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Our travels

Two months in ‘The Shire’. –

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After winterising Linea (Bavaria 430 Lagoon) and leaving her safely tucked up in the Porto Turistico di Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, for a second safe winter; we set off for Longridge and caught up with June, Ian’s mum, and the rest of his family, which was lovely.

We arrived back in Linton, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a few days later, excited to see Keira freshly returned from a job in France; and already living and working at the Fountaine Inn, Linton.   We were soon to see Erin, too, as she was to travel up from London the following week.

We hit the ground running with a spate of socials and sessions.

 

Bryn and Jill fro ‘Fly the Coop’ who we managed to meet up with.

Soon, like everyone else, we were in full swing for Christmas.  Inevitably this involved more trips to the Fountaine Inn, Linton; and eating lots of food.

 

 

We did manage to fit in a good few walks when the weather was bright (and sometimes when it wasn’t!)  It was just lovely to be back in the Dale and experiencing village life again.

 

 

 

 

 

Erin had very little time off from her new job as Assistant Manager of the Miller and Carter Steakhouse in Worcester Park London, so she drove up north after her late shift had finished on Christmas Eve and arrived at 0200hrs in the morning!  A flying visit as she had to head back down south on Boxing Day morning.

We had a wonderful day on Christmas day culminating in an evening of hilarity at the Vyvyan’s.

We enjoyed a hearty walk and refreshments with the Heanes, Hodgsons and Plumbs in between Christmas and New Year but I was unable to muster the strength (due to being proper poorly) to join them all for the annual Inn at Whitewell walk from Chipping.

As predicted, time was flying on and we still had so much to do and so many people to see.

Happily, we were able to do a little farm, dog and house sitting which made a nice change.  Also, Ian was able to catch up and support his beloved Wharfedale Rugby Club.

I enjoyed going to the gym occasionally in a vague attempt to lose some of the weight I had piled on after a summer on the boat eating far too much feta cheese!

All in all, it was the most marvellous visit home, with added poignancy, since we haven’t been back for any length of time for almost two years.  We miss ‘The Shire’, our family and friends very much.

Remember, we would LOVE to welcome you to the boat during the summer if you fancy a bit of camping on water!  Please just ask and we will try to coordinate.

Next Time:  Keira heads off to Holland!

 

 

 

 

Our travels

2017 – The Stats

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Total nautical Miles 2488

Sailed miles 1212 –  49%;  Engine miles 1276   – 51%

Engine Hours 319;  Total nights at sea – 6                                                              Nights anchored – 92;  Nights on a town quay or in a marina – 72

Nights in the boat yard – 9

Our final crew, David and Michael.
Most frequent flyers!

Number of guests – 21 – Bill, David, Ang, Lizzie, Alice, Ian, Sam, Rory, Bryn, Jill, Louis, (plus the rest of the family for dinner and drinks,) Jane, Alice, Ian, Erin, Josh, Keira, David, Michael, Alice, Ian

 

Litres of wine consumed – Gallons!

Yacht A – 340million Euros to build. The masts are 90m tall.

Number of Super Yachts seen – 1 – to beat all

Days of sunshine – 168  Days of rain – 12

Deepest water  – 3600m;  Highest waves – 4m;   Strongest wind – 38kn

Hottest temp – 36;  Lowest temp – 24

Fish caught – NONE;  Dolphins seen – Lots;  Turtles seen – 2;  Star fish seen – 1

Pitta Gyros consumed – Far too many!!

Times up the mast – Ian Masta-Climbing;  me pulling!  11

Genaker out – 15

Number of boat mechanics met – 10 plus the crane driver

Our Yorkshire Flag after a season in the windy Cyclades!

Number of flags and pennants shredded – FOUR –  Greek flag, Cruising Association Pennant, British Ensign, Yorkshire Flag.

A memorable year!

 

 

 

 

Our travels

Hauled out

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We sailed early from Rhinia and arrived in Siros to be hauled out.  Since we have a winged keel

Great shot of our winged keel on the trailer – 20cm to spare!

which measures 140cm across we need a trailer wide enough to motor onto with a bit of wriggle room.

Stavros from Atlas boat yard has just the right piece of kit and we were hauled out smoothly and professionally.

We trundled across the Lidl carpark and into his boat yard.  It is safe to say that Stavros would be world champion caravan manoeuvrer should he be inclined to enter such a competition. 

Stamatis and Georgios Gyparis, Volvo Penta engineers in Ermoupolis (father and sons team) quickly appeared and parts were ordered to arrive on Thursday

 

 

 

 

That gave us five unadulterated days for partial winterising of Linea, removing scruffy lettering and for cleaning her dirty bottom!

We booked into an Air B n B house high on the slopes of the Chora and experienced vertigo from being so far above sea level.

Having a Greek lesson from my new friend.

We spent a few very busy days scraping, polishing, sanding, cleaning and dusting.  I even fabric-conditioned our lines to make them soft and pliable again  – and they smell lovely.

Robert and Ian discussing boats.

We met Robert Brons in the yard.  Robert owns Morning Cloud 4 (a sailing yacht previously owned by Sir Edward Heath who was a world class sailor, as well as being leader of the Tory Party during the 1970s.)  Morning Cloud 4 has been stored on the hard in Siros for twenty years.  Robert showed me round this amazing vessel:  Built for speed and efficiency and able to sleep ten people in various cleverly designed bunks.  It has lots of ingenious original features and various improvements, it would be wonderful to see it restored to its former racing glory.

Ian with the ‘wild dogs’!

Robert was currently living on his yacht Saquila which he had sailed from Italy.  We spent a couple of evenings swapping stories with him and really enjoyed his company.  We were so impressed that he still had the enthusiasm and vigour for sailing at his age – 78 years young.  He cycled around town, sorted out his yacht and shinnied up and down the high ladder to Morning Cloud with the nimbleness of someone a lot younger.  He is often on the look-out for crew to help him sail his new yacht, so if any of our sailor friends might be interested please get in touch for more information.

One of the best things about being somewhere for a few days is that you really get to explore and find out more about the place.  During our stay Siros was hosting the All Greek volleyball championships and an international animated film exhibition and competition held in the beautiful Apollon Theatre that is modeled on La Scala.

We discovered a free shuttle bus that ran all day between the town centre and the sports centre, going right past the boat yards and Lidl – perfect!  And we explored the two hills of Siros; one topped by an enormous Greek Orthodox church and one topped with a huge Catholic church.  We wandered around the Choras and marvelled at the breath-taking scenes around every corner; the colours, the quaint doorways and the twisted bougainvillea blossoms like an umbrella of fluttering, bright butterflies.

We really enjoyed finding new routes to walk to and fro the boat yard and every day we were rewarded by some new and interesting sight.  I particularly loved the completely intact old (but functioning) pharmacy on the main street, which still has all the original mahogany cabinets, shelving, canisters, jars and enamel labels from when it first opened in 1837. (The first pharmacy in Greece.)

We also enjoyed the Industrial Museum which houses an interesting collection of items that reflect Siros’ manufacturing, glass-making, lace-making, printing and shipping past.

Georios, Stamatis and Vangelis Gyparis. The Volvo Penta Team in Ermoupolis, Siros.

After strong winds had passed it was time to be put back into the water.  We said thanks and farewell to Stavros, and the Gyparis family who have done such a great job on our sail drive, stainless steel and helm repairs.

Stamatis joined us for the ride across the bay to check that all was well with the engine and the gears.  It was all good.  We were making 7.5k across the bay because of our gleaming hull, so that made Ian very happy.  We parked on the town quay again and were, once again, warmly greeted by the lovely Thanasis.

Thanasis the most stylish and handsome harbourmaster in Greece!
Our travels

A week with Keira in the Cyclades

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The day after Josh and Erin left us the wind was finally at more acceptable levels so we sailed off back to Rhinia, our favourite of the islands round here.  We had a good sail round to the west side and anchored in a beautiful cove – Ormos Miso.

We had a lovely couple of days here exploring the island and dodging flying shot gun bullets, as the farmers were constantly out hunting birds.

We managed another impressive beach clean-up here: Collecting something like 200lts of plastic debris. The most unusual finds were, curtain hooks, tile spacers, an intact huge electric light bulb.

Most prolific finds;  plastic straws, glow bands, balloons, plastic bottle lids, fisherman’s twine and netting.

Good job done; we sailed across to Syros in yet more fruity winds and parked on the quay with the help of Thannasis, the lovely, stylish, colour-coordinated and helpful harbourmaster.

Further exploration inland revealed a beautiful town, marbled paved square and streets, Venetian style Neo-Classical buildings, bulging wrought iron balconies, tall shuttered windows and a charming elegance we have not seen elsewhere.  The bay is huge.  At its heart is the newly bankrupt shipyard and dry docks.  Once providing employment for 2500 people it has just stopped operating some 5 months ago.

In the south part of the bay is a newish mariner which is not properly managed or maintained since it seems no one can agree who should have the contract.  So, it is left un-cared for and defunct before it has even been completed.  Boat owners use it regardless…for free but it is a shambles.

Sea water in the sail drive makes the oil go a milky colour…not good!

Ian carried out his daily engine check and discovered that seawater was getting into the saildrive: Another potentially costly repair.

We organised for an engineer, Stamatis and his son Georgios, to check it and he confirmed what we suspected.  We would have to be hauled out for the repairs to the saildrive.  We agreed to come back in on Friday morning after having dropped Keira in Mykonos.

We had a lovely few days in Ermoupolis, and had the added bonus of meeting up with a Clipper chum of Ian’s called Mike Stephenson who was out on a charter yacht with his wife Amanda and friends.  We had a pleasant evening with them and waved them off in the morning.

The biggest shell we have ever found.

We headed back to our favourite place on Rhinia, shocked to see a HUGE rock across the entrance to the cove that we had not spotted on our first stay.  We took a bearing on the GPS so that we could add it to our chart.

We enjoyed sunbathing, swimming, back gammoning,  eating and watching a couple of films.  (A fish called Wanda – helping to complete Keira’s film education) and then, all too soon, it was time to head back to Mykonos to say goodbye to Keira as she heads back to the UK after her year abroad.

Our travels, Video

Leaving Naxos after one month (Testing the engine)

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Octopus drying on the quay in Naxos

We finally waved goodbye to harbourmaster father and son team Nikos and Makos in Naxos.  They wryly commented that we should have asked for the monthly mooring fee.  We returned to Paros.  We anchored in the south west part of the bay of Naoussa and enjoyed a fine afternoon swimming and snorkeling.  Erin spotted a beautiful starfish for us all to admire.

After a super calm night, we headed north in great winds to Finikas.  Arriving with a flurry of charter yachts, we were hoodwinked into thinking that the quay would be a good place to be overnight, despite forecasts of strong southerly winds in the night.  Foolish error!

We were awoken from fitful sleep by the grating noise of the spreaders and stays clashing with those of the neighbouring boat.  We managed to pull forward so that the rocking would be safer and went back to bed.  Ten minutes later, Erin shouted out, ‘Boat!’ in a tone of great alarm.  She had popped her head out of the forward hatch and to her amazement saw a charter yacht pinned across our bow at 0400h in the morning, in the dark!

We all dashed on deck to fend off this yacht.  Another departing yacht had tripped its anchor and so they were forced to leave in some haste.  On motoring out, they wrapped a rope round the propeller so they had no power.  Left to the devices of the strengthening wind, they were blown along the bows of the boats on the quay, stopping at us because they fouled their keel on our anchor chain.


After hours of fending, our anchor finally gave up and their keel was free. They continued to bounce along every single bow along the quay finally stopping about 2 metres from some rocks.  Ian helped them to get their anchor down and then they waited for the coastguard to arrive to tow them to safety.

Our massive stern fender was burst and numerous other damages were incurred in the night when the charter yacht hit us.

In the meantime, we were all busy on Linea.  First, we pulled the anchor as tight as it would go.  Then, we kept the engine on in case we need to motor forwards at all.  We tried to limit the damage as much as possible whilst this boat was pressing us back against the quay. Tthe swell was lifting us higher than the quay and it is a miracle that the rudder didn’t get damaged.  Josh was doing sterling fending off with the popped fender.

Ian eventually came back to the boat and we decided that since it was almost dawn and we were not happy with our anchor we would leave.  The boat on our starboard side had to leave first since their anchor chain was lying right over ours.  We motored to the anchorage on the other side of the bay.

After a few hours nap we were beginning to see the humorous side of the story.  We still couldn’t quite believe all that had happened during the night.  We were mightily relieved not to have incurred more damage.  The boat next to us had not been nearly so lucky; having its stern constantly smashed into the quay.

Josh and Erin chilling on the deck

We moved on to the practically deserted island west of Mykonos and had a wonderful night in a perfect cove with Delos in the distance.  A beautiful place to calm the nerves.

On Wednesday we set off to Mykonos, as Josh and Erin had bought fantastically cheap flights back to Manchester from there.  (£38 each)  We anchored in the bay south of town and sat out the evening’s strong winds.

There was time for some last minute hair braiding and back gammon championships.

Next day, we caught a bus to explore the lanes, whitewashed churches and bijoux shops in town.  We walked round to meet up with Stephen and Gilly for a swift beer and to catch up on their island-hopping adventures.

It was a pleasant wander round Little Venice, past the windmills and up and down the steps on the hill.  The town was thronged with doddering cruise ship passengers.

During the very wet journey back to the boat to collect bags,  we saw yet another inflatable toy somersaulting across the bay.  We managed to catch it and the girls were very happy with their swan (Susan).  All too soon, it was time to bid a fond farewell to Erin and Josh.  They headed to the airport and we went back for another windy night in Ormos Ornos.

During the last few days, we have switched the engine on and off a total of eight times and all seems to be well.  We are gradually gaining more confidence that the fuel is clean and the pipes are clear.  Phew!