Galaxidi, patience and the international project!

Galaxidi, patience and the international project!

Mr Basil..... suffering the consequences of a near sinkage

the aftermath on board. just he beginning of the jobs!

Bungs bungs bungs!

It took a while to settle in to the laid-back life of little Galaxidi.  Nerves and tension dominated the feelings of the days that followed us tying up alongside in her little marina (much to the dislike of the lady who came to collect the money for electricity and water – wow she was a stern one!).  With no shaft, nor engine to power it though, we thought we had a pretty good excuse for being there.

'Ragged Company' alongside

Lovely laundry

Having realised life onboard was not nearly as sociable as we’d first thought we were pleasantly surprised and even overwhelmed by peoples', (generally talking about fellow sailors / boatmen), kindness, friendliness and generosity over our two weeks there. 

Solving the lack-of-shaft problem was the obvious priority although the repairing the engine came pretty high on the list.  Advice followed from every angle with solutions of all extremities; from, 'leave it (the boat) and road-trip home' to 'take a full tow, take her out the water, order a shaft from the US and wait to refit it on-the-dry!'..... hmmmmm.  Weighing up our options and with some fabulous hands-on-Swiss-advice we began, during the drying and clean-up (took about five days to dry things out fully and get things back in order), to dismantle the parts that would complete the shaft assembly. 

Naval archs / Engineers at work you may say but I’m telling you, a degree in this stuff doesn’t help!  (Well maybe it does for the general background but it stops there).  All in all the first stage became a educational and even fun experience; practicing our snorkelling and breath holding skills, taking under-water surveys of the rudder and skeg, measuring to the .1mm diameters, lengths and thicknesses, getting thoroughly oily fingernails, hands, arms, noses.... the lot, dismantling engine/gearbox parts, de-seizing the only two screws that were meant to be holding the old shaft in place, (finding out that these had siezed a long time ago.. :( ), learning how the seal worked and wondering how the safety device in-front of the skeg failed!

And so we ended up with this!

anything missing...?

that'll be the shaft then.

Although initially I was unsure why one would carry around a spare propeller (or old one), I quickly came round to the idea that it was/is a fabulous thing to do and will now encourage all sailors to do so!  The shaft itself however was the issue because we definitely didn’t have a spare of these kicking around.  1.7m of solid metal, dia = 28.6mm, not the European standard 30mm of course, 28.6mm on the dot please.

Ex-colleague George (not GG but another Greek one), and his contacts to the rescue! 

After our Swiss help and advice, we sent the parts by bus to the big smoke of Athens / Piraeus – brilliant!  So that was the easy bit..... waiting was the difficult bit for us Northerners.

Fi - waiting for the bus to arrive in Galaxidi

As a good bit of luck had it, JG’s parents, abandoning their Ionian island plans (:0( ), came to distract and join us in Galaxidi.  The weekend was a strange mixture of wonderful summer-holidaying and boat-stressing although the trip away from the village was much appreciated!

Freshly caught tuna steaks for dinner onboard, Joelle, Bertrand & JG

Bertrand on the helm! fi & jg

Starting with the classic Delphi, a seriously hot culture fix, from the sphinx to climbing up to the stadium at the top, (my favourite part – I’m sure they should open it up once a year for a contest!). 

Delphi

The naval of the world in Delphi

The most impressive of the treasuries

JG and Bertrand happy in Delphi

JG and Fi in the amphitheatre - Dephi - walking

JG and Fi - Y ? in the amphtitheatre Delphi

Delphi's stadium - awesome

Delphi's incredible watering system

grrrrrrrrr

Wonderful ruins with fabulous views over olive groves and the Gulf of Corinth.  Continuing up we made it to the mountains – they even sold fur, real fur hats, scarves, jackets, full-on winter gear, in the village we lunched in.  The ski resort

yes it is true - skiing is possible in Greece

and bees

buzz buzz buzz

 were a real surprise and a delight to experience especially with a cool mountain breeze to accompany it.  Following a major road-trip, on and off and around the beaten track, we made it to visit Leonidas – what a splendid chap he is!  (Thermopyles)

My very own, Leonidas (JG)!

 Fi n JG - Y walking in the thermopyles

More of the spectacular mountain views followed a night in a hotel (:0D ) in Lamia finally ending with a Greek-style lunch on the sea-shore. 

beautiful mountain lake in Greece

Before long Bertrand and Joelle returned to Athens - Paris and us to our boat and the problem-solving, getting to know the neighbours, and watch the fishing techniques!

JG and the Geese & Ducks

Mr Goose (nieghbour no.1) enjoying the puddles at night - (Fi)

(FI - Y)

Fi - walkings

Octopus fisherman in the marina

slightly more upper-class neighbour behind me (first of it's kind, custom built beauty!)

It was a long week but we managed to get the engine started and stopped (by itself.....) then started and stopped, by itself again..... and then finally started and running for as long as we wanted!!!  Unfortunately some other friends returned from the Gulf, this time with a snapped shaft (we met them only 5 day previously with no rudder!).  Again however, helping Slovenian hands and advice were much appreciated as were the large beers at the end of the day.  Having had a lot of sea water around or close to the engine, the battery compartments and other systems such as the fridge, convertor etc. we had quite some concerns that things would not function.  To our surprise however, things seemed to tick on and so we could concentrate on the shaft, when it would arrive, how to assemble it when it did and to find a diver and mechanic to help.

inbetween jobs.... cleaning

loosing the beard.... :0(

styling a tash!  NICE JG!

It was a joyous Saturday lunch-time walking the streets of Galaxidi, shaft and parts fresh off the morning bus in hand(s), with many an-onlooker and with our Danish friends / neighbours cheering us on! 

Express delievry Greek style - city to city bus

shiny and new shaft - & a happy JG

Shiny and new we admired it except the one 30mm ring left, presumably as a safety precaution, near the head of the shaft...... soon to cause much of an issue.  So...... installation.

Danish, Egyptian, Scottish and French troops ready? 

Shaft ready?

Lines ready?

Hammer anyone......?

With encouragement from our Danish neighbours

The Danes on their boat

we decided to try the whole installation ourselves.  A mean feat however, with ladies on deck holding shaft in place using two lines, all men in the water with a hammer here and there and there again, a re-organisation, an ouch when the bung popped out, a quick squashing of packing into the seal so to not let too much water in (3x) and finally more of a hammer and a pull and alignment of the engines gearbox to the shaft..... Not perfection we’re sure but RC now had a SHAFT!!! And we managed not to sink her whilst doing it! :0).

JG and Finn trying the installation

That's a SHAFT!

Wee dram anyone?

Well, the drama wasn’t completely over as we discovered on her first trial the following day – engine in low revs and we’re vibrating like a..... washing machine!  Being a Sunday our patience was tested but we were quickly distracted by sharing a drink and a tale with a very friendly Welsh man.  Now, when you’ve been on the water for 30+ years there are plenty of stories to tell.  After the welsh survey, two weeks after our initial arrival, we contacted our friendly Greek mechanic who came to reposition the engine to try to reduce our vibrations. 

Hoping that our tests on the shores side were adequate we were then faced with a new challenge – how to leave Greece ASAP...... meaning yesterday please (msg from the Customs men).  With an expired transit log we left Galaxidi late on that Monday night ‘on-the-run’!

Goodbye Galaxidi, Chris gives a friendly and very helpful send off

This is Pirate Crabbie,

Over

WE LOST MY HAT!!!! (and some......)

We lost my HAT! (and some....)

JG and Fi (happy with her hat..... )

Corinth canal and more Corinth Canal....... - 5th July

It was a beautiful start to the day in which we saw the sun rise over the flat water of the Gulf of Corinth.  With not a breath of wind we started the day motoring west between the surprisingly mountainous mainland and Peloponnese.  I was absolutely amazed at how high, rugged and beautiful it was – never thought to consider hiking in Greece before.

Sunrise in the Gulf of Corinth

Small breezes came and went and in order to gain head-way we were having to motor-sail. A surprise gust triggered the move to cut the engine and reef the main.  As the gust passed we where back to the calm for a quick lunch.  Shortly after the water darkened ahead and the white horses (breaking waves) were fast approaching.  Thinking it to be alike to the previous gust we didn’t worry too much nor prepare for what lay ahead.

In a matter of seconds not minutes the wind whipped up to force 7 (from 3) with waves in-tow.  Coming directly from the west we managed 70 / 80 degrees to the wind (north-ish) with a furled head and fully reefed main..... still too much sail and too little headway.  With the wind easing , we boycotted the plan to continue up the gulf to an anchorage and headed due north for shelter.  In order to make more than 1knot we started the engine..... or didn’t as the case had it. 

Having had engine problems since the crossing to Creta, it was obvious it was a different problem because it cut out after 3 seconds rather than not turning over.  Wind swirling, boat fighting the conditions and waves increasing, I held the helm as JG went to investigate only to reappear seconds later shouting that there was water down there.  Thinking not much of it, (usually when heeled (leaning over to the side) RC often shows to have water from the bilge and it being rather extreme conditions perhaps there was a little more than usual....) i suggested, ‘Bail it!’ (scoop the water out and overboard with something). 

Oh how wrong i could be.  And so he began..... but with a bucket!  The buckets became fuller and fuller each time JG came to the top of the step.  With shouts through the wind it soon became apperent that a little water was a LOT of water! After just a few minutes, hearts pumping and safety lessons screaming through our minds, the decision was made to call for help. Not knowing the full situation below deck, i called a pan pan (not quite a maday) from the helm (wheel) which was thankfully received within 30seconds (only later did we find out that some people near Italy called a mayday 16 times only to end up in their life-raft since no-one answered them!).   It was a Mega yacht – and OH YES, we do LOVE MEGAYACHTS, Ozzies (captain), Kiwi’s and SA’s!

With the wind still howling and the main sail still tensed, we tried to prepare for the tow from the mega-yachts powerful tender (small boat), water still flowing into the boat even after closing all valves.  Taking a pause from the bailing-out JG went forward to throw a line to the RIB bouncing up and down next to us in the waves.  Luckily through shouting and arm signals the two boys /crew (kiwi and SA’s) onboard caught the line and started the tow. In the meantime I was frantically  trying to control our boat (locking the wheel didn't work) and take down a crazy flapping main at the same time, subsequently LOSING MY HAT....... :0( (much to the joy of the superyacht crew).   I really loved that hat.

A small sacrifice you may say......

Still the problem was not yet solved.  The tow had begun but we were still filling up FAST with water. I only realised how fast when JG took the helm and it was my turn to go down below.  The water came half way up my shin and there is a good 5 – 10cm below the floorboards for the bilge.  Oooh, It certainly doesn’t feel right wading through water when you’re IN a boat.

With a controlled panic i scurried around all the inlets i could think of double-checking the valves JG had closed.... nothing. No obvious water ingress point.  Finally, lifting more floorboards, hatches and moving wet bed & sofa cushions out the way, opening the engine compartment and phew (!), i felt the great flow of water and could covered it immediately with my hand which of course isn't much use. Now, anyone sensible would stuff ANYthing in there but i was determined to find the bungs (conical wooden plugs) that i knew existed.  Felt like an age, but finally i found them floating in the locker under our bunk and it was shoved in that hole fast!

With water even higher now it was my turn to bail-out, climbing the steps again and again to pop my head out to see the tow-boys laughing and joking whilst rounding the headland to the shelter of Galaxidi.  Boy, did our shoulders feel this the next day!  We where received by many; the drunk local, the fellow sailors, the make-shift harbour man (really the fuel salesman), the nosy locals and finally the port police.  Everyone was all ears and full of stories, tales, advice and willingness to help.

The reality of the situation sunk in only when we finally sat down at 11.30 in a dull restaurant and picked at terrible pasta and a dry pizza, mulling over the days events and thanking our luck that we didn't end up in the life-raft with a boat stuck at the bottom of the Gulf!  From tying up to the quay until 5/6 hours later we just kept going; bailing water with buckets, tubs and sponges, refreshing things with fresh water, discussing with locals, engineers, fellow sailors the options of repair especially  and discovering it was actually the WHOLE SHAFT that had left us rather than the engine water inlet valve failing / burst pipe, (Yup, goodbye propeller and goodbye shaft (the long metal rod connecting the engine to the propeller which rotates to make us move under engine power..... which you unfortunately need on a sailing boat – especially in the Med).

What to do now?

After an hour or so we think to take some photos - JG in the water on the boat

Water IN poor Ragged Company

Fi in the water onboard

The magical bung finally dry and thankfully still in place

The beginning of the aftermath......

This is Fi, written a long way from then..... the time the issueS began!

Over....

Departing the Aegean - and ATHENA

Departing the Aegean & Athena

Athens and Departing the Aegean = End of June / July

Well Athens, as one can imagine, is HOT in summer.  The acropolis even more so at noon on the first Saturday in July.  I melted.

Athens - Amphitheatre

Athens - Amphitheatre

Acropolis pillars

The Acropolis

Y's in the Acropolis - JG & Fi

'walking' in the Acropolis - JG & Fi

Me infront of the Acropolis

After having a lovely days sail north from Kithnos, just the two of us again, we rocked up into Athens.  The sole sailing yacht in a motor yacht marina, RC sat comfortably in her berth for a few days while we explored the delights of Greece’s capital; Special olympics, ping-pong included

Fi on the Wheel

annnd, relaxing!'Super' yacht marina for RC

Getting to Athens.

Special Olympics PING PONG

by night we saw the renowned protestors camping, singing and demonstrating in Syntagma square, laser lighting the guards, shouting abuse (i imagine) and eating grilled corn, nuts whilst drinking a beer, 

Singers in Syntagma

NEW HAT! (JG)

and in addition to the Acropolis and walking the hot streets during the day, we saw the changing of the fluffy-toe-d guards (Was thinking of you Ted / Thodoris!).

The pom-pom guard

stolen hat - Fi

We were treated to not only a shower but our first BED of the trip!!!  George (GG – from Rotterdam) picked us up in the family-mo-bile and he and Anna (plus the little girl!!! :0) ) welcomed us to Athens.  Bliss!  Great food, huuuge comfy sofa, baby stuff all over the place, long chats, catch ups and sleep! For both JG and I it was just wonderful to be in a house that doesn’t rock, to be on a bed with some head room and to wake up to birds, trees and a BLACK CAT!

Daddy GG!

ooooh, a BIG comfy, spacious BED!

 The wee one!

Morning Mr Black cat

Before long it was another sad goodbye to GG who wont be there in the Dam on our return :0( . Nevertheless, just super to meet in his home town 2 ½ years on from flat hunting in Rotterdam!  For the two of us though, miles to be covered, canals, gulfs and passages to go through, seas to cross and countries to pass! 

fi n Jg

First up, through the shipping lane!!! (eeeek, yes Fi on the helm )

One of THOSE ships

LOTS of THOSE ships

 – and on to the Corinth Canal! Whoop. 

 Entrance to the Corinth Canal

JG with  permission to go through the canal!

What an amazing piece of engineering.  Cloudy turquoise water, massive cliff edges, waving people from bridges high above and three little sailing yachts chugging their way along the 7mile straight.  Brilliant.

Canal ahead

Y- JG?

Walking overboard JG

Fi - Y-in the canal

Fi - walking the canal

Engineering in style

Together!

Sadly it meant staying a night in Corinth – bit of a scruffy town with a LOT of wind blowing in and locals caring to rip you off..... couldn’t wait to leave the next morning but in hindsight perhaps we should have!

This is Fi in her little cubby-hole of the nav desk, (29/07/11)

over