Envoy is in Lefkas Marina for the northern hemisphere winter while we're home in New Zealand to enjoy the summer.
Now back to mid-October. As we leave Gouvia Marina we load another 400 litres of diesel to top up our fuel tanks as it's best to leave them full to reduce condensation during long absences from any boat. This brings our total diesel purchase this year to a very reasonable 4,025 litres, which has been sufficient for six months cruising most days.
One of the hugely compelling qualities of a full-displacement boat like Envoy is her economy at about six to seven litres of diesel per hour. A similar sized planing vessel would use something like 150 litres per hour and even though it'd be covering around 20 miles in an hour we only need about 22 litres to cover the same distance – one seventh as much.
We cruise slowly south towards Lefkas visiting places we've mentioned previously in the Blog so won't repeat.
Anchored off the town of Preveza we have a choppy night in 20 knot onshore winds and are woken early in the morning by fishermen who want to retrieve their net. It's not uncommon for them to lay their nets and lines throughout recognised anchoring areas.
It's late season and now there are few boats around except for a few hardy souls taking advantage of the off-peak yacht charter rates and cruisers on the way to winter berths. Ashore the beach umbrellas and deck chairs are stacked away, many tavernas and shops have closed their shutters until next year and the still open ones are largely deserted. During this time we have some fine weather but also more rain and thunderstorms leading us to decide that next year we'll have a shorter season and return home around mid-October.
After anchoring for the last time we let out most of our chain and during retrieval wash the salt off with fresh water to reduce corrosion during winter storage. Pulling into the marina for winter on Sunday 23rd October gives us nine days before leaving for Athens - ample time to complete wintering procedures and a few remaining jobs. I say this every year – it's great and very satisfying to return after living aboard for seven months and cruising over 2,000 miles with no accidents, injuries or more than minor technical issues.
We berth alongside Coco, a 52ft sailing yacht owned by a Scots couple, George and Anne, and hardly finish connecting water and shore power before they invite us aboard for a drink. They're sprightly mid-70s who've visited NZ and we Scotland, so we find plenty in common resulting in several great evenings together during our short time in the marina.
That night I break a tooth munching on an olive. Although it's not sore I decide to get it seen to in case of any problems occurring on the long journey home. The marina office recommends a dentist who sees me just an hour after my call. She's highly qualified being a Doctor of Dentistry (dentists generally have a Bachelor degree) with a spotless surgery who charges just 50 Euros (about NZ$77) for a filling that takes about half an hour. At home the charge would be more like $300 - we've been well pleased by the high standard and low cost of medical treatment in Greece.
The marina costs 2,764 Euros (about NZ$4,252) being about $22 per day. Many cruisers go on the hard stand at nearby and cheaper Preveza, but we prefer the whole infrastructure, convenience and atmosphere of Lefkas.
Next post will discuss year-end maintenance issues.
Now back to mid-October. As we leave Gouvia Marina we load another 400 litres of diesel to top up our fuel tanks as it's best to leave them full to reduce condensation during long absences from any boat. This brings our total diesel purchase this year to a very reasonable 4,025 litres, which has been sufficient for six months cruising most days.
One of the hugely compelling qualities of a full-displacement boat like Envoy is her economy at about six to seven litres of diesel per hour. A similar sized planing vessel would use something like 150 litres per hour and even though it'd be covering around 20 miles in an hour we only need about 22 litres to cover the same distance – one seventh as much.
We cruise slowly south towards Lefkas visiting places we've mentioned previously in the Blog so won't repeat.
Anchored off the town of Preveza we have a choppy night in 20 knot onshore winds and are woken early in the morning by fishermen who want to retrieve their net. It's not uncommon for them to lay their nets and lines throughout recognised anchoring areas.
It's late season and now there are few boats around except for a few hardy souls taking advantage of the off-peak yacht charter rates and cruisers on the way to winter berths. Ashore the beach umbrellas and deck chairs are stacked away, many tavernas and shops have closed their shutters until next year and the still open ones are largely deserted. During this time we have some fine weather but also more rain and thunderstorms leading us to decide that next year we'll have a shorter season and return home around mid-October.
After anchoring for the last time we let out most of our chain and during retrieval wash the salt off with fresh water to reduce corrosion during winter storage. Pulling into the marina for winter on Sunday 23rd October gives us nine days before leaving for Athens - ample time to complete wintering procedures and a few remaining jobs. I say this every year – it's great and very satisfying to return after living aboard for seven months and cruising over 2,000 miles with no accidents, injuries or more than minor technical issues.
We berth alongside Coco, a 52ft sailing yacht owned by a Scots couple, George and Anne, and hardly finish connecting water and shore power before they invite us aboard for a drink. They're sprightly mid-70s who've visited NZ and we Scotland, so we find plenty in common resulting in several great evenings together during our short time in the marina.
That night I break a tooth munching on an olive. Although it's not sore I decide to get it seen to in case of any problems occurring on the long journey home. The marina office recommends a dentist who sees me just an hour after my call. She's highly qualified being a Doctor of Dentistry (dentists generally have a Bachelor degree) with a spotless surgery who charges just 50 Euros (about NZ$77) for a filling that takes about half an hour. At home the charge would be more like $300 - we've been well pleased by the high standard and low cost of medical treatment in Greece.
The marina costs 2,764 Euros (about NZ$4,252) being about $22 per day. Many cruisers go on the hard stand at nearby and cheaper Preveza, but we prefer the whole infrastructure, convenience and atmosphere of Lefkas.
Next post will discuss year-end maintenance issues.
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