The last Blog ended on 22nd March on our arrival back at Cleopatra Marina from our little road trip. Although a lot has gone on since then we have not progressed very far towards New Zealand, in fact we are still very firmly ensconced on the water in Greece, right now anchored in Tranquil Bay in Nidri. Since Elixir had her splash on 08 April we have been weight listed to get various jobs done on the yacht that needed doing before the trip proper gets underway. Jobs needed were, 1 New Bimini (Cover for the crew in the cockpit), 2 S/S Post to hold the iridium satellite receiver, AIS (Automatic Identification System) Aerial and to hold the outboard crane, 3 upgrade of the 65 amp hr alternator to a 140 amp hr one along with associated wiring and voltage distributor upgrades to handle the increased flow, 4 Log replacement (thingy that goes round and round under the boat measuring the water flow to tell the people up top what speed one is going), 5 Wind speed/direction cable replaced (as it is always handy on a yacht to know if there is any wind!) 6 Timing belt replacement (as one always needs to know what time happy hour will be!) 6 Refrigerator upgrade with a new thermostat as beer may not be allowed to get warm not to mention the chardonnay. 7 Liferaft and Fire Extinguishers serviced. We did expect that we would wait until Gibraltar to get most of these jobs done but in the end we found a great service company in Lefkas that talked us into having them organise all the work. We unfortunately got caught up in the pre season rush to get all of the charter boats ready and us with just the one yacht had to just take a ticket and wait. Those of you who know me will understand that I do not take hurry up and wait very easily so sitting around in Lefkas for long weeks was never going to be an option. The following is thus where we went and what has gone on. My apologies for repeating what has already been submitted to Facebook but not all of our contacts do the Facebook buddy thing.
08/05/15 We were dropped in the water and as one must leave the safety of the marina straight away to avoid extra charges we moved half a mile over to the Town Quay at Preveza where we tied stern to and spent some time provisioning. Both SWMBO and I love Preveza as a town as everything is so handy to where we can tie up Elixir. Going stern to is a process where one drops ones anchor about 50 metres off the quay and then backs in to a space and ties the stern of the boat to the Quay (thus stern to) one then tightens up the anchor to keep the bow pointing straight out at right angles to the quay and finish off by putting a plank (for the walking of)between the yacht's stern and the quay.
This process is very straight forward when there are no other yachts around but at times there is a full house and one has to push and shove a bit to get a spot. Flying a NZ flag and looking very competent is the key to getting a spot on the quay. Having wild and loud debates with SWMBO who invariably is in charge of the foredeck and of the anchor release does not do much for ones image and destroys any good flag perception, so above all calmness and perceived competence must reign in the face of driving ones precious boat at speed back into a pile of cross looking faces and a large concrete wall. The speed is needed to maintain steerage which can be totally destroyed by too much weight being applied to the anchor, those that have done all this will understand what I am talking about! Once one has ones spot secured one can then bask in the sun and watch marriages being tested as others then try to emulate. Of course if I stuff up then I quickly change back to my Irish Flag, only joking, only joking! It rained and thundered all the time and was very cold during nights but we did have our heater and we were loving being back on the water.
10 April 2016
Off to Port Police to complete necessary paperwork, having tried over the weekend to no avail. We were more than pleased at how this process was completed within 15 minutes and we were free to go. We thus changed our short term cruising plans and have decided to go South to Lefkas and stay in Greece a bit longer rather than going North to Albania as that no longer is as urgent as we had understood was the case.
11 April 2016
0600 Left Preveza in very pleasant but very cold conditions and moved to Lefkas under sail all the way. Passed through the Canal bridge at 0800 and checked into the Lefkas Marina for the day and a night. At 68 euro for one night I can tell you for a fact that one night is more than enough at this very expensive marina. Power and water were extra.
Here we arranged and measured for the Bimini, arranged for the other work to be done and heard the news that nothing will get done until the last week in April or the beginning of May. Greek time!
With our hands tied, time wise, we decided to do a bit of a sailing trip around the Ionian Islands. For those readers who feel oh so sorry for us Chocolates and Rum can be sent, fast courier!
12 April 2016
Left Marina and moved to Lefkas town quay for the Ray Marine guys to their assessment thing up the mast and in our bilges. It appears that new wires have to be run but they could not do the work today as they had to order parts.
13 April 2016
Sailed 10 miles down the coast to Nidri where we were visited by the Fridge Technician and an appointment made for the fridge work to be done next week.. Greek Time. 19:30 left Nidri and sailed to the Island of Meganisi for the night. As a matter of interest on the way we sailed close by the island of Skorpios of Jackie Onassis fame. We spent a pleasant night anchored in postcard perfect bay all on our own.
The moon and the stars seemed to be at the brightest that I have ever seen in the Northern Hemisphere.
A really unique anchorage and a great spot to un-winterise our outboard motor and tune it up. After pulling the carburetor off and cleaning it then putting it back together again, twice, I managed to get it going and went off for a buz around the bay to check it out.. All good to go.
14 April 2016
11:30 Once the wind got up we sailed to Port Leone on the Island of Kalamos.
Jenny got a good chance to try out her own new set of binoculars and pronounced them the best ever..
Still a bit cold in the wind but nothing that happy hour will not go some way towards a cure.
15:00 We anchored on our own. This Port Leone was a thriving village back in the 1950s when it got totally wiped out in an earthquake. The townsfolk rebuilt in another part of the island leaving this as a ghostly reminder of those that died and lives that were left in ruins.
Jenny inspecting an abandoned olive crushing stone where a windmill was used to roll another stone around on top crushing the olives and oil produced ran out the opening in the side to be collected in pots.
In the olive oil storeroom in the late day we noticed Elixir anchored peacefully just 50 metres off the landing making a great photo in the old building frame.
Right at dusk another yacht came into the bay. That yacht sported a big wind turbo off its stern post for electric power but the damn thing hummed and whirred away all night and was most antisocial. In an idyllic isolated spot like this it annoyed me more than just a little. I do have a Honda Generator but restrict its usage to more socially acceptable times and places.
15 April
2016
0900 Left Port Leone and sailed to Astokos on the Greek Mainland.
