We’re always up for an opportunity to take in a world-class sporting event, even if it’s a sport that is new to us. So when we heard that a FIM Motocross World Championship contest was being held about twenty miles from Trollhattan in Uddevalla, Sweden, we just had to attend. Last year’s racing drew 30,000…
Tag Archives | Nordhavn
Trollhattan Locks
The first set of locks were completed at Trollhattan in 1800 as part of the Trollhatte Canal to connect Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast with the industry in Lake Vanern. In 1844 a second set of locks was constructed to match the maximum dimensions of the newly-completed Gota Canal, allowing ships to travel between…
Dalsland Canal
The Dalsland Canal was conceived in the mid-1800s to provide a communications route through roadless areas of western Sweden. Only short sections of canal between large lakes would need to be built, so the construction was relatively cost-effective. Haverud rapids, however, were a major obstacle. Nils Ericson, the designer of the Trollhatte Canal and the…
Trollhattan Falls
The Trollhattan Falls have been a tourist attraction since the 18th century, but no longer flow since the Gota Alv river was dammed for power in the early 1900s. At scheduled times in the summer, the falls are released as a tourist attraction, sending over 300,000 liters of water pour second gushing into the gorge….
ENVOY DETAINED AFTER EPIRB ACCIDENTALLY ACTIVATES
Envoy is currently anchored at Lefkada Island.
With Envoy’s new owners, Larry and Catherine aboard we have left Italy’s Santa Maria di Leuca at first light bound for Greece.
For those who don’t know, an EPRB is an emergency position indicating radio beacon and when activated provides rescue authorities with your vessel details and position. You wouldn’t use it unless in case of dire emergency combined with inability to give your position by VHF radio.
Just north of the Greek island of Othoni our old EPIRB with an expired battery, which I had kept on board activated by itself. This causes a Coastguard boat to come out from Othoni island to check we are OK as well as radio calls from Olympia Radio, the Greek rescue authorities. We explain both by VHF radio to Olympia Radio and in person to the Coastguard people alongside us that the EPIRB had activated by itself with no human intervention and I thought that might be the end of it – but no such luck. The Coastguard said we would have to go to the closest port – a small but lovely village on the south side of Othoni island called Ammou and would not be permitted to leave until Envoy had been surveyed for safety.
Port Authority building at Ammou where the Coastguard are based
Port Authority building at Ammou where the Coastguard are based
Well obviously there are no surveyors on Othoni and there’s only an infrequent ferry service to Corfu. I ask the Coastguard if we can go to Corfu for the survey but they say no. I imagine this situation drawing out into many days and having to hire a water taxi to get a surveyor out to us. I’m also concerned about Larry and Catherine – although we’re at a lovely bay they wouldn’t want to spend the whole remaining time of their trip here and how would they get to Corfu to catch their ferry back to Italy? I also have concerns about the “survey”. Few boats would pass a comprehensive survey without some preparation and we don’t have that opportunity.
So I get our agent A1 Yachting involved and once again they perform great, putting me in touch with a Greek/Australian surveyor based in Corfu who soon manages to get permission from Coastguard for Envoy to move to Corfu’s Gouvia marina. Even for this to happen he also had to get a letter of approval from the NZ Consulate in Athens. After arriving in Gouvia we find that our berth is very close to the Port Police base and assume they want to keep an eye on us. It takes five days for the necessary checks to be made and paperwork completed. The “survey” in fact turns out only to involve de-registering our old EPIRB, registering the new one we already have on board, checking our VHF and making some modifications to it. You can’t rush bureaucracy but Larry and Catherine weren’t fussed as it gave them a few days to see Corfu and for Catherine and Di to enjoy doing some shopping together.
We also hire a car and visit Corfu’s west coast village of Paleokastritsa and the remote mountain village of Palia Perithia. Here we have lunch at a taverna patronised by Rick Stein, but unfortunately on our visit all find the meals a bit under-whelming, even though the taverna itself is atmospheric.
My final involvement with the epirb situation is to go to the Coastguard’s Corfu office to pick up our clearance to leave. The surveyor says this will take 10 minutes but in fact it takes about three hours, mainly waiting around for people. Corfu’s main Coastguard office has about 80 people working there and it’s hard to find the right one to deal with. Finally I manage to find the right guy and he is reasonably friendly, even organising a coffee for me. He initially seems to find complications, but suddenly hands me some documents and tells me Envoy is free to leave.
So we leave the marina – free people again and have a nice few days cruising the bay’s north of Corfu. During this time we’re anchored in a large bay when two large twin-engined seaplanes come zooming down and skim across the water filling their sea water tanks for fire fighting. They do this several times and we jole that we’ve put this show on especially for Larry and Catherine.
We never did get an explanation on how the EPIRB may have self-activated, but the local expert said it was unlikely to be caused by the expired battery. Anyway I think the lessons here are don’t keep an EPIRB with an expired battery aboard, but de-register and dispose of it and make sure you register your new one immediately after purchase.
So we leave the marina – free people again and have a nice few days cruising the bay’s north of Corfu. During this time we’re anchored in a large bay when two large twin-engined seaplanes come zooming down and skim across the water filling their sea water tanks for fire fighting. They do this several times and we jole that we’ve put this show on especially for Larry and Catherine.
We never did get an explanation on how the EPIRB may have self-activated, but the local expert said it was unlikely to be caused by the expired battery. Anyway I think the lessons here are don’t keep an EPIRB with an expired battery aboard, but de-register and dispose of it and make sure you register your new one immediately after purchase.
After several more days cruising in Corfu Larry and Catherine leave us, looking very much forward to starting their very own Envoy adventures.
This unusual vessel noticed in Corfu has a helicopter hanger on its stern
This unusual vessel noticed in Corfu has a helicopter hanger on its stern
Next day we clear-out of Greece to spend a week or so cruising in Albania.
We thought this rock looks like a bear sitting down
We thought this rock looks like a bear sitting down
Lake Vanern
After a busy, but fun, couple of weeks along the Gota Canal, we took it easy for a few days to enjoy some lake cruising on Lake Vanern and catch up on a few boat projects before heading through the Trollhatte Canal and back to sea level. 2,180 sq mi (5,650 sq km) Lake Vanern…
Lacko Slott
The medieval castle Lacko Slott is a dramatic sight at the south end of Lake Vanern, Sweden. Construction of the castle began in the 13th century as a bishop’s fort and it became a royal castle under King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. The fortification was expanded and renovated over the next four centuries…
Gota Canal Day 12: Sjotorp
Twelve days after we’d entered at Mem, we exited the Gota Canal at Sjotorp. We likely would have spent a few more days along the canal at a slightly slower pace, but the following day the canal switches from the high season, where locks are individually manned and boaters can pass through on their own…
RETURN TO ENVOY AFTER A SHORT BREAK BACK HOME
Envoy is currently cruising to Preveza, mainland Greece. Still having problems loading images so that’s why there’s not many.
Late in the evening of Sunday 28 July we arrive back to Envoy berthed at Taranto in Italy. There’s a 20 knot wind blowing and the boat is moving around making it tricky to get our luggage back aboard across a bouncing passarelle. All is as we left it except that we inadvertently closed the fridge door (we usually leave it wedged open when its not operating) and in the high heat a bit of mould had formed inside. However this is soon cleaned up.
Next day the marina lends us a car and driver to take us to a supermarket a couple of km away where we do a huge shop to re-supply. It’s fun in these smallish and unfamiliar Med supermarkets, but there always seems to be a shortage of trolleys.
Taranto is interesting but seems a bit run down with a lot of derelict, unoccupied buildings.
Next day we cruise back to Porti di Caesareo – already mentioned previously. Some locals take a shine to us and insist on taking us ashore for coffee and delicious cake.
That night Envoy rolls a bit and our RHIB, which is lifted out of the water at the transom, moves around and abrades some of our sign writing off the stern. Fortunately we have some spare decals aboard so this can be easily remedied.
Gallipoli
Envoy’s new owners – Larry and Catherine from Brisbane are due to join us shortly for a couple of weeks so our agent had arranged a marina berth in Portolano marina at the beautiful town of Gallipoli.
This “marina” is a bit of a joke really – there’s just a floating pontoon making a poor attempt at blocking waves from the open sea and it’s quite rough inside. The lazy lines connecting the mooring lines to the jetty are far too short so they are more or less floating and one get’s caught up in our bow thruster – damn! Last time this happened we had to pull Envoy from the water to free it at a cost of nearly a thousand bucks. More on this soon.
Fortunately we are bow on to the swell so it’s not too uncomfortable, but at one stage our passarelle is moving through a range of about a metre up and down.
We arrive there early afternoon and by late afternoon there’s a strong wind blowing directly into the marina, which has little room to manoever as it’s really of a size for smaller trailerable boats.
A twin-engined displacement motor boat slightly larger than Envoy arrives to berth next to Envoy. As the boat comes in I can see the skipper has no idea what he’s doing and he allows his boat to be taken so far downwind that there’s no chance of him turning stern-to the jetty. His boat slams broadside into Envoy and the two boats next to us. Where he hits Envoy is the forward end of our anchor, which is now making a good job of grinding into his teak capping rail and adjacent gelcoat. The skipper’s wife rushes out and attempts to push their boat off, but the on-scene marinaras and myself warn her away – there’s a real risk of serious injury. I put out our heaviest duty fender to try to minimise damage to the other boat but it soon bursts with the pressure – later the other skipper pays me for it. The skipper then makes things worse by using power and wrapping a mooring line around one of his props. The marinaras then use their large RHIB to tow the boat upwind and back outside the marina. One of the marinaras takes over the boat’s helm and to his credit does an excellent job of docking her even with one engine unusable. He lines up the boat at the entrance and reverses at remarkably high speed straight into the empty berth next to Envoy. The other boat also needs a diver and we are told to expect him next day at 0700. I am very sceptical about this – nothing happens during early mornings in the Med. My scepticism proves waranted when he arrives about 1000. Then he does a great job of removing the lines fouling our bow thruster and our neighbour’s prop.
Next day Larry and Catherine arrive. It’s Catherine’s first time aboard and she likes Envoy very much. They aren’t really concerned by the primitive marina, but meanwhile we have organised a berth at Bleu Salento marina inside Gallipoli harbour for the next two nights. Bleu Salento is only slightly dearer at 120 Euros per night but is perfectly sheltered with properly laid lines and plenty of room to manoever.
We organise a rental car and do a couple of days touring the local area including the stunning town of Lecce, already covered in a previous posting.
Great view from cafe near Gallipoli
Great view from cafe near Gallipoli
Larry and Catherine quickly adjust to shipboard life and we cruise to Santa Maris di Leuca to anchor off the marina. During the night the wind changes to onshore making for a rather uncomfortable night – at least we thought so, but Larry and Catherine didn’t seem to mind. We set off at first light heading for Greece on what would turn out to be an eventful day.
Oil Tanker Tour
It’s getting increasingly difficult for the general public to see the details behind large commercial ships and even harder to tour chemical and oil tankers. Partly the crews are busy at work and partly there are safety and security concerns, but the net result is limited ability to see the details behind how these advanced…
