Not the End of an Era...Yet

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Marina:  It was not the end of an era thanks to Ross and Jessie still wanting to go sailing and friends who committed to join us, which makes it all worth the effort. So, Matt and I headed out of Vancouver on June 22nd and three flights and a taxi ride later we arrived in Cleopatra Marina. We were pretty tired after over 24 hours of travelling but it was still just light enough to wander through the boat yard and see the mighty Tara on blocks, then walk to Food & More to reunite with Freyda and staff and get ourselves a dose of sleep assist (wine for me, beer for Matt). Around 11:30 pm we got back to our lovely little air conditioned room and crashed. 

What was put away, must be put back. 

Matt:  We got up around 05:00 with Marina going to the bathroom very noisily and with many lights on.  I started laughing at her as she was so loud it was like she was being deliberate (but she wasn't). Anyway, sleep was done due to jet lag so we decided to get up and head to the boat. By 08:00 we had the deck washed, the life raft up, fenders hung, batteries charging, power on, gas connected and water working. A lot accomplished so we headed to Food and More for an eggs, bacon and toast breakfast. Once satiated we went back to the boat and got the sails and the cushions on deck, helm wheels on and cockpit canvas up, halyards down and tied off, and mooring ropes ready to go. Our neighbours came by and told us of a birds nest in our exhaust and a wasps nest in a vent. We had been on our way back to the room (as we ran out of gas and were ready for a nap) when we talked to them ... so it added a few more items to our todo list. After a 4 hour nap we went back to Food and More for spaghetti bolognese and penne chicken. We then beetled back to Tara and got at it again. In the evening we put out more cushions, put the interior together, and got rid of the wasps in 2 different vents. One we blew out of bilge pump #2 and another we used a chopstick to pull out pieces until it was gone. Then we lit up the engine and blew out the birds nest (thankfully without birds or eggs in it) and finally lifted the anchor up. I had a bit of a start when the switch stuck on ... another glitch but it cleared itself. After the sails are on we’ll be good to go - pretty darn good for one day's work! 

Up really early again the next morning but were fairly relaxed because of all the work we'd done yesterday. After breakfast I went into Preveza on the 10 am back at noon shuttle to do paperwork and pick up a few groceries. After paperwork and fees, we were ready to put Tara into the water, scheduled drop time was 2 pm. We scarfed down some food at Food & More and at 13:45 walked over to Tara. 

The guys showed up at 13:50 and started knocking out supports and helping us get sorted disconnecting the electricity and water. The travelift showed up right on time, picked her up and drove her to the dock. In the water, the Yanmar instantly lit up and we were ready to go after checking for leaks ... the downside of 5 heads is that we have something like 20 seacocks ... sheesh. No leaks, so we proceeded to back into our slip. They put us between another 50 foot sailboat and a 46’ powerboat ... not my best landing but I contend that the guy on the dock panicked and if he’d have just shut up I’d have greased it. Big problem was that the powerboat didn’t have enough fenders out and we are incompatible boats side by side. Their bow flare messes with our stanchions. Our love affair with Bonnie (the dinghy) came to an end today. She was deflated within about 1/2 hour of when we put her in the water. Our idea of selling her is starting to disappear too ... we might leave her at Preveza with a “Free” sign ... or maybe burial at sea. We also had some fun with a head that wouldn’t work — Marina fixed it. Turned out there was yet another wasp nest, this one in the pipe. Remember to close the seacocks next time we are at Cleopatra. The weather has been dodgy so we’ve been unable to put the sails up .. so we’re still a bit of a powerboat. The usual lovely evening at Food & More and our first sleep on board. 

We fall in love with every dog.
 These are two that hang around Cleopatra.
Mother and daughter we think. 

The next morning we got up early and decided that with the wind, yet again, there was no chance to put the sails up, so we puttered around, filled up with water and waited for the fridge technician to show up. He came at 10 am and then we were waiting for the new dinghy to be launched. Bonnie looks pretty sad with no air in her. The new one is a foot shorter .. so we’ll see whether we like her as much. They said she was ready at the launch site so I went over and rowed her to Tara. She's lighter and feels smaller so pros and cons to be evaluated with use. 

We skedaddled out of Cleo around 13:00 in light rain and then dropped a hook in front of Preveza as the wind was up to 10 knots. We then waited for better weather ... a lull came and we got the mainsail up quick as we could and no glitches. Then it got windier and we decided to wait to raise the jib. The witching hour of 4 pm came and we both ran out of gas and had naps. I think I made it through 10 pages of my book before I was sawing logs. Marina came and got me to raise the jib as there was a lull in the wind, but by the time we were ready it was up again. We haven’t seen unsettled conditions like these in Preveza before ... interesting. We decided to bag the jib and go ashore for pizza but we had a gas leak in the outboard that I didn’t want to fix sitting in the little boat bobbing around, so I’ll get to it tomorrow. That led to a nice pasta dinner on board with tomato and olive sauce and some canned meatballs that were surprisingly excellent. I looked at my watch and it was already 11 pm ... WTF? ... I guess when you nap 4 hours during the day it seems like the days are really short.