Hole in Hull Update and Other Things

The leak wasn’t getting much worse so after lots of discussion with other sailors we had decided to set sail but to continuously monitor the water ingress. It is still much the same at a couple of litres a day.

It still looks pretty nasty.

Closer investigation tonight suggests that it is probably water seaping in through an old speed log fitting – hopefully less of a problem than original. We’ve requested to come out of the water at Preveza Marine next Monday from where Kate and Jonno will fly home.

International Turtle Rescue

Today Petronella became a member of the International Turtle Conservation Society. We sailed from the mainland to Ithaka, home of the Homeric Ullyses. When just a few miles short of our destination we spotted a floating log, no it’s a dead turtle, oh no – it’s a just live turtle tangled up in stringy plastic bags. We changed course and rapidly closed on the poor chap. Boarding ladders deployed, we were over the side in a shot, lifting the poor creature onto deck together with his mass of plastic. Kate’s demonstrated a range of midwifery skills as she gently cut away the plastic from his neck and forward port flipper. Suturing was not required and he was gently placed back in the water. After a couple of attempts he swam slowly off, albeit in a bit of circle. We continued on to our anchorage feeling virtuous and self satisfied.

If you would like to contribute to the International Turtle Conservation Society please send your contribution to JJK and G at The Bank of Pireus, Greece.

Stop Press: 23rd April - Now identified as a Hawksbill Turtle.

Perudo, I've just met a game called Perudo

Kate and Jonno brought out a game for us called Perudo which we learned tonight. It consists of six brightly coloured mugs each with five dice of the same colour, It’s a bluff and skill game, ideal for dark evenings at anchorage. It also satisfies the condition that anything that comes on the boat must have at least two uses. The beakers can be used as extra drinking mugs as well as dice shakers.

Oh, by the way we might have Kate and Jonno on the boat for some time as all the European airports were closed two hours after they left the UK due to a massive eruption off Iceland.

Houston, we have a Problem (There’s a hole in my boat, dear Gilly, dear Gilly)

Ah, not good news. Here’s a copy of part of the email we sent to Kate and Jonno who are supposed to be joining us in two days time.

Ah Plimmers

Not good news I'm afraid.

Whilst checking Petronella over this morning I noticed some water in the bilge. Turns out to be sea water and we have not yet tracked down where it has come from. It is still seeping slowly in and we are loathe to move on until the source has been identified. It's in a bastard of a place too - surrounded by water tanks and other things.



So, I'm afraid we may well be spending some of your time with us getting this fixed. Not what we planned but I'm sure you understand the position. If you prefer not to come out until we know we can sail we would understand but really we would LOVE to see you here - and Messalonghi does have its charms.

They are still coming out though even if it is just to find the leak! Fantastic news!

Computer Advances

A couple of successes yesterday, in fact three – all electronic.

First up the depth finding was reading very oddly as we came in here and at the end we used the lead line to find the true depth which was not 4.6m below the keel but 2.4m – slightly worrying. Anyway a quick check of the depth finder manual explained the Gain Delay Setting [don’t ask cus I still don’t really understand it!]. By setting it back to zero it miraculously read correctly. I think it was the combination of that setting and the very muddy bottom that made it read wrongly as it has been spot on elsewhere.

Next I tried playing with the computer power settings. I had heard that taking the battery out and running it straight off the boat battery used less juice. Lo and behold… with battery in it averaged 2A and without (as now) it is currently using just 0.4A, the same as a small cabin light.

And finally……. We have a copy of MaxSea installed on the PC which shows us charts but was not interfaced to the GPS. It is now!! There sits a little red boat on the chart exactly where we are

It took a bit of messing around with Serial to USB leads and software and then correct baud settings but it works great and we’ll likely use it when approaching new anchorages and marinas.

Good progress I reckon.

Old MacDonald had a Farm 8th April

We’ve worked our way east back to the Greek mainland. We had a great sail today, a gentle beat to windward where we learned a lot about how the mizzen counteracts lee helm, pushing the bow closer to the wind. We actually managed two tacks only 100 degrees apart which is somewhat of a record for us. Rob’s outhaul came in handy too.

Anyway, gone here are the craggy islands. Here it is all light agriculture and fish farms. We’re in an anchorage called Pamdelimon and it’s like living on a farm. We’ve seen cats, goats, chickens and pigs as well as the fish farms, birds of prey and gulls. It’s not a particularly pleasant spot though with ramshackle buildings and a ship breaking yard just down the coast. We came in here rather than Astokos to escape the southerlies that blow in there and had a quiet evening in rather shallow depths again.

Traditional Fishing Techniques

Anchored in Port Leone we watched the fishermen. One old guy (potterer we called him) rowed gently all round the bay with a big wicker basket full of line and hooks gently dropping them over the side for a kilometre or so. Took him just over an hour I guess. Next day he’s back bringing it all up again with maybe half a dozen fish. It looked as though, in the calm, he could just about pull the boat along from one hook to the next – just an occasional row. He did break his line once where our anchor chain had drifted over his line during the night. It looked like this was par for the course though and he wasn’t too bothered – he just went to his next float and worked back to the break on the other side.

On a larger scale six guys arrived early in the morning and lay out a bight of net – big floats at each end and a row of small red ones all along every couple of feet. They made a circle of net and then retreated to the ruined windmill to watch the sun come up, and have breakfast, and talk, and smoke, and listen, and watch, and talk some more, and joke. Three hours later the boat’s engines bought the net back in again. I think they probably ended up with more than six fish each this way but it is still not much more than subsistence fishing. Very interesting to watch.

Port Leone is a small abandoned village on the island of Kalamos. It’s a bit sad and sombre. Here are some pictures. Picturesque and rubbish-strewn in equal measure.