Lati sailing the Greek Islands once again with her new owners
13 June 2015 | Kythnos island, Greece
Lati is sitting pretty in an anchorage off Kythnos Island with her new owners. I fell in love with Kythnos on our first visit in 2013. Lati has just undergone her second renovation in 3 years so she is looking very fine.
First with us when we bought her in 2012 as a shabby neglected thing in the US Virgin islands, we worked on her for 3 exhausting months then sailed across the north Atlantic to the Azores (25 days) and Portugal (13 days). She was put up in a boatyard in Ria Formosa, Algarve in Portugal and waited for our return in 2013. When we flew back to Portugal from Australia, she had been broken into and a few items were stolen - the brass foghorn and handheld vhf. After a few minor repairs we were off to the Med.
It was a long trip that year via Gibraltar to Sicily. Sadly the engine died outside Porto Empledocle, Sicily where we had to get towed in after anchoring for the night outside. A month later and 1000s of euros gone the engine was supposed to have been repaired.... Despite a few problems, Lati got us to Greece via the delightful Ionian islands and Gulf of Corinthe. At this time we delivered another yacht from Croatia to Greece via Bari, Italy where we bought a whole lot of new parts including a crankshaft from the Perkins dealer there. What is the definition of BOAT? Bring on another thousand...and more!
But despite the repairs in exotic locations, we enjoyed each harbour and island eating and drinking the local fare, enjoying the sights and making so many friends. We are especially fond of Greece and hope to return one day.
In 2013 we left Lati up on the hard again in a boatyard on the island of Aigina, Greece. In 2014, Bill flew back a few weeks before me to completely rebuild the engine again. Now she was reliable. Our last summer on Lati was wonderful as we did not cross any major oceans and hopped from one island to the next to Turkey and back. We left her in her 4th boatyard since 2012 in Lavrion, Greece. She was now for sale so it was an emotional farewell as we weren't sure we would see her again.
But now she is with her new Australian owner who has lavished more attention on her and with the help of his Dad (a good friend of ours) they have worked hard to make Lati very fine indeed.
It's not easy taking on major work on boats in foreign countries. It is difficult to know where to buy parts, materials and get work done without spending a fortune. But nevertheless the work usually takes longer and costs more than anticipated. And you are at the mercy of the boatyard. It's always good to get local advice. Fortunately we had good friends in St John, US Virgin Islands who helped us. We couldn't have done it without them. And again our Greek friend has assisted Lati's new owners to ease the transition.
We will be watching Lati's 2015 adventures with interest as she eventually heads for Norway. What a great boat she is.