Boatyard – Compass heading 180°

Bits and Pieces of Summer 2022

October 14, 2022 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

Our sailboat photographed from above while climbing the mast

Summer 2022 was filled with boat projects and leisurely day sails. We even spent several weeks just floating at anchor. Most mornings we felt like unfurling the sails and travelling into the next bay. Then, the day’s heat descended upon us and it was much more tempting to stay put in the shadow of the cockpit tent. We’re here to enjoy the cruising life, not to execute plans or cross things off a bucket list. It’s okay to stop whenever we want to, and it’s okay to go on indefinitely. Continue reading

Distress in Greek Waters – Don’t Press That Red Button!

September 3, 2021 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

What happens if you end up in a distress situation in Greece, and call the coast guards? We tested, and lived to tell the story. Continue reading

The Strange Year 2020 – Sweat and Social Distancing

December 31, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

At the beginning of the year 2020 we delved into boat projects aboard our sailboat Aina. At that point nobody knew that the world was about to turn upside down. Greece went into total lockdown in March, but we just kept on working. Read more about our time during the spring lockdown in Messolonghi! Continue reading

Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 3: Thru hulls

August 15, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

Greetings from an idyllic cove in the Ionian, where we are anchoring in crystal clear water! We did eventually get back in the water, but this post is still about our boat’s bottom renovation, its third and last part. Replacing our thru hulls was the actual reason for our boatyard visit, but then we discovered more pressing matters with the hull. I wrote about them in the previous posts, parts 1 and 2. Continue reading

Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 2: Painting

July 28, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

The warning given in our last post still stands: This blog post is about DIY boat refit. We had finally finished sanding our boat’s hull, and because no moisture was found and hardly any other damage, we could start painting on the epoxy barrier coat straight away. Continue reading

Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: Sanding

July 10, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 3 Comments

Warning: This blog post is about DIY boat refit. Perhaps in the near future we will be back in the water, which might mean sailing stories from the eternal Ionian archipelago. In the meanwhile, we find ourselves up on the hard, in the pequliarly immobile sailboat, where the refit continues. So hang in there, if sanding and coating a boat’s hull is not exactly your thing – something else is coming! But if you’re into DIY on a boat, by all means keep reading. Just to make sure, though – this is not meant as a how-to for anyone contemplating on a similar project, it’s just our own experience of doing it. Feel free to ask more, if you’re interested! Continue reading

Not What We Had Planned

June 22, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

If you choose to cruise around on a sailboat, your life will be full of surprises. Often positive – apparently more positive than negative, if you still feel enthusiastic about the lifestyle two years on. But eventually something bad will hit you, something that will make you weigh your motives. Continue reading

Towards the Boatyard – Mini Holiday on Meganisi

June 17, 2020 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

After leaving our winter base, Messolonghi, we rounded the southwestern corner of mainland Greece. Next to a small but very high, rugged island called Oxia we hoisted the sails for the first time. Our destination was a boatyard on the island of Lefkas, to the northwest, where our boat would be lifted out and we would spend a month or so doing boat projects “on the hard”. But before that, we would have a little mini holiday of at least a couple of days, and we planned to use it anchoring in pretty coves and getting a little first glimpse of the Ionian archipelago. Continue reading

on Kythira – a Bend in the RoadGlad you enjoyed it, thank you!
on Kythira – a Bend in the RoadThank you for this. Love it!
on Merry Christmas 2022!Thank you! Have a lovely winter!
on Merry Christmas 2022!Merry Christmas to you both from the crew of Temptress. Enjoy your winter adventures
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingThanks for quick reply, my thoughts are same, start using the chemical paint removal till we reach a surface that we can paint over.
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingHi Cornel, we're really not experts on this, but you'll probably find the original gelcoat under the layers of antifouling if you remove everything. On our boat the gelcoat had been peeled off completely, probably because of blisters. You might be fine painting new antifouling on top of old if you can find out what's been used before. Or keep removing layers until you find one that sticks, and paint over that. If you need to remove all paint, I think using chemical paint removal might be the best way.
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingHi there, We bought a boat this summer, and it looks like we need to strip all antifouling layers next season. Here and there, some patches of antifouling are falling off in places reveling some darker paint/surface underneath. The main question is how do we know if the boat has been epoxied before? I am thinking that at some point someone used a different antifouling and now it's just falling off. Cheers, Cornel / Finland
on Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQHi Mario, we're thinking of staying in the Aegean side next winter. But Messolonghi is a very nice town and there's a small but friendly liveaboard community in the marina, definitely recommend because of that. Not sure how the marina business is nowadays, though, but they've been pretty quick to answer emails in the past. It was very affordable when we were there, and the facilities were fine. https://www.messolonghimarina.com/
on Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQHi, We are thinking to winter in Messolonghi, some months on the water some on yardh Do you recomend? Do you go to pass this winter to? Thanks.
on Jump to the Peloponnese: Pylos, Methoni and KalamataAmazing !!!
on Nidri, Lefkas – and more waiting!Not heading home this year. Probably overwinter in Messolonghi .

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Sailing Adventure Towards Warmer Waters

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