Envoy In The Med: CRUISING NEAR CORFU WITH FRANK AND MARIE

Envoy is now cruising around the Ionian Sea with our daughter Amy aboard for a six week stay.
Sorry this post is a bit overdue as my friend Lionel has pointed out.

I forgot to mention in our last posting that due to our delayed departure from Lefkas we were able to meet up with long-time friends Kevin and Diane O'Sullivan and family, who were starting a week-long yacht charter from Lefkas. We had a great dinner and, as I've often mentioned, the taverna owners nearly always give you something for free – in this case dessert. After we paid the bill and walked back about a kilometre to the marina the taverna owner came up to us on his motor scooter; “my friends ... I'm so sorry ... I forgot to give you this gift.” He handed over free bottle of wine and one of olive oil. NZ restaurateurs could learn from this!

Our first night out anchored at Two Rock Bay we had a problem. I normally check the condition of Envoy's start battery bank at the beginning of each season and this becomes increasingly important as the batteries age. Checking the voltage isn't sufficient – it's necessary to use a load tester, a device which most marine electricians have that places a significant load on the battery and monitors the result. When we ran Envoy's Lugger engine for the first time in June after seven months of non-use it started instantly and I assumed the battery bank must be OK. I had asked an electrician to load test the batteries but despite repeated calls he never showed and as our cruising had already been delayed by two months we really wanted to get cruising so I decided to forget the test - big mistake! The second time I ran the engine it was a slow start. The third time I had our generator running powering our Freedom Combi inverter/battery charger. This charger is an older unit dating from 2002 and doesn't have all the safety systems that a more recent unit would have. Because the start battery bank was down in capacity the start process drew too much load from the charger blowing a relay and causing some internal printed circuit board damage. Damn it!

We went on to Corfu's Gouvia marina where Leonardo, an electrician we know well, did a load test and found our battery bank down to 60 per cent capacity. He also pointed out that since our batteries were six years old this was not surprising. So the result of not doing the battery test was we damaged our inverter/charger and had to spend a couple of cruising days sourcing and installing new start batteries - all because we broke our own rules.

The new battery bank consisting of two Optima 975A batteries is performing well and Leonardo installed our spare Xantrex 3Kw inverter (which doesn't have a charger) while we try to get the Freedom Combi repaired in Athens. He's also fitted an automatic transfer relay so that if the generator is started while the inverter is running AC power is only sourced from the generator. Meanwhile for battery charging with the generator we're using our AC-powered Charles 60 amp charger that we normally use only on shore power.

Once these issues were sorted we spent a few great days cruising around bays close to Corfu. At Kalami we met Kiwi sailors Alistair and Nichola plus their dog Tiny aboard Bavaria 47 Tiny Nical.

On 12 July Frank and Marie Curulli joined us at Corfu for their third Envoy cruise. We were originally going to meet them in Malta but Envoy's fire damage spoiled those plans so Frank and Marie went by themselves to Malta, Sicily and Stromboli, where Frank's Dad came from.

Unfortunately Marie's luggage didn't arrive but never mind – this was a perfect excuse for Marie and Di to hit the Corfu shops. Her luggage showed up two days later.

Frank and I go back a long way as we met as 15 year-old surf lifesavers and since then have enjoyed with our families numerous great boating, diving, camping and four-wheel driving holidays and adventures. This was another one with two weeks going all too quickly in perfect sunny and calm conditions. We visited some places that we've been to previously – Kalami, O Ay Stefanos, Petriti, Sivota, Parga and Gaios but also two new places.

The first was Loggos on Paxxos Island where it's often too uncomfortable to anchor. This is a small but stunning village with several great quirky shops and very friendly locals.

Envoy anchored off Loggos

Outer waterfront bars at Loggos

The picturesque main harbour

The boys enjoy an ice-cold Mythos

In the evening after an excellent meal ashore we visited an art exhibition set among the old machinery in a disused former olive oil soap factory.

The second was Corfu's village of Levkimmi reached by using our RHIB to navigate a shallow two kilometre canal from the sea. We only stayed here a couple of hours but were very impressed by the canal-side atmosphere and tranquility – not to mention great cakes from the bakery!

Frank and Marie as we head up the canal

The village of Levkimmi lines the canal

As we came out of the canal a huge dredging barge was moored right across the exit and we had to lift up and pass underneath their mooring line to get back out to sea.

For Frank and Marie's last night we went into Corfu's Mandraki Marina for the first time (as Gouvia was full). This is a small but highly atmospheric marina right below the Corfu Castle's north side. For the first time ever we were asked to berth bow first and this meant we could only disembark using the RHIB as our bow was too high up to use a plank to step down onto the jetty. The marina wall is only about a metre above sea level so waves regularly break over it and we understand the marina is untenable in strong northerlies – a yacht being wrecked there just last year.

Looking across Envoy's bow as waves break against the marina wall

Looking down on Envoy in Mandraki marina

Above the marina behind the castle's imposing walls is the Ionian University School of Music and were able to listen to some practice sessions as well as a full-blown concert.

Corfu fortress and school of music