We had to head back to Nidri to get some parts to try and fix the leak on our watermaker. Purity and volume were good but we had a bit of weepage out of the ends of the membrane housings. One of the retaining bands around the housings had split as well meaning the membranes could vibrate more than they should.
Its hot work maintaining a boat in over 30c temps
We left Palairos early afternoon in the hope the wind would have built enough for a sail. It was blowing a southerly F3 which put us a little too close hauled for a straight line to Nidri (Emerald doesn’t do sailing to windward) so motored into it for a mile to improve the angle. With full main and genny we romped along at the heady speed of…… 3kts. And that was the fastest it got. The wind gradually faded away but we stuck at it for a couple of hours until our boat speed dropped to 0.5kt giving us an arrival time in Nidri of 9pm – just as the band we were planning to see would be finishing! Still, it was good to turn the noisy engine off even for a short time and use nature to power us along.
Initial news (cautiously said, we don’t want to jinx anything) on the water maker fix is good. Most likely the grease around the fittings in the tube ends had given up and the water under pressure in the membrane tube found a way through it. The water maker spent 5 years in a garage through cold winter and southern England summer heat so no wonder it had given up the fight. We didn’t want to run it too long in the less than crystal water of Vlicho Bay but after 30 mins of running there were no leaks. Fingers crossed for a longer test in clearer water. Colin MacGyvered a new retaining band too.
We had a night on the Sailing Holidays / Iris pontoon to get laundry done and give Emerald a rinse. We made it in time for the band and had a fun evening listening to live music. ‘Steamboat Rooster’ play at the Tree bar in Nydri on Wednesday’s and Desperados on Friday’s. Great musicians with a mix of covers of rock, blues and folk songs (Pink Floyd, Pogues, The Stones, Van Morrison, Springsteen, etc).
View from the southern end of Vlicho Bay
We had a walk around the southern end of Vlicho Bay; as usual piles of rubbish everywhere but we did get to see two huge grey herons that took flight as we approached. Nice to see some wildlife.
Sailing Stuff
15th July: Palairos to Nidri: 10nm travelled – 3nm sailed
Weather: hot, dry, light southerly wind.
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