39:39.0N 19:50.8E

After a flurry of activity from the Cleopatra boatyard mechanics, re-connecting the newly restored and nicely painted engine, we were launched out of Cleopatra Marina on Saturday and swanned half a mile across the bay to Preveza Marina. The boat engine work was not really finished but we had to launch as couldn’t get another lift-in slot for a week or two. We had to wait a couple days for the electrician to visit and install a new alternator as the old one was putting out too many volts to be safe. An alternator is an important piece of kit which charges the starter and house batteries, and you don’t go far from shore-power without one.

The electrician arrived on Monday and after we were given the all-clear we chugged carefully out of Preveza harbour into the Ionian Sea. Few things go smoothly with boating and when about five miles from shore the engine started overheating, and we found that the batteries were not charging either. Failure of the seawater engine cooling was an old problem for us which I fixed by priming the raw-water strainer with a bucket of water. The batteries not charging was more of a puzzle, but I eventually found that the electrician had left a battery isolation switch turned off.

As darkness fell, we lurched into Gouvia Marina on Corfu for a sleep and to buy a couple of jerrycans of diesel to top up our improvised temporary fuel tank system.