Back to Oz

15 September 2017

 

Yes we’re back. Our latest Mediterranean adventure leading a Charter Flotilla for Greek Sails flew by and was over before we knew it. We would have liked to have stayed longer but our visa only allowed us to be in the Euro zone for 90 days.

The whole experience still seems quite surreal. Since returning to Brisbane just in time for Christmas from spending the previous nine months cruising the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, our focus had been on finding some employment for a while to replenish our badly depleted finances. (WARNING: Six years sailing around in various parts of the world can be damaging or even fatal to your bank account.)

Rafting boats together with lines to the shore was a new skill we learned.

 

We were applying for all sorts of full time positions while grabbing whatever casual work came along in the meantime. Rob had made it through the interview processes to the final two stage of a couple of great, reasonably well paid managerial roles but just missed out on both when the “Greek Option” arose.

It all happened in a bit of a blur as we responded to a Facebook post a friend sent us about a company that was looking for a couple to lead one of their charter flotilla groups around the Greek Isles during the northern summer. On a whim and having nothing better to do, we sent off some details about ourselves and our sailing experience and before we knew it we were booking tickets to fly to Europe. The salary was rubbish and we had to pay our own fares to get there but what the hell. Choosing between sitting around through the chilly Brisbane winter making nothing or sailing in the Greek sunshine earning peanuts didn’t take long.

The Jeanneau 37 Enigma became our home and lead boat for the summer.

Sunset over the Greek Sails charter fleet at the dock in Poros.

 

Based on the island of Poros, just south of Athens, our job was to lead a charter flotilla of supposedly up to ten charter yachts around cruising grounds in the Saronic and Argolic Gulfs, assist with berthing, deal with all port police details etc and generally make sure the clients have a safe and very enjoyable sailing holiday. Basically, we were to be tour guides afloat.

Greek Sails also operate bare boat charters and a popular RYA sailing school but the flotilla side of the business is certainly the biggest. Flotilla holidays are very popular in Europe for a variety of reasons. People new to chartering like the security of having an experienced lead crew available for guidance while even seasoned sailors appreciate how having someone else to arrange berthing, deal with the onerous Greek bureaucracy found in every port, arrange water and fuel, look after any boat maintenance issues and even make dinner bookings for them provides a much more stress free and relaxed holiday. Many also commented they like the flotilla option for the social side of things. This is especially so amongst families. The younger kids invariably make new holiday play friends while the teens flock together in port.

The social side of flotilla chartering is very popular.

 

The younger members of the flotillas all got on well

 

We will be doing a separate blog very soon with all the detail of what it’s like to lead a flotilla and experiences we had but what we will say now is WE HAD A GREAT TIME. The sailing was awesome, the places we visited were fantastic, the food was unbelievable and we met literally hundreds of really nice people from numerous countries who shared their holiday with us. They came from all walks of life and had very different levels of skill and experience on the water but all shared a passion for sailing and were there to enjoy themselves, as were we.

Greece's ancient history is amazing.



Karen playing tour guide at the ancient city of Mycenae



and at the fortress high above Navplion

 

 We arrived at Greek Sails in Poros late morning on a Thursday. After a day to recover from the long flight and lack of sleep, we were greeting and briefing our first charterers on the Saturday ahead of a Sunday morning departure. From then it was full on 24/7 as we sailed 1,422 nautical miles leading 11 flotilla groups of up to 13 boats and 62 people.  

The Greek locals were friendly and liked to play.

Vathi - one of the many delightful small harbours we sailed to.

Overall the weather was great but at times maybe even a little too warm. The wind is the wind and at different times was too light, too strong but mostly just fine thanks.  The beauty of our cruising area was that, even in extreme winds, the very deep water and lack of fetch in the northern Argolic Gulf resulted in us never seeing the sea state top a metre. We never knew reaching in 35 -40 knots could be so enjoyable. We only experienced a couple of wet days during our whole stay.

Apparently flotilla lead boats normally motor everywhere
but we sailed Enigma every chance we got.

We had no spinnaker pole so Rob put the boat hook to good use.







Click HERE to see a video of typical sailing day on Flotilla

The Greek weather was mostly fantastic



Second reef in at 30 plus knots but the sea state was amazingly mild

No wonder Karen was smiling so much

We did get caught in one strong thunderstorm though. Check out the VIDEO

Seventy-eight days later we farewelled our final charter clients and handed over Enigma to our replacement crew. The company generously let us stay on one of their docked boats and we were able to enjoy our first days off in almost three months getting to see a little more of Poros and taking a ferry trip to the island of Hydra.

Playing tourists on Hydra

Our last afternoon in Poros with Greek Sails

There were lots of farewell drinks and more fantastic food including a magic final dinner at Apagio, our favourite Taverna on Poros.

Thank you Spiro, Elizabeth, Jamie and team for making us so welcome at Taverna Apagio.

 

We are certainly going to miss Poros and  this view.

 

Reluctantly we flew out of Athens airport on September 7 with just four days remaining on our visas before we would become two more of the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of illegal immigrants currently in Europe.

We travelled home to Brisbane via Athens, Istanbul, Manila and Darwin with the cheapest we could find.
We were on the go for forty hours but saved $900 each on the high season fares.

 

What Now?  Well the bank account is still on life support so it’s back to the job hunting. We REALLY do need to put some money back in the tin so we can go cruising again. Rob has some motorsport commentary lined up and will be firing off some articles about our Greek adventures to a few magazines in the hope of seeing them published but we do need some more regular income for a while to get back on the water. Such is life.

In between we have plenty of work to do on Our Dreamtime as we pretty well stripped her before we went overseas. See the story of our prep HERE. Leaving her naked was not only the safer option but also now forces us into doing all the maintenance jobs, such as servicing the sails etc, we originally planned to do over the winter. We know ourselves well enough to realise that if she was sitting there ready to sail when we returned from being away for months we would have immediately thrown the lines off to take her out and those jobs may have never got done.

There’s also a mile of blogging to get onto. In addition to writing about leading the flotilla, we plan to do a series of blogs about the different places we visited in Greece and Karen has a feast of Greek food blogs in the pipeline for the Our Galley section.  You can see the first one HERE.

Keep an eye out for all of these new blogs tom come.

 

________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to all who support us through watching our videos, reading our blogs or who step up and support us though Patreon and Ko-Fi. You inspire us everyday to be creative 🙌

You can help us out and support our creative work for FREE. 

By watching, 👍, 🔔, Subscribing, Commenting and best of all Sharing this video or blog with your friends 

If you would like to make a donation towards our creative work, you can by heading over to Ko-Fi they take no fees so the support goes directly into helping us buy and upgrade equipment 

Do you want more? 

Patreon gives you that … you get behind the scenes updates, 

Patreon only photos and posts, you can watch our 

episodes ad free and before they go public … you get it first!

Another way of support is through buying from our store.

Checkout the range of books we have available 

https://payhip.com/Dreamtimesail

We love to receive comments on our blog from readers. If you do leave a comment and you also have a blog, please leave a link as well. We'd like to click over for a visit and leave you a comment too.

To stay right up to date with what we’re up to  and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at DreamtimeSail

 

If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.

 

 

Boat Maintenance ... A check list to getting you started on your maintenance schedule.

Big or small, basic or customised, every boat needs to be maintained. Fortunately, routine maintenance and small repairs aren't that tough. In the long run, a little elbow grease will definitely pay off.

Our Dreamtime sitting at the dock minus two masts and all rigging.
It was ten years since the last full re-rigging so new bling was required.

In trying to live a more frugal life, We are  getting better at handling projects that we used to pay professionals to do. Being a cruiser also means we need to know a little bit more than the average boater. We travel longer distances and at times are hundreds of miles from the local mechanic. Arm yourself with good maintenance books and reliable service providers that you can call if things do get a little difficult in remote places. We have had to make calls and have been very grateful to the experts on the other end on the Satphone.

You can potentially save a lot of money on labour for a qualified mechanic by buying parts and tools yourself and going the DIY route. After all, your labour is free – as long as you have the time to put in. Just like cars, boats need to have their oil changed. The frequency will vary by model but a good rule of thumb is to change the oil every 100 hours of operation or once a year. The first time we had a service done on Our Dreamtime, Rob asked the attending mechanic if he could watch over his shoulder and learn some basics. Not only was the mechanic obliging but he was enthusiastic in showing us the basic maintenance routine that should be completed by us.

Probably for the cost reason alone, more than a third of the cruisers we have met admitted they wait as long as possible before getting their engine serviced to save money. 

It’s possible; thanks to the internet, and "how to" marine engine books, there are a heap of regular service procedures that you can easily do yourself with literally no prior education about how your boat engine works. If you are still going to use a professional for certain jobs. You can always source all required spare parts prior to them arriving this will save you time and money.

Following is our  basic checklist that we have complied, we should say it's a work in progress as there is always something being added. But it's a start and it may also help you, please remember it is only a guide as all boats are different.

Basic Checks you can do:

Engine Basics:

• Check oil levels and change the oil if needed
  
• Check coolant levels and top up when required
• Check and change oil filters
• Test start battery
• Check for corrosion in and around saltwater inlets
• Check raw water impeller replace after the recommend hours. This maybe a professionals job depending on location and tools required.

Fuel System:

• Inspect the fuel system for leaks or damage and be sure to pay special attention to fuel hoses and connections.
• Evidence of a damaged fuel hose includes softness, brittleness or cracking.
• Replace components when necessary and verify all fittings and clamps are properly secured.
• Ensure the engine, exhaust and ventilation systems are all functioning properly.
• Check and change fuel filters regularly
• Maintain full fuel tanks to ensure of no condensation build up

Electric System:

• Inspect all electrical connections for clean, tight, corrosion free connections. Corroded connections can be dangerous
• Remove corroded terminals and use a wire brush to clean them, along with all cable ends.
• Keep your batteries cycling/charged by using shore power, solar panels or wind generator. 
• Replace corroded fuses
• Electrical systems should be regularly inspected by a qualified technician.

Belts, Cables & Hoses:

• Check belts, cables and hoses because they can become brittle and may crack during long periods of non use.
• Belts should fit tightly around pulleys to prevent slipping.
• A worn belt may leave a black residue near the pulley and will fit loosely.
• Cracks or swells on the outer jacket of throttle, shift and steering control cables may be of internal corrosion and immanent failure

Don't forget the rest of the boat. 

It is a good idea to go through your owners manual (if you have one, Our Dreamtime came with a 4 hour handover takeover) and write up a maintenance log. The easiest way to do this we found is in a diary. You can then also use the diary to write up any work that was done, giving you an immediate reference to age of work.

Propellers & Hulls:

• Inspect propellers for dings, pitting, cracks and distortion.
  
• Damaged propellers can cause unwanted vibration and damage to your drive shaft.
• Make sure the propeller is secured properly, and replace anodes when needed.
• When inspecting the hull, look for blisters, distortions and cracks. Be sure to clean the hull, deck, and topsides using an environmentally safe cleaning solution.
• Depending on your anti-foul haul the boat yearly. Clean and repainted as required.

Safety Gear:

• Check your life jackets to ensure they are in good condition, ensure the gas chambers are still in working order. Some types of PFDs are equipped with inflation devices; check to be sure cartridges are secure and charged. 
• Be sure all onboard fire extinguishers are the correct class for your vessel, and are fully charged and stowed in the proper place. Do you have one accessible from the cockpit, galley, engine room and cabins.do your crew know how to work them?
• For any enclosed or semi-enclosed area, ensure you have at least one properly installed and working carbon monoxide detector
• Consider an EPIRB for situations of distress to ensure you can be found.
• Take advantage of any safety inspections offered by the Coastguard and VMR
  
  services.
• Check flares are in date.
• Life rafts need to be professionally serviced, check for expiry dates.
• Keep an up to date first aid kit ensuring contents is changed on use by dates (see our first aid kit blog for more info)
• Radio checks should be completed before leave port on every occasion.

Would you trust a 30 year old life-raft?

http://dreamtimesail.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/would-you-trust-your-life-to-30-year.html

Ground Tackle:

• Anchors secured check shackles for corrosion. 
  
• Anchor, chain and rode condition, end for end so wear is even for length.
• Tackle properly secured.
• Thimble on rode/chain and safety wired shackles.
• Chafing gear at chocks for extended stays or storm conditions.
• Anchor stowed for heavy weather conditions but with quick accessibility.

Deck Gear:

• Lifelines or rails in good condition.
• Stanchions or pulpit securely mounted.
• Hardware tight and sealed at deck.
• Grab rails secure and free of corrosion or snags that may catch your hands or tear sails
• Non-skid surfaces free from accumulated dirt or excess wear.

Bilge Pumps:

• Check pump(s) adequately remove water in emergency
• Check manual backup
• bilges clean and free to circulate (clear limber holes)
• check bilges frequently and do not rely on automatic pumps

Through-hulls:

• Strainers, intakes and exhaust or discharge fittings are free from restrictions such as barnacles, marine growth or debris.
• Inspect sea valves for smooth operation.
• Handles are attached to valves for quick closure.
• Hoses are in good condition and free from cracking.
• Double hose-clamps below the waterline.
• Anti-siphon valve fitted to marine toilet.
• Through-hull plugs are near fittings or attached to hose in case of emergency.

Corrosion Prevention:

• Through-hulls, props, shafts, bearings, rudder fittings, and exposed fastenings free of destructive corrosion.
• Zincs are adequate to provide protection.
• Through-hulls are properly bonded.
• Inspect the steering cables, engine control linkage and cables, engine mounts and gear case for corrosion.
• Check these items are properly lubricated or painted to prevent undue corrosion.

Gas Systems:

To ensure the safety of gas installations on your boat, you should have the LPG system checked regularly by a licensed gas fitter. You can also carry out the following safety checks yourself:

• If you smell gas, check the exposed connections with soapy water. Soap bubbles will show any gas leak at the connection point.
• Always keep LPG cylinders upright and secured in their place. LPG cylinders should never be laid down even when empty.
• Always store LPG cylinders, fittings and other components in the dedicated gas cylinder compartment.
• Regularly check LPG cylinder connections and hoses for signs of deterioration and leaks and replace them when necessary.
• Check for cylinder corrosion regularly.
• Remember the importance of ventilation for gas appliances. Ensure that there are enough flues and vents where gas appliances operate.
• Ensure that your mono-hull boat's gas detection systems are re-calibrated at regular intervals.
• Only use LPG cylinders that are within the 10 year test period. Check testing labels to find out the time of last test – these are printed on the collar of the cylinder.
• Ensure that the cylinder surface coating is suitable for where it is used. Painted cylinder surfaces may not be suitable if the cylinder is to be exposed to harsh weather or a salt laden environment.

Winches:

• Clean and grease all bearings, stem, gear spindles and collets on an annual basis.

Furlers:

• Remove sail
• Remove the line (noting the direction on spool).
• Flush the bearings with soap and fresh water.
• Clean the foils with soap and fresh water.
• Run a scrap of luff tape up foil groove to clean.
• Unit for any signs of chafe, wear, or damage.
• Screws - loose or missing? These should be secured with Loctite® adhesive, so don't turn the screw as you will release the bond. Merely check to make sure they are secure.
• Foils - make sure they haven't dropped into the drum assembly; check that the torque tube clamp is tight.
• Wire - look for signs of wear, unraveling, or loosening.
• Locknuts on leg kit - see if they're still there and haven't come loose.
• Lower toggles - check for signs of wear, cracks, and corrosion.
• Cotter pin at lower toggle - make sure it's securely splayed.

Sail Maintenance:

• When leaving the boat for a long period, remove sails 
• If leaving the boat for a shorter period in stable weather, ease the jib halyard, main halyard, and outhaul to prevent permanent luff and foot stretching. 
• Releasing batten tension also reduces distortion at the batten ends.
• Limit exposure to the sun. 
• Rinse your sails with fresh water and dry thoroughly before storing, to prevent mildew and colour bleeding in spinnakers. 
• Rinse fittings in fresh water to help prevent corrosion and spray with WD40.
• Store dry sails in a well-ventilated location. 
• Avoid folding sails on the same fold lines so that small creases don’t become permanent.
• Remove mildew stains, oil/grease stains and rust stains, Check with your sailmaker his recommendations for cleaning your sails. 
  
• Patch minor tears as soon as possible.
• Spray luff tapes on both genoas and mainsails as they slide up the track, using a Mclube-style lubricant. 
• Check battens for splintering. Splintered battens should be replaced, or at least taped, so the splinters don’t harm the sail.
• Check luff slides and other hardware to make sure they are still securely attached to the sail.
• Check seam stitching to make sure it is still intact. UV can quickly damage certain threads. 
  
• Inspect head, tack, clew and reef attachments. Inspect webbing & hardware for chafe and UV damage. Inspect hand stitching.
• Inspect luff tapes and luff attachments.
• Inspect for chafe at external hardware contact points at spreaders, shrouds, stanchions etc.
• Inspect leech line, foot line and attachment system.
• Inspect sail for UV damage and proper furling side (if applicable).
• Inspect batten pocket ends, attachments and fit (if applicable).
• Inspect sail body for condition of cloth, seams, sail numbers, draft stripes and windows. Check, Replace or add telltales 
  
• Inspect miscellaneous gear: Spinnaker Snuffer line and hoop, mainsail external flaking system, headsail vertical battens, UV covers, etc.
• Inspect, rinse sail bag draw string, zippers, web straps, and label properly, lubricate zippers.
• Remove all lines wash in clean fresh water and use fabric softener to help repel salt water.
• End for end all lines.
• Check for chafing, repair any minor chafe with whipping. 

Water Tanks:

In order to insure safe and clean drinking water on board, your boat’s freshwater system needs to be sanitised if it hasn’t been used for some time.

• drain all of the water out of the storage tank.
• Measure 1 teaspoon of household bleach per 5 litres (of the tank capacity).
• Pour it inside the tank and immediately add fresh water to the tank until it’s full.
• Turn on the water pump and let the bleach water run through all taps for two minutes.
• let the bleach water sit in the tank for 24 hours. 
• When the tank is sterilised, drain the water tank by opening all taps.
• Fill the water tank with fresh water and drain all water again. 
• Repeat this procedure until the water no longer contains an odour of bleach.

Dinghy Maintenance: 

• wash down with fresh water and deal to any scuffs with “Jiff”
  
• Keep the boat covered when not in use. 
• Suntan creams and oils like coconut plasticise the fabric and make it go sticky, 
• Wipe off fuel spills immediately.
• Use a water based “sunscreen for inflatables” like “Protectant 303” on a regular basis.  A new concept is to have the boat sprayed with a UV protective clear varnish specially designed to protect vinyl signage from sun damage.  experience with the flexi-sides of large trucks and existing inflatables done in 2003.
• Heat encourages the plasticiser in the fabric to migrate to the surface where it can cause stickiness and even loss of adhesion of the seam bonds. So keep your boat as cool as possible

Check out our dinghy refurbishment project:

http://dreamtimesail.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/breathing-new-life-into-our-ageing.html

Outboard Motor Maintenance:

• While flushing the motor, check the water pump to make sure it has good water flow. 
• After flushing the engine, disconnect the fuel line (if applicable).
• Be sure to turn off the key and, if you have a battery switch, turn it off
• Take the engine cowling off and check for fuel or water leaks.
• Wipe down and spray all accessible mechanical components and moving parts with an anti-corrosive.
• Place the cowling back onto its fittings. 
• Replace spark plugs and plug wires as needed. 
• Check regularly for water in the fuel.
• Check the fuel line fittings.
• Replace the water pump impeller every two years (annually if it is used in saltwater). 
• Make sure that you only use fresh fuel.

If you need a “how to” guide for common maintenance and repair tasks, there are numerous books or internet sites here are a few of our go to’s

http://www.teamwindcraft.com/servicing-self-tailing-winches/

http://www.boats.com/how-to/five-books-for-the-do-it-yourself-boat-owner/#.WTe7tJAmKK0

http://www.instanttrust.nl/en/cleaning-boat-water-tanks/

http://www.aakronboats.co.nz/inflatable-boat-maintenance.html

http://m.wikihow.com/Maintain-an-Outboard-Motor

https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Electrical-Electronics-Bible-Information/dp/1574092421

https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/238636/standards-gas-installations-caravans-boats.pdf

https://northsails.com/sailing/

http://www.harken.com.au/uploadedFiles/Product_Support/Service/Furling_QuickService_online.pdf

http://www.harken.com/article.aspx?id=44306

http://www.oceannavigator.com/May-June-2014/Roller-furling/index.php?cparticle=2&siarticle=1#artanc

This service schedule is a guide only. Some  repairs and maintenance need to be done properly. A trained mechanics or service personnel will need to complete certain tasks anyway, even though you can do most things yourself. Things like major repairs are best done by a professional.

Thank you to all who support us through watching our videos, reading our blogs or who step up and support us though Patreon and Ko-Fi. You inspire us everyday to be creative 🙌

You can help us out and support our creative work for FREE. 

By watching, 👍, 🔔, Subscribing, Commenting and best of all Sharing this video or blog with your friends 

If you would like to make a donation towards our creative work, you can by heading over to Ko-Fi they take no fees so the support goes directly into helping us buy and upgrade equipment 

Do you want more? 

Patreon gives you that … you get behind the scenes updates, 

Patreon only photos and posts, you can watch our 

episodes ad free and before they go public … you get it first!

Another way of support is through buying from our store.

Checkout the range of books we have available 

https://payhip.com/Dreamtimesail