sailaboutvic
Well-Known Member
Good on you mike , retirement you doing the right thing mate , enjoy life while you can , and I hold you to that beer .
Laying up checklist
- Thread starter telford_mike
- Start date
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
I've had two nesters - one understandably, a sparrow in April, but a couple of curlew when @ anchor mid-June in Sigri. I had to sail away in the end to get rid...
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
I'd think again - flights from Corfu dry up in October - and it's a day trip over to Athens where flights carry on OK during the winter. It's too early to research flights from budget airlines for 11 months ahead but I doubt anything will have changed.
Unfortunately some planning is essential
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
The budget airlines usually stop flying at the end of the first week of November from Corfu. There's also the option of using Aegean Air via Athens, who operate all year round. We found that was a good option, about the same price as surface to Athens and then Easyjet to UK with the added advantage that if there was any delay on the Corfu-Athens leg, you'd be rebooked to another flight, whereas if you missed the Easyjet flight, you were stuffed.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
I've used Aegean Air quite extensively from ATH to outliers - though I'd hesitate to compare a €54 flight with a €21 coach fare, the 50' compared to 360' is welcome BUT how does one get to Corfu from Preveza in October (or any other month).
Though Preveza is unbelievably popular with Ionian yotties, I'm at a loss to understand the attractions - cut off by water from shops and civilisation, more expensive rates than anywhere but Athensward marinas, air connections which, though they go to UK provincial cities, are by worse-than-budget carriers, at sky-high fares and intermittent at best.
Having tried the place I'm totally underwhelmed and at a loss to understand peoples qualitative and quantitative faculties in choosing to go there.
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
I agree with most of what you wrote. Corfu airport is very difficult to get to in time to catch a flight so most folk seem to spend a night in a Corfu hotel to catch the next days flight. The two hour check for security reasons is the main reason for this. Athens bus run is also a pain at 7 hours (including the X93). 3 hours between toilet breaks is still too long for older folk.
I dislike the free shuttle bus which allows less than two hours shopping. OK for local supermarkets but not enough time for lidl or browsing through paint and hardware stores.
Folk get locked into the Aktio yards because of the excellent car storage and items not-wanted-on-voyage stuff stored in the yard lockers or in self built wood boxes.
Not sure that they are the most expensive until Athens comment. I would move to Corfu (gouvia) or levkas marinas in a heartbeat if they were not 30% more expensive for the same time frame.
I am, though, desperate to break away but know very few alternatives.
Because I have been based in Aktio since buying the boat there two years ago, the natural order of things means that every one I get the chance to speak to, is already at Aktio, and know of nowhere else.
Not good to hi-jack this thread so maybe another thread with wintering locations under a "sticky" title would be very useful. IMO of course
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Sending you a PM.
telford_mike
Well-Known Member
Ok, so on the basis that there's no point asking for advice and then ignoring it, I'll book a haul-out for late October. The flight options from Corfu look fine - Aegean looks reasonable value via Athens if there's nothing else available.
Which still leaves the question of getting to Corfu from Preveza. Google says it's about 100km. 1 way car hire maybe?
Which still leaves the question of getting to Corfu from Preveza. Google says it's about 100km. 1 way car hire maybe?
sailaboutvic
Well-Known Member
Mike car not really an option , you need to cross water somewhere , I not done it but I guess best bet is ferry . Or just take the bus to Athen , which is what we will do
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
One way car hire from Avis is about 88 euro to Igonoumitsa, then ferry to Corfu. Have to arrange to have the car delivered as I suspect the airport Avis will have shut down by late October. Takes about an hour by car, and then 2 hours on the ferry. As others have said, the alternative is the four hours or so to Athens Bus Station and then an hour on the airport bus.
B&M
Well-Known Member
This year I flew from Preveza to Corfu on Sky express (24 Oct) for €50, took 15mins and arrived in plenty of time to get the easyjet flight to Gatwick. The only drawback was the 15kg baggage limit.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
I wish it were only 4 hrs to 100 Kifissousis St. From Preveza it's more like 6, then an extra hour for the X93 to the airport - having done it, one of my main contras against the Aktio yards.
It will probably be no more expensive to hire a car and drive to Athens airport and dump it, and certainly less inconvenient than Corfu. I find I can always improve on all the budget airline fares through BA, remembering to book early and use my Executive Club leftovers.
I've had a couple of people catch up with me via Corfu - usually collect them with the boat in Levkas, so I know all about the road to Igoumenitsa, but the time I got double pneumonia after an H1N1 bout my wife flew back and that necessitated an hotel overnight in Corfu.
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
Done. Whether sticky or not is down to the web masters . . .
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
Great list Charles. I query one item:
I was always told that hypochlorite wasn't good for the seals on some installations? I don't know how accurate that advice was, since I've never checked it.
An addition related to the heads in warm climates I used was "de-scale the heads inlet and outlet pipes, pumps and valves"
Also I added "drain/pump water/slime/gunge out of lowest parts of the fuel tank til the fuel runs clean"
AndrewB
Well-Known Member
Yes, always. And follow the annual service schedule for the furler, basically to keep it greased. If this is done, removing and re-hoisting the sail takes very little longer than with a conventional sail. Our sails always need some end-of-season attention to catch up stitches etc, as well as cleaning, so taking it off is essential to prolong its life.
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
One convenient attribute with Ionion Marine (one of the Aktio yards) is that after you have laid the boat up for the winter you can settle the bill by cheque drawn on your UK bank account. The yard girl will convert the Euro Bill at bank rate to pounds sterling. You write a cheque in £ with no pain, no ATM visits and, best of all, no charge for a credit card payment (I think it is 5% extra using a credit or debit card but only what someone told me). So take your cheque book plus a Cruising Club or RYA membership proof for a further discount.
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Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
Heads
Agreed - bleech not good for the pumps. I always put 50% diluted antifreeze downs the heads and pump through as it is apparently a very good lubricant and is good for the rubber.
Engine
I also run 50% antifreeze into the sea water cooling just before shutting off the engine - as a rust inhibitor and if frosts are likely - as it is difficult to drain the exhaust system.
Fuel
I leave the tank as empty as possible as the vedge oil now in Greek road diesel separates when standing - and forms a horrible black waxy mess on the base of the tank - just waiting to block filters if allowed many years of accumulation, far more effectively than the diesel bug ever did!
Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
If the boat is stored pointing north, and you leave a furling main on, the sun will shine everyday on the sail exposed in the slot, and will suffer local - but damaging UV degradation.
