Our first evening at anchor, in Ormos Vlikho, was slightly spoiled by one thing. The pump on one of our Jabsco marine heads (loo!) had developed a very slight leak. Richard discovered it at 6.45pm, and was already lining up screwdrivers, hammers [Ed – really?], his trusty Leatherman, and calling for containers into which to place screws, bolts, bits of loo etc.
Forget the fact it would soon be dark, forget the fact we were swinging on the hook, he was going to take it apart and look at it NOW. I managed to convince him that it would be better to look at it when we were in harbour, in Fiskardo (our next planned stop). I had even tracked down a chandler’s in Fiskardo village and I rang him. R pointed out the lateness of the hour and told me no-one would be there. “Yasass”, said a voice (I know that’s not how you actually spell it). I explained the problem. “What you need is a service pack”, said the voice cheerfully. “Yes” I replied cheerfully (did we?), and arranged to meet Mikas at his shop the next day. I waggled a cold beer in front of Richard (think Father Jack and a bottle of Irish whiskey [Ed – really?]) and we put aside the problem for the evening.
The next day, we motored into Fiskardo harbour for the eighth time in our lives. Richard and I had come here on holiday many years ago, before we sailed. We hired a little motor boat for five days, with an even smaller engine, and put-putted our way around to bays inaccessible by road. We read, swam, ate Greek salad for lunch that I’d made that morning, and generally loved the place. We shuddered as we looked at the Sunsail flotilla, three boats deep on the key, and agreed we’d never be interested in that.
Some years later in 2001, we arrived in Fiskardo harbour (the sixth time) on our first-ever sailing holiday. The harbour was hugely busy, and as there was no space on either of the quays, we anchored near the northern shore and took a long line ashore.
The next day, we entered the harbour for the seventh time, looking for our dinghy which had become detached from the boat at some point when we sailed away. Who on earth had tied it on last? Alas, dear reader, the individual in question is the one that Sir Humphrey described as being defined by the perpendicular pronoun. But in my defence, I had not been on any sailing courses at that point [Ed - a decent granny knot would have done]. We found the dinghy nestling in the Sunsail flotilla (yes, still three deep), and the Sunsail rep didn’t seem too amused when we asked for our dinghy back.
Incidentally, you may be amused to know that of all the charter boats that went out that week, we were told by the shore crew that we had covered the most distance and used the least fuel of any yacht. If you’ve ever been sailing with Richard, you’ll know he is still true to that form today. [Ed – 'Save the Planet' and all that…]
And so it was that we motored into Fiskardo harbour on Saturday for the eighth time. I’d also brought my parents here for a holiday a few years before, and was expecting to see a buzzing place, busy tavernas, tables laid out on the quayside etc. But it was empty. Well, almost empty. The west wall was the only quay where we could moor Missy Bear, as the south is too shallow for us. Luckily, there was one space available so we parked up. We were planning to stay for three nights as strong winds were forecast for Sunday and Monday.
We went to the Port Police to register our arrival (you can’t take the flotilla hostie out of this girl). And then we went to visit Mikas in the chandlers, but he wasn’t there. We told the shop girl we would come back later with the loo pump and check the model.
Back on the boat, we settled down to business, as it were. The marine pump was disassembled and Richard cleaned the base of the pump, the base gasket, and the joker valve. Look at me with my technical terms! I found YouTube videos on potential problems, kept the screws separate on hand-sketched diagrams so we knew where they had to be refitted, and wielded bottles of white vinegar and bicarb sprays to help clean the pieces. We couldn’t see any cracks or other leaks. The Jabsco YouTube video showed a man putting the pump back together without any marine grease, so we did the same.
Richard pumped water in, and water spewed out. The slight leak that had been present the night before had now turned into Niagara Falls. “Well, that didn’t work”, said Richard. He took it apart again, and went back to the chandlers. This time, Mikas was there. He showed us the spares packs and told us the joker valve was his best-selling item during the summer months. We replaced the gasket and the joker valve. Test flush was successful! Hurrah for Super Mario!!
Now, I mentioned earlier that we had been unable to get on the quay during our first sailing holiday. It’s a very popular place with land and yacht-based tourists. It has beautiful Venetian architecture and is crammed with tavernas, and little chic shops selling all sorts of beautiful things. It’s not a cheap place to visit. I was rather hoping we’d be able to find a lovely salad bowl to replace the blue plastic thing that we’d chosen as the least of a bad job from LeClerc in France. But absolutely everything was closed, except for a supermarket, and one solitary bar (crepes and burgers though rather than Greek food).
But we were quite happy to have an apero ashore and then eat on the boat. [Ed – the dry rose wine was delicious]. We were even happier knowing we’d fixed the marine pump, and had shelter from the wind, forecast to be gusting at 40 knots on Sunday night (Force 9).
The following day (Sunday), I suggested that we follow a hiking trail called the Cypress Way. It followed a path up through the wooded slopes, and across to a bay around from Fiskardo. The path was rocky, uneven and very steep. And it disappeared from time to time, but offered gorgeous views and lots of spring flowers. Spring is such a lovely time of year to visit Greece.
We called into the chandlers to buy a few more spares, and got chatting to Mikas. He told us that in 2020, the year the pandemic kicked off, the tavernas were worried, along with everyone else, that they were going to lose income. But the reverse was true. Apparently, everyone thought this may be their last summer, and they ate like kings – fantastic fish, and lobsters all the way. They still had a reasonable season in 2021, although much shorter due to travel restrictions.
But now, everyone is worried about the cost-of-living increase, and using electrical appliances much more frugally. For example, in Preveza, we almost walked past a taverna because the lights were off and we thought it was closed. But, when we peered through the window, the staff were all working, it’s just they were saving the energy! And now in Frikes in Ithaca, the lovely woman who owns the fabulous little supermarket said that she would not stock chilled items until she was sure that tourists were coming. You can’t afford to keep a fridge running for nothing.
True to the forecast in Fiskardo, the wind started coming up on the Sunday afternoon, but not too strong to prevent us going ashore for aperos.
“It’s my kind of town, Fiskardo is!”. And it didn’t turn into the windy city, so you can’t ask for more than that!
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