Dem Old Bones

Two days ago Gill broke a rib leaning over the stern adjusting the new kedge fittings. She didn’t tell Chris cus that’s what she’s like but it looked pretty painful. Yesterday after he had left she was grunting and groaning when she lifted an anchor! Anyway today it’s a bit better and I’ve got her back painting again. Tough cookies these cruising wives – even when they are still on dry land.

Progress

Chris has now returned to the UK after sterling work on the main engine and our pet Chinese Bear, the Panda generator. It looks as though both are now up and running again. See pictures for main engine bearing bolt fabrication.

As usual filling the gas bottles proved exciting. Can’t fill US bottles here in the yard. Try these places in Preveza. Can’t find them. Return to yard for better instructions. Ah yes, we didn’t tell you – you are just looking for an alleyway (<2’ wide it turns out) across the way from Elvis’ on the sea front. Back we go – this involves two crossings of the dreaded ‘immersed tunnel’ at 3 euros a go. Ask in the café next door. Can’t do I don’t think. Finally say they will send to Iounana many kilometres away and see if they can fill them there. Come back on Tuesday. Of course by Tuesday the car has been returned so Chris and I go in by bus (which was extremely late arriving – had we missed it?). the woman comes struggling out with two very full bottles. Yipee. 45 euros but that should last us till Turkey so time for a celebratory beer before convincing the taxi driver it was safe to drive us back through the tunnel with two unexploded bombs in the boot!

Next up, the anchor windlass. It worked great last season but seized up as we put Petronella to bed in October. I thought I had sorted it but obviously not. After two days of dismantling and cleaning we realised that the main spindle needed to come out. But it is stuck. We get Steve from Hayling Island to drive us out to some car garage which has a hydraulic press. Only it doesn’t but his mate does. He’ll take me there in a few minutes. Off we go past the Preveza Town football stadium and stop outside an ordinary house. But this is no ordinary house. If you go down the side there is an old shed with an even older lathe and an even older Greek chap working in there. Next door is a greenhouse with half a dozen marine engines in various states of disrepair and even further out the back is his diesel engine garden consisting of dozens of dead motors with grass growing through them. This guy speaks no English and my limited Greek certainly won’t stretch to please mend my windlass. My new friend interprets though and the old guy says come back tomorrow and it will either be done or the casting will be smashed! Fair enough, nothing I can do if he can’t press it out anyhow – I’ll just have to spend 800 euros on a new winch, 800 euros on new chain to fit…….. Next day though, it’s another success. Back we go under the immersed tunnel to Preveza and lo and behold there it is all in nice little pieces as we had asked. Eventually our old friend arrives and says that will be 30 euros. 30 euros – we nearly bit his hand off! Chris and I then went for some soda waters (well that’s what we told Gill). More hard sweat and it is now back on the boat working a treat.

Unsavoury Liaison

Today Gill’s favourite Moose slippers were found engaging in unnatural acts. They were summarily keel hauled for such disgusting behaviour – well they were hoisted up the mizzen mast to be precise.

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Vliho Yacht Club. What a great place. Steve took us there for Sunday roast. It’s like stepping into a little bit of England. Full of liveaboards, renters and a few locals. Nice buzz of conversation and at last some warmth. We met Brian and Maggie there. They are renting in Vliho for the winter before getting back on the water next month. The morning had been spent building a go-cart for the annual race down the local hill. It all looked a bit hairy but great fun. Beer led to wine, led to more wine with excellent food from our very hardworking Irish hosts. We’ve since borrowed Brian’s van and probed his mind for good engineering solutions.

You Muppet!

We returned our hire car today. The airport is shut so there was no one around except for two Olympic Airways (haven’t they gone out of business anyhow?) officials. No Avis rep, nothing. So, after ten minutes sitting in the car park waiting for Avis to arrive we decide to ring their office in Lefkas. Ah yes, they had forgotten we were returning a car today. They will send someone to collect it. Meanwhile, can we just leave the keys under the muppet. You what? Yes, please, just leave them under the muppet. Er, I’m afraid I don’t understand. The muppet, leave them under the muppet. I’ve left keys under sun visors, under carpets and on wheels before but never, ever under the muppet. After another couple of tries the woman went off to speak to someone else and came back saying, yes please leave the keys under the mat. That’s more like it. We did, and that was that.

Preparation for 2010

It's February 18th and this year's preparatory jobs list is at last starting to reduce. We fly out to Athens on 28th February for a more relaxed year of gentle Ionain and Aegean cruising. Other than wanting to visit a few of the sites from Homer's Ulysses plans are pretty fluid.

Since we returned to the UK in October we have been busy completing the wind-up of Rita's estate, preparing for Christmas and then getting all the things ready for our return to Petronella. At the start of this week we had over sixty things on the To-Do list. It is now down to less than twenty and we reckon we should be ready in good time.

Things we have done recently include order a new Rocna anchor, repair the water pump (again), get new sheaves for the genoa blocks, spares for the Aries, a new VHF aerial, make new sheets for our berth, blah, blah, blah.

Still the flights are booked, we return from Hull and yet another funeral on 27th February, try to fit in a curry evening back in Gleaston before setting off for Manchester for the 7.30am flight to Athens.

Then more jobs to get Petronella ready for her 2010 voyages.

And, just to whet your appetite here is a route map from last year.

At Last - a Douch Posting

Stage 4. Sardinia to Greece with crew Rob Baker and Gordon Herbert 650 miles

Chris and Audrey caught a taxi from the marina just after lunch and then John and I set about the cleaning, washing and turning round of the boat - a fairly mammoth task as we had decided to swap cabins so that Rob and Gordon could have our cabin – an easier arrangement for the passages we were planning to do. Our new crew arrived at 6pm and after a tour of Petronella - just the essential things like the heads and the gas, followed by a beer or two we went out for a pizza at the local restaurant – a converted boat next to the marina.

Monday 24th was spent in Cagliari stocking up on provisions, doing some e-mails and doing a briefing with the new crew – or rather swapping ideas as they both have so much experience. Then off into Cagliari for an amazing meal at 4 Moros – a typical Sardinian restaurant where the courses of mainly sea food and fish just kept on coming until we were too full to attempt any more. Can’t say I was overwhelmed with the winkles!

Tuesday 25th. Set off early – 3 times – the lazy line got tangled under the boat so we had to go in and out until we were eventually free. Filled up with diesel at the fuel pontoon – much easier when there are 4 people rather than just John and me, then out into the bay. Motored then sailed then motored again round the south east tip of Sardinia and anchored off Villasimius in a big sandy bay. A good shake down start.

Wednesday 26th to Saturday 29th. Sardinia to Sicily 325 miles
Off early and settled into the one hour on, 3 hours off rota of watchkeeping – me then Rob then Gordon and then John. It worked very well – much easier than 1 hour on 2 off that we had been doing with Chris. We motored when it was flat and sailed when we could. Rob spent much of the first morning tweaking the sails – he and Gordon installing an outhaul on the main to flatten it and make it possible to sail closer to the wind, sorting out the kicking strap which was pretty useless as it had ceased up, just generally looking at the trim and making her go as fast as possible. Great to have them on board – they have such energy. We settled into an easy routine – make a cup of tea for the person coming on watch as you go off, all having breakfast, lunch and dinner together, washes in the body bucket on the stern before it got dark and a load of banter whenever we met up. It was very hot – over 40 degrees, and when the engine was on the aft cabin became like a furness – a cunning plan to swap cabins with them eh! After the first couple of hours we saw almost no boats at all for 2 days – we were crossing further north then most people and a ship spotted was recorded in the log it was so rare, Saw many dolphins and a large brown and green turtle which we chased but couldn’t find – reckon it had dived as soon as it saw us coming. Early on the morning of the 28th – my birthday – we saw the lighthouses on the islands to the north of Sicily flashing and lightening kept flickering over the mainland – quite spooky. I opened my presents and cards at breakfast time - not the usual birthday. The wind dropped completely and at lunch time we had a swim in over 2000 metres and the water was as warm as a bath. Fantastic.

From mid afternoon onwards we could see Stromboli through the haze and by tea time the smoke and occasional ash clouds were clearly visible. We arrived as darkness fell and drifted around the north west tip on a flat sea with a number of other boats for a couple of hours waiting for the eruptions to take place with cameras poised. Think the word underwhelmed springs to mind – there were a few spectacular clouds of ash, smoke and flames but in general Stromboli wasn’t playing. Then just as we were motoring away there was a fantastic eruption and ash and boulders rolled down the mountain and into the sea pretty close to where we were. Did we photgraph it? No chance. Had a close miss with another boat which we had assumed was at anchor as there were no riding lights on, no one at the helm and people having a meal at a lit cockpit table. But as we passed it the boat turned towards us – obviously moving at some speed and it just passed behind our stern. All over before we knew what was happening.

After a discussion we decided not to stop for the night at Stromboli, but to head south towards Messina 36 miles away. Lots of shipping here – not easy night watches, and lots of shooting stars too. Rob and I were on deck doing the pilotage as we entered the Straits of Messina and John and Gordon got up shortly afterwards so we all sat in the cockpit watching for shipping and the infamous whirlpools of Charybdis and Scilla – affectionately termed Cilla and Clarys by the crew. There is a tide running through the straits and we hit it just right - luck not judgement – and managed to find the tidal streams. At one point we were motoring and then sailing at 8.4 knots on a flat sea. Not a whirlpool in sight – they only make an appearance at spring tides – but the seas were very confused and the water disturbed – great experience.

We had decided to spend a couple of nights in Riposto marina and try and organise a trip up Mount Etna whilst we were there. As we sailed down the east coast of Sicily we could hear thunderstorms rumbling in the mountains and it was incredibly hot. We decided as it was quite early to stop for a swim at Taomina – another decision made by committee – and as we approached the anchorage we were invited to pick up a mooring buoy by a man in a dinghy. We said we were only stopping for an hour and he said OK you can stop for free. Once securely tied to the buoy he then introduced himself as George Sirros and said he ran a boat hotel and could get everything for us that we needed. So we stayed!! A good business man. He removed our rubbish – not a nice job – 4 days of rubbish stank in that heat, sorted out a trip to the volcanic area for us, gave us lots of information and sourced a new filter for us –all in 20 minutes! A great sheltered bay, with Mount Etna in the background. After a long swim and a few beers we caught the bus into Taomina – a fantastic ancient town 200 metres above the bay, and had a meal. But after 4 days sailing and 3 nights of broken sleep we were so shattered we hardly spoke to each other and the restaurant we ate in must have thought we were the most miserable people ever!

Next day – Sunday, we chilled. Rob and I took the dinghy and did a big shop whilst John and Gordon worked on the boat. Then in the afternoon we swam, we slept and we read. In the evening we took the bus again up to Taomina and this time we went round the town, had a beer at a bar and a great meal in one of the restaurants. Fantastic old place, churches, restaurants, shops, houses all on top of each other, people everywhere, flowers and shrubs in every tiny piece of ground – a maze of tiny streets. George gave us a lift to the shore and back so we all had a few beers and had a really good evening.

Next morning we were on shore at 8.15am to meet our guide whose name we cannot remember and we were driven by landrover up onto the slopes of Mount Etna. A great day followed – we walked over lava fields, went into caves in the lava flows, saw devastated slopes with dead trees, an old caldera, lots of plants which he was very knowledgeable about –and so was Rob – it was a great guided tour of the bits you would never see on your own and we all felt it was really worth while.

Got back at 4 ish and after a meal we get the boat ready and set off for Greece. But we didn’t get far – about 5 minutes out a massive thunderstorm broke and lightning flashing along the backstay was enough to convince us that the anchorage would be safer. So we turned round and rocketed back, picked up a mooring buoy again then all of us had a fun 30 minutes showering in the pouring rain in the nude – what the drivers of the cars on the road next to the anchorage must have thought I don’t know but it was great fun and we all enjoyed the shower immensely! A good end to our stay in Sicily.

Tuesday 1st September. Sicily to Corfu. 273 miles. Crew Rob and Gordon
Slipped the mooring at first light and set off on a glassy sea for Greece. A pretty uneventful passage really, all of us now well into the rhythm of passage making and finding it quite easy. More shipping to start off with as we were crossing the shipping lanes then again we saw very little shipping. Had some excellent sailing this time but again did a fair amount of motoring. There was a moon for most of the night which meant that we couldn’t see the stars and as we were trying to learn a few more every night this wasn’t so good, but it was much easier to see what you were doing on the boat. On the last morning, with Corfu and Paxos in the distance we saw some very odd large brown dolphins which we couldn’t identify. Then at 1.30 pm we passed close to the north tip of Paxos and an hour later anchored in Gaios – the main town on Paxos. Journey over – 2000 miles of sailing and motoring and Petronella is in Greece. Finished with a blip though –as we were pulling back on the anchor John’s fishing line got caught in the propeller!!! But what is a crew for eh. Whilst John and I went ashore in the dinghy to register the boat Rob and Gordon untangled the mess and we came back to find everything working again. Went ashore that evening for a great meal – a real feeling of achievement and nowhere near as knackered as the evening when we arrived in Sicily.

Friday 4th September Gaios to Lakka

Only 4 miles to go today so the three men went ashore and stocked up in Gaios in the morning then we sailed up the coast to Lakka. A fantastic turquoise bay on the north tip of Paxos, clear water, lots of boats, fishing port, just about as close to Paradise as you can get. Spent the afternoon snorkelling – Rob found an octopus under a stone and a load of flat fish on the sandy bed of the bay, then went into Lakka for a pre-dinner drink in a bar overlooking the anchorage. Back to the boat for a meal and a well deserved drink or two.

Saturday 5th September

End of the journey. A nice easy 35 miles of sailing and motoring up to Gouvia marina, which is 5 miles to the north of Corfu town. Tied up on the visitors pontoon and had a swim in the pool at the marina – just wonderful. Then back to the boat for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles and out for a meal, followed by drinks in café Blue listening to a fantastic group until 2.30am. Really the end now. Up early on Sunday morning for Rob and Gordon to pack in the middle of a thunderstorm, then off to the taxi and back to the UK. We will really miss them – they were such a capable, non-complaining, competent and fun crew who slotted in so well into life on board Petronella.

Now it’s just John and me, awaiting Emma and Susie’s arrival at our favourite bay on Paxos.