Logbook Entry

Dates: 09/04/09 – 09/05/09
Distance: 34 nm
Sailed from: Corfu, Greece
Lat: 39°14’N
Long: 20°08’E

After three days of fidgeting with the leak in the hot water heater, we think it’s finally fixed. If you’re reading this, you might ask, “Why is a hot water so essential in such a warm climate?” And the answer is that it is not really essential, but the heater is connected to the engine. When the engine runs, it heats the water in the tank, and we really don’t want to undo the whole installation if we don’t have to. It was amazing to find that the manufacturer did not use stainless steel bolts to hold the gasket and plate of the heating element to the wall of the water heater. These had failed and then broke while removing them for inspection, hence the leak. Since we couldn’t get the parts for our American-made unit here in Greece, the mechanic fitted up some new ones and made a custom gasket. It should hold us until we can get spares and/or replace the unit.

The bolts were tightened one last time before we departed at noon today for a lovely sail to Paxos. We anchored next to Fluer de Lune and enjoyed a peaceful night of watching the sunset and the moon rise. There were several dozen cruising sailboats and charter boats in the anchorage that night — a mix of Swiss-, Swedish-, British-, French-, German-, Italian- and Greek-flagged vessels floating in the turquoise blue water of the small, protected bay.