Roberta and I have cruised 40,000 miles, but amazingly we have never really cruised our own home waters; the Pacific Northwest. I’m the culprit, not Roberta. I am not into fishing, and I don’t like cruising in cold water. I guess I can’t say that we’ve never cruised the area, because we did pass through here on our way to Alaska in 2009, but we were moving quickly in a hurry on our way to Japan. And, we cruised the region twenty years ago, in a much smaller boat, never making it this far nor…
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[KensBlog 2017-03] Sullivan Bay
ENVOY CRUISING AGAIN
We are now cruising aboard Envoy with our friends Frank and Marie aboard at the island of
Paxxos, south of Corfu.
Paxxos, south of Corfu.
Nearly all fire-related jobs were completed and now we’re only still awaiting the curved pilot house window and new VHF antenna but decided to commence cruising without these. Subsequently the antenna is at Lefkas awaiting our return while a temporary Plexiglas window has been made to be fitted until we can get the correct tempered glass one made. Currently we have a very temporary flexible plastic cover over the window cavity.
Envoy’s very temporary pilothouse “window”
Envoy’s very temporary pilothouse “window”
A crane lifts our newly-painted mast into position
Laurie inspects Envoy’s new hull paint
Repairs almost completed prior to launching
Envoy in the travel lift ready for launching
Other jobs were completed too.
The keel cooler was removed for internal and external cleaning and re-sealing the through hull fitting.
The windlass motor was checked and re-installed.
The air horn motor was repaired and re-installed.
Two technicians came from Athens to replace the through hull seals on the Naiad stabilisers. When doing so they found that the large stainless pins coming through the hull that the fins attach to had a little surface corrosion. So they took these back to Athens to be re-surfaced and polished. At the same time two sets of bearings on each side were replaced. They also modified the hydraulic system so that when the stabilisers are not in use the fins lock in the central position. Up to now they move around if the boat is rolling at anchor and we’ve had to use locking bolts to centre them – a process which takes about 15 minutes.
Looking down onto our stabilisers’ hydraulic rams
A new domestic fresh water filtration system has been installed.
The flush problem for our main head was resolved by replacing the outlet hose and cleaning the sea cock.
A new autopilot sender unit was installed solving an intermittent problem.
Envoy was launched on 30/6 and a sea trial confirmed that all was working well. We were ready to leave the marina on 3 July but strong winds closed the marina – the first time we can recall this happening, so we finally left on the 4th.
It sure was great to be back on the water again and we headed north towards Corfu stopping at Two Rock Bay for our first night out.
There we tested our water maker and that it ran fine, although subsequently we’ve had a problem with it. This doesn’t effect our cruising though as here are plenty of places to get fresh water ashore using our tote tanks. We also have a problem with our inverter so next week will go into Corfu’s Mandraki Marina to resolve these issues. Again the inverter doesn’t stop us cruising as we simply use the generator to produce AC power – indeed we have to run the genset for three hours daily for refrigeration.
Next posting – more on inverter problem and our fun times with Frank and Marie
Crookhaven
Crookhaven Harbour is among the nicest anchorages in southwestern Ireland. We spent three nights there and visited Brow Head, Mizen Head, and of course stopped at the famous O’Sullivans to enjoy “The most southerly pint in Ireland”. The video below shows aerial footage of Dirona and the harbour, and trip highlights from June 17th through…
[KensBlog] 2017-02 Dent Island to Port McNeil
Greetings all! Roberta and I have started our 2017 cruising season! After a week of spoiling ourselves at Dent Island Lodge (sleeping on the boat but enjoying the resort’s great service and amenities) we started plotting our route to reach the Broughton Islands, near the tip of Vancouver Island, approximately 300 miles south of Ketchikan Alaska. Plotting Our Course I mentioned in my last blog entry that Dent Island is surrounded by rapids. Water flow through these islands happens as th…
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[KensBlog] 2017-02 Dent Island to Port McNeil
Greetings all! Roberta and I have started our 2017 cruising season! After a week of spoiling ourselves at Dent Island Lodge (sleeping on the boat but enjoying the resort’s great service and amenities) we started plotting our route to reach the Brou…
Mizen Head
The Mizen Head Signal Station was built in 1909 to sound a fog signal warning ships away from the dangerous headland at the southwest tip of Ireland. The signal station sits on the tip of the peninsula (far left on the photo above), cutoff from the mainland by a deep chasm, with a bridge spanning…
Brow Head
During the Napoleonic-era, a signal tower was built at Brow Head near Crookhaven, Ireland. A century later, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph company installed telegraphic equipment on Fastnet Rock and a station on Brow Head. Passing ships signaled the Fastnet Lighthouse and the keepers relayed the message wirelessly to Brow Head for transmission to the final…
For The Dog Lovers
Those of us who frequent the Bahamas love these dogs…Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
Sherkin to Crookhaven
Leaving Sherkin Island, we checked out the tiny harbour on Cape Clear Island, then did two laps around Fastnet Rock before stopping for the night in beautiful Crookhaven Harbour, home of Ireland’s most southerly pint. En route we saw another castle and two ancient watchtowers, plus plenty of dramatic scenery. Trip highlights from June 16,…
[Kensblog]Starting the season in style – Dent Island Lodge
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