A quick update..........we took the boat to Fourni for sundowners with old sailing friends from our time wintering on Samos. We had previously bumped into them in the laundry here in Kiladhia. Fourni is very close to Kiladhia and it took us just a few minutes to motor into the small bay and drop the hook off the beach in lovely clear water . After taking a dip, swimming around the boat, and diving to look underneath Stiletto, we were very distressed to find the whole of the hull covered in weed, crustaceans and little hard wormy things that have latched on to the underneath of Stiletto. The coppercoat has not coped at all. Even the rudder, that had 5 coats of coppercoat applied after the repairs has not deterred all the ‘clingons’.

We managed to scrape off about 18 inches by swimming around the boat armed with scrapers but it is so bad we feel we need to get it all off before we can even think about sailing. It will have a huge impact on our boat speed. The little critters have also attached themselves to the swim ladder and when we got Dinky the Dinghy on the dock the next day it took us 2 hours to scrape everything off.

Two months of being static in very warm water, that is very shallow and has no tidal flow has reeked havoc. We have spoken to Evangolus in the yard and asked if we could have a “lift and hold" so we can clean up her bottom. He informed us the lift is undergoing maintenance this week but he will let us know. So we wait...........

Well we waited and he came back with a figure of €800 plus tax at 24% and the yard would try to fit us in at the end of a working day at some point next week. We got the feeling it was an inconvenience they didn't want. We've had enough of waiting around and frankly €800 is just not within our budget. So we'll have to put up with a slower boat for what is left of our season. We're disappointed but that's life.

We have now been here, anchored in the bay of Kiladhia for 2 months and 1 week. For the whole of this time we have been totally self sufficient and reliant on natural resources : wind and solar. We have our two main solar panels on the stern and we also have two folding portable panels that will fit into a handbag that we put out on deck on whichever side the sun is shining and we can keep phones, my tablet and kindle fully charged. Not forgetting Windy Miller the wind generator. All for free.

The dinghy gets us ashore and we have been using the shower and toilet facilities in the boatyard. The car is parked on the road where we come ashore and tie up and has been a godsend these past couple of months. We have been able to visit friends and family, get to neighbouring towns for medical appointments and do big supermarket runs when necessary. The North Bar is our preferred watering hole and after a gruelling couple of hours on the local beach we shower and then spend a couple of hours catching up with news and gossip using their wifi and enjoying a cold beer or an Ouzo or coffee. We are now accepted as locals which has been really nice.

Now that Andreas is so much better we are ready to move on albeit just for 10 days as we have to be back for an appointment with Dr. Christos week commencing 18th August. We won't be going far, just exploring some of the local anchorages in clean clear water. We are very hopeful that Christos will ‘sign him off' and tell us all the stones are now gone. But before all that, our dear friend Vasso has found us a diver who will clean off the bottom of Stiletto for €200. It means going round to Porto Khelli but for that cost it is well worth it. So, we leave tomorrow !!!!

This was not the start of our 8th season we had expected. I have felt dark forces have been at work as it seemed like just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I personally feel my patience has been stretched to the absolute limit and there have been days when I have been close to tears out of sheer frustration.
But we've come through it all unscathed, still married and loved up !!!!

Not everything in life works to plan. But that can make you a stronger, better person. Can't it ????

My thought for the day:
I'm pretty confident my last words will be, “ well shit, that didn't work ” 🤣🤣