March 2024

Just arrived in Artemis Leros Boatyard to start Season 2!

Artemis Leros Boatyard

March 1 - 14, 2024 - Victoria, BC

March 15-March 31, 2024 - Leros, Greece

Time to Work on the Boat before April 1st, 2024 launch.

Hike to Jocelyn Hill with Michael and Moira. So many beautiful hiking areas in Victoria.

We became friends with Luna's parents. Out for a walk with them and showing them the Victoria Harbour Ferries in winter!

Our last few days in Victoria visiting with friends, before the big long trek back to Greece.

Our tradition of going to Il Terrazzo before we leave town.

BC Ferries

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Canada
March 12, 2024
8°

We have left the house in the care of our Realtor until it sells and we have given the condo keys to Cari's boyfriend so he can give them to her when she moves back to Victoria. Moved everything to a storage locker now we are pretty much ready to go.

Thank you to Martin who picked us up at the crack of dawn to drive us out to the ferry 😘

Lucky. Last two days many ferry sailings have been cancelled due to high winds, even as late as last night.

This morning things are relatively calm.

Richmond

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Canada
March 12, 2024
9°

Now there is a Lufthansa strike cancelling flights out of Frankfurt today and Munich tomorrow so we are just skimming by.

Made it to the Vancouver Airport, at the lounge, which is not too fancy but it's right beside the gate.

Frankfurt

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Germany
March 13, 2024
10°

Chris's new hobby - Mahjong

Actually the flight was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Now waiting for our next flight to Athens.

Spata-Loutsa Municipal Unit

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Greece
March 13, 2024
18°

Arrived in Athens. I can't find my Greek sim card. I ended up losing Chris' Victoria one too.

Got our bags. Exited and came back in to check into our flight to Kos. Had to rejuggle the bags again and pay for another one.

Now waiting in the lounge for our flight.

Kos

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Greece
March 13, 2024
17°

Last stop of the day

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 15, 2024
18°

Took a ferry from Kos to Leros. Not sure we would leave the boat for winter on a samll island again. It is very long to get there and back. Somewhere closer to Athens or even Kos would have been easier! Anyways, we are here so now its time for boat work.

Scraped all the jagged pieces off the bottom so we can replace it with new and bottom paint.

Worked on installing the new trampolines going from white to black.

Agia Marina

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Greece
March 16, 2024
17°

Finished the port trampoline today.

Ran errands the rest of the day. Had an amazing Greek lunch at Souvlakki in Lakki, love Greek food

Got our paperwork in order , went to the customs in the police department. They looked at us and said there is no one here to help you. Leave and he kicked us out.

We called the number of the guy from last year and he said there is nothing he can do as he isn't in that job anymore. So we are back to square one.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 17, 2024
17

I've finished painting. I fixed the bottom with cutouts from our McGlide spares. Then fixed the rest with rubber paint.

The sail drives got a different paint- 4 coats each.

Then the dagger boards got a different paint- 3 coats each. Done.

Chris is working on trying to fit our new windlass into the locker.

We met up with Eva and Mario at Persiana for St Patrick's Day. We thought because it's run by a British lady, there might be some st Patrick's Day celebrating but it turns out it's a Greek holiday, there was the Annual Carnival Festival and was very festive atmosphere.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 19, 2024
18°

We open the front lockers and everything we stored in there was wet and moldy - all our screens, a few sails, our clears, paddle board, sail bags etc

I spent all day cleaning the mold off of everything. So mad at ourselves for not just bringing everything inside while being away.

Good thing is right behind us is a sail cleaning area with lots of laundry lines so was relatively easy to deal with it all.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 20, 2024
16°

It rained all morning so moved everything to the cockpit and can barely move around.

In the afternoon, I took on the job of removing all the old anti-chafe tape that Chris put on last year. It didn't work, what a mess. I didn't think I'd get it off but with soapy water, acetone and label off spray and lots of elbow grease, I got it all off.

Chris put in a new tanker senser on the fuel tank so we know how much fuel is in the tank as the old one didn't seem to be working. But we had the same problem with this one. Chris managed to adjust it so I think it is reading correctly now. The guy from the company said they might be too big for the tank.

Chris is taking off all our constrictors and we are replacing them with regular clutches.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 21, 2024
16°

Boat work jobs today.

Washed the two moldy fenders that were in the front lockers - came out really well.

Working on the windlass job which is a big job. Luckily, we found a metal fabricator close by who could help Chris with his stainless steel angles.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 22, 2024
16°

Took out all of the constrictors and replaced them with good old famished cam cleats. Job done! ✅

Front lockers are super clean and dry.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 23, 2024
16°

Boat work continues....

Cleaning stern lockers.

Changed our drinking water filters.

Fixing the stern cleat continues

Painting the anchor locker.

Still trying to dry the code zero, very thankful that we have this large sail cleaning area right off our door step.

Still waiting on the extra rope so we can finish installing the new trampoline.

Changing the transmission oil again on the engines to make sure there is no water in there.

The engines are OceanVolt Sd15- very quiet when on!

Getting a new anchor roller made by the local metal guy. Installed and works great.

Still working on installing the new windlass.

Just confirmed our winter berth for next year will be Monistir Cap Marina!

Met another boat today sv Mahi Mahi from Denmark. Had them over for happy hour to hear all about the purchase of their beautiful 57 foot Beneteau

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 24, 2024
17°

Got the windlass job finished!! Yay!

Greek Independence Day!

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Greece
March 25, 2024
19°

Greek Independence Day

Happy holiday to Greece on this 25th March!

The 25th March is the feast day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, what in Greek is called Ευαγγελισμός.

And today is the liberation from the Ottoman yoke in Greece. Historically, the first nationalist revolutionary movement in Europe began at this time in 1821, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Greece about a decade later.

Don't seem urious that a secular and a religious holiday overlap.

The truth is that the date for the liberation celebration (as well as the official date of the start of the revolution) was purposely chosen to overlap with the Annunciation.

For what better way to bless a national uprising than to associate it with a 'higher' celebration?

To combine the proclamation of Jesus Christ who would be born from Mary's womb, with the proclamation of a new political life (i.e. the birth of the movement that would later become Greece) became perfect from a strategic point of view.

The Temple of Artemis-Partheni

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Greece
March 25, 2024
19°

We took a walk from the boatyard ovre to The Temple of Artemis-Partheni which was close by.

According to ancient Greek writers, on the north coasts of Leros, “in a marshy area”, “Iokallis Parthenos”, this is how Artemis was called, was worshiped. The archaeological data confirm this, as to the south of the settlement Partheni, in the church of Agios Georgios that was built by more ancient archaeological elements, evidence of a chancel dedicated to Artemis was found. This evidence dates back to the Hellenistic Period. Nevertheless, the creation of an air corridor in the greater area made it really difficult for archaeologists to detect the exact position of this famous church of the Classical Period. Info The incident from the Greek mythology according to which the goddess of hunting transformed the four sisters of Meleager into hens is related to the worship of Artemis in Leros.

During excavations in 1980, a group of churches built on top of Roman structures was discovered. The exact position of the ancient temple of Parthenos Iokalis has yet to be identified. In 1855, popular historian, Iakovos Rizos Ragavis wrote in refined, classical Greek script, “There is a large deserted church which has many plaques and stands on the foundations of an ancient temple, undoubtedly that of Artemis”. Although early Christians used to build their churches over ancient Greek temples by recycling the original materials, it has not been possible to establish the exact location of the early Christian church within the vicinity of the ancient temple grounds.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 26, 2024
19°

Installed the chain lock and finished installing the items in the anchor locker.

Installed some carbon strips on the chafe spots.

PaleoCastro

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Greece
March 26, 2024
20°

Paleokastro (or Kastro ton Lepidon) in Leros is the island's oldest fortification, located above the seaside village of Xirokambos. Dating back to around 2,500 B.C., this ancient acropolis features impressive Cyclopean walls, and it later served as a crucial refuge for locals during Byzantine times. It offers historical ruins and panoramic views of the coast.

Xirokampos

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Greece
March 26, 2024
20

Xerokampos is a small sea-side village 8km south of Agia Marina.

Xerokambos is a small fishing village with low-key tourism in the south of Leros. The buildings in the village are thinly scattered and there is no real centre. The beach is pretty okay, but nothing you run like mad for. There are tavernas and rooms to rent, and a huge football field with a grandstand.

Virgin Kavouradaina, Xirokampos Leros

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Greece
March 26, 2024
20°

Walk through town to the church.

Between the ruins lies the picturesque church of Panagia. Close to Ksilokampos is the picturesque church of Panagia of Kavourdena, which is considered the most beautiful of the island. It is situated on the cliffs of the coast, in a position where according to tradition, a fisherman looking for crabs, found in the rocks image of Our Panagia.

Drimonos Bay

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Greece
March 26, 2024
19°

The main access is from the northern branch of the main road network. Drimonas is a small fishing village on the south side of Gourna. The small village has a nice tavern and a small beach with pine trees. At the end of the bay there is the small church of Agios Georgios. Drimonas is a nice place without much traffic and you can enjoy the sea.

Artemis Leros Boatyard

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Greece
March 29, 2024
23°

Well the days are slipping by but we're getting closer and closer to launch. And summer weather is finally here.

The yard decided to redo our through holes because they put them too low and now we have three extra holes in the boat so they are filling them and painting them but the paint doesn't really match unfortunately.

We received our black line from France so we were able to finish the trampoline job yesterday.

Terra Amata, Leros

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Greece
March 30, 2024
24°

Terra Amata (Beloved Land).

Leros Island played an important role during World War II and was the scene of many battles. It was occupied by the Royal Italian Navy who built a naval base here because of its strategic position and its large natural harbors. The Naval base still partly remains today.

The building at Terra Amata was used as barracks during WW II. Some of the Italian soldiers seem to have been particularly artistic and had made wonderful frescoes in almost all the rooms of the building.

However, when the island fell into the hands of the Germans in 1943, some artistic soldiers “responded” with murals of their own style.

The murals were beautifully done and in remarkably good condition. The other highlight was the herd of sheep who now use this as their home.