He was born in Athens in 1947, and as a young man studied film at the Stavrakos School of Cinematography, the oldest such school in Greece, which has fostered three generations of artists and technicians and has an international reputation.

In 1975 he founded the Image Studio, which promotes travel and advertising photography, and in 1979 was one of the five co-founders of the Photography Centre of Athens with which he remained involved for more than 25 years. It was the first Greek institution devoted to creative photography, and remains a seminal focus for young photographers today.

In 1981 he was the Secretary General of the Greek Union of Commercial and Creative Photography. Two years later he co-founded Editions FOTORAMA, and since 1984 has taught photography at the Vakalo school of graphic arts.

Nine years ago he launched fotoview, an image bank dedicated to travel photography. His work has appeared in countless exhibitions in Greece and France, in Cambridge in the UK, and in Italy, Germany, the USA and China.

In 2003 his book On the Beach won the Mylos award for the best Greek photography book of the year. His other travel books include Aegean Voyage: The Light and the Smile, A Greek Journey, Return to Arcadia, Greece - wandering through time, and Icaria.

The photograph in our competition, which he singled out for particular mention was Lefkas Lagoon by Susie Conniebeer. He said, “I found this picture particularly interesting because of the interplay of light and colours, and the atmosphere which they create.”

Susie Connibeer, who is in her fifties, sailed

with a friend from Fowey, Cornwall, UK in May 2009 in her yacht Wildbird, down the western coasts of France, Portugal and Spain and into the Mediterranean, arriving in Greece in August of 2010. She has taken thousands of photographs on the way. Her photograph of Lefkas lagoon was taken on January 16, 2011. She said, “The sun started to go down giving the sea and snow-capped mountains this lovely pink hue. I feel so privileged to experience sights like this.”

time we were the only charter company based in Levkas town. Aktio Airport was for the military only and charterers flew into Corfu and then endured a 5 or 6 hour transfer to Levkas. Other companies were popping up around the place with FSC still the largest with their fleet of Jaguar 27's, but competing with CPT and the Cobra 850's, Yacht Charter Association (YCA) with Snapdragons and Mirage 26's, Seascape with what we all considered the super luxurious Sadler 32's with Moody 39's for lead boats, and OCC, a Dutch company with Aloa 27's.

Over thirty years on a lot has changed. The boats are bigger and more luxuriously equipped.

In the first few years it may come as a surprise to some that only the lead boat had a VHF radio. Otherwise communication was by flag from the lead boat and if anyone went missing you had to chase after them, desperately trying to attract their attention, and then shepherd them back to where they were supposed to be going.

In 1978 in the Saronic I lost half the flotilla during a thunderstorm when rain reduced the around £100 a week, a fortune.

It's difficult to fit the Inland Sea of 1977 with visibility to a 100 metres or so for an hour. It n 1977 I arrived in Greece from the UK in the sea we sail in today. Development has gone took all afternoon to find the lost boats which had been scattered all over the Argolic Gulf.

Roulette, a 20 foot ply boat built in 1950s. With on apace and while the geography does not Getting spares and equipment out to the boats change, the silhouette of the mountains, the me was Bridget, my girlfriend, and an empty today is a streamlined operation and companies kitty. At the time we were living on something steep cliffs of Sappho's Leap, the turquoise and keep large stocks of spares for their fleets. In light blue of reefs and shallows, the landscape at like £2.50 a day and when the chance of work the early days we asked customers coming out the bottom of the mountains and around the with a small charter company, Flotilla Sailing to bring spares through with their hand luggage. bays has changed.

Club (FSC) came up, we jumped at it. Martin Newcomers would wander through the airport In 1977 there were few private or charter boats and Sue Evans had some Jaguar 22’s in their around. Roulette, all 6½ metres of her, was the with hatches, engine spares, sails, even an fleet and these could not keep up with the anchor on one occasion, and pile them up in Jaguar 27’s. Our job was to look after this mini- only yacht hauled out at Christo's Boatyard on front of the rep who was organising the bus the mud bank opposite Levkas town. In Nidri fleet and a bit of cleaning and repair work on transfer to the flotilla base. We in turn would there were only two tavernas, Nick the Greek turn-around days.. Our combined wage was ply them with bad wine and as much metaxa as and Panorama. In Fiskardo there were no they could drink for all their trouble. tavernas at all and with a bit of luck you could While the landscape may have changed, the get an omelette at Irini's cafeneion and that was benign winds and sheltered waters have not. it. In Kastos and Kalamos there were no The Ionian has to be the biggest charter area in tavernas at all. Everything revolved around the world. The British Virgins come a close Corfu where Nick Zaverdinos was the agent looking after paperwork and not coincidentally second, but in terms of overall numbers there are more yachts between Corfu and the Inland also owned the transfer bus.

By 1979 I had completed a year in the Saronic Sea than anywhere else I can think of in the world. In a sense this area has become the with a company that had probably the least Solent of Greece, albeit with better weather and evocative name of any of the companies. more reliable breezes. I still love it.

Crawford Perry Travel Sailing in Greece, thankfully usually abbreviated to CPT, used the Inset: Rod and Lou Heikell Cobra 850 and was initially based in Spetsai. In Photos courtesy of Rod Heikell and Imray 1979 we moved the boats to Levkas and at the Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd. Roulette

Ionian memories

Rod Heikell

I

Rod Heikell’s account on this

page of his early years sailing in the Ionian is taken from the

entertaining and generous, but are not afraid to voice reservations where appropriate. They come Peloponnese towards Cape Malea, from years of personal experience and observation. They also often and eastwards to Mesolongion in convey the love of these waters to the Gulf of Patras, where the which he refers in his account British poet Lord Byron died in above.

1824.

Rod Heikell is the acknowledged There are about 150 plans and guru of Mediterranean sailing.

190 photographs in the 272 pages, Ionian is a companion to his books which have been completely West Aegean and East Aegean. revised and updated. The layout has also been overhauled to make But he has published at least 17 it even more accessible as a handy other pilots and books, including the Greek Waters Pilot, and guide. For this, like all Rod Mediterranean Cruising Book.

Heikell’s pilots, is also a travel Ionian is published by Imray guide in its own right. His thumbnail sketches of harbours and bays, Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd at £17.95p. It can be ordered from towns and fishing villages, their their website, www.imray.com histories, facilities, and local Martin Stote The Ionian 9 Januaryare 2012 www.theionian.com idiosyncrasies, informative,

A new edition to the family seventh edition of his pilot of that name. There can be few yachts sailing the area that don’t have at least one well-thumbed earlier edition in the chart table, showing the wear and tear of years of constant use and hasty reference while navigating a tricky harbour entrance or a suspiciously quiet bay.

But it is worth investing in this new edition, published in April of 2011. It covers the coasts and islands south from Corfu down through Lefkada, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zakinthos as before, but has now been extended down to Finakounda, on the western

We weren’t exactly Chay Blyth and Ellen

MacArthur. My husband Martin Joiner had lived by the sea all his life but had only ever sailed dinghies and catamarans. I had sailed once, on a friend’s boat around the Isle of Sheppey. I never quite understood what all the bits of rope did, although I did have pleasant memories of the wine locker.

So when we decided over dinner in our bungalow in Kent in England in the spring of last year to buy a boat and go sailing in Greece for a couple of years, our friends were a little sceptical.

Martin, who is 67 years old, had retired as a builder. At 37, in the middle of an enjoyable career in events, marketing and tourism, I still had quite a few more years to work. But we both like adventure – within reason - and you only live once.

In fact, casting off from our old life and preparing for the new one was fairly easy. I quit my job, we rented out the bungalow, and took three weekends of the Competent Crew course and a week’s Day Skipper course with Elite Sailing in Chatham.

The difficult bit was finding the boat. We searched the high seas. Martin flew to Greece and to Croatia to look, but none of them made our hearts sing. We put in one offer, but it fell through.

September was looming, and we were beginning to fear that we had been a bit precipitous. One of our two years was already nearly behind us. So we flew out to the Ionian, and on a sunny day last October, in Aktio Marina, near Preveza, we spotted Gin Rummy.

Gin Rummy is a beautiful, 1982 Nicholson 35. To those of you who know about boats the designer needs no introduction. Within a week she was ours. We had her surveyed, transferred the money, and signed the paperwork.

Our friends were still panicking. “How will you cope with such a small galley? How will you escape each other? You will never sail so far out so you can’t see land, will you? Are you sure that you should be giving up the comforts of home?” And, “Watch out for pirates.”

But we were off. In the middle of October, we launched Gin Rummy from Aktio and turned right –sorry, to starboard - into the Gulf of Amvrakia, avoiding the “open sea” on our first voyage. Vonitsa was our first stop, a lovely, picturesque little working town with the Venetian castle on the top of the hill.

We anchored off on our first night, just behind the small island linked to the mainland by a bridge; we were the only ones there. On our second night we had to park our boat sternto, not an easy task with a long keel. Luckily

there was plenty of space in the small harbour; we made it after a couple of attempts, a friendly Greek took our lines, and we enjoyed our first run ashore.

The next day we sailed from Vonitsa to Lefkas. We were slightly worried about getting to the infamous swing bridge at the northern end of the Lefkas Canal too early, but we had 10 minutes to spare as we arrived. Perfect.

We moored side-to on the town quay and

months, and we feel that we too now have stories to tell.

Tales of wonderful, helpful people who took our lines, leant us a gang plank, pushed us off Lefkas quay on a windy day, gave us hints and tips on where to get water, how much to pay for it, or even better, where to get it for free, as well as advice about restaurants, markets, opening hours, marina fees and weather forecasts.

The Ionian is as wonderful as we had imagined. We swam until mid November, and enjoyed the community of sailing people. We learned loads. We nursed a leaking sea water pump, fiddled with the engine, and checked our fenders every two hours during a stormy night on Lefkas quay.

And one afternoon I knew Martin had really found his sea legs when a stainless steel winch handle slipped through my fingers into the water, and he let rip with some seriously salty language.

Casting Off Louise Kjaertinge

were settling down with an afternoon drink when we were advised to move to avoid the large fishing boats.

After a few days in Lefkas, we headed for Vliho Bay. We had heard a lot about Vliho Yacht Club. It didn’t disappoint. The showers were great, helpful staff, washing machine, WIFI, a nice lunch, TV, book swap and other friendly sailors. We relaxed for three days in the bay, which had returned to being its usual peaceful haven following the terrible storm that had passed through a few weeks earlier.

Our next stop was Meganisi. In Spiglia, we swam, and walked up the steep hill to the village of Spartakhori, from where we enjoyed the amazing view. Then around to Little Vathi, where we found plenty of tavernas and a couple of small supermarkets still open even though it was now November. We loved Vathi. It is cosy, friendly and you can walk from there across to the other bays. We treated ourselves to four nights in the new Odyseas Marina as the mornings and evenings were starting to get a little chilly. Mains electricity, hot showers— fantastic and at fourteen euros a night - a bargain.

On the way back towards Aktio, and once again in Lefkas, we were wedged against the town quay for three days in strong winds. But the wind died a little on the third day, and we set off.

There was still quite a blow after we left the canal, but our Nicholson 35 did not let us down.

Back on land in the marina, our four weeks on the water felt like

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Martin and Louise, who is Danish, plan to sail in Greece in 2012, exploring much more of the Ionian. Louise is writing a blog at: http://wherewillthewindtakeus.wordpress.com/ They are very grateful to the previous owners of Gin Rummy, Katie and Simon, for their detailed introduction to the boat. The following companies were also very helpful: Williams & Smithells Ltd, with an office in Lefkas Marina, www.williamsandsmithells.co.uk; Kevan Whittle of Orion Marine Surveys; Aktio Marine, www.aktio-marine.gr; Ionian Boat Assistance, www.ibagreece.com; and Elite Sailing: www.elitesailing.co.uk

On the opposite page, Louise Kjaertinge describes

how she and her partner spent months searching for a boat to buy without success, before coming to the Ionian last September. Here they soon found a Nicholson 35 that ticked all their boxes. They had obeyed a simple but important rule for buying a boat, which is to travel to where there is a good selection from which to choose. A good broker based nearby gives you a better chance of obtaining a current description and condition report.

But there are many other important guidelines which will help to ensure that buying and launching your boat remains plain sailing.

Recent market activity suggests that despite, or perhaps because of the current economic uncertainty in Greece, now is a good time to buy.

The last decade has seen a significant increase in private yacht ownership, as well as expansion in both the number of charter operators and the size of their fleets. Consequently the current availability of yachts of any given type, size and age combined with the general economic situation has resulted in plenty of choice at very competitive prices for buyers.

Vital initial points to check include: are the yacht details a true and comprehensive reflection of the vessel, who actually owns it and has the right to sell, what flag is it under and is it “Pleasure” or “Full Registry” and is the VAT paid, exempt, or considered exempt and is there a customs statement? There was also a Recreational Craft Directive introduced in June 1998, and you should find out if the yacht conforms or is exempt.

Check whether the boat is subject to any debts for marina fees, guardianage, maintenance or repair work. When you inspect her, preferably be accompanied by a broker. Decide if the price is realistic. Get a professional survey carried out, and offer a fair price from the outset. And are you confident of making a private sale on trust?

A good broker will use ABYA or BMF contracts. You should always know your legal rights.

Many quality brokerages will offer buyers their experience in preparing contracts and use ‘safe clients accounts’. A respected trading brokerage, if it is a member of ABYA or BMF, is legally required to hold ‘safe clients accounts’ detached from trading accounts.

Make sure you understand the terms of the contract to ensure you are entitled to the deposit back if you reject the boat. You should also check about professional indemnity insurance. Does the selling person or company hold liability cover? What is your position if something goes wrong?

Remember too that when you complete the sale it is the seller’s responsibility to provide the correct documents, and the buyer’s responsibility to transfer the outstanding balance.

Plain sailing Stephen McIntosh

Stephen McIntosh, based in Lefkas, runs the Ionian Branch of Williams & Smithells Ltd, an independent British company, with over 38 years experience of yacht brokerage. ww.williamsandsmithells.co.uk

January 2012 www.theionian.com The Ionian 11

A home in the sun Brigitte Karis

M

Life and producing their own olive oil there is a plot of 5,500m2 – about one and a third acres – on offer in a valley near the popular tourist resort of Nidri, with an ancient grove of 45 olive trees, for 130,000 euros.

But always remember that buying a plot of land can be a complex process, with inherited and sometimes disputed family rights accruing around even an individual olive tree, and there is still no proper land registry. Building laws, which are being tightened all the time, and land sizes can also perplex the outsider. So it is vital to hire a reliable lawyer and a trustworthy engineer to sort out any legal problems.

Brigitte Karis came from Germany to Lefkas almost 10 years ago where she started LefkasLand Broker & Developers Real Estate company.

Together with her partner Erwin Heimgartner, architect from Switzerland they manage all aspects of land and home purchase and development. www.lefkas-landbroker.com

any visitors to the Ionian dream of owning their own home here

so that they can spend longer than just a fortnight’s holiday, and as I write this in early December with warm sunshine streaming through my Lefkas office window from an azure sky it is easy to see why.

Greece’s financial problems and uncertain euro future means that any major investment here at the moment faces some uncertainty.

But with some sellers already reducing the price of property significantly, now could be a good time to buy for purchasers willing to bet on the long game.

Lefkas remains for the most part unspoilt. It has miles of beautiful coastline and a rugged mountainous interior where many of the old village traditions survive. A two-bedroomed waterfront maisonette near the picturesque harbour of Sivota, with a terrace, communal swimming pool, and a boat mooring and swimming platform on the sea is on offer at the reduced price of 190,000 euros. A new, substantial three-bedroomed villa at Tsoukalades in the hills above Lefkas, with a terrace overlooking a valley and a magnificent covered barbecue with its own chimney and terracotta tiled roof, still commands the original but reasonable asking price of 350,000 euros.

And in the idyllic mountain village of Asprogerakata, there is a ruined old stone house, which may need completely rebuilding, for just 37,000 euros.

The really adventurous can buy their own plot of land and have the house of their dreams built for them. There aren’t many places in the Mediterranean where you can still buy a building lot with sea views for less than 8 euros per square metre, or a development plot right on the coast for around 200.000 euros. Even after additional purchase costs of 10% tax and 2.3% notary and registration fees the prices can still be attractive.

Greece is one of the last countries in Europe to allow construction outside town planning areas, although you must make sure that you will be able to have electricity, telephone and water supplies installed if they are not already present, or think in terms of solar panels and wind-generated power. And as far as I know, there is no other country which still allows new construction to within 30 metres of the defined coastline.

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