Back to Old Pastures, Zante Town on Zakynthos

by Chantal & David · Published September 11, 2022 · Updated September 11, 2022

After a mix of sailing and motoring for 33nm’s, with the last hour against a NW6 gusting 7 (are they following us???) and a 2 metre swell on our nose which meant either banging into it under engine or tacking for the next 3 hours, we opted for the former, and finally arrived in Zante at 17:30 on the 30th August.

We know Zakythos and Zante town well, having been here back in 2016 where we explored the land by sea and by land (if you want to know more about it, just follow these links to our blogs back then…… http://www.yacht-seaclusion.com/captain-corellis-mandolin-tour/, and http://www.yacht-seaclusion.com/the-southern-tip-and-west-coast-of-zakynthos-to-argostoli-the-capital-of-cephalonia-and-back-up-to-levkas/ .). However the port had changed a little with a new pontoon being added. Having headed for there first as it looked like the easier option, alongside, easier for 2 reasons, we didn’t have to lower the dinghy and David would be doing the mooring, 🤣, we were quickly shooed away as it is for charter yachts, supposedly, and sent back to the old quay, not that we minded really as it was a shorter walk into town and had water and electricity. The only issue was that our anchor didn’t bite the first time and so we had to do 2 moorings with a nasty cross wind, and a beautiful navy hulled 57 yacht next to us to boot, couldn’t afford to make any mistakes here! Luckily for us, we didn’t!

That evening we wandered into the lively town, it was great to see so much life as our recent stops have been pretty quiet to say the least. After taking a few photos on the iPhone we headed to the old Grill House where we had a first ever gyros plate which we remembered as being fantastic… but things never stay the same do they. Either the chef had changed or we have had far better since… but it was just fantastic people watching and soaking up the atmosphere!

After David’s regular and thankfully uneventful visit to the Port Police, we had the day to kill waiting for our new prop which was due to arrive at 7pm, so set about doing our usual jobs, cleaning, not just the boat but also some clothes in our new little machine! A little time consuming but so much easier, (and cheaper of course), than finding a laundrette, which were never close by!

We also got chatting to the Canadians who owned the lovely boat next to us. She was actually a Beneteau, which we normally refer to as bendytoy, but we were soon told that the 57 was Beneteau’s flagship boat, handbuilt, only 300 made at a loss to the company and was their attempt at joining the higher end of the market. They even invited us inside to have a nose and we have to say, despite being 16 years old, she was beautiful, perhaps one for the shortlist if we ever materialise the dream to downsize the villa, upsize the boat and sail around the world! 😉

7pm arrived, as did the ferry with our new prop, at a shipping cost of 2 euros ! phew, which meant we could set off again in the morning!

Waking early, I disappeared off to take some shots of the quieter side of life and pick up a few provisions.