Well that time of year has arrived when the serious maintenance has to start. This comprises any “broken bits” needed fixed plus just generally preparing her to go back in the water – cleaning, polishing, antifouling , fitting cushions , sails, bimini, sprayhood stakpak etc etc…..

“broken bits”

Replace exhaust shoulder

Replace windlass

Renew shaft seal, cutlass bearing & anode.

Remove gearbox, replace selector seal, replace drain plug seal.

Replace fuel lift pump

Service starter motor.

ST4000 autohelm service & fit new connectors

Replace anchor chain

Replace bow navigation light & wiring

Install new headlining forward cabin, pole & hatch

Remove and varnish companionway steps, saloon table & floors

Replace new safety netting.

New mattress forward cabin

Mega “Kerching” !!!

And that’s before all the normal stuff

Anyhow all done now but getting more tiring each successive year. We keep saying we won’t do as much next year but we always do !

Louise made a great job of the headlining & varnishing.

Camira does look the better for it and nowhere near her 39 years.

Have taken some pictures in case we want to sell & upsize , lol.

These are just a few of the process before & after.

It being a Saturday you will be up to speed now – this is our nosh up day.

That said I had been let off the leash a bit on Limnos.  Heh heh !

The weather being so warm we decided on a BBQ – in February!!

In Scotland they are suffering minus 13 degrees.

Very simple

Very enjoyable

Perfect

I was due to return to Limnos for a checkup with Dr. Kavalas. Louise would stay on Samos cat sitting.

I had the option of going by ferry or by plane. In the end the easiest was by plane with one night stopover in a small boutique hotel we had seen during the summer.

Having had the check up and all clear in the early evening of my arrival I set off to book in to my hotel, then to my favourite Ouzeri at the harbour followed by a wander to find somewhere to eat. In the end it was a Gyros and back to the hotel. Limnos is a wee bit further north & it was a cold night.

In the morning it was a bit of a Hobbit affair – due to a misunderstanding – I ended up with two breakfasts! lol

followed by ….

My return flight via Lesvos, Xios & finally Samos left late morning which allowed me time for a wander around our usual haunts. Much quiter in winter but equally as beautiful.

The taxi to Limnos airport was by what can only be descibed as an  Elvis affair, interior & exterior gaudy white & gold paint – we had seen it in the summer but never travelled in it.

I managed to leave my iPhone on the transit bus during refueling at Mytilini but the cabin crew were great holding up the plane & recovering it for me.

Pictures below of Lesvos Marina where we spent two winters & Scala Loutra where Lily was rescued:

Lesvos Marina

Kolpos Yeras (Lagoon) &  Skala Loutra  the inlet in the distance on the right before the lagoon entrance proper.

 and Xios Marina and main harbour.

Finally touch down back on Samos at 16:30.

Louise went back to Scotland for just over a week to have an operation on her back and got Covid!  All OK now – she wasn’t too badly affected. Time will tell with the back, though.

I have to admit having paid for a TV license and being able to watch live & catch up UK programmes was great. Especially the rugby this year. The rugby ball key ring Louise brought back – prezzy from Diane for me.

Every night though as soon as I sat down Lily was in pole position to get onto my knee from whence she didn’t budge until bed time – necessitating wine glass refilling by Mrs M – Mmmmmm? – not so good!

Corrina had bought Lily a very posh, soft & comfy indoor hutch with a pillow but Lily preferred the cat food box from Lidl .

Winter time is when we catch up on all our admin. I normally complete the HMRC tax returns and this year we also arranged for Louise to start taking her occupational pension. Not a bad view from my office eh?

The boat is in a yard near Samos Port this year and although no serious maintenance started yet I do have the occasional visit to do small jobs. This is Kleanthis & his brother using the crane to cutting his trees and the view over to Samos town from our boat.

We are now well into the fast 800 for a month and to be honest having seen & felt the benefits it was NOW time for my Christmas & New Year pig out.

Our routine had been to follow the fast 800 during the week & after the Saturday morning weigh in, lol, visit a taverna for lunch.

Not everything was open but enough to offer a choice. It turned out the best was Zen in Samos town but unfortunately this was forced to close for repairs as well. N0000000!

Lunch on Saturdays – Zen again !

For us Xmas & New Year are quiet affairs just spent at “home” with a nice meal and film / box set.

The weather was still fantastic but turning a wee bit chilly in the evenings.

Christmas Day ….. then

Hogmanay Meze in Pythagorio

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife and a trip to Ireon.

Just lounging  in the garden 

Would you believe it’s the 18th December ?

Having moved into “Another Day in Paradise” things quickly settled down to our usual winter routine. Louise would soon have us on the fast 800 – so every opportunity was grabbed by me with both hands for a meal out. The weather was fantastic as you can see from this picture of an early 5^th November visit to Pythagorio and the traditional Ouzeri “Remetzo” for a meze.

The following day saw Louise’s starting her cold water immersion treatment while the pool was still clean enough to dip in.

The cat that Corrina had thought to be Buster in the end wasn’t. He was a bit similar in looks but not in the social graces. He and Lily did not have a great start necessitating a visit to the vet for a scratch on her back and later so have her back end looked at after some kind of attack. It did not bode well for the winter.

The 800 would not kick in properly until all our acquaintances had headed back to their own countries for winter so thankfully still some socialising to be had.

We decided to host a BBQ for Dani & Stella our Swiss friends and Nicolas, who as usual was the cook. Louise as per normal overdid with the food & wine provisioning but a great time was had by all. We did have to decamp back into the conservatory when the wasps took an interest in all the meat.

  BBQ followed by …….

The night time scene after the BBQ with Corrina’s new angels for company.

There followed a number of days out to “Hunters” cafe & the posh “Orizontas” restaurant offering bottles of wine in the 200 & 300 euros and more bracket. We stuck to the more reasonably priced Vakakis – a from nearby local vineyard that we had visited last year.

Hunters cafe on the road to Pyrgos

Orizontas fine dining

And finally a last day out at Aghios Konstatinos, a resort along the north coast the last get together before we all went our separate ways. Meant to be just lunch stretched into beyond sunset!

Monday 24^th October 2022

It’s a longish passage today. We are off early at 07:00 to attempt to arrive in Posidonio, the sheltered bay on the SE coast of Samos where we hope to anchor before nightfall.

I had set the boat up with the whisker pole expecting a downwind sail. In the end I had to dismantle the whisker pole & we raised the mainsail. Again a mixture of sailing and motor sailing but we did arrive in Posidonio exactly 12 hours & 60 miles after leaving Xios.

The plan this year is to take the boat out at Samos town in our friend Kleanthis’ yard. It does however bring some logistical challenges. We need to have relatively calm weather to lift the boat by crane. It’s far easier to off load the boat and the cat at the marina. We also pick up the hire car at the marina and it’s been arranged for tomorrow, Tuesday morning.

So the plan is to head to the marina, pick up the car, offload the boat with shuttle runs to the house. Louise & Lily will stay in the house and I will take the boat back that evening to anchor again in Posidonia before heading around to lift out in Samos Town on the Wednesday morning, clear? lol.

Tuesday 25^th October 2022

We reached the marina just before 09:00 and Angela in the marina office was very kind in not charging us for berthing in the fuel dock  until 15:30 when, all possible transfers completed, I set off back for my last night afloat.

Alone, dusk at anchor in Posidonio

and I see Lily has settled in already – photo sent from Louise

Wednesday 26^th October

The last passage of the season 2022-23

It took me just under three hours to get round to Vathi (Samos town) where Kleanthis & his brother Greg were waiting to lift me out.

Dawn over Turkey – leaving Posidonio

Entering Vathi – lift out will be where the ferry is

  

Safely out & sailing season 2022-23 ends with another 800 miles on her log.

At 07:00 just as it was getting light we set off back down the channel past Nicolas still presumably asleep. No sign of the fisherman.

It was a mixed bag of motor sailing and a lively 2 hours in the Xios channel (between Turkey & Greece). In the latter stages were we had a steady speed of 6 knots under sail.

During this later passage in the channel we were approached by a fast Greek Coastguard rib who took up station beside us matching our speed. All of them dressed in balaclavas and black wetsuits. They were thinking of boarding us I think, but in the end we just spoke on the VHF instead.

“Where are you headed and how many people on board? “.

We were not allowed to take any pictures but exciting all the same. Looking for refugees methinks, the political situation with Turkey being a bit hot after the latter’s coastguard recently depositing 50 refugees on an island in a river marking the border up in the north and removing their clothes to force the Greeks to rescue them!

We arrived at 16:30 after 44 miles and just over 9.5 hours which allowed some “playtime” ashore for Lily that evening. And play she did! …

Gawd knows how she got into these holes? ….I had to manhandle the passarelle between her & the stern bathing platform to get her out. We discovered later she was entering the tunnels from the boat in front of us! Game invented I had to “rescue” her a few more times.

We met up with Pakkis again and had arranged to out for lunch with him and Litsa but circumstances dictated in the end it wasn’t possible. He was currently busy both with workers on his house and also with taking his boat out the water and when he was eventually free we had a weather window for the last longish passage to Samos that we didn’t want to miss. We will see him again next time though.

It also meant that a planned dinner on Nicolas‘ boat was relegated to a “special aperitif” which must’ve taken him just as long if not longer to organise, five or six courses with lovely bottles of French wine. He was going to stay a bit longer in Xios and wait out the forecasted bad weather to come before moving south later in the month.

During our 4 day stay in Xios we visited the town a few times to catch up on laundry and had lunch in the castle courtyard and fish tavernas. Two of our usual haunts.

Castle courtyard blisteringly hot and it’s 21st October but …..

….. Christmas looms !