Thirty years of windsurfing summers, a plot near the beach and a plan to spend half the year on Lefkada
Lisa and her husband are not retirees, and their story with Vasiliki began long before any thought of a home. After three decades of windsurfing summers on Lefkada, the UK-based family is building two attached houses, 150 metres from the beach. They plan to spend half the year here, outside the hottest months, while their eldest son makes the bay his permanent home.
By Lisa Grisley
Greece has always been special to us. I first came to Vasiliki in the summer of 1992 and returned in 1993, working in a local bar and then as a windsurf instructor at the newly formed Club Vass. After a stint at a windsurf centre in Turkey, I went back to the UK in 1996. That is where I met my husband, in the garden of a mutual friend, as he came back from a great windsurfing session looking for a cup of tea. As they say, the rest is history.
Our son George was born in 1998 and Tom joined us in 2001. We began returning to Vasiliki as a family in 2003, and almost every year since, sometimes for a week, sometimes for six. Our boys grew up here and both became instructors. George now competes on the world tour. Over the years we have made many friends and feel part of the community. We always feel we are coming home when we drive onto the island.
The wind, the water and the mountains
Vasiliki is hard to beat for wind sports. From April, the mornings are nearly always calm and beautiful. A gentle onshore breeze arrives by 10 or 11am, and the thermal wind then builds cross-shore, giving ideal conditions for wing foiling and windsurfing until October. Windsurfing, wing foiling and wind foiling are our shared passion.
Away from the water, Lefkada is an outdoor playground. We ride e-mountain bikes up to 50-60km at a time, with breathtaking views across to Kephalonia, Ithaca and the islands of Meganisi and Skorpios. I swim or paddle board in the mornings, and I love hiking. New walking trails are being developed, and Lefkada Trails by Colin Cooper, written by an English couple who also live on the island, is a fantastic guide.
Knowing the quiet side too
We have seen enough of Vasiliki to know winter is very different. The village gets very quiet, with one small taverna and a couple of grocery stores open, though it has a very good medical centre. There is a small community of EU nationals, some of whom travel for part of the winter, and a younger group who stayed after many seasons at the windsurf centres and now run businesses of their own. You definitely need a car. Lefkada town is lively all year, with plenty of schools and a good new hospital. Preveza airport closes from the end of October to mid-March, but Athens airport is now an easy 3.5 hours away. This is one reason we plan to be here for half the year rather than all of it.
Finding our plot
For ten years we looked for a house and never found one. We had almost given up when, three years ago, we came across a piece of land halfway between Ponti and Vasiliki, in the middle of the bay and only 150 metres from the beach. We took the plunge.
Since we are UK based, we knew the Greek building system would differ from what we are used to. Our engineer and architect listened carefully to our needs, which mattered on a long, narrow plot, and the process was much easier than we had anticipated. It took seven months to get the building permit. Friends who have lived here for years and speak fluent Greek warned us that dealing with builders would be harder, and our online reading, including the interview with Maarten Verhoef on the Greece Retirement Guide, helped us prepare. We have now met four construction companies on Lefkada, each working from the same tender document, and we hope to receive their tenders this week.
A home for the whole family
We divided our building allowance to create two mirrored houses, attached to each other. George plans to live in Greece permanently with his German girlfriend, and they both work online in the water sports industry. He will have one house and we will have the other. The land is in George’s name, which allows him to apply for the Golden Visa, and as his parents we are eligible too.
Our living space is on the first floor, with sea views and glimpses of Kephalonia at the front and mountain views at the back. There is a spare bedroom for visiting friends and family, and a large mezzanine where George can work. We want the houses to be low maintenance and well insulated, with a log burner, underfloor heating and simple planting in the garden.
We hope to start building this November, with an 18-20 month build depending on the winter weather. We can’t wait to finally have a home in Vasiliki.
More About the Ionian
If you are drawn to this part of Greece, read another testimonial by an author who returns every year to Lefkada, or our relocation guide to Kefalonia. For a taste of the islands on screen, see the series Maestro in Blue, filmed on Paxoi.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lisa Grisley, a British windsurf instructor, first came to Vasiliki in 1992 and has returned almost every year since. She and her family are building a home on Lefkada.
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