Corfu

Travelogue Corfu

The Stages

Prologue

Along the coast

The Blue Caves at Paxos

Circumnavigation of Paxos

Gaios, the capital of Paxos`

A change of pace: Anchoring Bay Igoumenitsa

Prologue - The arrival

The Gouvia marina north of Corfu Town can be reached through small alleyways, an adventurous journey. Scorching heat of 40 degrees awaits us at the end of August. Add to that - no wind. Not uncommon over the next two weeks at lunchtime. On the other hand, it likes to freshen up in the evening when the sun goes down. Only partially favourable for harbour or anchor manoeuvres.

We travelled the route described below twice. I usually like to add a bit of variety to my trips, but this way I was able to sail the route with both a monohull and a catamaran.

Unfortunately, the usual tips on how to get there are not included this time. A transfer bus from the tour operator took us to the harbour. If you are travelling with Windbeutel Reisen, you can book this in advance.

Itinerary

Start on Sunday morning. To get out of the marina, you have to sail around a shallow area, but it is well buoyed. And although the entire charter armada is leaving, there is enough space to get into the Ionian Sea. We pass two islands, have to watch out for the incoming and outgoing ferries from Corfu Town harbour and struggle southwards in a light wind. After an hour, it freshens up a little, giving us that first "sailing feeling". We keep an eye out for an anchorage along the coast of Corfu. However, the possible stretches of coast don't seem very appealing to us. Especially as we are making good progress.

The first really nice stop is Petriti. Good sandy bottom, good holding at 5 metres, we dare to get closer with the catamaran. I have expressed my wish to paddle to the beach with the dinghy, as the shorter distance makes a big difference.

Instead of the anchorage, it would also be possible to moor at the pier, which must be reserved in advance. Despite my many journeys, this time I have to deal with something new. The Roman Catholic mooring. The anchor is deployed to replace the mooring line, as is usually the case in the Mediterranean, and the stern is moored to the jetty or quay using two stern lines. One reason why I have avoided Greece so far. From our anchorage, I watch the efforts of other yachts to moor at this pier. And it dawns on me that something else is coming our way. But more on that later.

Along the coast

Limanaki Fish Tavern

Phone: +30 697 359 1764

Excellent food with specialities from Corfu, very friendly and attentive staff, a great view of Anchor Bay and, last but not least, good value for money. A clear recommendation!

Recommended Contact

After a restful night, we want to head east towards the mainland. A few kilometres to the north, the territory of Greece ends in Albania. A little tip: check beforehand that your smartphone doesn't connect in Albania. This can be expensive.

The journey takes us to Sivota. A lively holiday resort with lots of tourists, to put it positively. However, we don't go directly to the harbour there, but have secured a place at a jetty of a holiday resort called Karvouno Beach via Navily. It doesn't sound very tempting, but it turned out to be a stroke of luck. On the one hand, there is only a little-frequented hotel with a restaurant there, and on the other, the two older gentlemen who showed us the ropes and helped us moor were simply huggable.

The booking price of 30 euros is waived if you dine in the beach restaurant. The prices there are slightly higher, but not so dramatic that you should refrain from visiting. The view from the open terrace is excellent in any case.

If you fancy an evening stroll and the hustle and bustle of Syvota, you can reach this place after a 20-minute (hilly) walk and enjoy a cocktail at the harbour.

For 10 euros (as of 2025) you can also bunker water at the landing stage. The water pressure is not the best, so allow some time.

Karvouno Beach

Phone: +30 697 356 4784

Small, charming bay with the option of mooring to a pontoon. No anchoring stress thanks to the mooring line, the helpfulness of the marineros is exceptional and very friendly. Opposite the mooring are a few buoys and plastic containers for the mooring lines of small pleasure craft. Good restaurant and short walk to Syvota.

Recommended Anchorage

A transfer to Paxos is almost obligatory, so we set off the next morning. We pass a few caves that are frequented by excursion boats, but we only see them from a distance. The blue caves are waiting for us on Paxos. As we once again don't have too much wind in our sails, we head for Lakka anchorage. You can already see from the route preparation pictures that this is an exceptionally beautiful place, and the bay is very well sheltered in all directions except the north. You can guess that there will be a lot going on here in the high season.

The Island Paxos

The sandy bottom is a dream for anchoring. But despite the size of the bay, there isn't much room to swing. We counted over 60 boats anchored there. It is advisable to ask your neighbours about the length of the chain they have laid out and possibly the exact spot where their anchor is. A steel trimaran was moored next to us. As soon as the wind shifts gently, so do our plastic boats. But it doesn't, or it does much later. So it's important to keep an eye out for that too.

However, it is difficult to protect yourself against the recklessness of other sailors. At dusk, we observe two ships coming dangerously close to each other. The crew of the "aggressor" is not on board. They try to keep the ship away, the anchor has come loose. After a blow and the yachts collided, it continued to drift through the bay and harassed the next ship at anchor. And all this in winds of less than 10 knots. In the morning we found the yacht far off course, apparently it had found its footing after all or the crew had solved the problem.

After leaving our anchorage, we circumnavigate the northern tip of Paxos on the west side. There are a few rocks to watch out for, the water depth is not too deep. And we are not alone - one excursion boat after another passes us, sometimes hair-raisingly close and with big waves. Of course, if all the tourists are being taken there, we can't resist paying this place a visit too.

The anchorage promises an exciting manoeuvre. Only just before the rocks is the water depth acceptable at around 10 metres, and there are also many rocks as the bottom rises. You can see through the clear water that it almost looks like a reef. You can also get spare anchors there, and it seems that more than one ship was only able to leave the spot by releasing the anchor chain.

Blue Caves

The crew enters the water and swims to the caves. There is far too much hustle and bustle here for me to leave the ship. I sympathise with the excursion boats. Their job is to unload the guests as close to the caves as possible so that they too can go swimming. However, due to the swell created by these boats and the close proximity to the neighbours, I prefer to be able to intervene in an emergency. As beautiful as this place is, I'm already looking forward to when the anchor rises and we can continue our journey. But you have to see it. The crystal-clear blue water and the caves themselves make quite an impression!

The aim is to catch one of the rare moments when there is no ship obstructing the view of the caves. Then a quick crew picture and off we go. There is already a slight ripple on the water. After many hours of travelling with little wind, there is now more than one breeze. An aft wind pushes us southwards. Within a few minutes we have 20 knots on the Windex. Reefing is not an option on this course, but rather we can try a jibe in these conditions. We reduce our sail area in the cover of the island and realise a short time later that this was necessary.

The cruise takes you to the northern entrance to the harbour town of Gaios.

With a sailing boat and the appropriate draught, we recommend the northern entrance, which is also spectacular. Narrow, lined with small and larger boats, you have to watch out for the traffic and the mooring lines. However, our goal is to moor directly at the quay in the city centre with its restaurants and bars. Now we can't put it off any longer: The first real Roman Catholic mooring. We sail down the narrow fairway by chance and discover a small niche where we can moor. The two large motor yachts next to us loudly announce where their anchor is. After some fine-tuning, our anchor also drops, we slowly move backwards and tie up the lines. We receive more or less desired mooring assistance from the local market owner, which seems to be customary here and costs us a small tip.

We made it! The boat is moored, a great spot, the crew leaves the ship. Unfortunately, the sailing yacht next door also leaves the harbour. I find out later that they had already tried in the morning, but their anchor chain was underneath that of a large excursion boat. I take a look at what my colleagues are doing. And I have a bad feeling. I quickly switch on the engine and head for the anchor winch - sure enough, they've managed to hook into our anchor chain. Completely annoyed, I have to let out our chain and watch as they drag our chain and finally the anchor through half the harbour basin. Logically, if I don't pick up the anchor and manoeuvre across to the moored yachts at high speed, it can only go wrong. After several minutes and our anchor on their bow, they manage to free themselves. Of course, we no longer have a hold. What experts.

Gaios, the capital of Paxos`

Nevertheless, we spend a nice evening in Gaios, have dinner in the second row and enjoy ourselves. The town isn't spectacular, but it's still a good change after spending the night in the anchorage.

In the morning, a small motorboat moored next to us wants to leave its mooring. You can see their anchor, no problem. You would think so. But they don't manage to pull up the anchor in time and hook it back under our chain. Unbelievable. While manoeuvring, the propeller of the outboard motor grinds the neighbour's chain. You can't stop shaking your head. So let's get going before anything else happens.

Luckily for us, the two world champions of water sports haven't ploughed our chain under anywhere, so we can leave Gaios in a northerly direction again. A week later, I try again to get a pitch here. Unfortunately, this time everything was full. It is certainly justified that no reservations are accepted, but for us it turns out to be unfavourable. To the south of the harbour basin there is another spacious anchorage, but it is covered in stones. Not the best reason to spend the night there. I'm also worried about the shallow exit, should we really dare to consider the stated water depth of 1.7 metres as sufficient? I can see on the plotter that the catamaran has already sailed out here once. The tide is not at its lowest, so we almost sneak out and can be pleased that everything went smoothly.

City Harbour Gaios

Phone: not available

A beautiful place, many bars and restaurants, many shopping facilities. Electricity and water at the mooring. It can get a bit noisy in the evening, but it's not a party zone.

Recommended berth

Time for the return journey. And time for some solitude. Not an easy endeavour, especially in the high season. But because the entrance to Igoumenitsa Bay is frequented by many ferries and passenger ships, the place doesn't seem to be very popular. After passing the buoyed shipping lane, a huge bay opens up, with water depths of between 4 and 7 metres in the mud. The anchor holds perfectly. A small bar still plays music at our berth in the early evening, but then it quietens down just in time. Perhaps we should have made the crossing? However, the sunset and the cheerful atmosphere on board leave us wanting for nothing.

A change of pace: Anchoring Bay at Igoumenitsa

The trip to Marina Govia is another big blow, mainly because we find little wind again. Two interesting weeks come to an end. There are beautiful bays, nice people and lots to discover. You have to realise that you are sailing in a weak wind area. But even this can be attractive, as described above.