ocean-pilgrim

It’s been a while now since we left Australia for Greece and sailing life and I find it a bit startling that we have not managed to sail very far as yet.  But this (life) journey has always been about control and surrender.  The two sides of the one coin that we cycle between from moment to moment, day to day and week to week. I suppose it comes down to the fact that things never really go fully to plan especially when sailing. 

We arrived in Athens in late April and had a great few days meandering through the streets of different neighbourhoods and staying with our local friend Nick, a fellow yachtie we had met way back in Lipsi 2 in 2019.  We departed for Leros on a Sunday, arriving early and piling our enormous bags into our tiny hire car.  Off to the boat then to get a few supplies.  Everything is still closed on a Sunday in Greece, especially in the islands.  I really like this despite the fact that I regularly get caught out by it.  I like that there is one day a week that is about rest and pursuits other than shopping or working. That said I knew there was one small mini market open and that I would be able to throw together some dinner before we would fall into bed at the end of day one of boat jobs.

Unpacking everything fabric from space bags, writing long lists, reorganising cupboards (the task that never seems to end) and remembering just what it is we need to do before she goes in the water.

Rick’s biggest job was to repair the boom vang which broke at the end of last season.  It was a complicated fix and the repairs were inside the mast and you get little access to this from the outside.  Nick flew in from Athens to help troubleshoot this job and while there were a few false starts the job was completed successfully. While the guys did this I went back to my old job of varnishing the cockpit table and various other pieces of teak that needed doing.  I got another 4 coats on them before they were all screwed back in place. I counted 54 jobs on our to do list, much of it being routine maintenance or jobs that need to be done specifically whilst out of the water. The big and sometimes messy jobs were changing engine oil and the filters and servicing the toilets.  The numerous small items carefully collected in Australia were unpacked and attached or packed away where they belonged.  Shackles, anodes, jammer cleats, not to mention a second inflatable SUP and attachments to enable it to be sailed at anchorage.

Big items were delivered to the boat.  New anchor chain, 120 metres of it had to be attached and the chain marked with a rather complex series of colours to tell us how much chain has been dropped each time we anchor.  A new outboard to replace the old one and a new dinghy that 7 weeks after arrival has still not turned up despite being ordered at the beginning of February. Bugger.  Poor old Stormy was due to be put out to pasture given we have been nursing her since her timber transom nearly fell off in Turkey in 2019.  She was repaired (badly) back then and numerous holes, possibly 50, have been diligently fixed by us since then.  She’s held together with Stormsure glue (also imported from Aus) hence her name.  So it continues.  We’re now up to repair number 12 after just 3 weeks on the water. New dinghy should arrive at the end of June.  Let’s see!

On a whim we changed our plans and decided to go to Spain to see our family before we launched the boat rather than pull her out mid season to make the trip. So many changes in baby Lia were calling us back early.  So we delayed the launch date by two weeks and had a blissful family time returning with just one and a half days to finalise the boat jobs before launch.  Nothing like pressure.  That’s when the float switch on the bilge pump breaks and the things that can go wrong might.  We worked to get the decks treated and the boat polished, everything cleaned and the engine tested to see that it was running properly, the generator too.  All good and we were in the water on the 18^th of May. Success until the engine stopped 15 minutes after turning it on, just as we were heading through a quite narrow strait between mainland Leros and a tiny island off it’s northern tip. I took the helm and Rick dashed below and grabbed his tool kit.  He had it figured out in 10 minutes and I thanked my lucky stars once again that he was so practical and understood the engine well enough to figure out what was wrong and save us from having to go back and be hauled back out of the water (if that would have even been possible with no engine to get us to the boat yard).

It’s too boring to go into the details but we’ve had some life admin that we need sorted in order to apply for our Greek residency permit.  Spending over 6 months a year here we have decided that despite the considerable cost it’s worth doing this, for at least the next 2 years.  In order to allow us to stay in Greece longer term than just the 90 days the EU wide Schengen visa gives us. But much paperwork needs to be in order to make this application.  This has meant we’ve needed to stay close to good mobile and internet coverage and has effectively kept us at a standstill for a few weeks.  Lucky that Leros is a great place to get stuck. The added bonus has been a number of friends have been launching their boats meaning much social time has been had. It’s been a blast actually but hard on the liver on occasion! So the season has begun and we are very grateful and happy about it. Next story will be about our trek through some of the most beautiful islands in the Aegean.