Thursday 23 May 2019 - Gouvia Marina, Corfu
So here we are again, on the boat. Getting here and getting ready has been a bit fraught. As many of you know, we have had a hectic couple of months. Much of our time has been taken up with our possible sale of our house and move to a flat. We also had a lot of activities just before we came away. The upshot of all this was a definite lack of proper preparation. So until the day before we flew here to Corfu we didn't even know if the boat would be in the water and/or ready for us to sleep on.
But our flight on Tuesday was fine; the hire car was waiting for us at the airport and the boat was in the water in its usual berth with the passarelle down so we could board and we had electricity. However on Wednesday morning the boat services staff came to see us and it was clear that although much of the maintenance was done there were a number of crucial things outstanding. There was more electrical work to be done; the sail makers still had to install the new lazy jack bag, spray hood and fit the sails; the windlass still needed a part replaced; and the little bash at the front which dented the metal plate on the bows hadn't been seen to. Also two other problems arose. We found that the teak strip on the gunwales had been badly damaged on the starboard side near the bows. The boat services men said it was like that when they came to supervise the lifting out. Something must have hit it during the winter. Then worse than that after I had been shopping the fridge went wrong. It stopped getting properly cold.
We also started to unpack only to find that we hadn't brought everything. For instance, Richard forgot to pack his socks! That meant buying a dozen new pairs in the supermarket. I also forgot to pack our Tilley Hats but we have lots of baseball hats on the boat to protect us from the sun.
As a result of this, we had at least 7 workmen on the boat all day putting these things right. We now are more or less ready to go. We are just waiting for the lifeboat to be returned, which is due tomorrow.
With all this work going on Richard also spent the best part of two days on the computer trying to pay the new tax the Greeks have imposed on foreign boats cruising in their waters. It is supposed to be relatively easy to do online, but from the chat we heard everyone was having great difficulty doing it. First go was when Richard had trouble navigating the site. Then when he accomplished that, he had to wait for an email confirming the amount to be paid and the bank account to which money should be transferred. When that came it was again difficult to understand how to send the money. So next Richard worked that out and tried to pay only to find that our bank wouldn't allow him access on line. So he left it for a day and did finally get access to our bank, only to have the payment rejected because he typed a number in wrongly.. Finally, third time lucky it went through. So we are now legal!
So with luck we should be able to leave on Saturday morning. A few little tasks and shopping to complete and the renewal of our marina contract.
But our flight on Tuesday was fine; the hire car was waiting for us at the airport and the boat was in the water in its usual berth with the passarelle down so we could board and we had electricity. However on Wednesday morning the boat services staff came to see us and it was clear that although much of the maintenance was done there were a number of crucial things outstanding. There was more electrical work to be done; the sail makers still had to install the new lazy jack bag, spray hood and fit the sails; the windlass still needed a part replaced; and the little bash at the front which dented the metal plate on the bows hadn't been seen to. Also two other problems arose. We found that the teak strip on the gunwales had been badly damaged on the starboard side near the bows. The boat services men said it was like that when they came to supervise the lifting out. Something must have hit it during the winter. Then worse than that after I had been shopping the fridge went wrong. It stopped getting properly cold.
We also started to unpack only to find that we hadn't brought everything. For instance, Richard forgot to pack his socks! That meant buying a dozen new pairs in the supermarket. I also forgot to pack our Tilley Hats but we have lots of baseball hats on the boat to protect us from the sun.
As a result of this, we had at least 7 workmen on the boat all day putting these things right. We now are more or less ready to go. We are just waiting for the lifeboat to be returned, which is due tomorrow.
With all this work going on Richard also spent the best part of two days on the computer trying to pay the new tax the Greeks have imposed on foreign boats cruising in their waters. It is supposed to be relatively easy to do online, but from the chat we heard everyone was having great difficulty doing it. First go was when Richard had trouble navigating the site. Then when he accomplished that, he had to wait for an email confirming the amount to be paid and the bank account to which money should be transferred. When that came it was again difficult to understand how to send the money. So next Richard worked that out and tried to pay only to find that our bank wouldn't allow him access on line. So he left it for a day and did finally get access to our bank, only to have the payment rejected because he typed a number in wrongly.. Finally, third time lucky it went through. So we are now legal!
So with luck we should be able to leave on Saturday morning. A few little tasks and shopping to complete and the renewal of our marina contract.
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