We arrived at the boat yard in Vliho bay at noon expecting Harris to jump straight on board and start fixing the wooden (Iroko) seats on the gantry. However things weren’t going as planned and he suggested calling back at 3. We were expecting to have to return on Monday. However eventually at 5 he called us and said he was ready on the yard’s pontoon. Three hours later, and after a walk into Nidri where by chance we met up for a drink with Rob and Lizzie, whom we first met 2 years ago in Lyon as we travelled through France, and dinner at the Iris Hotel, Harris had finished, and what an excellent job!
Vliho Bay is colloquially know as velcro bay!, as sailors tend to stick there, so we followed suit, with two more days relaxing in what is a very safe and sheltered anchorage (except see below). Sunday saw us going to the Yacht Club to catch up on a load of laundry, and of course Sunday roast, with Rob and Lizzie and Annette and Steve from Southampton.
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been conscious of water leaking into the bilge. It wasn’t yellow or brown (good) and from a taste test it wasn’t salty. I therefore suspected either of the 2 fresh water tanks or their associated plumbing. So on Monday morning we negotiated a pit stop at the IBA Pontoon for a fill up with water (at a cost of €5). So before we filled I lifted the sole boards, seat cushions to look for leaks. I finally traced the problem to a large leak in the Whale pump under the Galley sink, which being lower than the the top tank was leaking it straight to the bilge. So a final trip to George’s chandlery to get a service kit. Unfortunately not in stock, however he was able to get one from Athens for Tuesday at noonish. After a night in Tranquility Bay at the entrance of Vliho Bay, we called George to be told it wouldn’t turn up till the evening. We’d definitely had enough of waiting around so we eventually set off for a gentle sail to a sheltered bay across on the mainland.
(Vliho Bay, with its fairly narrow entrance channel from the north and all round mountains appear to offer 330°protection from virtually all wind directions. Normally this is the case. However very occasionally the bay appears to seed local tornado generation and a few years ago, several boats were sunk in what were very local extreme conditions)
