THE LIVE-ABOARD CRUISING LIFE PART 3

Envoy is berthed in Greece's Lefkas Marina and we're home in Auckland. Circumstances prevent us returning to cruise in the Med this year.

This is the third part of an article we wrote published in Australasia's Pacific PassageMaker magazine about starting the live-aboard cruising life.

From the last two articles you understand life's time clock is ticking so do it now rather than later.

Also that most potential cruisers face some fears and how to overcome them as well as dealing with some of the practical issues that need to be considered.

BUYING YOUR LIVE-ABOARD VESSEL

The new and pre-owned boat market still favours buyers and there is ample choice available.

Most types of boat are suited to cruising the Med - we even met one German couple living on a six metre outboard-powered trailer boat which had cruised all the way from Germany down the Rhine and Danube rivers to the Black Sea and Turkey, then through the Dardanelles, across the Aegean Sea and through the Gulf of Corinth to Greece's Ionian Sea. 

Happy guitar playing skipper with his six metre live-aboard


However the majority of live-aboards are found on sailing yachts or catamarans, mostly up to about 14 metres. 

Generally the ideal vessel is the smallest one that will suit all of your needs. The larger vessel you have the greater will be the capital costs, the repairs and maintenance, fuel, insurance, berthage etc. In addition larger vessels are more restricted when it comes to what anchorages and harbours they can enter. From our observations many vessels over about 55 ft have some full time crew and in fact we see many boats well under that size professionally skippered and/or crewed.

 Bigger isn't necessarily better - this vessel uses about 700 litres/hr of diesel compared with Envoy's 8 litres/hr
 
 

We opted to buy a heavy displacement monohulled passagemaker to provide future options for long-range cruising and after visiting Nordhavn in Dana Point decided on a 46, which in our view still has the best sleek and classic lines without the slightly “top-heavy” appearance of some subsequent models.

The N46 has sleek classic lines
 

But everybody's tastes are different so do your own research by reading, visiting cruisers' blogs, checking out different boats and talking with live-aboard cruisers.

Consider the location of vessels for sale relative to your intended cruising area. We wanted to use our boat in the Med so primarily looked at vessels located in Europe, in 2006 buying Envoy which had participated in the Atlantic Rally and was then located in Ostia, Italy.

Allied to the location issue is the complex one of port of registry, particularly if local taxes haven't been paid. Envoy was USA registered with EU VAT unpaid and we changed her to New Zealand registered so she can remain in EU waters up to 18 months at a time without paying VAT. Before 18 months expires it's only necessary to leave EU waters for a few days (the actual period is not defined) to re-set the 18 month clock, which can be extended by placing your vessel in Customs bond while wintering over. However specialist advice should be obtained for each set of circumstances ensuring the vessel is unencumbered and that correct documentary procedures are followed to minimise liabilities.

Familiarise yourself with other relevant regulations such as the Schengen Treaty which currently limits visits by New Zealand passport holders to three months in each treaty member country and most other non EU passport holders to three months total in all member countries (most EU countries are members). Of course if you hold an EU passport you won't face this time restriction.

Turkey, Croatia and Albania require cruisers to use agents for clearing-in and out. Even where this is not required it’s a good idea to use agents as they have useful contacts and may be able to offer advice on extending your stay and minimising your obligations.

Spend some time with the boat’s previous owner to gain detailed knowledge of its operation, systems, maintenance and spare parts requirements. 

 

Should I buy new or pre-owned?
Some owners prefer taking delivery of a brand new vessel for the pleasure of specifying a vessel suited exactly to their requirements; having a choice of engineering, layout, equipment brands and furnishings; having a manufacturer’s warranty and benefiting from lower maintenance costs.
However people purchasing new in expectation of having no problems are often disappointed as many new boats seem to need quite a few miles cruising and some months to resolve initial teething issues. How well such issues are eventually resolved depends on the commitment of the manufacturer and to some extent how far you are away from their home base.
Other buyers prefer to purchase a pre-owned vessel for the benefits of immediate availability (there is generally a wait for new vessels), lower investment cost, lower initial depreciation cost and the fact that she's tried and tested with more equipment, spare parts, tools, chandlery, bedding, galley utensils etc included in the price.

Should I buy direct or use a broker?
The majority of pre-owned boats are listed with brokers. An experienced broker can provide valuable assistance in finding the ideal boat for your circumstances and negotiating a deal with the seller. The seller pays the broker’s commission so there's no disadvantage for the buyer.
If you are not using a reputable broker be very cautious about paying money without robust safeguards in place as buyers have been known to transfer significant sums to scammers posing as vendors.

In a week we'll publish the last part of this article dealing with equipment desirable for cruising.

THE LIVE-ABOARD CRUISING LIFE – PART 2

Envoy is berthed in Greece's Lefkas Marina and we're home in Auckland. Unfortunately circumstances prevent us returning to cruise in the Med this year.

This is the second part of an article we wrote published in Australasia's Pacific PassageMaker magazine about starting the live-aboard cruising life.

PRACTICAL ISSUES TO CONSIDER FOR THE LIVE-ABOARD LIFE

OK from Part 1 we realise life's time clock is ticking and we've faced the common fears. 

Once we decide to live the cruising life there are numerous practical issues to consider mostly falling somewhere into these categories:

Envoy anchored in Vathi, Astypaelia

How long will you be away each year – the vast majority of cruisers (power and sail) see little point in sitting out the whole of their cruising region's winter in a marina, particularly after doing it once, so they mostly return home to see their families and friends. An exception to this is that many European cruisers prefer the kinder winter weather in a location like the Med to that in their own country.

It's great fun to be in a harbour or marina but we choose not to spend the whole winter there

How many years will you cruise for – the short answer is as long as you are enjoying it and health, funds and other circumstances permit. About five years would be typical and we've rarely met cruisers who’ve lived aboard for more than ten.

Dependent family – most of the cruising community are in the age group mid-50s to mid-70s without school-age children and cruisers living aboard with children are rare. When we started cruising we each had an elderly parent who accepted we were living our lives to the full, appreciated our weekly phone call and enjoyed our home visits.

Family and Friends – of course you miss your family and close friends, but some may be able to visit you and share in your cruising experience. Otherwise being able to see them for at least one period of a few months during the year keeps these relationships intact.

Your family and friends can visit to share your adventures

Work – most cruisers we meet are semi or completely retired. Some do consulting work remotely or are able to find some casual work if they choose to. A fewer number of younger cruisers take time out from the work force intending to rejoin it later.

Your home – some cruisers elect to sell their house to provide funds for cruising while most others rent it out, get house sitters or leave it vacant.

Compatibility and confidence – some people may speculate you won’t get on well together as a couple spending so much time in the confines of a boat. Only you will know if this is correct or not and we probably all know people where this lifestyle would be doomed to failure. Allied to this issue is one partner having a lack of confidence in the other’s ability. If you're passionate you're half way there and your confidence will grow through sharing experiences together.

Health – a reasonable but not perfect standard of general health and fitness is required for the live-aboard life reinforcing the case for starting the cruising life sooner than later. Travel insurance is essential as medical treatment can be extremely expensive overseas.

Pets – Overseas regulations concerning transportation and quarantine of pets are less strict than in New Zealand or Australia and some cruisers take their pets along. Similarly there are fewer restrictions on pets on beaches and in restaurants and cafes. Diane and I always had a dog or cat at home and loved them dearly, but prefer to avoid the hassles of having a pet aboard a boat.

Comfort aboard – this will of course vary by vessel. When yachtsmen come aboard Envoy they are amazed at the living space available compared to sailing vessels of the same length. We don’t get wet, cold or wind-blown and with our stabilisers Envoy’s motion is rarely lively enough to spill a coffee.

Comfort isn't an issue aboard a well-found cruising boat - Envoy's dinette and galley viewed from astern

Capital and living costs – the size, age and condition of your vessel determines its capital cost. Remember that bigger isn’t always better as larger vessels have dearer insurance, berthage and maintenance costs and can't get into some of the smaller anchorages and harbours. Living costs such as food, beverages, household supplies and personal spending are about the same for us while cruising as when at home. Maintenance is dearer due to the higher cost of parts and greater distances travelled. There is also the cost of travel to and from our boat and additional fuel for the longer distances cruised. Casual marina prices are high in the Med so the best option is to anchor wherever possible, which is always free. Excluding living costs repairs and maintenance have been our largest cost averaging about six per cent of Envoy’s estimated value each year. Diane and I look at this not as “cost” but “investment in fun”.

Read PART 3 in about a week.

STARTING THE LIVE-ABOARD CRUISING LIFE - PART 1

Envoy is berthed in Greece's Lefkas Marina and we're home in Auckland. 
Unfortunately circumstances prevent us returning to cruise in the Med this year.

We recently wrote an article published in Pacific PassageMaker magazine about starting the live-aboard cruising life. Over the next few weeks we'll be psting this article to our Blog in several parts.

PART 1: THE LIVE-ABOARD CRUISING LIFE - HOW MANY GOOD SUMMERS DO YOU HAVE LEFT?

The live-aboard life isn’t for everyone; there are many competent, dedicated weekend cruisers who wouldn't want to spend more time at sea than ashore. But for those who have the live-aboard passion there is generally nothing to stop you. 

As famed cruiser and circumnavigator Scott Flanders advises, “tick…tick…tick… the clock is ticking, get the picture … do it now!” 

Regardless of whatever your future dream life happens to be if you can’t literally do it now, at least make a plan now and work towards achieving it.

Plan your dreams now - Envoy moored by Bodrum's castle, Turkey

When I turned 50 I expected to have about 20 good summers left, meaning that barring major illnesses or accidents I expected to enjoy our cruising passion until I was about 70 years old. 

Now I’m nearly 68 and believe most people could enjoy live-aboard cruising into their mid-70s.
The main issue which could prevent this is health. Whatever the upper age limit may be one thing’s for sure – you certainly don’t meet many cruisers in their 80s.

Here's a little exercise to help you visualise how many good summers you have left. Take a tape measure showing inches and stretch it out. Note where 75 inches is representing age 75 and where your age is (e.g. age 60 would be 60 inches). The sobering message is the huge length of tape up to 60 inches represents your life up to now and the short length of tape from your age to 75 (or thereabouts) represents the time you have left to do relatively demanding things like live-aboard cruising.

We had cruised extensively during weekends and holidays and dreamed of enjoying great destinations until we tired of them rather than meeting timetables. We had adult children living overseas, no health issues and wanted to cruise while circumstances permitted. Experience wasn't an issue and we'd always worked well as a team on four power boats we’d owned during 30 years to that time.

After two years' planning we bought our Nordhavn 46 Passagemaker, Envoy, in 2006 and I took a year's leave of absence from work so we could live-aboard during 2007. Then I went back to work leaving Envoy in a Turkish marina for two years before retiring in early 2010 at age 59.

Envoy on the hard stand at Maramaris, Turkey

 

By the time I reached the “traditional” retirement age of 65 we'd enjoyed six years of the live-aboard life and now we've had eight cruising in exotic places like Greece, Turkey, Italy, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro as well as hundreds of surrounding islands.

Something you wouldn't see while boating in New Zealand

The live-aboard life doesn't have to involve crossing oceans and we’ve cruised over 16,000 miles in the Med rarely being over 40 miles from the nearest land. There are thousands of people living aboard all manner of boats in various parts of the world enjoying adventurous coastal cruising. While it’s a great feeling to have a boat that is ocean-capable a large number of cruisers elect to ship even these vessels aboard purpose-built freighters rather than traverse the oceans on their own hulls and the two options are considered to be similar in cost.

THE MAJOR FEARS

Scott Flanders wrote an excellent article in 2011 outlining potential cruisers’ common concerns and some solutions. This is equally valid today.

Experience levels – everyone starts somewhere so take small steps first and learn from your mistakes. Coastguard and the Royal Yachting Association run excellent courses to gain practical and theoretical skills and as most countries require some evidence of proficiency when clearing-in it’s a good idea to gain some certifications.

Mechanical ability – it isn’t the big things that fail and you will learn to deal with handling the smaller problems. Most countries have competent mechanical assistance available. Carry a comprehensive range of tools, spare parts, equipment manuals and chandlery aboard.

Most technical issues can be easily resolved - in Marmaris we had the stabiliser through-hull seals replaced

Handling rough seas – becomes easier with practice and although this is a concern for many one study reports 80 per cent of the time wave heights are less than 3.7m explaining how many cruisers travel thousands of ocean miles over many years rarely if ever encountering dangerous seas. 
 
Navigation – is not difficult with today’s electronic equipment. Sextants are long gone and this is an area where courses will greatly assist.
 
Seasickness – many cruisers start off getting seasick but wean themselves out of it and medications can assist.

Weather and tides – there is ample reliable information for coastal cruising while offshore cruisers often pay for professional forecasting. The internet hugely improves forecast availability. There is negligible tide in the Med.

Manoeuvring and docking – practice makes perfect, but don’t worry about minor scratches on your gelcoat - they won't ruin a great experience. A bow thruster will greatly assist docking.

Another concern is piracy off the north-east coast of Africa making it dangerous to traverse these waters. Circumnavigators who include the Med in their route mostly ship their boats across the Indian Ocean. Piracy is not a major issue in other waters and the website www.noonsite.com provides regular updates.

Read PART 2 in about a week.

GREECE - ARGUABLY THE WORLD'S GREATEST CRUISING AREA

Envoy is berthed in Lefkas Marina for the winter while we're home in Auckland enjoying the exceptionally hot southern hemisphere summer. 

Our future cruising plans aren't clear at this point and we'll have a better idea shortly.

This is an edited version of our article recently published in Pacific PowerBoat magazine.

The north-east coast of New Zealand's North Island's offers incredible cruising, particularly within its prime area ranging from Whitianga in the south to Whangaroa in the north, a distance of around 250 miles following the coast with about 50 offshore islands suitable for overnight anchoring along the way, a handful of which are virtually all-weather. Imagine an area many times this size with hundreds of offshore islands offering not only spectacular safe anchorages, but interesting atmospheric villages, welcoming rustic tavernas and historic ruins dating back thousands of years.

This is Greece, offering incredible cruising particularly from April through October with mostly stable warm weather, spectacular natural scenery, clean waters, areas of great historical interest, friendly and honest people, a high level of personal safety and reasonable costs. What about their economic crisis and the refugees? Well for the visitor there's little sign of any crisis and we've not yet seen a single refugee as they're mainly confined to a few islands close to Turkey.

Envoy moored stern-to in Rhodes harbour

Although thousands of boats cruise Greece during summer the area is so vast that even the popular anchorages are no more crowded than Auckland's Kawau or Waiheke islands during holiday weekends.

You don't need to own a boat to cruise here as there are many charter boats offered to high standards at reasonable costs. Depending on your experience level you can charter skippered or bareboat and cruise independently or as part of a flotilla. This is a great way to check out whether Med cruising is for you.

Envoy anchored off Spinalonga

 July and August are hot by our standards often reaching mid 30s, although the humidity is low and the sun doesn't have New Zealand's high U/V level so it doesn't seem uncomfortable. Although Envoy has air conditioning we never find conditions warrant using it, in any case preferring fresh air flowing through open windows and portholes.

It's easy to leave your boat in a marina and travel around Greece for sightseeing using high quality and regular coaches and ferries as well as rental cars (foreign licenses accepted). Motorways connect most of the major cities, but rural roads can be pretty basic. Many people speak passable English, particularly younger ones and most people are very polite and helpful.

Supplies are readily available with most prices cheap by our standards at supermarkets, markets and smaller shops while fuel and water are widely available dockside. Interestingly fuel pumps are not common and fuel is often delivered in small road tankers.

The main convenient international airports are Athens, Corfu and Iraklion, although there are others.

Greece is a natural gateway to other destinations as it's relatively easy to cruise north-east to Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, west to Italy and east to Turkey.

It's not unusual to encounter wandering stock on rural roads

Greece can be broadly divided into the four main regions mentioned below:

1 Mainland including Peloponnisos

Athens can be accessed from the port of Piraeus. A guided walking tour will show you most sights with the Parthenon atop the Acropolis and its adjacent museum of particular interest.

From the port of Itea in the Gulf of Corinth you can visit Delphi's many spectacular ruins, where in ancient times wealthy people paid a fortune to have the oracle interpreted, supposedly predicting their future.

Cruising around the Peloponnisos coast is a great experience visiting historic towns such as (west to east) Pilos, Methoni, Koroni, Kalamata, Yithion, the island of Kithera and Monemvasia.

2 Western side – Ionian Sea islands

Preveza on the mainland is a great place to rent a car to visit Meteora with its amazing ancient monasteries perched atop originally impregnable rock formations and accessed using rope ladders. Nearby Mystras has a great castle set upon a craggy hilltop. On the way you will pass through Ioannina, an historic Turkish town with an impressive lakeside castle

Anchor off the village of Parga with its narrow cobbled lanes, great waterfront and castle. Slightly further north is Mourtos with several spectacular anchorages set among several uninhabited islands.

Further north is the island of Corfu with its historic city, castles and spectacular seaside villages such as Ormos Agni, Ormos Kalami, Kassiopi and Palaiokastrita.

Just south of Corfu the island of Paxoi has great anchorages at Lakka, Longos and Gaios.

3 Eastern side – Aegean Sea islands

By far the most famous island is Santorini. Yes it's a bit crowded, but the Caldera is unforgettable.

There are many other stunning islands contained within the Northern and Eastern Sporades, the Cyclades and Dodecanese. Watch for the Meltemi – the strong north-westerly which often blows in the afternoon and can last several days.

4 Crete

You could easily cruise a few weeks here with plenty to see. Of particular interest from east to west are Ayios Nikolaos, Rethimno, Khania, Soudha Bay (visit the New Zealand war cemetery) and stunning Gramvousa Island with its spectacular hilltop castle.

NZ war cemetery at Soudha Bay

Envoy anchored off Dia Island

Because a place isn't mentioned in this article doesn't mean it's not great – there are just too many to mention! The only negatives to cruising in Greece are that the fishing is lousy (locals mostly fish using nets) and scuba diving is mostly not allowed except as part of a guided dive group (to prevent theft of artifacts).

Very shortly we'll post an article about preparing yourselves for the live-aboard cruising life.

MOORING STERN-TO SHORE

Envoy is in Lefkas Marina for the winter while we are in Auckland enjoying summer.

Many aspects of cruising in the Med are completely different to those found in New Zealand and one major difference is how cruisers secure themselves over-night.

Most cruising boats in New Zealand waters are privately owned and the vast majority of their skippers prefer to swing to their anchors overnight and experience the tranquility of eating aboard. But this is the least common preference for boats cruising in the Med, where there are many chartered boats, mostly bareboat sailing yachts. It's mainly Europeans who charter here, typically for one to two weeks duration and mostly having several people aboard making meal preparation aboard more challenging. In any case they mostly don't want to spend their limited vacation time preparing meals, but savoring the atmosphere of the many tavernas ashore.

Add to this that some charter boats aren't equipped with ground tackle suitable for the occasional strong winds and that many don't have experienced skippers aboard and the result is there's often a reluctance to anchor. Instead many crews prefer to overnight in marinas (an expensive option), or moor stern-to a village quayside or a taverna's jetty (the latter two options being mostly free of charge).

In areas where the above options aren't available most boats moor stern-to shore, that is they deploy their anchor, reverse close to shore and secure stern lines to rocks, trees or embedded steel rings which are sometimes provided so that yachts can secure their lines safely and without damaging trees.

One advantage of this system is that small to medium sized bays can accommodate larger numbers of boats moored stern-to shore than free-anchored. Another is that small boats moving at speed in the mooring area (which is common in the Med) can only pass by off your bow. Also some bays are very deep for anchoring but shelve up to the shore making stern-to mooring a better option, especially because there's very little tide to be a concern.

But I want to highlight several major disadvantages we've observed with this system.

- It takes considerably more time to deploy and retrieve your anchor and stern lines than just to deploy and retrieve your anchor.

- At least one and sometimes two crew members need to go ashore to secure and free your stern lines and moving on can be tricky at night and/or in deteriorating conditions.

- Lines can become fouled in running gear during deployment and retrieval.

- It's possible to damage your rudder, running gear or keel when reversing into shallow water.

- Rodents and other vermin can come aboard using your stern lines, although the use of rat shields on lines will reduce this.

- Other boats will often moor stern-to very close-by, even alongside and this reduces your privacy.

- While mooring stern-to is generally secure with winds over the bow or stern, problems can occur if strong beam winds develop with the added windage causing anchors to drag or stern lines to break. If strong beam winds do cause problems it's a good idea to deploy a strong line to from roughly amidships at the greatest angle possible to a securing point ashore. If you are anchored stern-to and your boat starts dragging sideways the best course of action may be to release your stern lines and swing to your anchor. This could at least be a temporary measure while other options are considered. Strong beam winds are a lesser problem mooring stern-to quaysides where boats are packed tightly together.

You can spend a few entertaining late afternoon hours observing cruisers trying to moor stern-to shore; dropping their anchors too far from shore and running out of chain before they can deploy their lines, dropping their anchors too close to shore and dragging their anchors, unable to reverse into a space during a strong beam wind or fouling other moored boats' ground tackle.

Another common mistake is that crews moor stern-to with their anchor chain and stern lines completely taut allowing no movement and placing additional strain on all parts of the system.

Recently we saw a yacht's crew making several attempts to deploy their stern lines, finally securing them to trees. Shortly afterwards a moderate breeze sprang up and the yacht's weight pulled one tree out by its roots amid a minor landslide of rocks and dirt.

In a strong wind it's generally much safer to simply free anchor so that your boat swings its bow into the wind resulting in the least windage.

ENVOY IN GREECE'S LEFKAS MARINA

Envoy is now in Lefkas Marina for the winter and we're home in Auckland for the southern hemisphere summer.

Technical

Apart from the ongoing water maker saga I'm pleased to say we haven't had any technical issues for some time now except for routine checks and maintenance.

I checked all our internal water strainers. These trainers filter out debris from water before it passes through a pump, catching it in a stainless steel basket that can be easily cleaned out, rather than clogging the vanes of a pump that can't be so easily cleaned. Some filter sea water, such as for the generator or Yanmar wing engine while others filter fresh water, such as for showers.

I'd left this shower pump water strainer for too long, but once cleaned was fine again

I've heard that our damaged Freedom combination inverter/charger is beyond repair. 
This was damaged early in the season when I wrongly attempted to start the main engine while the generator was running and powering the battery charger while the start battery bank's voltage was too low. It's not a major issue for us as we've already replaced the inverter with a spare equally powerful Xantrex unit we had aboard. The Xantrex is only an inverter not a combination charger so charging when running the generator is now done using our Charles 60 amp charger. The Freedom charger was more powerful at 150 amps and for the future we have the option of the status quo, installing an additional new charger or installing a new inverter/charger, leaving the Xantrex as a spare once again. I'll consider this during winter.

View of marina from Envoy's top deck - we have a great position

Envoy has a dry exhaust system - that is a vertical exhaust from the engine room with a muffler installed above the upper deck level. Although the section of exhaust located in the engine room was checked in 2012 when some new parts were installed and the heat insulation was replaced, the muffler hasn't been properly checked at all during the time we've owned Envoy. All I've done during this time is occasionally measure the temperature of the muffler using an infra red pyrometer to see if there are any particularly hot spots – which would indicate some thinning of the muffler's metal. 
So that's at least eleven years and we thought it was time for a check. When the Sailand engineers arrived they suggested we check the whole exhaust system downstream from the exhaust manifold, since this is supposed to be checked every five years.

I felt a bit sorry for the technician designated to remove the old insulation as it's quite a messy job and fibres from the insulation cause some itching. To remove the complete system was a job that took three mechanics about four hours and I really was wondering whether this was all necessary (apart from checking the muffler). However they did find an area at the bottom of the vertical exhaust pipe where exhaust gases appear to have been escaping – evidenced by black soot stains on the heat insulation's exterior. The current situation is that the various components – the adapter from the exhaust elbow to the expansion joint, the expansion joint itself, the horizontal engine room exhaust, the vertical exhaust, the muffler and the final exhaust pipe have all been taken away for cleaning and inspection.

Here the muffler covered with heat insulation sits in its housing on the top deck

Mechanics pull out the vertical section of the exhaust

The main exhaust atop mechanic's van

Close-up shows the white insulation discoloured by leaking soot

This year we have only a short list of jobs getting done during winter:

-Resealing two Lewmar hatches into their aluminium frames. These were repaired at the end of last year but the sealant has failed again.

-Servicing the sea water pumps on the generator and Yanmar and replacing their vee-belts.

-Replacing a leaking galley faucet

Blog's next positing will deal with the subject of mooring stern-to-shore

ENVOY CRUISING WITH GRAHAM AND CHERRY

Envoy is now in Lefkas Marina for the winter and we're home in Auckland for the southern hemisphere summer.

I forgot to mention that just before Amy left us our bow thruster's 24 volt electric motor was repaired and re-installed. Its sudden stop (caused by a line fouling its prop at Lefkas Marina) caused damage to the bases of the brushes and these have been replaced. We only use our bow thruster when berthing in a marina or harbour so not having it for a few weeks wasn't a problem.

During late September after clearing-in back to Greece from Albania we spend a few days cruising

around northern Corfu awaiting news of our water maker. It's too late to make much difference for this season but we'd like to have it for next. Actually we haven't had any problems at all getting plenty of fresh water ashore, but the water maker is a nice-to-have.

Envoy alongside wharf at Saranda, Albania

When the wind increased at Saranda a large ferry started to drag its anchor towards Envoy. Fortunately some crew were on hand to resolve this.

View of Saranda's waterfront

Agri is a stunning anchorage in settled conditions

This house has been constructed using rocks obtained during excavation of the building site

These guys are shaping the rocks into blocks

We get an interesting weather forecast; SE winds Force 4 to 5 soon becoming cyclonic with thunderstorms. With the storm at Sivota still in our minds we cruise just a few miles to the northern side of Corfu to anchor in Ormos Galiaies – a protected south-facing bay. 

Although we prepare for the worst we thankfully only get winds up to about 25 knots and no thunderstorms. The problem with thunderstorms here being they are usually accompanied by violent squalls and major wind direction shifts.

A few days later a water maker technician, Esideras, from Athens comes aboard at Gouvia Marina to check our system. Angelos, the local technician, thinks our problem is caused by a reduced flow of input seawater but Esideras runs some tests and concludes the fault lies with the high pressure pump. This is despite the fact he's already had the pump in Athens for testing, but again he takes the pump plus the membrane in its casing for further tests.

Engineer working on our water maker. The pump and membrane are on deck

Envoy alongside in Gouvia Marina for water maker work

In the marina we see a trailer boat on the hardstand with four huge outboards, all with their props badly damaged after presumably running aground. As Di took the photo below a Coastguard officer rushed up gesticulating no photos – but too late.

Laurie by boat with four huge Yamaha outboards

Closer inspection shows four badly damaged propellers and bottoms of outboards

In late September long time Kiwi friends Graham and Cherry Poole arrive for a week with us – their first visit to Greece and to Envoy. We meet them at the beautiful anchorage of Mourtos and during the transfer of their luggage to Envoy one of Cherry's bags gets left behind in a taverna. No problem though, the taverna's manager finds it and we collect it the next day.

Being an engineer, ex Navy Reserve Chief Petty Officer and ex Coastguard Skipper Graham is excellent crew as well as being a very keen and experienced fisherman (as is soon confirmed).

Graham and Cherry only have seven nights with us and we cruise across to Lakka Bay on the island of Paxxos, down to Logos, across to Parga on the mainland and down to Preveza. All places we've been to and know they'll enjoy.

Parga is a great place to fill our water tanks from ashore using our jerricans. Many charter yacht flotillas overnight here and have an interesting way of mooring – the small harbour has deep water right up to a calm sandy beach so the yachts put out a stern anchor, run their bows ashore and put their bow anchors on dry land.

While cruising from Parga to Preveza we tow two lures and land four tuna. Graham does an excellent filleting job and we dine on sashimi for the first time in ages.

Graham with freshly caught small tuna

Then we cruise through the Lefkas Canal to anchor off Lefkas where Graham and Cherry leave us.

On our last night at anchor we see these charter yachts moor forming a circle so that their cockpits are in the centre

Two days later we're in Lefkas marina for the winter.

It's been an unusual cruising year having lost two months repairing the fire damage.

We cruised 926 miles, less than half our usual annual distance, logging 181 engine hours and having no injuries or major incidents apart from the fire damage on the day we arrived. Two technical issues we encountered were mostly our own fault – that is the inverter failure and bow thruster issue and these are resolved while the water maker problem will hopefully be resolved on our return next year.

Our agent A1 Yachting puts Envoy in Customs bond for the winter to maximise the time she can remain in EU waters with VAT unpaid.

A few days later we dine at one of our favourite local restaurants enjoying some fresh tuna where the friendly chef shows a photo of the tuna we're eating. Caught off nearby Megani. Island and weighing an impressive 180 kg, he says tuna of this size are still caught regularly.

Next posting shortly about technical matters being attended to in the marina,

GREECE AND TURKEY'S WAR OF WORDS

Envoy is now in Lefkas Marina for the winter and we're home in Auckland for the southern hemisphere summer.

Turkey and Greece have fought each other for centuries and during the period of 400 hundred years or so when Turkey occupied large parts of Greece they ruthlessly suppressed any resistance. 

Cyprus is still divided into the southern Greek section and northern Turkish section and Greek ownership of some Aegean Islands close to the Turkish coast is being disputed by Turkey. 

A more recent contentious issue is that Greece provided political asylum to some fleeing Turkish general after the attempted coup.

Currently there is a decline in western tourists going to Turkey because of perceived security threats. Because less charter boat customers are now going to Turkey, some Turkish charter boats, known as gulets have been chartering in Greece. Recently Greek coastguard have been investigating Turkish charter yachts visiting Greek islands without completing official procedures to operate there and Turkey has retaliated by banning all Greek commercial vessels from its waters.

Now they are having a battle of words on Navtex, which is a system where coast radio stations can transmit weather and safety information by text to vessels equipped with Navtex receivers.

This is a recent Turkish text:

"On 3 July 2017 a Turkish flagged merchant vessel was fired upon by a Greek coastguard boat. Turkish flagged vessels sailing in the Aegean are requested to be vigilant against such incidents with respect to safety of life and safety on navigation and should there be a need they are urged to swiftly inform the Turkish coastguard and Turkish navy."

This is the Greek response

"Aegean Sea has always been safe and secure for seafarers. Turkey has repeatedly exploited the Navtex warning system to promote her revisionist national agenda regarding the status of the Aegean to the detriment of safety of mariners. The Hellenic authorities denounce such practices and underline that the Hellenic coastguard stands ready to protect the life at sea, safeguard the freedom of navigation along with the interests of the international shipping community and enforce the rule of law at sea."

Let's hope the situation remains a war of words.

Our next post will cover the last few weeks of our time cruising.

ENVOY HIT BY YACHT DRAGGING ANCHOR DURING STORM

Envoy is now in Lefkas marina for the Greek winter. It's now Friday and next Wednesday we fly home to NZ.

Back to our cruising adventures with Amy.

Amy loves to have dinner by candlelight and we have various candle holders aboard, mostly bought in Turkey.

Early September we're anchored in Sivota with several yachts anchored around us. 
As we return to Envoy from dinner ashore we all comment on how perfectly still the air is and how calm the sea is. Talk about the calm before the storm! 
At 1230 we're all rudely awoken by huge gusts of wind buffeting Envoy, then thunder, lightning and heavy rain. We all immediately get up and reaching the pilothouse see a Belgian aluminium yacht, Grand Chalem, dragging sideways down onto our bow. There is no time to take any evasive action before her starboard side squarely slams into our stretched-out anchor chain, bounces off, then slides bow first down our starboard side before disappearing into the night. 

Other yachts are also dragging their anchors so we put on our deck lights to make ourselves more visible while they maneuver themselves out of trouble. We see gusts over 40 knots, but Envoy doesn't drag and only moves around to the wind shifts – the GPS drift alarm, set for 0.003 miles or about 54 metres doesn't go off. Within about half an hour the storm passes, the boats settle to their anchors and we go back to bed wondering if there is any damage to Envoy's newly painted hull. 

I'm up the next morning at first light checking Envoy's hull from our RHIB, delighted to find no damage except the faintest of minor small paint scratches that's not worth worrying about. 
Grand Chalem's skipper comes over in his RHIB to check and is also relieved there is to damage to either boat, probably because he had fenders on his hull. However he says is wife is somewhat traumatised by the experience and they will spend a few days secured to a pontoon in the harbour until they're ready to venture forth again.

We'd hoped that at least the heavy rain would have given Envoy a good fresh water wash but that wasn't to be either as the rain was laden with red dust, which turns quickly to mud and stains everything unless removed quickly.

Sudden thunder storms are reasonably common here at this time of year and they usually bring squalls and wind shifts so from now on we'll put out fenders at night when anchored close to other boats.

At Meganisi Is this yacht got into trouble trying to reverse to a the quay and ended up broadside to the other moored yachts

Amy and Laurie enjoying late afternoon drinks at Meganisi

After a stopping at Meganisi Island we head back to Lefkas so that Amy can catch a flight back to London.

We had a fantastic time with Amy aboard for 6 weeks, cruising 419 miles, re-visiting some of our favourite places and finding new ones.

We start heading north towards Corfu where we will clear out of Greece, spend a few days in nearby Albania and then come back to Greece. This is partly because we need to take Envoy out of the EU periodically to avoid the need to pay VAT and partly because we need a new Greek Transit Log since our present 18 month one is about to expire.

We spotted this huge open RHIB at Gouvia Marina - about 13m and even has a small RHIB on its stern

On the way we anchor at Preveza, Parga and Mourtos – all of which are now a lot quieter as the season comes to an end.

Envoy anchored at Mourtos

Same anchorage shot from the idyllic beach

An interesting flower bed at Mourtos

A day tripper boat enters a sea cave near Mourtos

When the tour boat leaves we enter the cave

From Corfu we cruise across to Albania. Having already visited Sarande in Albania we only stay a couple of days and on returning to Corfu we refuel for the first (and will be only) time this year taking on 1,300 litres of diesel at Euro 1.41 (approx NZ$ 2.17) per litre. The fuel quay attendant tells me our purchase is relatively small and a motor boat recently took on 200,000 litres, requiring ten tankers each holding 20,000 litres. At the price we paid this would have been Euros 282,000 or about NZ$434,000.

While at Corfu the water maker technician, Angelos, tells us our water maker high pressure pump is ready for installation. It's been checked by the main dealer in Athens who found nothing wrong with it, which doesn't help solve the issue of why the system isn't working properly. After it's installed we test the system and it still doesn't work properly – the output is too low and the salinity too high. Angelos believes there is some restriction in the seawater supply so gets a diver to check the under-hull seawater inlet but that's all clear. The next step is to get a technician from Athens to come and take a look.

ENVOY CRUISES NORTH BACK TO CEPHALONIA

Envoy is now anchored off the Greek mainland at spectacular Mourtos, while the Blog continues at Ormos Keri – the turtle area with our daughter Amy still aboard.

Greece is not a place noted for its health and safety regulations (or indeed for observing any regulations!) and when we land ashore we find the decking of the main jetty has many holes and missing planks. We're surprised as this is the jetty used by tourists to board their hire boats, but never mind – helpful young Greek guys are on hand to help you. When walking along the many makeshift jetties here it's a good idea to place you feet on areas where the thin planks are supported underneath.

With missing planks you need to watch your step

This part is much worse and requires a big stretch

While anchored at Keri a strong offshore wind develops one afternoon. Later we see an inflatable plastic turtle blowing from the beach towards us. We imagine that some poor child is crying over this lost turtle so Amy and I jump in the RHIB, retrieve it and head to shore. As we approach the beach Amy stands up and starts waving the turtle around to find its owners who turn out to be a young Chinese couple. They're delighted to be reunited with their turtle but in less than a heartbeat they lose it again to the strong wind and again we retrieve it for them. I think these are the first oriental people we've seen in months as Greece is very mono-cultural and even among visitors you rarely see a non-European face.

Aboard our RHIB inside a cave at Ormos Keri

Ormos Keri is the furthermost point we'll be from our Lefkada home base and on 2 September we start heading back north to Cephalonia. Again we cruise up Zakyntos's remote west coast and again the swell is rolling in too much to anchor, despite fine weather and a light wind.

We try out our new trolling lures and bingo – catch a fish, but we don't recognise the species and decide not to chance our luck by eating it. Since then we've caught four more fish, but all too small to eat so back to the sea they went.

The coming of September signals a noticeable change in the weather and temperatures drop by a few degrees to mid 20s, there is more cloud around and generally more unstable weather. Usually this change doesn't occur until mid September.

Spectacular ravine at Poros, Cephalonia - in the foreground is a spillway floodwaters

Enjoying drinks in the rustic Pirate's Bar at Poros.

It's interesting how the decking and bar have been built into the rocks

Ruined houses ashore at Kalo Lim viewed from Envoy

Kalo Lim is a great sheltered anchorage

We spend a couple of days anchored at one of our favourite bays – Foki, which is just south of Fiskhardo on Cephalonia Island. Most cruisers here in the Med don't want to anchor and instead moor stern-to the shore and we spend some amusing time watching people trying to do this unsuccessfully. One large British yacht secures a stern line to a tree and a short time later pulls it out by the roots and sends it crashing into the sea amid a minor landslide of rocks and dirt.

This yacht's stern line pulled out the tree it was moored to by its roots

I'm going to write some more shortly about the advantages and pitfalls of mooring stern to shore as opposed to anchoring