the starter motor is somewhere down there!

What started out with a failed starter motor unbelievably coincided with an outboard engine gearbox leak and ultimately the replacement of our 30 year outboard so our return to Nidri proved to be a good decision. The locals are warm, friendly and extremely helpful especially as they can speak English which we really appreciated. It would have been far more challenging otherwise.

Internet research on our Volvo Penta 2003T engine suggested that we would have to drain the oil and coolant before taking out the oil cooler and heat exchanger in order to gain access to the starter motor while other forums suggested that it was possible to remove it assuming there was plenty of room around the engine. Fortunately we had room so in 34 degs we set to work. A couple of hot and rather sweaty hours later plus a few bent tools we had managed to remove it.


the starter motor - it's a weighty item!

Sometimes you can really get to know the people and place when a problem occurs because it forces you down streets and into shops that you would otherwise have walked past. This can be a thoroughly enjoyable part of the cruising lifestyle together with sightseeing which of course we love.

We took the starter motor to Ionian Boat Assistance (IBA) as they are Volvo agents thinking that we'd be ordering a new one. The engineer took a look and said that it could be repaired then pointed us in the direction of George, an electrical engineer on the mainstreet.


George's workshop. How he finds anything is beyond us but he repaired it within four days as one of the casing bolts sheared off. He also helped with modifying a couple of tools that would enable us to make the refitting far easier.

Whilst we waited for George we were in a heatwave and needed to find ways to keep cool as the afternoon winds and katabatic gusts felt more akin to standing in front of a hairdryer on hot heat. One of the many pool bars came to the rescue and whist ashore we stumbled across the best place for eating skewered meat souvlakis and traditional greek 'gyros' - souvlaki wrapped in pitta bread with tomatoes, onion, chips and lashings of tzatziki. It's a hard life waiting around! ;-)


chillin with cafe frappe


cooler times spent bobbing in Hotel Oscar's pool


traditional greek street food at Stathis

As for the outboard, a visit to Nidri marine provided us with a contact who within minutes of phoning arrived on his moped. We left him as he drove off precariously holding our outboard with one hand whilst steering with the other! A few hours later we received the news that corrosion had rotted away parts of the engine leg and we were on borrowed time so we started to look for a suitable replacement.


the huge hole in our outboard leg

Nidri Marine were selling several used outboards but unfortunately they didn't have any suitable ones that met the maximum weight specification for our dinghy. There were plenty of 2.5hp but the Captain wouldn't be able to get 'Frisky', our dinghy up and onto the plane so we concluded that it was now time to buy new. We happened to find SOZOS Marine Services, a Mercury dealer in Lefkas who ordered us one from Athens and kindly delivered it (by van) directly to the IBA pontoon ready to go with oil and fuel.


meet 'Freddie Mercury', our new 6HP Mercury outboard!

We count ourselves lucky that we had a safe anchorage to stay in for free and were able to get our start motor repaired here as well as purchase a new outboard. We have become extremely fond of Nidri and now understand why so many cruiser's struggle to leave.