Saturday night is pizza night with a nice bottle of red.

This week I decided to make my own rather than go into Samos town or Mytilinii for a carry out one.

1. Couldn’t get the bloody carton open …….. then …..

2. It explodes and this alien starts escaping.

3. The final result didn’t look quite right but it tasted OK anyway.

Note Ghostbuster theme on left piece. LOL

Sent pictures to Louise & Clara to amuse them mid voyage, hence the reason I still have them on my phone for the blog.

Managed to open the wine though without any mishaps, years of experience showing through !

We have Dutch friends Piet & Clara who have been based in Samos Marina for a number of years. We have bumped into them on a few occasions during past sailing seasons, the last being a lovely time we spent in a favourite wee taverna of ours up in Loutra village on Lesvos.

Loutra Village August 2023

Very sadly at the end of last season Piet died. He had bravely tried to remain strong & well enough to get the boat & Clara back to their berth in Samos where she & the boat would have some security. It was not to be and in the end they had to leave the boat in Evia.

Piet & Clara returned to the Netherlands to be with his family. He had just became too weak.

We had offered our help to bring the boat back to Samos the following year.

In the end it was Louise who did the delivery trip along with Clara.

Girl power !

Friday 7^th March 2025

Louise flew to Athens and was picked up by Clara who had rented a car to take them back to Kimis n Evia.

The trip through Evia I’m told was lovely and Clara took the scenic route during which they stopped off for a few photo shoots.

It is beautiful, almost Alpine.

The delivery crew.

Interior of Evia Island.

They had to wait for a decent weather window to get away but in the interim Clara got the hull clean & checked the prop.

Kimis Harbour, Evia.

Cleaning the hull.

A few filling meals on the boat & ashore before departure.

Klara even managed to find a Union Jack to welcome Louise.

What no Saltire ?   Hmmmph!

It is a fair distance from Evia to Samos and at this time of year can be very unpredictable, not least having to wait for relatively calm weather to be even able to get off the quay! This delay meant that their planned departure and therefore arrival at Samos Marina would be also be delayed now not until after dark about 01:00 in the morning.

The overall passage of 150nm+ and over 30 hours passage planned.

Start ……….

and finish.

Finally we are off !

Sunset and the watches begin.

A friendly visitor the next morning.

Samos way off in the distance.

Tuesday 11th March 2025

It was a cold delivery but with 4 hour watches and having completed 155 NM & 31 hours at sea they berthed at the fuel dock to be welcomed by me and some fizzy plonk.

Well done indeed !

As told in the final post of last year’s blog, I spent nigh on two months in the boutique hotel East Kilbride.

The corollary of which was that on my return to Samos the normal fit out & maintenance on the boat had now to be squeezed into less time and, into the bargain, an insurance condition survey was booked for 23rd March.

There was a fair bit of work to be completed before that.

I did have some help, at least in the short term, before  the  “Delivery Skipper ” was off on a mission to Evia ………….

bilges cleaned & painted

new thru hull

checking keel bolts in good nick

painting gas locker 

installed ” better”  Volvo Penta shaft seal

installed new deck clutch

All the above plus the normal annual maintenance –  far too much to bore the blog with.

In the end however Camira was ready for her survey on the 23rd March.

final preparation – polished & antifouled

Kalliopi , a highly qualified naval architect and engineer, came from Leros with her husband Manolis (who helped with the electrical part)  to carry out the survey.

Camira passed with only the couple of expected issues, namely:

Our windows are desperately in need of replacing but as this was a cosmetic issue no formal recommendations included in the survey. She did suggest we might consider having our rigging inspected as it is now over 10 years old.

Overall she loved the boat & praised it’s condition which she attributed to me  being noikokýris – a good housekeeper.

They were a lovely couple, and Kalliopi insisted we call her to meet up if we got to Leros during the summer. We will be sure to do that.

So we are now ready to go back in the water and set sail in April for this season’s adventures.

Perhaps our last in beautiful Greece ?