Well we have had a very busy time. As intended we set out on 18th June to sail round the 2nd tip of the Peloponnese. We left at 8am and were motoring along quietly when the engine stuttered. Svein checked the fuel lines and we found that we had infected diesel. When we bought the boat the tank was full (12oo litres) and it looked OK. Indeed we had used it without any problems up until our halt at Kalamata. We are assuming that the enforced halt with the change in temperature and the level going down has awakened the dreaded bacteria. Anyway we had no choice but to turn around. Winds were light to variable but we headed across the bay for Koroni where we could anchor and investigate the problems further whilst sitting out the strong westerlies.  As I said we left at 8am and the troubles started round 2pm. To cut a long story short we eventually anchored outside Koroni at 8am on 19th June!! Svein was exhausted as he had to do all the work as the winds were so fickle.

After he took a short snooze he investigated the engine and cleaned and replaced the fuel filters and got the engine working again on a secondary fuel system using diesel cans. He pumped out some diesel into a bottle to see its state (awful). We contacted Kalamata marina who confirmed that they had someone who could deal with the problem. As a result we headed off again direction Kalamata under engine with winds gusting from the NW. After an hour the most dreadful sound came from the engine so we switched it off and continued under sail with lots of tacking – not the easiest of tasks with a 25 ton boat. We eventually reached Kalamata marina and dropped anchor outside to wait for assistance to enter. At 7pm on 19th (after 36 hours) we were towed into the marina and berthed on the fuel berth. The mechanic came that evening and promised to return the next morning.  We both fell into bed after a shower and slept very soundly.

True to his word he and his team turned up the next morning to see what needed to be done. The mechanic managed to start the engine which was sufficient for us to move to a regular berth so that they had easier access to the boat. The mechanic started straight away to check the engine and removed the injectors so that they could be checked and repaired if required. It was arranged that they would return on Saturday (21st) to remove the fuel (800 litres) and clean the tanks. Promptly at 9am they arrived and worked solidly until after 2pm emptying the fuel and cleaning the tanks. The injectors were also brought back with new heads (despite the engine being from the 80s the workshop had original heads for our type of injector). The mechanic reinstalled the injectors and tested the engine and all is running smoothly.

All that remained was for Svein to paint the inside of the fuel tank after it had completely dried and once the paint is dry we should be able to refill on Tuesday with a hope of leaving to continue the journey on Wednesday.

Svein also tried out the new sewing machine. We noticed that one of the batten slots on the main sail  was coming apart so Svein repaired it whilst the fuel tank was being cleaned.  Unfortunately our genoa was also ripped in our adventure so early on Sunday he took it down and replaced it with the one we had found on board. As the old genoa was really tired we have thrown it away and thus made some more storage space under the bunk in the front cabin.

Today we have spent relaxing and we invited Annette and Jean Marie (our friends who live in Kalamata) to lunch at a local restaurant. It was a very good meal in very pleasant company.

Tomorrow a stock up from the supermarkets and hopefully we shall be on our way again.