Thursday 3rd October Kassopi -> Gouvia Marina 18 miles NE 2/3
Awoke to lovely sunny calm day. Helen did a great day at school, while Dad and Jack went to have a coffee, send some emails and buy some Bday presents for Emma. When we came back it was end of school so we all stripped off and jumped in the sea for a swim and cool off. We had chicken sandwiches with the chicken Helen cooked last night. We couldnt bring our selves to crack on back to NOAK ready for the Grandparents Maine who were arriving (tomorow) Friday morning as it was too nice in the bay. we lazed on the decks basking in the sun. Dad peeled off the old "TAO" name from the hull. We eventually felt we should go and as the wind picked up to a 2 (maybe a 3) at 4pm we hoisted full main and the Genoeka and trickled south Goosewinged at about 3- 4 knots in about 5-7 knot winds. The sun beat down, we played games, played the guitar, trimmed sales, and Helen did some email on the the computer. we couldnt bear to turn the engines on untill it really was getting too late. We called in at Gouvia Marina to check the post for Judiths Registered letter (A CMAP CD and the boat registration papers), fill up with water (from the "free" potable water tap), and do a big supermarket shop from the super market we knew well. By the time we got there, it was dusk. The office was closed and it took 20 mins to get the watchman to open up to check the post - It wasnt there. Sophie was left to fill up with water. Dad went to do the big shop - 240 Euroes CC and 480 cash from the ATM. buy the time he got back the kids had eaten (and Helen had) it was 9pm and although NOAK was only 30 mins away we decided to call it a day and stay (reluctantly) in GOuvia. WE put the shopping away, tidied away the water hose and turned in.
Friday 4th Gouvia -> NAOK (Kerkyra) 6 miles (S 1)
Set the alarm at 6am to do a runner from Gouvia (as the office dosnt open until 8am) - we felt we have paid them enough money already! - IT was still dark and on reflection,lying in bed, was too early, so went back to sleep awoke at 7.45 and uped and left. motored all the way. Arrived at NOAK settled in along side in easy conditions. Dad did school while Mum went off for somne last minute Bday shopping. Break time at 10:30 - It was time for the Plane to land. SO Mum took over (and stopped school to get everyone to tidy up, while Dad unloaded the Moped and shot off to the airport with the handheld VHF to meet G+G Maine. evrything went smoothly and they followed the moped back to the boat for lunch of salami and CHeese (again). G+G and Dad on moped went to check out the Villa in Pelekas. It turned out to be a last-minute.com bargin. a 4 bedroom villa with a swimming pool with a B class rental car for the week and flights, all for 300 quid per person - brilliant. back to the boat in the afternoon for Chilli. Grandad and Dad messed around with the Radar support trying to put it to rights, then we went for a wlak around the old town - absolutly beutiful, old buildings, mixed with tourist parafanaliar, and arts and crafts, with moody lighting, narrow streets - wonderful. An ice cream and some more little Bday presents and back home (the boat) to bed.
Saturday 5th NAOK
WOke up and Dad went off to find a piano Keyboard for Emma's Bday and to hire a car for the week (to be able to pile up to the Villa for some hot baths, sleep overs, Dinners, Swims etc. Managed to find a Fiat Punto for 150 Euros for the week. Found a keyboard (had to strap it to the side of the moped to get it back to the boat). The car was delivered to the boat at midday and we all went to the Villa for lunch. Swimmimg and games then A moussaka meal in the eveneing. Hygates all went back to the boat for bed, ready for Emmas Birthday the following morning. G+G were to come to the boat late morning. Dad tried to mend the computer but the multilayered mother board was impossible to repair. Gave in at 11:30. Check the Navtex and the latest weather report - Low over Italy moving East - ESE - 5/6 Soon E 7. hmmmm. The only thing between us and the East is the Stone Quay. The swell was starting to pick up. I put all the fenders out, re-lashed the boat to multiple springs, bow and stern ropes attached to the outer hull (using the 2 inch thick Quay side ropes). The problem with being along side is the protuding rings or staples in the quay for ropes that stuck out 5 inches, the fenders where keeping us off them but under extreme squashing may puncture the hull. Anyway the wind started to pick up and it was a good 5 at 1am, blowing the boat off the quay and away from the rings. The swell was surging in the harbour and we were thrown about abit, the springs held us in good position and the length of the springs dampened the lurching (and the creaking on the cleats). an hour of lying in bed listening to every creak, feeling every movement, up to check the fenders again, retighten the springs, then it poured!. Fell asleep around 2am. Helen awoke at 2:30 wandered around, came back and I awoke!. finally went bback off around 3am. then at 4am Emma and Louisa came into the room as they said their cabin was too noisy in the nearside forecabin. I went to their room and Helen E and L slept in the offside rear cabin. The noise was defening; The waves were crashing over the quay and landing on the boat with a thump then the remaining wave would cascade off the quay down the side of the Hull with a rushing noise. This would happen about every minute. I could peep through the window right onto the quay wall and see the fenders squahing and keeping us off the Rings. we were ok, wet and noisy but ok.
Sunday 6th NAOK EMMA's Bday.
I drifted in and out of sleep and awoke for Emma's birthday at 8am. The boat rocked and rolled and we had fun having breakfast and opening presents with the Waves crashing over the quay and the boat. The wind reached a steady 33 knots around 9am and the only problem was that there was no way we could walk on the quay - we would be swept straight off, and G+G could not come. So we called them and told them to leave it till later in the morning - would we be spending the whole day on the boat..... As the morning rolled on and we watched Monsters Inc. the waves crashed over the quay less frequently and the winds dropped to around 20 knots and started to come around to the SE, then the S. Dad ventured out and made it over the quay and met G+G and escourtted them back to the boat for a birthday lunch followed by Cake (Jelly and Icecream). AS the wind came to the South it became sheltered by the Island and the wind dropped and the waves became miraculusly flat. Even the local boat club lunched a bunch of kids in toppers for a race. Then the wind came around to the SW and started to blow the boat (very gently) ONTO the quay. this was enough to squash the fenders and and move them enough to become risky close to the boat touching the rings. I rigged up 2 fender boards with fenders inside and outide of the boards to double the distance of the fenders and also have the wooden board protecting the boat from the ring. - Perfect!. WE then jumped in the car and went to the Villa for Bday T of Roast CHicken. Emma made luvly Party Bags for everyone. She really enjoyed herself. THe girls had a sleep over and Mum Dad and Jack left back for the boat at 8:30 for bed.
Monday 7th NAOK.
Maintenance day. Helen and Jack left for school at G+G's Villa at 9am and Dad was left to do some maintenance jobs on the boat. The morning was spent trawling 4 or 5 chandleries down at the old port for bits and pieces. 100 Euros was spent on Stainless steel tubing and end atachments to triangulate the Radar support. Also a few handy torches, Life jacket refiller for Sophies lifejacket that went off in the middle of the night during the storm, sandpaper, and bits and pieces. I then fitted the structure and redid all the cables with tie wraps. It was a successful fitting, although it took till 2pm to finish the job. a spot of lunch and good strum on the guitar and Helen and the girls turned up. we all piled into the car and met G+G for a chilly dinner on the sea front. wrapped up in coats and leggings we watched the sunset (well the grey clouds set) and went back to a snug boat to bed. Still need to do more jobs ! - fill scratch, change the valves in the kids toilet (its not pumping too well), and fix intermintant pumping in the water pressure system. - Maybe tomorow.
Tuesday 8th NAOK -> Ak Kaloura -> CORFU Yacht Club. 18m Wind V-0/1
The weather looked good so we decided to have a sailing day with G+G. Dad and Sophie untied the mass of warps and springs and fenders from the boat (this took an hour) and we cast off at 10am when G+G turned up and had a luvly motor to the tiny anchorage of Kaloura. We trawled the three spinners behind the boat at 4 knots and SOphie caught a Macarel. We bagged it and saved it for lunch to have with all the others we would catch. The sky was blue the sun was hot and the sea a Dark blue mirror. We anchored up at noon. We all jumped in for a swim and Dad and Sophie cleaned the water line around the boat. Gdad broke the bottom rung of the boarding ladder (Im sure the step was aged and going brittle, rather than anything to do with Gdad's large frame). Poor Gdad Landed on his chest and his knee but bruises, grazes and a bit of blood didnt stop him from cracking on and helping Dad with the fish. (Gma and Helen had to be helped out with a carfully positioned rope and bowline). The boys then scaled, gutted and deboned the fish (we didnt cath any others). fried it in some Olive Oil and had it as a starter. As Mrs Beaver says in the Lion The witch and the Wadrobe "Fish are best cooked within 30 minutes of dying and eaten within 30 seconds of cooking". Evern sophie who has vowed never to eat fish since gagging on fish at 2 years old, thought it was delicous. Helen made lunch of more salami, CHeese, bread, tomato and Olive Oil and Gdad and Helen had a nap in the sun while Dad tidied up and washed up. After G+G took sophie and Emma for a buzz to the beach in the dingy we weighed anchor and took off south for the new harbour of the Corfu Yacht club (Which was in the grounds of the Old Fort about 1/2 mile from NAOK). Dad planned and hoped for the predictable 1pm winds to take us back, but it struggled to get above 3 knots so we ghosted along with the Genoeka up and full main dead down wind, trawling the fishing lines at about 1.5 knots - We caught nothing. We drifted and drifted and relaxed and at 4.30 had enough and put the engines on. then at 5pm as if the winds were tricking me into putting the engines on piped up to a nice force 3, 50 degrees off the bow (SW) we managed about 45 minutes of sailing taking us up to the entrance of CY club. The winds then dropped in the lee of the fort and with all sails away trickled into the harbour and went stern to the quay. We picked up the laid bow anchor lines and hauled them by hand onto the bow cleat and rigged stern lines and springs to the quay. Helen had cooked a curry ready for our arrival. we ate at 7pm (with a few too many mosquitoes than nessasry) and G+G walked back to their car. Helen washed up, tidyed up and went to bed for a read while Dad and the girls played "Old Maid" before bed.
Weds 9th CYC
ANother morning of school. Dad helped teach Louisa all about town planning and the community (Added coast guards to the example!). DId an intoduction to boat design (well more interior layout design) during breaktime. Then went off for a walk with Jack in search of I-cafe to download emails onto floppy disk. School finished and as we realxed after lunch a bit of a swell took us and bump..... Not a big bump but still a bump. The back of the boat hit the quay!. I was not happy with the anchor/mooring line tension so tried to get the tension up by hand, I loosend the stern ropes, put the engine on ahead, rigged a rope and shackle to the mooring chain and winched it in good and tight. Now the gang plank to get off the boat didnt reach. carefully loosened the mooring line enough to just reach and tightened everything up as tight as I could go. NAVTEX weathe came in ... SE 5 and 6, Later 7 !. That sounds like another midnight near gale again. At least CY CLub is sheltered from SE winds - we shall see. I think Ill let the lines off and winch us out away from the quay though. Off to G+G for a BBQ and the girls sleep over. Mum and Dad and Jack went back, Dad watched Joan of Arc (or was it Jean of Arc) on Greek TV (in English) and adjusted the ropes and into bed at 2am.
Thursday 10th CYC
The 3 of us awoke at 10:15! The night was ok anad free from troubles. We had a lazy breakfast and Helen swept the 2 hulls and tidied up. I then tried to get the boarding "plank" onto the quay and it took 30 minutes to readjust the ropes to get us off the boat.we decided to have a day to oursleves (Jack included) so we set off for a Greek cafe for lunch and decided the plan for the next 2 days. Helen had a pile of washing which in the recent wet weather was impossible to wash on the boat (and the Villa unfortuantely didnt have a washing machine) so we decided to drop it off at Gouvia wwere we would call in on the boat tomorow to provison.fuel and water ourselves up. We also decided to use the car tonight and drop the moped at Gouvia to so we could roll it back on from going along side the quay. So a nice lunch and off to Gouvia in the car. The package from Judith finanly arrived - The valuable SSR boat registration !. The boat is now up to scratch with all its paper work. We dropped of the washing and then called into an Internet cafe to check the weather. 40 knot gusts tonight! and clearing Saturday. then SE winds Saturday night backing Eastly, NE, then North through SUnday. A low was passing from the toe of Italy to the south of Corfu. Not a deep low and the winds were predicting to be between 10 and 20 knots Sat and SUnday. This seemed to be good winds for 24 hour trip to Crotone, Italy. but we need to be in Paxos (Lakka) to get the advantage, and we need to leave Saturday night. Im also worried about the sea state so soon after the strong winds, Also worried about the theory of "sling shotting" North around the low pressure system. There will probably be rain and thunderstorms..... But the prevailing winds are typically NW and we could be waiting for a long time be fore we get Easterly winds again to take us to Crotone, so this could be a good time to go.
We then drove up to the Villa for 4pm, played "sardines" and then headed out for dinner at the sunset Cafe at the top of the "mountain" on the west side. The view was spectacular, we could see West out to sea, and East towards the Town and the Sea and Albania. If it wasnt for the force 5/6 winds and the poor visibility the sunset would have been amazing. A very nice meal alround. The girls had milkshake, I had Coke and the rest had a caraffe of wine. I kept on looking out at the western seas looking for something - I didnt know what but looked anyway. we upped and left to return to the villa where the moped was and then Helen mentioned that she had forgotten about the car and moped trip to Gouvia tonight, and had 4 glasses of wine and wasnt safe to drive the car and the girls. Greece has a zero alcohol tolerance law. So we decided to leave the moped there and come and collect it in the morning - plan B. Said our goodbyes to G+G and then drove home. The wind was picking up and we managed to get everyone on baord and went to bed.
11th FRI CYC
The wind was swinging us all night and the morning was still awfull with strong winds and rain. Plan C was dicussed. I would take the car up to the Villa and try to get the moped in the back or if not leave the car there and get the hire company to pick it up from there. I drove up, took the baby seat out, folded the seats down and managed to get the moped in the back of the car. then headed to Gouvia, when I had plan D. I would drop the moped off at the local Port refuelling quay which was 5 miles from CYC. then pick up the washing in the car. WHich is what I did. then on the way back I called into the Car Hire office and said I wanted to return the car as we were going to leave in the next hour. They were happy to oblige by giving me alift back to CYC, when they noticed that the baby seat wasnt there. RATS - now the plan has changed again. OK so they have 20E deposit. They were happy to go and pick the car seat up from the Villa, but I didnt have the number. I headed back to CYC and I would call them with the number. Back on the boat we had lunch and then decided to get underway before a front was due through at 7pm with possibe force 9 winds. We could refuel and be in Lakka by 5pm. Dad and Sophie started to take the ropes off and not wanting to bump into the quay , put the engine into idle ahead. YEP - those silly laid mooring lines, around the prop, engine stalled. It started to rain. we went inside for a coffee. Infact we put 101 dalmations on and had a coffee. The plan to leave was scuppered.
At 3pm the swimming cstune went on and over the side went Dad. actually the water was pleasant ly warm. ther was not only a mooring line, bu t also a plastic back wrapped around ( I beleive from our fishing trip earlier, where we had noticed many plastic bags floating in the sea.). For about 30 mins I was down there trying to free the line and the plastic that had become wedged up the shaft of the prop. with everthing all back to normal I then got dressed and tried to put the starbaord stern line back on. I pulled the boat back to the quay and laid the "planK" and got ashore. then while I was there the winds picked up and seemed to blow the boat away from the quay such that I clouldnt pull it back. After lots of pulling and some choice words I manged to get back on and hauled the rope. Dinner was served and due to the now discgustingly awful weather and Dads inability to want do anything, watched Harry Potter and went to bed. BTW- The girls can recite most of the words to Harry Potter as they have read the book about 5 times, listened to the tapes about 365 times and seen the film about 10 times. !! They cant wait till the 2nd Harry potter film is out this CHristmas. WE all went to bed at 8:30. - Dad asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
