We arrived back in Greece on the 28th September after our 3 week visit back to the UK, to lovely warm sunshine again,  it was definitely getting chilly back at home before we left. It didn’t take long to get back into the routine of jobs and maintenance, we had brought with us two large bags packed full of bits for the boat. The only clothes we had brought out were our sailing boots and a couple of fleeces because we are going to be out here until mid November. 

I checked the sea temperature and it was still 29.7’c :) We are planning to head to the Peloponnisos for the next 4 weeks before being hauled out at Koiladhia in the Argolikos Gulf for the winter. 

We left Olympic Marina on the 1st October and headed for Poros, our first stop in the Peloponnisos. The first part of the passage was very calm with a flat sea but the wind did eventually fill in and we had a lovely sail for about 2 hours  towards the end of the passage. We anchored in Oromos Vidhi, a land locked bay to the west of Poros town, it was lovely and quiet when we arrived but it is obviously one of the first places the charter yachts come to after leaving Piraeus. By late on Saturday and during Sunday they started arriving one after the other. However, Monday morning they all left, so we plan to try to avoid them on the way round. 

The jobs continued even at anchor. I made three eye splices, two for the traveller sheets and one for a temporary main sheet that might eventually will become a new topping lift. The last part of doing an eye splice required “milking" the cover back over the splice to form a tight splice. Well, the book didn’t say just how difficult this could be. Chris and I had to put the rope onto two winches to stretch it while “milking” the cover back over the splice wearing sailing gloves to prevent blisters.

Apart from this ordeal, Chris continued with the AIS problem. We have purchased a new AIS unit, but now Chris feels we need a new arial and cable as well.

The problem of the leaking poo tank hatch has now been solved, the problem is a cracked hatch collar, so that is going to have to be replaced. 

We managed our usual swimming during the day, checked Muskie's hull for barnacles, wiped the slime off the waterline and made sure the log paddle wheel was still turning freely by diving down and giving it a spin.

A quick weather check revealed an unsettled weather system moving in bringing with it some strong winds, so rather than being stuck in Poros for the next 4-5 days, we decided to move on to Porto Kheli in the Argolikos Gulf where there would be more shelter. There is still a lot of exploring to do in the Sporades, but that might have to wait until next year, we want to get to the Port Police in Nafpilion to see if we can persuade them to give us an Unlimited Transit Log that would make our lives so much easier next year. Bureaucracy associated with BREXIT has taken up so much of our time while cruising we are determined to get something that will at least negate the need to run the gauntlet of the Port Police when entering and leaving every port we visit. 

The eye splice in the new main sheet that might become a new topping lift!

One of two eye splices in the new traveller.

Leaving Poros