We had hoped to come back out to Greece in September 2022 but life had other plans for us. Instead, in September, we moved from our house in a village to an apartment in a nearby town. Luckily, Nimmie had been hauled out of the water and put to bed in case this happened. We are usually careful when we leave her for any length of time so that we minimise any storm damage. This meant we could leave her with peace of mind.

Consequently, we hadn’t been out since late June. We flew out earlier this week (January 25) for four days as we wanted to discuss a few repairs with the boatyard. The main one being a replacement for the anchor windlass. For those of you who have been following our adventures, the windlass has been a source of worry since we started our adventures back in 2012. At various times poor Liz has had to pull the anchor up by hand because one part or another had stopped working. I think everything apart from the cover has been repaired or replaced over the years. The latest episode was at Khalkis when we were about to go through the lifting bridge at 11pm. We were lucky to get the motor brushes repaired the next day but it only seems to be a matter of time until something else will go and parts are getting harder to find as this model is no longer in production and the company long since folded.

We met with the electrician on Friday morning to discuss our options. It seems that the hole through the topside, where the chain goes into the anchor locker, will need to be moved forward to fit the template of any new anchor. We agreed on the make and model (Lofrans Tigres) and that the wiring will need to be upgraded as it’s a more powerful windlass. Other small jobs also need to be done such as the tricolour/anchor light at the top of the mast has stopped working and may need replacing. We had replaced the tricolour bulb but it still didn’t work so it may be the wiring or the unit itself. In heavy seas, things get jostled about a lot, especially at the top of a 16m mast!

In between meetings with the boatyard and the electrician, we were able to do our own jobs that we had wanted to complete over the winter. These include painting the topsides of the cockpit by the companion steps. They had started to flake badly and had got worse over the winter. They get a lot of wear as the ropes come back into the cockpit there. Whilst we were on the boat, it also gave us a chance to test the rest of the electronics so that there aren’t any surprises when we come back in the spring. We pleased to see that the solar panels were performing well despite some of the protective coating coming off the so called Tough Solar Panels! As you can imagine, we are in discussion with the manufacturer.

The boatyard seems a lot fuller this winter than previous. There must be at least 500 boats jammed in. However, the yard is incredibly professional and makes sure all the boats are securely fastened.

We had decided to rent an Airbnb in Lavrion town for our stay as it was quite chilly and we were about a ten minute walk to the toilet block. Not great in the middle of the night with a 4m descent on a ladder to contend with! It also meant we could go back to our favourite restaurant in town, Pezodromos. The food is good, great value and the welcome always friendly. Last night we had the small meat platter between us. Lord knows what the large platter would have looked like. We could only manage half of it so the rest will be heated up tonight. Bargain at €25!