Product Description

The standard guide for Ionian sailing

Like its companions West Aegean and East Aegean, Ionian contains detailed information on many of the smaller harbours and anchorages which cannot be adequately covered in Rod Heikell's major guides Greek Waters Pilot and Turkish Waters and Cyprus Pilot. These handy-sized cruising companions are ideal for charterers and flotilla sailors who are in the area for a short time but to make the best of it need all the essential background information on places to visit, history, food and travelling in Greece at their finger tips.

Ionian covers the coasts and islands south from Corfu and has been extended for this sixth edition southwards to Finakounda and eastwards to Mesolongion. It has been fully revised with new and updated plans and photographs and major changes have been made to the layout to improve its use as a practical guide.

Continuously updated over nearly 20 years from his own unrivalled research Rod Heikell's Ionian is the original and trusted on-board reference.

Fully illustrated with harbour and anchorage plans, ground level and aerial photos in full colour.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132138 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 238 pages

About the Author
Rod Heikell has spent more than 20 years cruising the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean. In the 1970's he took time off from academic life and sailed Roulette, a 1950's JOG plywood hard chine sloop all of 20ft LOA and 6ft beam from England to Greece. He fell in lovewith the life and stayed in the Mediterranean. For a number of years he worked in the yacht charter business, delivered yachts and was a freelanec photographer. In 1979 he bought Fiddlers Green, a 28ft Cobra 850 and sailed it down to to the Mediterranean in the winter months. Three yaers later he acquired Tetra, a 31ft Cheverton New Campaigner built in 1962. In Tetra he travelled extensively around the Mediterranean researching his Pilots and recently sailed her to Southeast Asia and back. In 1987 he sailed down the Danube and on to the Aegean in a 19ft Mirror Offshore, Rozinante. His latest yacht seven Tenths,a Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36, is his fifth and is now in the Mediterranean from the Caribbean. Rod Heikell is the acknowledged expert on sailing in the Mediterranean. His Pilots have become the model for others and are often referred to as 'The Bible'!

Customer Reviews

Essential for the Ionian Sailor
This book has it all, harbour guides, local facilities guide, site seeing and even a bit of history thrown in as well.

If you're sailing round the ionian then you can't afford to be without this (watch out for the Hermiotti :-)

Helpful if snobbish
This book offers travel information on the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece and the adjacent mainland, with emphasis on yachting.

I live on the largest of those islands (Cephalonia), and while no place in the world is perfect, I can say that the presentation by the author is at times unfair. The author derides Greek food and wine. Having travelled in Great Britain myself, I couldn't help but chuckle. Here is how the author describes Greek food: "The principal meal in Greece is the midday meal and most oven-cooked dishes are prepared in the morning for this meal. In the evening these dishes will simply be partially reheated and served up as an overcooked lukewarm mess." Plainly, the author will have you believe that Greek supper is just a step above dog food. As a Greek cook myself, I wholeheartedly disagree. Although tourist fare in Greece can be sub-standard, this is an overgeneralization. In any tourist trap in the world you will be taken for a ride, whether in Cephalonia, Rome, or Key West. As far as Greek wine, it is true that mass-produced brands are variable and have suffered from vinification problems. On the other hand, there are Cephalonian labels such as Efranor and Orgion of Sclavos Wineries that are second to none, and have nothing to envy from Bordeaux or Napa Valley (I have no commercial interest in this winery). These wines are not widespread outside of Cephalonia, but they are available to the connoiseur that is willing to do his or her homework.

There are some puzzling cultural "facts" in the book. What in the world is the point of comparing Greek to Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet? Yes, the Greek alphabet is a precursor to the Cyrillic, yet I fail to see the relevance of comparing Greek to Cyrillic alphabets in a travel guide strictly focused on the Ionian Islands. Did I miss something?

As far as the sailing information, I do not claim to be an expert to properly evaluate it. Although I have taken basic sailing lessons (hence my interest in this book), I hardly call myself a mariner. Having said that, the plans look well-researched and detailed. The book describes numerous places to anchor a yacht, from the busiest touristy harbors to out-of-the-way deserted coves. The information is accurate and helpful as far as I can tell. Best of all, the information is continuously updated for free! Just go to https://www.imray.com/corrections/Ionian.pdf to get your free, hot off the press updates.

Overall, the sailing information for yachts seems no-nonsense, up-to-date, and eminently useable. I could do without the snobbery though. Is the author bitter because his countrymen once owned these Isles? I do not know. He does take the naive view that the British voluntarily relinquished ownership of the Ionian Islands in 1864 as a "gift" to the newly enthroned King George I of Greece (who actually hailed from Denmark). No mention of the long and bitter struggle of the local resistance to rid themselves of British rule. I wholeheartedly believe that the author should be proud of his heritage. I do not discount the substantial contribution of the British to the world throughout the course of the last half millenium. However, the British empire is long gone, and there is no use in sitting on past laurels. Today, the right of the peoples to self determination takes precedence over memories of past grandeur.

The bottom line is, of course, that everybody is entitled to their opinion.

A Great Sailing Companion
Having had the most fantastic two weeks sailing holiday in the Ionian Islands this year. I can't stress enough how useful this book was. It's the best pilot style handbook we came across and is the handbook of choice for sailing holidays limited. It helped us into many a Bay and Harbor, you shouldn't sail the Ionian without it.

You never know your luck it might stop you from confusing Kioni with Port Frikos.