Fraser’s blog last week brought us as far as Cleopatra Marina in Preveza, and left us there: two exhausted travellers with far too much luggage and a lot of work ahead. We spent two nights in one of the apartments belonging to the marina, which are really nice with en suite, fridge, balcony, etc., but they have rock hard mattresses on the beds. Why didn’t we just stay on Barberry, you might ask. Toilets. That’s all I’m saying. When the boat is on the land, toilets become complicated, but I’m not going into any detail.
We arrived very late Saturday night, and spent all of Sunday getting the boat ready to sail again. Last August, we’d stripped her down to bare spars, removing all sails and canvas to prevent damage from wind and sun; now it all had to go back on again, plus, of course, Ben the Bimini. It was far easier working in the relatively mild low 20 degrees in April than in 30+ degrees last summer, and we soon had the essentials done. Tired, but happy, we were finally ready to launch. We were scheduled to be the first boat in on Monday morning, so we were up bright and early with all our luggage on board and stowed away while we waited for the tractor and trailer.
The yard where Barberry had been all winter, Cleopatra Marina, is extremely professional and efficient. Launching is always a nerve-wracking business, but all went smoothly as Barberry was taken from her winter cradle via purpose-built trailer to the giant boat lift, which carried her the last few metres and lowered her gently into the water.
The crane operator was so skilled, he lowered her in so her stern was inches from the concrete edge of the lifting bay, making it easy for Fraser and I to step across onto our ladder so Fraser could check that all the seacocks were secure, and there were no leaks anywhere. Then we started the engine, they lowered us the rest of the way in, threw us our mooring lines, and off we went, chugging across a glass-calm sea.
We didn’t go very far. Just across the bay from Cleopatra is Preveza Marina, with all the facilities as well as shops for provisioning. We could have stayed at Cleopatra Marina, especially as there’s a really nice taverna a short walk away, but we really needed to shop for fresh fruit, bread, butter, milk, etc. Besides, Preveza also has a very good restaurant.
We spent two nights in Preveza so we wouldn’t feel too rushed as we continued getting the boat ready for the season. The main jobs on the list were assembling Ben the Bimini and inflating the dinghy.
At the end of last season, Fraser scribbled a few measurements in a notebook and then spent the winter months fiddling around with bits of stainless steel and canvas, designing a sun shelter (Bimini) to keep us from getting sunstroke. Last year, we’d really struggled with the heat and sunburn, and had to take turns lying down in the cabin to recover. This Bimini is going to be a game changer for us.
Fitting the Bimini was a stressful time for Fraser as he’d built the entire structure based on very rough measurements. He was also worried about dropping vital components in the sea as he didn’t have any spares with him, but despite both of us hanging out over the back of the boat like a scene from children’s TV (to me, to you, to me a bit, aargh!), it all went together perfectly and now we have shade in the cockpit at last.
Then we had the dinghy to manhandle from its winter position on the bow, all the way back to the pontoon where we could unpack and inflate it. That was hot, sweaty work with stubbed toes and trapped fingers as we tried to squeeze it along the side decks. Once laid out, we turned to our secret weapon, the Whizzer. It’s a tiny little air pump that runs from a 12V battery and inflates the dinghy with minimum fuss. When it works.
The Whizzer has always been a source of head scratching as between us we make all the mistakes possible (attaching the crocodile clips to the wrong bit of the battery is the usual one), but on this occasion, no matter what we did, it wouldn’t run. Eventually we decided that the 12V battery must be dead. Out with the horrible foot pump. By the time the dinghy was inflated, we both had legs like cooked spaghetti from pumping the dratted thing.
At last, we were all ready to go. We had enough food and water on board and all we needed was petrol for our trusty little 2-stroke outboard. But then I dragged Fraser into the local chandlers (AKA Aladdin’s Cave for sailors) and we both fell for the electric outboard they had on display. Imagine: no more petrol threatening to explode, no 2-stroke oil to mix, no grunting and groaning as the pull cord fails to start it; instead, an engine that runs silently, and can be recharged from Barberry’s solar panels.
Luckily (as there’s no space on Barberry for two outboard engines) we managed to sell the little 2-stroke to another sailor here in Preveza. We didn’t ask much as it was important to sell it before we left, so we had a very happy buyer. Early on Wednesday morning, we slipped our lines and ghosted out to sea, heading north towards Corfu. We didn’t want too long a journey for our first day sailing in 8 months, so we headed for a beautiful littler anchorage called Two Rock Bay, just opposite the bottom of Antipaxos Island.
We had a truly wonderful sail until the wind died away completely, then Fraser put the engine on to keep the speed up. Only it didn’t keep the speed up. 3kn… 2.5kn… 1.5kn… He increased the revs, totally confused for an embarrassingly long time before he realised he still had the gearbox in neutral! After that embarrassment, we motor sailed the rest of the way until the engine note changed, the boat juddered, and the speed fell away. We wondered if we’d got a fishing net or line around the propellor, so put the engine in reverse to unwind it. That almost stalled the engine completely! Panic. Barberry’s propellor is miles under the boat and impossible to see from inside, but there was no sign of anything trailing behind us. We considered diving down to check, but the water looked very cold and we were in 100metres or so of depth. Instead, we tried putting the engine in gear again, and lo and behold, it was all fine. Our ancient rope-cutter must have done its work well.
When we reached Two Rock Bay, we were all alone, not another boat to be seen anywhere, so we had the pick of places to drop our anchor in crystal clear water 3m deep. Once it was set, we discussed who was going to dive to examine the propellor in case anything was still wrapped around it, and also check the anchor. Last August, we’d have been climbing over each other to dive in, but in April? How cold, exactly would the water be? The answer is chilly but not unpleasant, and a lot warmer than anything in Northern Ireland! We both got in (with only a few squeaks), the propellor was clear, the anchor was well set, so we swam to a nearby beach of round white stones and sand.
We had a shower to wash off the salt water then Fraser attached the new (and very expensive) electric outboard to the dinghy so we could try it out. He had read the instructions, and charged it up to 100%, but it didn’t start! Error code E30. Back to the instruction manual. Apparently the contacts needed cleaning. Finally it started, silently and smoothly, and off we went!
We explored the caves and took some photos of Barberry at anchor, then retired back to the boat to eat a lovely meal of tinned pasta with sausages in tomato sauce washed down by Retsina (Greek wine — an acquired taste!). What a perfect first day back at sea.
