June 6th, 2012

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Wednesday June 6 Lay over in Lefkada/Levkas

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

There was still a fairly strong northerly blowing today. Tomorrow is a better day to head further north toward Corfu. The town I had intended to stop last night is Preveza, which is just 10 miles further north. This is where Roman emperor Augustus defeated Mark Anthony and his ally Cleopatra in a naval battle, in 31 BC. The canal I navigated in last night’s thunderstorm was dug by the Corinthians in the 7th century.  Sailing here I am getting a primer on history of a period I totally missed in my grade/middle school education.

I found a good bicycle shop to replace the rusted chain and wire for the derailleur. I was getting strange looks for all the noisy clanking noiuse when a chain link got hung up. I went for a ride out side of town. Delightful place. I found my spot to retire, under ancient olive trees, couple of goats, chickens and a vegetable garden.

I am cooking fresh squid  calamari stir fry for my Canadian/German/Fin neighbors tonight.

The below pictures show what the Lefkadians did to try and reduce the damage the earthquakes have cause here on the traditional stone/brick/plastered structures. They use timber frame and wood siding for the 2nd floor. Then they cover the wood siding with galvanized sheet metal. Seems a strange combination, but where they maintain the paint job, it looks quite attractive. Just think of the millions of lives that could have been saved if the majority of the earth quake victims could have lived in wood frame structures instead of being buried