It’s been showery and chilly here with daytime temps under 20dC, but we’re snug aboard Envoy on the hardstand. With Envoy’s cover on it’s a bit like living in a cave, but yesterday we removed the cover, so we now have natural light and can see the surrounding area.
This early in the season, many facilities and shops aren’t open yet and it’s not until early May that everything is in “summer mode”.
Early Monday morning we heard and felt a sharp “crack”, as though something heavy had fallen against Envoy. Inspection revealed that all was OK, and we concluded this must have been a minor earthquake. Minor quakes are common here, and even major ones are not uncommon in this region. Nearby Cephalonia had a giant quake in 1953, that levelled most buildings and tragically killed 476 people – a large percentage of their population.
Lefkas last had a serious quake in 2006, which badly damaged houses and caused widespread panic and minor injuries.
During this week most of the out-of-water jobs should be completed, and we hope to launch Envoy some time next week. From a technical viewpoint all seems to mostly OK so far.
Envoy’s storage cover was made in 2007 to protect Envoy through two or three summers while we returned to NZ to complete our work commitments. In fact we were away for 27 months and the cover lasted well. Since then it’s been repaired twice, but now again the fabric has small tears, and is wearing thin in several places. A rough estimate for the price of a new cover is Euro 4,000 (over NZ$6,000), so we’re planning to get the cover repaired yet again.
Last season we extended the length of our stainless steel swim ladder to make it easier to climb out of the water (us older folks have to think of such things!). This extension resulted in more leverage on the stainless steel tube, and subsequent bending. During winter the ladder has been repaired and reinforced with some additional stainless steel tube, so we hope this will be OK for the coming year.
The Lugger alternator has been reconditioned, and its noisy bearings replaced – very essential for battery charging.
Both RHIBs have had minor repairs completed and their engines serviced. The 25hp Yamaha needed a new tachometer, a new remote control lever, and replacement of a corroded hydraulic tilt pump.
A split on the main radar’s radome housing has been repaired, and our 23ft-long SSB radio aerial has been re-glassed as it was de-laminating.
Our Robertson autopilot’s hydraulic pump motor was repaired, but there seems to be some problem with its control – we won’t know more until we can do a sea-trial. In any case this we have two auto pilots, so we won’t do further work on this before our departure.
In our guest cabin two very sun-damaged and cracked acrylic hatches have been replaced, and their teak surrounds re-varnished.
A canvas repair shop has repaired or replaced a variety of squab covers, awnings and storage bags.
So the work continues, and in about a week from now we’ll have a clear idea of our departure date. Our target is to start cruising on Thurs 11 April. Our friend Chris O’Brien joins us for three weeks from 24 April for our cruise north to Montenegro.
This early in the season, many facilities and shops aren’t open yet and it’s not until early May that everything is in “summer mode”.
Early Monday morning we heard and felt a sharp “crack”, as though something heavy had fallen against Envoy. Inspection revealed that all was OK, and we concluded this must have been a minor earthquake. Minor quakes are common here, and even major ones are not uncommon in this region. Nearby Cephalonia had a giant quake in 1953, that levelled most buildings and tragically killed 476 people – a large percentage of their population.
Lefkas last had a serious quake in 2006, which badly damaged houses and caused widespread panic and minor injuries.
During this week most of the out-of-water jobs should be completed, and we hope to launch Envoy some time next week. From a technical viewpoint all seems to mostly OK so far.
Envoy’s storage cover was made in 2007 to protect Envoy through two or three summers while we returned to NZ to complete our work commitments. In fact we were away for 27 months and the cover lasted well. Since then it’s been repaired twice, but now again the fabric has small tears, and is wearing thin in several places. A rough estimate for the price of a new cover is Euro 4,000 (over NZ$6,000), so we’re planning to get the cover repaired yet again.
Last season we extended the length of our stainless steel swim ladder to make it easier to climb out of the water (us older folks have to think of such things!). This extension resulted in more leverage on the stainless steel tube, and subsequent bending. During winter the ladder has been repaired and reinforced with some additional stainless steel tube, so we hope this will be OK for the coming year.
The Lugger alternator has been reconditioned, and its noisy bearings replaced – very essential for battery charging.
Both RHIBs have had minor repairs completed and their engines serviced. The 25hp Yamaha needed a new tachometer, a new remote control lever, and replacement of a corroded hydraulic tilt pump.
A split on the main radar’s radome housing has been repaired, and our 23ft-long SSB radio aerial has been re-glassed as it was de-laminating.
Our Robertson autopilot’s hydraulic pump motor was repaired, but there seems to be some problem with its control – we won’t know more until we can do a sea-trial. In any case this we have two auto pilots, so we won’t do further work on this before our departure.
In our guest cabin two very sun-damaged and cracked acrylic hatches have been replaced, and their teak surrounds re-varnished.
A canvas repair shop has repaired or replaced a variety of squab covers, awnings and storage bags.
So the work continues, and in about a week from now we’ll have a clear idea of our departure date. Our target is to start cruising on Thurs 11 April. Our friend Chris O’Brien joins us for three weeks from 24 April for our cruise north to Montenegro.
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