In the morning we retrieved first our shore line, then after shortening up the Bruce 'kedge' and having been unable to get it off the bottom, we recovered the bower. We were then able to drag the kedge off the bottom and carry it out into deeper water when we were able to gradually retrieve it. It is surprising how heavy a length of even 8mm chain and a 15kg anchor can seem when you have to handle it by hand. (I had forgotten how to use the drum on the anchor winch independently of the gypsy - or it was seized up). We tidied up all the ground tackle, and then set off back towards Nidri in winds that came and went, finally having to tack up the channel between Levkas and Meganisi. We anchored in Tranquility Bay, and made contact with Ionian Boat Assistance, whom Ian had recommended regarding the rigging, and Gheco Boat Covers in Vlikho for work on our cockpit hood. Later John took the dinghy down to Vlikho to see Orkide, who agreed to think about how she could modify the hood to allow the front to be zipped open for ventilation.
We got out the old Avon R310 dinghy from the cockpit locker, where it has lain since it was first put there when we left the UK, and blew it up. This enabled us to take the rib over to Nidri Marine, where we hoped they could locate and stop the leaks, which I thought/hoped were simply the valves. Getting the rib ashore close to Nidri Marine involved taking a mud bath. They promised Sofiris would look at the dinghy the following day, and in the meantime sold me a new propeller for the 8HP outboard to replace the one that had started to 'slip', having a rubber safety bush built in to protect the engine if the propeller grounded suddenly. The performance of the engine on the old Avon was startling and exciting - having it up on the plane with no difficulty. Later we took Fuga down to Ormos Vlikho so that we could take some spare canvas into Gheco for use on the hood modifications. David and Claire (Almerimar 2005/6) on Skot had anchored behind us briefly in Tranquility Bay and had then gone down to Vliho, so it was agreed that we should go on board that evening for a drink. It was good to catch up with them again and glean some of their knowledge of cruising in the Ionian.
Wind was forecast from the N/NW that evening, night and during the next day. The forecast was not wrong, but the wind in came and went quite suddenly in gusts. When David said that friends at Nidri had had a peaceful night we remembered Bill's view that Vlikho is not the most sheltered of anchorages due to the saddles in the surrounding hills that funnel and distort the wind. We stayed put that day, and in fact the wind was probably worse the following night. We entertained ourselves by repairing the generator. The intermittent problem had become 'solid' and it would now not run at all. The fault proved to be the exhaust temperature switch, which had failed open (about the fourth time). The casing around the alternator housing also needed some tlc.
We decided to return up to Nidri to see what Nidri Marine had to say about the rib. We anchored off the town, close enough, John hoped, to pick up the wifi signal from the cafe on the front. It wasn't very good, but at least we picked up and delivered our essential mail. Sofiris had not had much luck, although he assured us that the valves were not the problem, but a small leak that he had not found. We went off to the town to get some supplies, post a couple of letters, and then returned to Fuga. I then returned to the rib, and within 10 minutes found a leak on the underside of the bow tank. We then returned with Fuga back to Vlikho, as Tranquility Bay was looking pretty busy.
We needed to solve our 'water problem', i.e. we were getting to the bottom of our tanks. Although there is a tap at Vliho on the part of the quay used by the charter company, there was no room alongside. The other was too near the beach at the far end, and so shallow and only accessible by dinghy. Otherwise it was the wall over the road by the Vliho yacht club. We needed to go back up towards Nidri to pick up the rib from Nidri Marine in any case, and anchored off, close to. When we picked up the rib, we found that there was an empty berth on the Armonia Hotel pontoon, so berthed on to it (anchor off and stern-to). For 10€ we were able to fill up with water, and connect to shore power.
We were pleased to have the opportunity to go for a sail again. We made first for Ormos Abelike, on Meganisi, where we found room to anchor at the head of the bay despite its popularity. Most people were anchored off with a line ashore. We enjoyed a swim and lunch there, before continuing on. We made next for the channel north of Kalamos between it and the mainland. David (on Skot) had mentioned the fir trees coming down the hillside, and as we reached the point (Ak Asproyiali), we saw what he meant.
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| The mystery town on Ormos Vourkos |
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| The deserted village and church | The old harbour at Port Leone |
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| Looking north from Port Leone | The olive press, and motive power |
We returned to Port Leone village the next morning to have a look at the church. The building was locked up, and sadly its surrounding grounds were in a state of neglect and decay. We walked around the bay a little, took some more photos, then returned to the 'bar' where the remains of the party last evening had been cleared away. We sat and enjoyed a drink with two other chaps from a British yacht, the Oriole: the skipper farmed on the Isle of Arran. Below us you could see the rusting remains of an olive press. Afterwards, we saw how a side valve diesel engine had once driven the press and a 'churn' via drive belts: the shaft now rusty and half buried in stones from the beach. We had lost a towel left hanging over the boom while we were ashore the previous evening, but extensive searching with the snorkel failed to reveal where it had gone. The water was relatively cool, but very clear and pleasant. We set off about lunchtime, but decided to wait for ours and anchor off Kastos, so set about motoring clockwise around the island. The wind was blowing from the west south west, so we found a small bay just north of the village, where we could expect some lee. There were two other boats there so we tucked well in, but the wind 'bent' around into the bay and we found ourselves being blown towards the shore. We bent the Fortress onto a rope and tossed it over the side to hold us off while we relaxed over our lunch. Afterwards, when we tried to retrieve it, it caught firmly under the rocky ledge that we had been concerned about. John tried various ploys to shake it off, but while it was doing its job, preventing Fuga from blowing on, it was firmly in place. Eventually, by launching the dinghy and pulling the warp away from the boat, it came free quite easily. We packed up again, retrieved the dinghy (for the wind was now quite fresh) and made our way out of the anchorage. We continued to sail south about the island on a fetch, then turned north north west to clear the southern points of Kastos and Kalamos, after which we had a close reach up towards the north east end of Meganisi. The performance at the 'lunch stop' had delayed us considerably, so inevitably we lost the wind and had to motor the last few miles past Skorpios and Skorpidhi to Tranquility Bay.
Monday: We had an appointment with Mike, the rigger from Ionian Boat Assistance (IBA) whom Ian (Morvern) had recommended for help with our rigging so we had to set our alarm! Mike was aboard at around 0900 hrs, and together we measured the existing stays and compared them with the drawings from the Dehler owners manual. Finally, after John had been up the mast a few times with the tape end, the figures were reconciled. Mike went away to make sure that the necessary parts were available for new rigging to be made up by their suppliers in Levkas. We waited for the charter boats to clear from the hotel pontoon, then moved Fuga over onto it. Mike returned with Alex and it was not long before they had managed to remove the forestay with the furling gear foil and the backstay, making the rig safe with the halyards and topping lift. Getting the forestay out of the furling gear proved not to be as simple as it seemed in the book, and it took some time to drill out the old wedge, which did not finally release the wire until the next morning.
Tuesday: John went off to get some cash to pay for the modifications to the hood, picked up the wrong card for the ATM and wondered why the PIN was wrong. Realising after two failed attempts, the transaction was then rejected with the correct PIN on the third attempt. We returned together with the correct card, withdrew some cash, and then went in search of a light lunch. We were quickly 'drawn in' by a watchful waiter, and sat down to garlic bread starters, and moussaka and lamb respectively. Eventually John made it to Gheco, and picked up the cockpit hood, returning via Skot where David and Claire offered a good G&T to help him on his way. With the new propeller, the journey back took no time at all after that. Mo said there had been a missed call and a voicemail message - but we could not get the voicemail as John had forgotten the security code! Ringing back on the missed call we found it was Lloyds wanting to confirm details of transactions in Greece: it then cost a fortune in roaming mobile calls to call centres to sort the mess out caused by the mistaken card that morning.
Wednesday: we fitted the cover the next day. George from Tec Sew had insisted it was tight, and it is always a struggle. Orkide at Gheco had changed the plastic window, and fitted a zip to the central part so that it can be opened up to allow air into the cockpit. Mo defrosted both the freezer and fridge, and reloaded them. We still have chickens, hams, soup, ratatouille acquired or cooked in Cagliari, bacon from the UK, sard sausage and various other goodies. At Mike's suggestion we are not changing the bottlescrews as they are still good, and high quality expensive items. John had a go at cleaning off the old tape residue and superficial rust, before turning his attention to the radar pole and pushpit metalwork. Finally we went and enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool to round off the day, before collapsing in the cockpit after supper of soup. Mo is being good, so was on water, while I rounded off with some tuna and cheese remains washed down with wine. We were delighted to hear from Dave that he had secured the last seat on a Monarch flight to Zakinthos on 14th August.
Thursday: we are hoping that Mike will be back this evening to fit the first of the replacement rigging. We had endured the 'helicopter effect' caused by resonance in the taught halyards being used to keep the mast up, whenever there was any breeze. We have to clear the hotel pontoon by Saturday noon, to make space for the charter fleet. Our neighbours, Jonathan and Carol on Pearl Diver, with assorted young people, finally got their boarding platform and ladder fixed, and set off for Kefalonia. Meanwhile it has been an excellent opportunity to 'nerd' as Mo puts it, bringing the web site up to date.
Friday: we had caught up on some chores, completing the de-rusting (yet again) of the radar pole, solar panel and push pit metalwork. I took a walk into town to see the Port Police and report our arrival in Nidri.. all without perjuring myself as the 'date and time of arrival' question was not asked. On the way back, IBA confirmed they had the rigging, and we could expect Mike that afternoon. He duly arrived, on his own, so Mo and I became rigger's mates. In a couple of hours he had the lower and middle shrouds fitted, and the backstay. The backstay looked rather long, and at first we assumed that there had been a mistake made in cutting the wire. Mike departed, promising to be back soon after 0800.
The next day he started with the furling gear foil, installing the new wire forestay into the foil. He had serviced both the swivel bearings, which had never been 'right' since we have had Fuga, and these were re-assembled in place. There was some confusion over the length calculations written in the Furlex manual: they were clearly wrong (and did not agree with the Dehler drawings). Once the forestay was back in place, which required slacking off the shrouds and straining down quite hard, the backstay problem 'went away'. Mike continued with the uppers and cap shrouds, having some trouble with the spreaders where the screws securing the end caps would not budge and needed drilling out, and one spreader root would not clear the bell end that secures the end of the shroud, so the spreader fixings had to be undone. By 1400 the mast was securely held up, and only the final tuning, and locking off with split pins, plus the spreader end caps are waiting for Monday afternoon. We left the pontoon to clear the space for the returning charter fleet, and the boat being in something of a shambles, we motored down to the south east corner of Vlihko bay and anchored, in order to clear up. As Mo had nothing in particular organised for lunch, we decided that a visit to Dimitri's Taverna, one of several on the waterfront, was indicated. On our return (was it the wine?) we collapsed into bed and did not wake up until it was nearly dark outside.