This web page contains the logs of a sailing trip that I and my wife Alice took with S/Y Thetis in the East Aegean in Greece. The logs cover a period of 4 days of sailing from Partheni in Leros, where Thetis was launched, to Samos (Mycale, Samos Marina) via the islands of Archangelos, and Agathonisi.
The logs include some historical and geographical descriptions of the places visited as well as several links to other related web sites.
Tuesday May 24, 2011, Day 1
Today it was hoped that all remaining work will be completed and that Thetis will be launched.
In the morning, we went shopping for provisions and also had a water and diesel fuel delivery. Now both water and fuel tanks, as well as all the jerry cans, were filled.
By early afternoon all work was finished and Thetis was launched at 1645. There did not seem to be any problems: water, engine, etc.
We departed Partheni (Παρθένι) at 1720 and motored to 1.8 M to our favorite cove in nearby Archangelos (Αρχάγγελος) [37° 11.9' N 26° 46.3' E] where we arrived at 1735. We anchored without any difficulty in 6 m depth and let out 40 m of chain. But on the way we found several problems:
- The SeaTalk data bus used by the instruments to communicate with each other did not work.
- The autopilot actuator arm seemed to had been wired in reversed polarity.
- There was an appreciable amount of water in the bilge.
On the other hand, the water-maker worked alright. We tested the new davits by lowering and raising the dinghy several times. It will take several more times to get used to this new system. The new solar panels worked very well although the sky was cloudy. After our arrival we also checked the outboard and the genset.
For dinner we cooked some pasta.
Wednesday May 25, 2011, Day 2
After some more troubleshooting we raised the dinghy but its wire-rope sling broke and so it was not well balanced. I spoke with Mastro-Michalis, the technical manager of Agmar Marine (now called Moor & Dock), on the mobile phone informing him of all these problems, and at 1100 we raised the anchor and motored back to Partheni (Παρθένι) where we moored side-to at 1115.
After lunch Panayiotis, the electrician and all around troubleshooter, came and addressed all the outstanding problems: he fixed the SeaTalk bus, found a loose leaking through-hull, re-wired the autopilot actuator, and replaced the dinghy wire-rope sling.
We departed at 1630 and by 1645 we were once again back in Archangelos.
Thursday May 26, 2011, Day 3
We departed from Archangelos at 0900 heading for Agathonisi. Shortly after we left, the autopilot was indicating a heading that was way off our actual heading. We re-calibrated its fluxgate compass by slowly making three 360° turns and then entering the heading indicated by the magnetic compass. This seemed to work for a while, but it kept loosing its calibration. In the meantime, the water-maker did not draw in any sea-water while its motor was pumping.
I called Panayiotis on the mobil phone and, following his advice, I bled the water-maker intake lines. This did the trick. I also tightened the contacts between the fluxgate compass and the autopilot controller. While we were doing all this we were motoring because the wind was a light 8-12 knot breeze.
We arrived at the Gaidouravlako (Γαϊδουραύλακκο) cove in Agathonisi [37° 27.2' N 26° 57.65' E] at 1240 after 19.5 M. We anchored in 5 m depth and let out 35 m of scope.
Friday May 27, 2011, Day 4
We departed from Agathonisi at 0835 for Samos. We were anxious to get to Samos fairly quickly because on June 2 my cousin Connie Newcomb, her husband Jim, their daughter Margaret, and son Andrew will arrive in Samos. They have reserved a charter boat for a 10 day charter starting on June 3. We have promised to go with them with Thetis.
The wind was still light, 10-12 knots from the ENE and we had to motor with a heading of 358. The autopilot and the water-maker were now working. At 1140 and after 20.5 M we arrived at the Mycale Bay (Μυκάλη) [37° 42.2' N 27° 0.5' E] in Samos where we anchored in 4.5 m with 30 m of chain.
Here there was some swell but it was not too uncomfortable. We rested, swam, and had lunch. The sky was full of heavy clouds. In the late afternoon there was a heavy downpour. The head pump stopped drawing in sea-water.
We departed from the cove at 1840 and motored the 2.9 M to the Samos Marina (Σάμος Μαρίνα) [37° 41.4' N 26° 57.3' E] hoping to beat the next impending rain. We were not so lucky. The deluge caught us as we were entering the marina at 1855. We were directed to our slip and we moored bow-to since we could not now go stern-to while the dinghy was on its davits.
We spent the night aboard Thetis, having a not so satisfactory meal at the marina restaurant the old Steak House has now been renamed Mama’s Annas. I also rented a small car from Aramis.
This is the end of the first trip.
Saturday May 27 to Wednesday June 1, 2011
While Thetis stayed at the marina. Alice and I moved to our house in Kalami.
During this time I bought a stapler gun and stapled the velcro (usually referred to in Greek as “chratch-chratch”) strips to hold down the cushions on the new benches in the main cabin. Also, I washed down the very dirty deck and cockpit with the pressure hose.
I bled the head pump and now it was drawing sea-water properly.