Sailing through the Lefkas canal is really enjoyable. There is so much to see! Many other boats, narrow parts in the canal where you really have to watch out. The surroundings are beautiful.  It keeps you busy for a while! But it’s worth the sail and Preveza is a really lovely town! We were lucky to find the last spot on the town quay, which is always nice. So much to see and do! Frontrow!

Lefkas Canal
The canal runs for around 3.5 miles through the low-lying land at the NE end of the island and divides it from the Greek mainland. The canal, which is dredged to a depth of 5.0 – 6.0 meters along most of its length, is shallow in some places.  There is a speed limit of 4.0 knots in the canal and sometimes an appreciable current of 1.0 – 1.5 knots, usually S-going. There is a floating swing bridge (for traffic & pedestrians) on the Northern part of the canal which opens between 06:00 and 22:00 on the hour. Improvements have been made to the northern entrance of the canal and it is now clearly marked with large Red and Green buoys, with lights (which continue down the length of the canal). A waiting dock has also been installed for yachts coming down from the north who need to wait for the bridge to open. Dredging also means there is now much more depth at this entrance (approximately six meters/19.6 ft).

Friends come and go
Today Birgitte was leaving and Oscar and Matthias were joining us. Quite busy on board but lovely to have friends around! Thanks guys for taking the time and effort to join us! Oscar always brings cookbooks, preferably from the countries we are at that moment or where we are going. This time he brought 2 beautiful cookbooks of Greece and Turkey. What a joy! But also books of the Ionian Islands. Oscar is always who chooses which restaurants we are going to. And today we ended up for lunch at Tasos’ restaurant called Taverna O Kaixis. This restaurant makes the best authentic Greek fresh seafood so far. So good and the atmosphere is so great! The owner Tasos is a really nice host. The choice of wines is a bit limited maybe because the Greeks don’t drink wines with their meals? Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch that much that we decided to go there for dinner again. Then we were sure that we would get nice and fresh seafood again! Thank you, Tasos! It was great!  Sleeping at the quay was a bit noisy. But ok, you are also in the middle of the town!

Preveza
There are 3 explanations of the origin of the name “Preveza”.
The first view suggests that the name “Preveza” originates from the Slavic word prěvozъ, meaning passage.
The second view suggests that the name originates from the old Albanian word prevëzë -za, which means passage, transition, crossing over.
The third view suggests that the word originates from the Italian word prevesione, which means provision, supply.
The most accepted explanation apparently is the first one. No idea why, but that’s what is being said

Preveza, discover the ‘island’ on the mainland
Preveza will make you think you’ve reached an island, particularly if you arrive by boat. Preveza is a civilized delight! Walking the town quay and looking at all the boats and the hustle and bustle going on. You see vendors selling an ear of grilled corn, cafes and restaurants sandwiched between neoclassical buildings. In the center, where there are no cars allowed and even not possible to drive! you’ll come across surprises at every corner; bookshops with the latest editions, belle epoque teahouses, outdoor tables overflowing with tasty and cozy bars and restaurants and. So enjoyable! Preveza has everything to offer what you possibly are looking for. Great supermarket close to the town quay for provisioning, fuel, gas, entertainment, restaurants, shopping and so on. We stayed for 1 day and moved on to the islands of Paxos.