Friday 20 September 2019 – Gouvia

The rain did not last all night.  I was nervous and got up a couple of times to see all was well with both weather and anchor. We left the anchorage about 11am. The anchor was certainly well set. First the windlass strained to get it up.  For a moment I thought we had snagged it on something.  But no, when it came up it was completely full of thick sticky mud.  In the end I had to use a boat hook to clean it off.

We went to the fuel pontoon to top the tank up for the winter.  To our surprise it took nearly 50 litres.  Then on to our berth.  So now we are here for the winter and must sort the boat out.

Our first task is to find someone to care for the boat and do the usual maintenance.  The firm we have been using are the ones who messed up the installation of the water heater.  We thought that we would give them one last chance to make amends.  But when I spoke to them and told them that it had been turned around and now was working all they did was give me excuses about why they did what they did.  Given their attitude we will not use them again.  The marina has put us on to another group and we have found an Englishman who works here and was recommended by one of the boats on our pontoon.  We will get quotes from them by Monday and make up our mind who to go with. At the moment we are minded to instruct the Englishman if only because we can communicate better and he knows about Southerly boats.

The weather is turning so it is just as well that our trip is coming to an end.  The wind has got up and it was gusting 17-20 knots at one point this afternoon.  Work on the boat will start more seriously tomorrow. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday 24 May 2019 – Gouvia

Well all the work is done, but we still have to sort the boat out to go.  With all the workmen around over the last two days this really hasn’t been possible.  Richard has had a real go at the junk thrown into the forward cabin.  I got enthusiastic and decided to wash the two large fenders we keep at the stern. They really were horrid.  I scrubbed and scrubbed but they are still fairly disreputable, but greatly improved.  We did a bit more shopping just in the marina supermarket.  We had a word with the marina about renewing our contract.  It runs out in July.  If we are moving I don’t want to take long on the boat and try to get to Sicily for the winter.  I can’t just leave the new place in a state and go away.  It will drive me mad.  So we agreed that if we move we stay here for the winter.  If we don’t move we will go on to Italy in September.  The marina have said there is no loss on fees if we wait to renew until we get back here in late June. The last piece in the puzz
Read more

Saturday 25 May 2019 – Petriti, Corfu

Image
Up early to see if we can get away.     We returned the car and did some last minute shopping for lunch.     We got the marina out to look at our unsuitable berth.     It is tight at the best of times, but the forward line is at an angle pulling us to starboard hard up against the next door boat.     We have complained before to no avail.     This time they seem to have got the message.     The boat on our port side has moved so we took his forward line which moves us across.     They say they are sending a diver down on Monday to sort the lines out.    We shall see when we return. Subject to that we make ready to leave and slip mooring at 10:15; not bad.  We are headed to a small port where there is an anchorage on the south end of the island.  It is only 17 miles away.   So we have a gentle start to our voyage.  Richard takes the new sail cover off, but as it turns out there is no chance to sail.  The wind starts at just a force 4, but it is on the nose and then reduces to only
Read more

Tuesday 17 September 2019 – Igoumenitsa Creek (otherwise known as Ormos Valtou)

Woke up latish and had a lazy morning.     The anchorage had emptied out a lot by the time we set off just before 11.     I thought the next stop was not too far, but I was wrong.     We had over 25 miles to go.     There was a bit of breeze, but mostly on the nose so another motoring day.       At about halfway there I noticed a lot of boats coming out of a what must have been a port.     Richard looked it up and found it was Mourtos, a cluster of 3 islands with anchorages between them and an approach over a 2 metre depth bar.     That meant we could go in.     That is what we did. Unfortunately although very pretty it was not really suitable for us to stay overnight.     Most of the areas were too deep, with depths of over 10 metres.     When we did find a shallower place we had trouble getting the anchor to dig in.     There appeared to be weed.    So we just stopped for lunch and then went on to Igoumenitsa Creek. There was a little breeze on the stern and the Genoa needed re-
Read more