Mon 24 Jun – Getting started with the repair in Finikas

Part of yesterday’s frustration came from the fact that we had a somewhat smashed up boat and nothing we could do about it, being late on a Sunday. We had planned to do a temporary fix with Sikaflex that would probably hold until we made it into the boat yard, but the Sika we had onboard expired some time last century. 

This frustration morphed into energy and enthusiasm that propelled us out of bed early Monday morning. Finally we could do something about our situation! I went to a shop outside the marina, and entered with two things no customer has ever demanded from a single shop owner, announcing “I need to rent a car and I need some Sikaflex” as I stepped through the door, fully expecting the lady behind the counter to look bewildered and shrug her shoulders. I was surprised by her response. “I have a range of different sealants over here, or would you maybe like to try some Polyester resin? Depends on the type of repair. Oh, and the brand new Honda outside, will that do?” I was absolutely amazed. Turns out Poppi is running a little branch of her fathers chandlery business in the main town, and knows exactly what is on a sailors wish list. 

Back on the boat we fixed Bini up as good as we could. We also had an outboard engine that had taken a dive in the salt water (again!!!) so we took the patient, threw him into the trunk and made our way to Ermoupoli, the main city of Syros.

We left the patient in the local chandlers skilful hands and made our way to find the Atlas boatyard. We had read on the internet that the yard was run by father and son, and we were eager to meet them to discuss the details of the haul out. It took us a while to find the yard. Ermoupoli is built around a massive bay that is home to multiple yards, including one that has a dry dock for huge tankers. After a bit of running around we met with Stavros who is running the yard. We agreed that we would bring Bini early next morning, around 9 o’clock. That meant we would have to get up early the next morning to make the 15 miles from the South West of Syros to Ermoupoli which is up the East coast, but we didn’t mind as the dreaded Meltemi was supposed to start that day anyway and going early was our only chance to avoid the worst of it. The Meltemi is a strong wind that blows regularly in Greece and is surrounded by all kinds of sailing horror stories, so we wanted to make sure we get Bini into the yard before the monster winds would kick in.

We drove back to Finikas, did a last fuel run and returned the car before sending Camilla up the mast once again to fix our stubborn furler. This is where she discovered that the head of our forestay had suffered damage from the continued issues with the furling gear. That means replacing the forestay … great, stick it on the list!