I ended the last post by saying that nothing interesting would happen. How wrong I was.
We had a lovely two days anchored in a little bay just out of town, clearing up and swimming. On Tuesday we were booked in to Leros marina, our new home. The engine struggled to start, but we got it going, drove out of the bay to empty the holding tank at sea and as we approached the marina on the way back the engine stalled and would not start again. Simon jumped into the dinghy, tied it alongside and towed us slowly into the marina. Fortunately there was very little wind, but still steering was very difficult - with the dinghy alongside Lin could only turn to starboard. We called to say we had no engine, but they directed us to an inside berth on an inside pontoon. It turned out later that they had not heard our call and could not see Simon in the dinghy because he was tied up on the outside. We managed to get to the pontoon and line up for the berth, but the marina people kept calling for lines and changing their mind, by which time we had drifted broadside to the berthed boats. We eventually managed to get into a berth bows too, which makes it very difficult to get on and off.
The next day a mechanic came and said that we had a lot of water in the oil and the likelihood was that the engine was severely damaged, but to work on it properly they would have to take out the engine and it could cost thousands, so they advised us to get a new engine. On balance we have decided that they are right - just a pity that we are not in Marmaris, where it is much cheaper, but Lin does not want to sail to Marmaris without an engine!
On Wednesday we went into town to watch the memorial for the Queen Olga, which was sunk on September 26 1943, along with the British ship Intrepid. In the end there was very little happening. Later in the morning a band marched along the front and then a naval vessel took some dignataries out to lay wreaths over Queen Olga.
On Thursday morning we lifted out. The engine started, but then stalled when we put it into gear and would not start again, so it was a dinghy job again. This time the outboard would not start -probably out of fuel, which we have been running down, but the marina had a dinghy to push us round this time, though they charged us 56 euros for the privilege. Now we are on land packing up and hoping that nothing else will go wrong.
Love to all
Simon and Lin
We had a lovely two days anchored in a little bay just out of town, clearing up and swimming. On Tuesday we were booked in to Leros marina, our new home. The engine struggled to start, but we got it going, drove out of the bay to empty the holding tank at sea and as we approached the marina on the way back the engine stalled and would not start again. Simon jumped into the dinghy, tied it alongside and towed us slowly into the marina. Fortunately there was very little wind, but still steering was very difficult - with the dinghy alongside Lin could only turn to starboard. We called to say we had no engine, but they directed us to an inside berth on an inside pontoon. It turned out later that they had not heard our call and could not see Simon in the dinghy because he was tied up on the outside. We managed to get to the pontoon and line up for the berth, but the marina people kept calling for lines and changing their mind, by which time we had drifted broadside to the berthed boats. We eventually managed to get into a berth bows too, which makes it very difficult to get on and off.
The next day a mechanic came and said that we had a lot of water in the oil and the likelihood was that the engine was severely damaged, but to work on it properly they would have to take out the engine and it could cost thousands, so they advised us to get a new engine. On balance we have decided that they are right - just a pity that we are not in Marmaris, where it is much cheaper, but Lin does not want to sail to Marmaris without an engine!
On Wednesday we went into town to watch the memorial for the Queen Olga, which was sunk on September 26 1943, along with the British ship Intrepid. In the end there was very little happening. Later in the morning a band marched along the front and then a naval vessel took some dignataries out to lay wreaths over Queen Olga.
On Thursday morning we lifted out. The engine started, but then stalled when we put it into gear and would not start again, so it was a dinghy job again. This time the outboard would not start -probably out of fuel, which we have been running down, but the marina had a dinghy to push us round this time, though they charged us 56 euros for the privilege. Now we are on land packing up and hoping that nothing else will go wrong.
Love to all
Simon and Lin
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