Nisos Levkas, Meganisi

Levkas is an island only because of the canal which separates it from the mainland. The present canal was built just after the turn of the century by the Greek government, although earlier canals were dug by the Corinthians around the 7th century BC and by Augustus during the Roman occupation. What appears to be an old canal cut can be seen running through the salt marsh just to the Ε of the present canal. The line of ruined stone on the W is the remains of an old Turkish/Venetian bridge.

The main town of Levkas is sited on a bend of the canal and in common with many other towns on this earthquake belt was rebuilt after the 1953 earthquake. Unlike Vathi on Ithaca or Zákinthos, it was not rebuilt to a style and consequently the town is a riotous jumble of corrugated iron and brick houses leaning over narrow streets. It has its own charm despite the chaotic housing and hand-me-down appearance and is in fact a major cultural centre for the area. Every August the town council sponsors music, dance and theatre from all over the world. The local band practices for weeks before to perfect its cacophonous contributions, storekeepers decorate their shops, the police bedeck the street with flags and banners and Levkas fairly bustles with locals and visitors out to enjoy themselves.

The flat salt marsh and sand spits at the northern end of the island are in marked contrast to the steep-to limestone mountain range forming the rest of the island. Most of the population is around the S and Ε sides of the island, which are attractively wooded in places. The large fort at the Ν entrance to the canal, called Santa Maura after a small chapel within its walls, was built in the Middle Ages (c.1300). Later it was used by the Turks and the Venetians. It is worth a visit to wander around the large complex, especially the small galley port adjacent to the Ε wall. At the S end of the canal is a fort built by the Venetians to guard the approaches to Órmos Dhrepanou.

On the SW corner of the island is a precipitous white cliff called Leukatas from which Levkas takes its name. This is the cliff presumed to be Sappho's Leap from which Sappho of Lésvos, the famous lyric poetess of the 6th century BC, is supposed to have flung herself. After Sappho there are records of criminals being flung from the cliffs; if they succeeded in reaching the sea unharmed, they were recovered and pardoned. There is no anchorage here although the small port of Vasiliki is nearby.

The Ε coast of Levkas is fringed by a number of small green islands including Skorpios, the private Parkland island of the late Aristotle Onassis, and feganisi, looking like a giant tadpole on the chart indented on its N coast with half a dozen red anchorages. This area is the setting for Hammond Innés' novel Levkas Man which supposes that these islands are the remains of a land bridge over which primitive man crossed from Africa to Europe.

Much of the factual basis of this book is derived from excavations by the German archaeologist Dorpfeldt who discovered Neolithic remains near Evgiros on the S of Levkas. Dorpfeldt also put forward the controversial theory that Levkas fulfills all the requirements for the Ithaca of Homer and indeed he uncovered Mycenaean remains near Sivota and Vasiliki.

Dorpfeldt contended that during the Middle Ages the inhabitants of Levkas were driven from their homeland to the more remote Ithaca of today and so transferred their name and cultural identity to that island. However, archaeological opinion still favours the present Ithaca as the original home of Odysseus.

LEVKAS CANAL

BA 2405
Imray-Tetra G12, G121

Levkas canal, cut through the salt marsh between the island proper and the mainland, effectively severs it from the mainland and provides a passage for boats down the Ε coast of the island.

The canal is kept dredged to a minimum depth of 6m although some of it is deeper than this. The southern end of the canal is buoyed but the rest of the canal is marked by poles with red or green triangles on top. Some of the poles are missing, but normally it is fairly easy to distinguish the shallow brown water marking the edge of the dredged channel from the murky green water of the canal itself.

Approach from the N

The first approach to the northern end of the canal can be hair-raising. With the prevailing NW wind pushing you down onto a lee shore with just the canal entrance to get you out of it, most people are on tenterhooks the first time around. You should have everything prepared, all sails down and stowed, the engine ticking over and someone up front to keep an eye on any traffic coming out of the canal.

Approaching the island in the afternoon haze it is not easy to identify where the entrance to the canal is. At times the haze can obscure even the high mountains of the island and you may be only 3 or 4 miles off before you see it. Closer in the wine co-op factory and warehouse on the W side of the canal and Ayios Mavros (Santa Maura) fort on the Ε side will be seen against the flat sandbanks of Yera spit to the W and Plâka spit to the E. From the NW two windmills stand out on Yera spit and behind the buildings of Levkas town will be seen.

On rounding the protecting mole, two rusty 44-gallon drums (sometimes painted red) are the buoys marking the underwater rocks and shallows on the SE side of the canal entrance, though they cannot always be relied on to be in place. A sand bar extends a short distance from the western entrance-point to the canal. Although it is periodically dredged, care must be taken as it silts up and extends rapidly in the summer with the prevailing northerlies.

Just beyond this is the floating bridge with a section that can be raised. When the section of the floating bridge is raised it leaves a 9m wide gap on the W side of the canal. For larger craft the floating bridge swivels to lie parallel to the Ε bank. When the bridge is going to open a siren sounds and theoretically the signal on the bridge is lowered. If that doesn't work the operator will make it plain that you are to go with much waving of the hands.

Contrary to conventional IMO regulations, traffic heading southwards has right of way according to a special regulation. In practice, though, northbound traffic is usually waved through first to clear traffic in the canal. Keep an eye on the operator and play it by ear. There may be a current in the canal at times, occasionally up to 1½ knots, which makes manoeuvring difficult. Levkas town is a short distance down the canal.

Note The bridge uses VHP Ch 12. Between 2100 and 0600 you will need to call up to get the bridge to open. During daylight hours the bridge opens on the hour.

Approach from the S

Fort Áy Yeoryiou is conspicuous on a summit above the Ε side of the entrance to the canal. Closer in you will see Nisis Voliós, an islet at the entrance with a light structure on it, and the first set of buoys marking the channel. The channel is then shown by pairs of buoys and beacons and in the salt marsh by poles with red and green triangles atop. The direction of buoyage is from Órmos Dhrepanou.

A yacht should not attempt to cut outside the buoys marking the channel: there is a reef on the Ε and the remains of an old breakwater on the W.

By night From the Ν use the light on Ayios Mavros (Santa Maura) fort Fl(2)WR.12s8/5M, (red sector covers 075°-120°) and the light on the end of the short mole sheltering the entrance to the canal Fl.G.l-5s3M. Care is needed as a hotel on the waterfront in Levkas has a quick flashing red and blue neon sign which is easily mistaken for the entrance lights. In the summer the Kastro near the beach has bright spotlights at night and along with the lights of Levkas town this makes spotting the entrance lights difficult. In the summer Fort Ây Yeoryiou at the S end of the canal is spotlit and shows up well.

From the S use Ák Kefáli F1.4s5M, Nisis Voliós Fl.WR.l-5s5/3M, (red sector covers 293°-335°), and the lights of the buoys and beacons marking the channel Q.G/Q.R.

LEVKAS MARINA

The marina lies immediately S of Levkas town quay, with the entrance at the S end of the marina. The pontoon to enclose the Ν side of the marina will be installed in the near future.

Approach

VHP Ch 69.

Mooring

Data 434 berths. Visitors' berths. Max LOA 40m. Depths 2-5-4m.
Berth Berth where directed. Laid moorings tailed to the quay and pontoons.
Shelter Some berths may be uncomfortable with the chop kicked up across the harbour by the prevailing NW wind in the summer. Some berths may be affected by southerlies.
Authorities Harbourmaster and marina staff. Charge band 3. Κ & G Med. Marinas Management, Lefkas Marina, 31100 Lefkas, Greece Tel. 26450 26645/6 Fax 26450 26642 Email lefkas@medmarinas.com www.medmarinas.com

Facilities

Services Water and electricity (220 and 380V). Shower and toilet blocks. Fuel Fuel quay on the S mole. Repairs 60-ton travel-hoist. Hardstanding area. Workshops. Provisions A minimarket in the marina. More in Levkas town. Eating out Café/bars and restaurants in the marina.

General

Levkas Marina, open since July 2002, is part of the Κ & G Med. Marinas Group, who also run Gouvia, Kalamata and Zea marinas. It is a maturing development with restaurants and bars dotted around the waterfront and some shops and boutiques, but don't forget to stroll around Levkas town as well.

Note

After the recent earthquake in August 2003 (variously recorded as somewhere between 6-2 and 7-2) there has been some subsidence in the marina and around the town quay. None of it is critical but care is needed when walking around of tilted concrete slabs and sunken infill.