Nimrod Oceanlord

Back in March 2020, Jo was supposed to come out to Greece to oversee the removal of the old and the installation of the new solar panels. We thought that it would be a few days work at best. That visit got postponed for obvious Covid related reasons like not being stuck in a country without being able to get home. The new solar panels had been delivered to the yard in Autumn 2019 and had been left on the boat. The new ones are smaller in size but still provide around 200W of power. The old ones had pretty much stopped working, which meant that we could only rely on our wind turbine to generate power when we were at anchor (and you all know how much we love to anchor!). The new ones had been found at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in Jan 2019 as we wanted ones that had the wires underneath thereby not been a trip hazard as they are mounted on the stern deck. We found a manufacturer, Sunbeam, who did just that and were made of tough material so that they could be walked on etc without being damaged. Our old ones, to be fair, had been installed in 2012 and had given us really good service the entire time we have been away from the U.K.

We realised that the old ones needed removing and the deck that they covered making good. We had had the decks painted back in 2016 in Malta so at the very least we would need some non-slip paint. However, once the old ones were taken off it was clear that there had been some water ingress into the GRP so that it would need repairing before it could be painted. So, instead of taking a day or so to prepare for the installation, it took four.

Whilst they were doing all of this, we couldn’t do a lot ourselves on Nimmie as there was so much dust from the prep and sanding as well as us getting in the way so on Tuesday afternoon we took ourselves off to a nearby beach for some R&R. It was lovely just to soak up the sun and chill for a bit. When we got back to the boat on the Weds they were still painting so we went back to the beach!!

By Thursday afternoon, they had pretty much finished the painting and had done a really good job in matching the original, faded off white. We did wonder whether they would get it finished by Thursday as high winds and some rain (yes, rain) was forecast but not only did they finish the work but they then washed the boat down! We had that on our list to do but thought it wasn’t worthwhile doing it until all the work had been completed.

Earlier this summer we asked the yard to check the batteries as they had had very little charging since we left the boat in August 2019. We should have thought about it earlier as batteries tend to self discharge around 2-3% per month so over 22 months that could mean between 44-66% discharge. Not good for the batteries at all. The yard inspected them and found that the domestic batteries were ok but needed charging and the engine starter battery needed replacing. This was duly ordered and installed in July. They then turned the engine over to check she hadn’t seized (as had happened to friends of ours) so we thought all was well. We checked the batteries today (Thursday) and found that two of the domestic ones had blown and tried to start the engine but to no avail. Even though the boat is out of the water, you can usually start them and then shut them down within 20 or 30 seconds without any damage. A conversation will be had with the yard as it means that once the solar panels are installed, there could be a fire risk if the blown batteries had any charge through them.

We popped back in the evening to see how the navigation and anchor lights were. It seems that the nav lights at the top of the mast and the steaming light (bright white light you have on when you are motoring at night) aren’t working but the anchor light is so, hopefully, it’s just a question of changing the bulbs. Turned out after two trips up the mast that the steaming light was working but just didn’t have enough current going through with the batteries not getting charged. As soon as the solar panels started to charge the batteries, all was well. Don’t think that’s the issue with the nav lights as they are LED. Anyway, back to the solar panels. There was more painting being done on the Friday morning so we went off to the Pelion region for the weekend (see separate post Mammia Mia).

By the Monday morning, things were looking good on deck and they started to fit the new solar panels. The wiring was going to be a bit more complicated as they suggested having having an additional Victron MPPT Controllers rather than just the one we had. This meant that the two 38W panels could run separately from the larger 100W panel. By Tuesday evening, the wiring was complete although they had made a mess of the aft cabin headlining but at least Liz was on hand to sort (headlining being her speciality and the heads/toilets mine). They popped back on the Wednesday to reconnect a couple of ceiling lights that had taken down – Lord knows why. This gave us a few hours before our flight back to the U.K. to clear up the boat. Or so we thought.

Jo decided to check the instruments were still working given how long it had been. The chart plotter and radio seemed ok but an error message came up on the other instruments – it needed a code but wouldn’t accept the code we had. The old instruments we had, had an inbuilt theft protection that meant you had to enter a code if one of them was stolen. Anyway, after multiple tries, Jo rang Raymarine in the U.K. and it seems that the instruments have been corrupted. Not sure whether the battery failure was the culprit or just old age. They’d been installed from day one so 1998! Now we need to decide whether to just get secondhand replacements of a slightly newer model that doesn’t have a built in code or splash out on a whole new system.

We have finally made it out to Greece to see how Nimmie has fared over the last two years. Having both been doubly vaccinated, we had our digital NHS pass, filled out our Passenger Locator Form, purchased our pre flight tests for the return journey and ordered our Day Two tests for back in the UK. We flew from Luton and it was amazingly quiet. The plane only had 80 passengers so there was plenty of space and it all felt very manageable. Landing at Athens airport, we had to show our vaccination passes and Passenger Locator Form before standing in the ‘All passports’ queue to have our passports stamped. This means that our entry into the EU/Schengen area is documented and timed as we can only spend 90 in any 180 days in Schengen. This isn’t going to be a problem this year but it does mean that we will have to be careful how long we spend in Europe going forward. Even visiting our families in Norway counts!

We had landed around 8.30pm and once through passport control, we waited for our luggage which included our repaired watermaker that we thought we may have to prove wasn’t new and subject to Greek VAT and import duty. The joy of Brexit! In the event, there weren’t any customs people around so we headed off to pick up our hire car and make our way to the AirBnB apartment we had rented for two weeks. Lavrion is about 45 minutes from Athens airport on the SE tip of Attica near to Sounio and the Temple of Poseidon. It’s a fairly lively town with bars and restaurants, even a summer cinema, so we felt we had a good base for our stay. It was lovely to be able to sit out at 11.30pm having a welcome beer in t shirts and shorts.

On the Thursday morning, 16th September, we went to the boatyard in Olympic Marine to meet with the technical department before seeing how Nimmie looked. We were very pleasantly surprised. Nimmie was very dusty (inside and out) but didn’t look too worse for wear. We agreed with the yard that they would remove our old solar panels, make good and install the new ones we had shipped out in 2020. We also suspected that we would find a few more things that had decided not to work over the intervening period.

We spent the next couple of days checking her over and preparing her for the work to be done. It has been hot here, 35 degrees Celsius in the shade, so with no bimini up and the sun reflecting off the gravel floor, it soon become quite unbearable on the boat. Still, we carried out our normal winter and spring tasks to compile a list of jobs that would need to be completed before launching in 2022. As you can imagine, a boat that hasn’t been used in two years can have quite a few things go wrong or as we put it, Nimmie breaks her toys when she feels neglected! A number of safety equipment items had passed their due dates including the life raft service, personal locator beacon batteries, fire extinguishers. The list went on and on. Nothing that can’t be replaced or serviced but all adding to the To Do list. For those of you who have followed us for a while, you’ll remember that when we left Salamina near Piraeas in 2019, we had an unexpected passenger. A little fledgling sparrow had been nesting in our boom. When we put Nimmie to bed at the end of the season here, we stuffed a plastic bag into the boom to prevent that happening again. Over the last two years, the bag had disintegrated and made a lovely base for a new nest. This time the chick had died in the nest. However, we did manage to rescue a wild tortoise that seemed to want to dice with death by crossing one of the busy roads on the way to the boatyard.

It transpired that the guy who was due to do the painting on the topsides was away until the Monday so we had Thursday and Friday free to do jobs. After working in the heat of the day, it was glorious to be able to come back to the apartment for a shower and air con. We decided that as the yard would be shut over the weekend we would go on a road trip to the more inland region of Greece where we wouldn’t normally have access to by boat. We made our way towards Arachova, the Greek equivalent of Aspen on Mount Parnassos, as we had booked a mountainside hotel for the Saturday night. This area is a ski resort but in the blistering summer sun, it’s hard to imagine! En route we visited the 11th century monastery of Osios Loukas. It is in a remote but beautiful setting and has a large collection of Byzantine art and stonework.

We then drove up to Arachova, which was quite sweet and lively but about 30 minutes drive from the hotel so we were hoping that there would be somewhere closer to have dinner. The hotel described itself as a boutique hotel and spa and was definitely up market rustic. The owner was charming and we had gorgeous views over the mountainside. It even had its own indoor pool that was just the ticket after a dusty, hot afternoon!

The hotel recommended a taverna just down the road, called Babis, that served wonderful food. The wild boar melted in your mouth. They even gave us a glass of a local grappa type drink called tsipouro to try. Not to my taste but Liz was happy to drink both!

We decided to go for a walk up to Corycian Cave, which is where Pan and the nymphs liked to hang out according to Greek mythology. It’s a 4 hour trek from Delphi but from our hotel is was more like 45 mins as we could park the car a bit nearer!

Nice hike up but an hour and a half walking in the sun was more than enough. Pleasant enough cave but we have seen better in our travels.

On our way back on Sunday, we visited a few seaside resorts that the guidebooks mention. The nicest by far was Itea where we had waffles overlooking the harbour. Back at the apartment by around 8pm, a takeaway from the local taverna and ready for the following week when, hopefully, the deck will be repaired and painted ready for the new solar panels.