Vliho Boatyard Lefkas Greece

[Yofy]

Does anyone have any experience with mooring at the Vliho Boatyard in Lefkas Greece?

We are looking at Lefkas as a new sailing base for a year or more and this looks interesting. We understand that they only have moorings? How are services for water and electricity? We are pretty much self reliant with solar and wind power but good to know just in case.... Would you leave a boat unattended here for any length of time? etc etc

Manny and Robyn

[Seaworthy Lass]

Hi Manny and Robyn
We spent the winter at anchor in Vliho Bay several years ago.

There were a few moorings near the Vliho yard. There were no yachts left on those over the winter. A couple of derelict steel boats were tied next to the yard.

Water and power are available in the yard itself. The yard was filled with boats on the hardstand (wooden props). No liveaboards. A small chandlery with reasonable prices was associated with the yard.

There were perhaps half a dozen boats left unattended at anchor in Vliho Bay over the winter we were there. One yacht dragged onto the mud during a blow and lay there for weeks.

Numerous boats are tied up (some in two layers) along the waterfront at Vliho itself. There is water and power available. There were perhaps half a dozen liveaboards there over the winter.

The holding in the bay is excellent (mud) except if you land on debris, which is plentiful. We hauled up an old spinnaker when we pulled our anchor up once!

There are occasional storms over winter. Also occasional freakish wind conditions occur any time of year. There was one a couple of years ago causing a lot of damage both to anchored boats and ones in the yard (several toppled) and there was one death on the water. One catamaran flipped at anchor.

The water in the bay is not clean. I would not like to run a watermaker there.

During the winter in Vliho there are a couple of tiny family run groceries (one with gas), a bakery and a few tavernas open. A British style bar (called the Yacht Club) is open at the end of town with laundry facilities.

Medium sized supermarkets are in Nidri, which is about a half hour walk away. Buses run both to Nidri and Lefkas town. Lefkas town has several larger chandleries.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have.

[Yofy]

Thanks for the information. That makes things a lot clearer. They are charging for moorings now. And I do remember hearing about that storm. The bay looks very pretty. We were attracted to the idea of a quiet small town.
Manny and Robyn

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Yofy

Thanks for the information. That makes things a lot clearer. They are charging for moorings now. And I do remember hearing about that storm. The bay looks very pretty. We were attracted to the idea of a quiet small town.
Manny and Robyn

Yes, Vliho Bay is beautiful. I kept a bike ashore just propped up at the yard - theft is not a problem there in winter when there are only locals around. The tracks through the adjacent olive and citrus groves are just so picturesque and the nearby waterfalls reached via lanes lined with majestic plane trees are breathtakingly lovely.

Vliho itself is mainly deserted with many homes occupied only in summer, so it does not have much of a small town feel. Although many seem to disagree, nearby Nidri I would describe as hideous LOL with a busy main street lined with tattoo parlours and tourist shops.

With a decent, well set anchor and plenty of scope I would prefer to be anchored there during winter, rather than relying on a mooring in the bay .

[Yofy]

Wow. Vliho really does look beautiful. And your winter sounds very appealing to me. But for the near future, we will need to leave our boat for a few months at a time if we move our home base. And we're not very comfortable with the idea of leaving a boat at anchor unattended for such long periods.

I did email the Maria at the Boatyard and she sent me a reply with a very good price for a mooring during the season or winter on the hard. Are there any other yards/ marinas that are reasonable in the Vliho area that you would recommend?

[rivonia]

If you want to leave your boat unattended see Riory in the Vliho Yacht Club (its a bar/restaurant) who is a very generous Irishman. He will put you onto one of his buoys and do gardinage for you. A great place to be.

[Seaworthy Lass]

There are also few jetties where you could tie the boat up for several months inexpensively eg Vliho township itself (you could pay one of the liveaboards there to keep an eye on your boat) or Vonitsa in Amvrakikos Gulf (several boats there were tied up and left for the winter also). There were also several boats left in an unfinished 'marina' at Preveza township.

If you are hauling out a bit of info:
The yard at Vliho has no travel lift, just a tractor. It is a roughish yard, but better than the other one just to the east of it in the same bay.

Several other nearby bigger yards offer cheaper prices than Lefkas Marina if you wanted a haulout - Preveza Marine and next door Cleopatra and Aktio (all 3 on the other side of the bay to Preveza township). We hauled out at Preveza Marine one year and found it to be excellent. The boat was extremely well propped up (better than they had propped us up at Lefkas Marina the year before). The airport is within walking distance of these 3 yards.

[Yofy]

All the information is a great help. Thank you both rivonia and Seaworthy Lass. From what I've heard the marina under consturction in Preveza is now under new management with Cleopatra having taken over. All the liveaboards were given 2 weeks to choose to stay and pay new high dockage fees or leave. So, that option doesn't sound appealing. However its great to get personal feedback on the other places.

[BirdoPassage]

We wintered with the boatyard (on land) two winters during the 90:ties. A long time ago. Maria was in charge and it was all very nice and very Greek. Hope you will have a nice time as well!! The water in the bay was dirty.

Johan on Bird of Passage in Portugal this winter.