We arrived back in Greece on the 31st March and got a taxi to Kilada arriving at our apartment gone 11pm, so it was just as well we had booked it and not had to sort Muskrat out at that time of night. We managed to find a restaurant still open and willing to feed us, luckily the Greeks eat late. 

The next morning the weather was glorious, bright sunshine and 20’c. We peeled off our winter clothes and got back to shorts and T shirts - lovely. 

We found Muskrat looking splendid with her new binimi, spray hood and tent that had been made during our absence over the winter. No more having to change the support poles when we needed to put the tent up, the new design uses all the poles. The orange Sahara sand though had covered  everything, so a good wash down was needed immediately before getting things out and on deck. Down below in the saloon and the cabins were very dry, something we were pleased about because we have had to deal with leaks in the galley and main cabin but Chris's hard work has appeared to have paid off.

With a long list of jobs to do before we launch, it is always nice to see other people painting, scrubbing and antifouling but the yard was very quiet with only a few people on their yachts like us getting stuck into the work. The decks scrubbed and the dust removed before we trampled it down below, the hard work started. Chris is determined to get the AIS working this year. We had a new AIS unit last year and we now have a new VHF antenna and cable to fit to see if that is the problem. So Chris got down to fitting the new antenna and running the diagnostic programme to check all was working. Well, you have guessed it - it didn’t work!!! Now it is not picking up the navigational satellites so still won’t transmit. We are still receiving other peoples positions though. So day one, apart from the lovely weather, did not go well.

Day two dawned with heavy rain and feeling very cold after the day before's lovely sunshine and warmth. To top it all the rain had dumped a load more orange Sahara sand onto the nice clean decks and new spray hood and bimini. Not to be deterred though, we cracked on with jobs that could be done down below and dodged the showers when having to go on deck. Back at the apartment we put the heating on instead of the air conditioning but then found out that because there had been no sun we didn’t have hot water as the water is solar heated. We attempted to find the emersion heater switch with no luck, cold showers were taken that night.

The next day we contacted the manager of the apartment about the lack of hot water and within a matter of hours we had the immersion heating working and hot water was restored in the apartment. The weather remained chilly and dull but at least it was a comfortable temperature to polish the topsides, despite the risk of more Sahara sand being dumped at any time. While polishing I found that wasps had made a home in the gas locker drainage pipe and were flying in and out of the exit hole on the topsides. I plugged up the exit hole for the night and put the pipe on the job list for the morning because  that job requires everything to be taken out of the lazaret. In the mean time, Chris started putting the engine back together with the injectors that we had carefully taken home to clean and test and then brought back out again in our hand luggage. The in-mast mainsail furler gear was another bit of metal we had carefully transported home to fix and then carried out again in our hand luggage much to the amusement of the security staff in the airport. This had been a major concern for Chris all winter because getting it back into the mast was not going to be an easy job with the risk of dropping small essential bits of gearing to the bottom of the inside of the mast, never to be seen again. However, all his planning paid off and the furler gear was put back into the mast split pins and all. 

Muskrat new spray hood, binimi and tent.

Lovely Greek weather to greet us back

The new navigation area seat covers

Muskrat new logo