Envoy is currently at Paxos Island just south of Corfu.
Med summer is now settling in with daytime temps in the mid 20s, sunny skies, light winds up to 15 knots and smooth seas. The sea is still a chilly 21dC, but we’re swimming daily.
We spent our last day in the marina stocking up with provisions from a small supermarket at the marina owned by Spiros (a very common name here). Spiros is very friendly and gives generous discounts - for example one recent bill came to Euro 312 (about NZ$480) and he discounted this to Euro 265 (about NZ$408). Not only that but he gives us small gifts like special local salamis, cheeses and pickles. Spiros also has a great selection of wine imported from Spain, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and US so we bought some at prices ranging from Euro 4.60 (about NZ$7) to Euro 9.40 (about NZ$15) per bottle. We’ve also found some very acceptable Greek wines, and generally pay at the lower end of the above range.
Our friend, Chris, arrived on 23/4, and we left the marina on 25/4 for a shakedown cruise around adjacent islands to the south. Everything aboard Envoy worked well including the repaired Robertson autopilot.
We’ve been enjoying showing Chris some places we’ve been to previously as well as some new destinations, and at the same time Chris, also known as “MacGyver,” has been doing many technical maintenance and improvement jobs for us along the way.
Mitika is a medium-sized village on the mainland coast where few tourists go, making it more interesting and typically Greek the main street shown here is very quiet
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This is Kalamos harbour and Envoy is anchored outside
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Chris, Diane & I had drinks in "Georgio's" quaint beachside taverna at Port Kalamos
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The following night we anchored in Port Leonie, a small Greek village deserted after an earthquake in 1953 and never re-inhabited. Apart from ruined houses all that remains is a church maintained by nearby locals.
Envoy anchored off Port Leone
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Envoy in front of the deserted ruins of Port Leone
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A wild horse foraging on Port Leone's rocky foreshore
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TECHNICAL
Envoy has a large inventory of lifejackets consisting of nine of the bulky standard type, and eight CO2 cartridge-inflated jackets. Most of these would be something like 10 years old but all look like brand-new. Bear in mind we mostly have just the two of us aboard, sometimes four and never more than five. The inflatable jackets are all a well-known US brand and mostly in their original packets, but as they’d never been officially tested since we bought Envoy, we decided to have them checked and re-certified by a marine safety company. Imagine our surprise when they told us that only two out of the eight inflatable jackets passed the test! We went to see the problems for ourselves - firstly there were problems of seams delaminating under air pressure, and secondly the rubber oral inflation tubes lose their flexibility over the years, go quite stiff, and when you move them (as you would do in the water when blowing in more air) they act like a lever, and rip away from the jacket letting all of the air out. We literally threw out six inflatable jackets, and had to buy two more to give us four in total.
Chris tries on a new lifejacket and holds the oral inflation tube which failed on so many of our old jackets
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In future we will test them annually by orally inflating them and leaving them for 24 hours to see if they hold pressure, then move the inflation valves around to see if they still hold pressure.
We were also surprised how fragile the inflatable jackets appear to be, giving the impression they would easily lose air and be useless if snagged on a sharp protrusion while taking to the water or in the water. If the occasion ever arises to need lifejackets Diane and I would also be taking with us one of the bulky and uncomfortable but totally trustworthy traditional jackets.
Next blog We’ll talk about since-resolved problems with our windlass and stabilisers.
ENVOY’S LOG
42 days aboard so far this year, 165 miles cruised for 34 engine hours.
Med summer is now settling in with daytime temps in the mid 20s, sunny skies, light winds up to 15 knots and smooth seas. The sea is still a chilly 21dC, but we’re swimming daily.
We spent our last day in the marina stocking up with provisions from a small supermarket at the marina owned by Spiros (a very common name here). Spiros is very friendly and gives generous discounts - for example one recent bill came to Euro 312 (about NZ$480) and he discounted this to Euro 265 (about NZ$408). Not only that but he gives us small gifts like special local salamis, cheeses and pickles. Spiros also has a great selection of wine imported from Spain, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and US so we bought some at prices ranging from Euro 4.60 (about NZ$7) to Euro 9.40 (about NZ$15) per bottle. We’ve also found some very acceptable Greek wines, and generally pay at the lower end of the above range.
Our friend, Chris, arrived on 23/4, and we left the marina on 25/4 for a shakedown cruise around adjacent islands to the south. Everything aboard Envoy worked well including the repaired Robertson autopilot.
We’ve been enjoying showing Chris some places we’ve been to previously as well as some new destinations, and at the same time Chris, also known as “MacGyver,” has been doing many technical maintenance and improvement jobs for us along the way.
Mitika is a medium-sized village on the mainland coast where few tourists go, making it more interesting and typically Greek the main street shown here is very quiet
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This is a view of Mitika's seafront from where Envoy was anchored
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Nisos Kalamos is also a bit of the beaten path and we anchored off Port Kalamos for one night. While ashore at a taverna the owner couldn’t understand why we didn’t bring Envoy alongside the wharf in the free harbour. If the weather was adverse we would have, but in good weather we prefer to anchor.
This is Kalamos harbour and Envoy is anchored outside
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Chris, Diane & I had drinks in "Georgio's" quaint beachside taverna at Port Kalamos
.JPG)
The following night we anchored in Port Leonie, a small Greek village deserted after an earthquake in 1953 and never re-inhabited. Apart from ruined houses all that remains is a church maintained by nearby locals.
Envoy anchored off Port Leone
.JPG)
Envoy in front of the deserted ruins of Port Leone
.JPG)
A wild horse foraging on Port Leone's rocky foreshore
.JPG)
TECHNICAL
Envoy has a large inventory of lifejackets consisting of nine of the bulky standard type, and eight CO2 cartridge-inflated jackets. Most of these would be something like 10 years old but all look like brand-new. Bear in mind we mostly have just the two of us aboard, sometimes four and never more than five. The inflatable jackets are all a well-known US brand and mostly in their original packets, but as they’d never been officially tested since we bought Envoy, we decided to have them checked and re-certified by a marine safety company. Imagine our surprise when they told us that only two out of the eight inflatable jackets passed the test! We went to see the problems for ourselves - firstly there were problems of seams delaminating under air pressure, and secondly the rubber oral inflation tubes lose their flexibility over the years, go quite stiff, and when you move them (as you would do in the water when blowing in more air) they act like a lever, and rip away from the jacket letting all of the air out. We literally threw out six inflatable jackets, and had to buy two more to give us four in total.
Chris tries on a new lifejacket and holds the oral inflation tube which failed on so many of our old jackets
.JPG)
In future we will test them annually by orally inflating them and leaving them for 24 hours to see if they hold pressure, then move the inflation valves around to see if they still hold pressure.
We were also surprised how fragile the inflatable jackets appear to be, giving the impression they would easily lose air and be useless if snagged on a sharp protrusion while taking to the water or in the water. If the occasion ever arises to need lifejackets Diane and I would also be taking with us one of the bulky and uncomfortable but totally trustworthy traditional jackets.
Next blog We’ll talk about since-resolved problems with our windlass and stabilisers.
ENVOY’S LOG
42 days aboard so far this year, 165 miles cruised for 34 engine hours.
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