16 September 2023 - Erikousa

Well today was interesting in several ways.  It started last night, when we were running the generator to top up the batteries. We have to do this every day when we are at anchor, as the lights we display overnight eat into our battery level.  Anyway, the generator suddenly stopped and showed a warning light to say that it had overheated. We were at the end of the charging cycle, and knowing that it would be too hot to touch, we left it for the morning.

We were up and away from our anchorage in Otranto by 7:00, and as the water was relatively flat, I got on with looking at the generator, in case it was something that would keep us in Italy to be fixed.  On opening the water filter, I found the remains of a jellyfish that had obviously been sucked in and got stuck in the filter. It stank. Cleaning it out of the filter was not a pleasant job (but we hardy sailors have to do these things).  The next thing to check was the impellor which pumps the cooling water around. These are designed to break when there is a blockage and as I expected, this is what had happened.  Fortunately, I was able to retrieve the impellor and to account for the bits that had broken off, so all that remained was to install a new one, close up and put all of the tools away.

It was then time to get the sails up and continue on our way to Greece.  The conditions were glorious, and we had 2 other yachts in front to catch and overtake.  We got the first one after about 10 miles and the second about half way across. Both were also going along nicely, but were not as big as we are and therefore could not match our speed.

We encountered the biggest school of dolphins that we have seen for a very long time. There were at least 50, spread out in a long line and looking rather like the start of the swimming element of a triathlon race.  They were moving at great speed and jumping out of the water in their exuberance.  Later we saw smaller pod and they came and played in our bow wave for 10 minutes or so.  We were going quickly, and we have noticed that it is only at speeds above 6.5 knots that the dolphins are keen to play.

We had started early as we knew that the wind would drop and this it did at about lunchtime.  However, we had covered the bulk of the distance so speed was get less important. The wind varied between 7 and 13 knots, and our progress fluctuated with it.  Finally we arrived in Erikousa, and island just to the north of Corfu, and anchored in a beautiful bay.


Miles today            55

Miles in 2023      906

Steve (and Tricia) 

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