Kerry left you at Lefkas, just passing through the opening bridge. A couple of hours later we arrived in Nydri, for our pre-arranged lithium battery installation. We headed for Iris Hotel Pontoon, which we knew very little about, other than someone had answered the phone there a couple of weeks ago and, so far as we knew, had booked us in. We are still not sure if they actually remembered this, or if there just happened to be space, but Kerry reversed in confidently (if not a little cautiously) and we secured lines to the floating pontoon. It turned out to be a great find, where we could use all the hotel facilities, including bar, restaurant, toilets, showers and even swimming pool!
We quickly settled into our new surroundings. Some of the other boats looked very well settled in, with no plans to ever leave, unless encouraged to do so. But we were here for serious work (a good excuse), not just to partake of the comforts provided. We let Joe, the battery expert, know we had arrived. Joe lives on his boat, with his wife Tamara, after leaving the rat race in The Netherlands and moving to Greece. He has set up his own business, installing marine electrical equipment, and even has his own 3D printer, to make any unique part for your boat. He came highly recommended by our friend Jonathon, who we have bumped into a number of times in our favourite anchorage at Abelaki Bay (or propping up the bar at Minas Taverna!).
Joe’s hobby seemed to be crawling into very small boat lockers. Sometimes he completely disappeared and I wondered where he’d gone. He was also keen on help, so I occasionally passed him screwdrivers or commiserated with him if he couldn’t fit into a particularly small locker. This made me feel better, like I was part of the installation process. Lithium batteries are a big upgrade for Barberry. We will have much more energy available, and with the new 3000W inverter can even boil the kettle or heat food on an induction hob (things you take for granted at home). We also ungraded to bigger solar panels, which means we can stay ‘off-grid’ (i.e. at anchor) for as long as we like. These are lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are not the same as lithium car batteries, and I’m led to believe they are a lower fire risk, which must be a good thing on a boat.
Kerry spend many hours with Tamara (Joe’s wife) at the Iris Hotel bar. They apparently got lots of work (and chatting) done, and also became good friends. They both have lovely, quiet and amazing husbands. Aren’t they both lucky?
One of the reasons for upgrading to lithium batteries was to get rid of our paraffin stove. It’s a smelling, smoky thing, that is a pain to light and has nearly burnt Barberry to ash on a number of occasions. We were quite glad to see it go and now there is a big space for a fancy new electric oven/air fryer/toaster, as well as an induction hob. We will need to make do with taverna food until these are purchased!
So mission successful for the battery installation and we are now ready to set off on our adventures. First of all to Abelaki Bay of course. Our favourite spot. Talking of missions, a seemingly unsuccessful one was by a motorised, floating drone (i.e. an unmanned boat), discovered by some Greek fishermen, just around the corner from us on Lefkada Island. Thoughts are that it could be have been an Ukranian drone, targeting the Russian Shadow Fleet. It had explosives on board. Just glad we did not run into it!
