One week to go

Wednesday 21st May

Just over  a week now until we lift out on the 29th. Flying home on 4th June. We've had three lovely days on Meganisi, but last night around midnight it blew up a bit and there were some anchor antics. Luckily not us, because Dean was fast asleep in bed whilst I kept watch. 

This morning was calm but we expect more tonight, maybe even a storm. No need to rush off, but by lunchtime we had decided to head to the trusted Vlycho Bay. It's well known in the sailing fraternity to call it Velcro Bay, because the anchor sticks in the mud like you wouldn't believe. I have to admit, once we drop the anchor here, all my stresses radiate. 

We took a slightly different route around the islands into Vlycho. One of the islands we passed was Skorpios, well known in the old days for being the private island belonging to the late Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis. Also it's the place where Onassis married former First Lady of the US Jacqueline Kennedy, There literally isn't much to see, but it does seem that a lot of building work is going on at the moment, because there is always a ferry transporting lorries back and forth. 

Info here....

Skorpios - Wikipedia

Interestingly there is a posh house on the neighbouring island 'Madouri'. Also, a privately owned island it appears that it's where a Greek 19th century poet grew up.

Quite boring then that we are in Vlycho Bay, where it seems nothing ever happened apart from the odd bad storm or tornado. Fingers crossed that tonight will be boring once more. 

Ferry transport from Skorpios

The poet's house on Madouri

Unknown but lovely house approaching Nidri and Vlycho Bay

Friday 23rd May....

I'll be getting the sack at this rate! Sorry, no blog yesterday, but I am able to blame it on our friends Sarah & David on Wandering Star. 

But first, yesterday, we awoke for the third time this season in Vlycho Bay, Nydri. At a bit of a loose end, and totally fed up with checking the weather forecast, Dean & I took a walk to Desimi Beach. It was only about 30 minutes away, and the skies were overcast meaning we didn't overheat too much. 

Along the back streets of Vlycho,

this van, anyone for Olives??

There are so many colourful flowers in bloom

This tree had bottles of water hanging from the branches.

Dean says it's to make the branches grow low for shade.

And these trees with huge leaves

And these fantastic orange & blue flowers

This, outside the chandlery shop

Whilst I was standing outside the chandlery shop waiting for Dean, a tiny lizard scurried across just in front of me. And later, we saw a cat with a little lizard handing from his mouth. Not the same lizard I hope.

Views of Vlycho Bay as we walk to Desimi Beach

Passing the lovely wild flower garden again, like last week

This is Desimi Bay/Beach

One or two anchored boats

We stopped for coffee then headed back, when en-route and jogging towards us were Sarah & David. A quick chat and an arrangement for dinner later at the Yacht Club. This afternoon (as always) the wind got up a fair bit. We made it back to the boat in the dinghy, albeit slightly damp.  A bit later Sarah text us to say that a boat had almost dragged into them. The woman in the other boat was oblivious to her boat dragging and was sitting quite happily with a cup of tea in her cockpit as she dragged by!

Later, followed dinner at the Yacht Club, and the night just flew by, hence it was late when we got back to the boat (in the dark trying to find navy blue Thesee). It was straight to bed, and a day where we originally we had nothing to do, turned into a whirlwind of activity. 

Onto today then....(Friday) 23rd May)

First thing, we noticed the fridge was playing up again, cutting in and out. Dean was trying to solve the problem but it's been on and off throughout the day, so problem not solved yet. After checking the weather we decided to head back up to Preveza, which meant we had to go through the Lefkada canal and wait for the bridge to open at midday. There are some strong northerly winds coming over the weekend and into early next week, and we are hauling out on Thursday too, so want to be near the boatyard.

Just after leaving Vlycho Bay we thought it would be good to stop for fuel at a small fuel dock that Dean found online, instead of going to the big marina fuel dock in Lefkada. It was a good call, even though it was very shallow at the dock. When Dean is refuelling he listens for the diesel gurgling as the air escapes from the tank, then he knows when the tank is full (even though we have a fuel gauge).

Fuel filling and listening

Diesel 1.59 euro

Anyway, as we travelled up the Lefkada canal we ended up in a convoy of boats heading to the bridge. We were about 20 minutes early for the bridge opening, and all the boats were loitering, some almost hitting each other at times. We legged it around some of them and got ourselves into third place somehow.

These boats are behind us a we wait for the bridge to open.

There was about 8 knots of wind, so quite difficult not get blown out of position.

Eventually the bridge opened and there were also loads of boats coming the other way. The first boat was a massive ferry boat and created loads of wash as he sped down the canal past everyone at about 10 knots. (BTW the speed limit is 5 knots, idiot).

There goes the speeding ferry boat on the right

These are the boats going the other way 

as we all pass near the opened bridge.

Excitement over, it was about an hour from there to get into Preveza. As we were 10 minutes away, it rained cats and dogs. Tonight we are anchored in about 12 metres of water. We like it to be deep when there's a blow coming because we can put lots of chain out. Our motto is... better on the floor than in the anchor locker.

Saturday 24th May

The wind kept up a fair bit overnight, but I'm taking it in my stride and just went to bed, slept like a log 😉. This morning it was calm, and Dean was just doing the washing up when I saw a Hellenic Coastguard (Port Police) rib tear across in front of Thesee. Then I saw he stopped right next to a tiny fishing boat with four people on. I thought....OMG illegal immigrants. Alas, no, not that exciting i'm afraid. Dean thinks the coastguard was probably just checking fishing permits. 

Coastguard Rib

Next job whilst it was calm was to go ashore and check-in with the Port Police (because we aren't actually illegal immigrants 😂). Outside the office was a bunch of cats and tiny adorable kittens. My photo is a bit blurry because if you don't get a photo straight away they run off.

Here kitty 💛

An obligatory visit to the chandlery followed, then the bakery, then the coffee stop, then the fruit shop.  The coffee stop was lovely, along a street that we I thought we hadn't walked down before (but Dean swears we had). Dean ordered a Freddo, for me an extremely yummy and proper fresh orange juice. 

Coffee stop

All relevant shops visited we walked back along the promenade. The whole quay was full with boats, only one space empty we saw. But it is Saturday and probably a Charter swap over day. 

The promenade

On the quayside

It was actually a lovely couple of hours spent in the town. Then almost back at the dinghy which we'd left in the fisherman's harbour, we bumped into Sarah and David again. They were jogging as always but had time to stop for a chat. 

The weather is quite naff at the moment out there in the channel between Greece and Italy. It's all coming down from the Adriatic sea, and before that off the Balkan countries. Here in Preveza we are on the mainland so just getting the edges of it. The next few days are going to be iffy. We are keeping occupied on the boat and counting down until haul out on Thursday morning.

Sunday 25th May...

We've been chained to the boat all day! Yes, I know, the same old boring news of a windy day. It's 8.30pm now and the wind has been howling since midday. At one point we registered 30.1 knots precisely. Out in the channel it's 42 knots. Our friends invited us to go ashore, but we dare not launch the dinghy because it may well try to blow away when we are offloading it from the deck. Captain Dean has been checking the anchor snubber regularly to make sure all is well. As I watch from the cockpit, I can see his T.Shirt bellowing in the wind. 

It may not be perfect weather for us, but it does seem to bring the turtles to life. We've seen a few around the boat today, lifting their heads out of the water. I cooked a whole chicken this afternoon. We actually bought it a couple of days ago with the intention of bbq-ing it, but there's no chance of getting the bbq out in these conditions. 

Only four more sleeps until lift out.

Monday 26th May

Dean got cracking this morning. By 8am he was well into his very important engine jobs which need to be done whilst we are still in the water. Those jobs being:-

1. Change the two diesel filters

2. Change the engine oil

3. Change the gear box oil

He was showing off with a special tool that he made previously. I have no idea what this tool is, or even what it does. 

He was on a bit of a mission, because he wanted to finish the jobs before the forecasted wind started up again. The last thing you need is to be dragging your anchor whilst the engine is out of commission. Well, he came up trumps (as always), and by 10.30am the jobs were all completed without any issues. He's such a clever Captain.

One diesel filter

Two diesel filters.... honest

There's the 2nd one (red) virtually hiding in the background

Apologies for the fuzzy photos. This new camera doesn't seem to cope with zooming in or close ups. 

This is the oil extractor machine, full of the dirty oils

which Dean extracted. Now to get rid of it somewhere. 

The next photo is Mr C in high spirits after the jobs were completed. This is the huge carton of the special engine oil which we bought previously in Turkey. It's 15/40W oil. Dean is very particular about what oil he uses, and this special grade oil suffices for all three engines we have.... the main engine, the generator, and the outboard engine. 

Thesee's heart, our big and beautiful engine.

After lunch Dean fell asleep reading his book, and whilst I was having some peace and quiet I took the opportunity to do one of my favourite 350 piece jigsaws.

Tuesday 27th May...

So this morning we had to say bye bye to Sarah & David on S/V Wandering Star. They're heading north, but we aren't so that was that. It's been very nice catching up with them, and you kind of get into a bit of a routine, so saying bye bye is always hard. Nevertheless, Dean had one more job to do whilst the boat is in the water. That job was changing the engine coolant, and it was all done by 9.30am. That meant we could now leave the Preveza anchorage and go into the Ambracian Gulf to one of our favourite little anchorages called Panagia Bay. 

Dean takes a photo of his beloved engine, 

with the orange coolant in a measuring jug.... hmmm

We raised the anchor at 10.30am, and in doing so Dean saw that some cuttlefish eggs had been laid on our tiny anchor ball..... hmmm again. We had heard about this before, but thought they laid them on the anchor chain. These this morning were long white stringy things. quite disgusting actually.

Quite hard to make it out on this photo

Sarah & David just leaving 😞

We've got two more days and nights left. The high winds have passed, so we motored for an hour to Panagia Bay. Last year we came here on Dean's birthday eve, so we had a lot of reminiscing to do. That day, I swam in the water, not today though. There were no swimming buoys here today, which meant we could anchor closer to the shore. A few boats already here (mainly blue ones like us), but plenty of space for Thesee. There's a taverna ashore and a bar that plays loud music, but even so we had a nice afternoon chilling, and meal in the taverna tonight. One of the other boat's crew remembered us from being here last year. Remembered the boat, not us!

Very lovely coastline as we approach Panagia Bay

Photo taken from the taverna. Thésée in the middle.

Wednesday 28th May....

Today is the last day of our holiday on the big blue beautiful briny. Decisions, decisions. Should we stay here in Panagia, go around to the next bay, or head back to Preveza for lift out tomorrow? 

Dean rowed us ashore, and we took a 15 minute walk to the next bay to see if there were many boats anchored in there. Would this make our decision what to do easier? No. 

The lovely shoreline here at Panagia Bay

I reckon this photo of Thésée could make a calendar

Starting our walk up over the hill to the next bay

... and there it is, the next bay

No wonder there is a lot of bird song here with the wetlands

On the road back this massive stick insect.

Honestly, it was massive.

Well there was plenty of room in the next bay, but even after arriving back on Thésée we still couldn't decide what to do. In the end, we did nothing and just stayed where we are in Panagia Bay. It is lovely though and very relaxing. That was until the storm clouds started to loom across the far east side of the mainland. We are in a large lake-ish type place, it's called the Ambracian Gulf, so there is no danger of massive swell building up, and fortunately the storm passed without big winds, but just a little rain and thunder. 

Dean keeps busy by re-sealing his teak 

Storm building out there

Getting closer to us now, a bit breezy by the view of our ensign here

Tomorrow morning will be an early start for us. An hours journey back to Preveza for lifting out Thésée and being ashore for five days ish.

Thursday 29th May...

The handsome Thésée is once more on solid ground this evening. Back in what is becoming our own mooring spot in Ionion Marine boatyard, Preveza. 

They kept us waiting again (40 minutes) before we were called into the slip way hoist. Meanwhile, across on the town quay we spotted (couldn't really miss it) what looked like an old style cruise ship, it's name Monet. Never seen anything like it before in Preveza.

Monet

Thésée ready to lift out.

Dean keeping watch.

Turned around and ready to be put onto the tractor.

Dean still lurking..... 😂

Being tractored through the boatyard

Here we are, being returned to the same spot which we left in April

.... by the loos 👍

Dean has been hard at it all day, getting on with the usual 'putting to bed' jobs. This is the most annoying part of cruising since Brexit. It literally takes days to get the boat ready for leaving and when we come back, for relaunch.

We ate in Cleopatra marina's restaurant tonight. It's nice, but has very weird background music. Next night out, I think we shall be back in the Greek taverna down the road.

Outside Cleopatra restaurant

Friday 30th May...

Man jobs, man jobs, and more man jobs. It's a good job I'm not a man!! Meanwhile, I can sit around trying to keep occupied, only getting seconded occasionally to assist. 

Dean has started putting Thésee to bed for a few months. All the 'trimmings' need to go away inside, safe and sound, away from the debilitating hot Greek summer sun.  We lowered the dinghy over the side and onto the ground in our usual spinnaker type fashion. Dean gave it a good clean, and once that was done we hoised it back up onto the deck. Next was to deflate it, roll it up, and put it away in the sail locker. Normally, we put it in the lazarette at the stern of the boat. However, it's very awkward and heavy for us to carry down to the stern of the boat, so putting it in the sail locker is a new idea of Mr C's. We just hope it doesn't get too hot in there and start melting. 

Some of our safety equipment before storing it away

Another very important job is changing the oil in the outboard engine. Remember, the other day when I said Dean is very particular about his oil? 

Outboard engine before its TLC

I'm not sure how to portray the changing oil procedure. Basically, he drains the old oil into a container. Then he needs to use a whopping big mega monster syringe to insert the new oil into the very bottom of the outboard engine shaft. When I see the oil appearing at the top screw hole, I have to put my finger on it to stop it coming out. Mr C tells me that the oil has to go into the bottom first in order to stop any pockets of air getting trapped. It's very technical, I think he must have been a surgeon in a former life.

Syringing the oil into the bottom hole

Another view point

Of course, he taped an old plastic bottle to catch any spillage

Oil change complete, the next step is to flush the outboard with clean water. This is done by attaching a hosepipe to provide the clean water. 

Dinghy on deck before we put it to bed

No photos to prove it, but yesterday we had lowered all the anchor chain to to the floor in order to wash the salt water off, and to clean the locker. Today, time to reel it all back into the locker. This means I stand on the ground by the chain, spraying WD40 on it as it goes up. Dean is on deck spraying the bits I've missed as it goes back into the chain locker.  Somehow, I never dreamed the sailing life would be such a luxurious experience......

Saturday 31st May...

More cleaning cabins, washing canvas, doing laundry, sorting cupboards, & disposing of old tatty & useless belongings that we have not, and never will, use again. How time flies, and now it's 9.50pm

Still, we are very pleased with ourselves right now. Because, we've waited all day for the wind to drop so that we could get some of the sails down. And indeed we did. 

Dean washing the bimini 

The bimini covered with soap suds,

then the water pressure dropped so had to wait for a rinse down

We took the laundry about 3pm and went for a drink in Cleopatra Marina while we waited for the washing cycle to finish. Just as we got back to pick it up the washing machine went out of order and Dean had to go off to find a member of staff to sort it out. 

This delayed us in getting back to the boat. The wind was on the turn from east to west and we managed to get the staysail down. We've got a new technique, copied from the boatyard staff who charged us 150 euros last year to take two sails down. This time we decided to do it ourselves. Dean bought a large tarpaulin yesterday and we did it ourselves by lowering the sail down over the side of the boat and onto the tarpaulin on the ground. It worked quite well, albeit still a little windy. 

It was time for dinner, which I had prepared yesterday. We were watching the wind all the time waiting for it to calm down so that we could take the big genoa down using the same technique. By 9pm it finally calmed down enough, and the sun was just setting so we decided to go for it and drop the genoa.

It only took about 30 minutes from start to finish. There was a downside though, we almost got eaten alive by mosquitos. I'm annoyed that I didn't take any photos, but my camera was inside the boat and I couldn't get to it.  However, we have now removed two out of three sails. Just the mainsail to do now, and we have three days left to do it. This is probably the most annoying part of being in the boatyard, they ask you to remove the sails for the winter.  And we don't know if we shall be back again this year yet, plus they won't get mucky if they are safely tucked away inside the boat. 

The sun setting just before we removed the big genoa

Sunday 1st June...

Not much food left inside our freezer now. Just a bag of mixed veggies and some icicles! But we are surviving on fresh crusty bread, ham, cheese, snickers, and mars bars.

Definately itchy today, lost count adding up how many mozzie bites have appeared from last night's sunset sail drop. 

Dean was in the mood again this morning. Straight after breakfast he announced we were going to remove the main sail. His new technique meant we didn't have to hoist it up the mast. Whilst it was still in the lazy bag, he managed to remove the reefing lines and batons, meaning we only had to drop the lazy bag and let the sail fall over the side and to the floor. Not quite that easy, but it did work well with only a couple of small hiccups. All this with a gentle breeze going on too. 

Sorting out the reefing lines

Some of the reefing lines and mousing lines

in the end of the boom

A quick view across the farm land from Thesee's deck

By this time,  I'd like to point out that I was multi-tasking. Not only had I remembered to take photos, but also helped to remove the main sail, whilst also cooking chicken drumsticks. How about that then!

My brain must have been in gear for a change..... no comments needed 😂

This photo is to remind us of the sequence 

of our lazy lines for next time

Dean removing the batons from the main sail

The main sail mid way down and across the side of the boat

And here it is nicely folded on our new tarpaulin.

It looks tiny here, but believe me it's massive, and heavy too.

The main sail now bagged and hoisted back up onto the deck 

using the spinnaker halyard

I've lost count of all the jobs we've done today. Dean back flushed the engine with anti-salt solution which meant he had to remove the impeller (see photo). Long job. He also converted one our pieces of spray hood cover to double up as a companion way protector for when we're away. Meanwhile, I cleaned the oven, and sorted out all the stuff and belongings in our aft cabin. 

The impeller

I'm a little late with the blogging tonight. Dean made me watch yet another James Bond 'repeat'. Sorry, that means repeat of a repeat. But I did manage to stay awake. Maybe I need to drink more wine. 3 more sleeps until we're on the plane home.

Tuesday 3rd June....

Sorry, no blog yesterday, and no photos either it appears. We've just been so busy cleaning the boat from top to toe, or from bow to stern maybe. For Dean this was made doubly difficult, because yesterday just as he had set up his hose pipe to wash the decks, hull, and fill the water tanks, the water supply was cut off! Believe me, Mr C was NOT HAPPY. This is what happened to us last year when we lifted out. They yard give various excuses depending on who you talk to. But its so annoying. We are at the top end of the yard, and we always seem to get the brunt of it. The boats that are near to the office still had water and were happily spraying away. Double whammy. 

At this time when Dean was having a melt down, I was at the washing machines washing the bedding. Fortunately for me, it's by the office...... where there's water. However, the downside it that out of five washing machines, spread over three points in the yard, four of the machines were out of order. I was lucky to get the chance to use the only working machine. 

The weather is still windy, in fact my laundry nearly took off towards another planet yesterday when I had it drying on deck. The good thing is that it dries in about 30 minutes with the wind and sun. It's getting hot now. We put the sprayhood away this morning, and I could feel my back burning whilst we were doing so.... and I was wearing a thin T shirt too. 

The mozzie bites are still itching like mad. I think next time we'll try to not take a sail down after sunset. On the up side, we are doing our best to finish off the last of the wine and beer. We've just got back from eating out at the local taverna. It's a lovely place, and they give you pudding too. 

This is the last of the blog for now. Tomorrow we fly home to our 'green life' and we are really looking forward to it. Maybe we shall be back later in the year. Who knows? Watch this space...

And so, to all our loyal Thésée Followers around the globe, we thank you for being out there and taking an interest in our sailing antics. 

Until next time.....it s Ta Ta from the crew, and we wish you all a lovely summer xxx