A Change of Plan

Leaving Koiládhia on 11 April we carefully worked our way out of the shallow bay and set course for Ástrous. Almost as soon as we had increased to cruising revs (80% of max RPM) on the engine we knew that we had a problem.  Up to 50% max RPM the engine seemed fine but above that the revs started to fluctuate; not enough fuel was getting to the engine.  So, we either had a partial fuel blockage in the system or, somehow, air was getting into the fuel lines.

Sailing south towards Porto Kheli   

Time for a change of plan! At some stage we needed to go to Porto Kheli to pick up some sailcloth we had ordered from Frank’s Yacht Station. They had serviced our sails over the winter and we knew that the staff there spoke good English and that they had a marine engineer on site. We turned south towards Porto Kheli sailing gently along for an hour whilst there was wind but primarily under engine using the maximum revs we could without engine RPM fluctuations.

Approaching Porto Kheli   

A couple of hours later we motored into the entrance of the large circular bay at Porto Kheli.

The anchorage was very empty and we were able to pick an anchoring spot well clear of the quay and adjacent to the permanent swinging yacht moorings.

Anchored off Porto Kheli town quay   

After lunch, we started to pull apart the fuel system. Firstly, we wanted to see if we could find any sort of blockage in it that might be limiting the fuel flow. Having watched Adonis work systematically through the whole fuel line when we were anchored off Alikí last July, we knew what to do.

We had drained and cleaned the fuel tanks in September last year (full blog entry for that to be published shortly) and so we didn’t think that we had a diesel bug problem. However, we needed to be sure that nothing had grown in the system over winter. That might seem a little odd but the diesel supplied these days has quite a high proportion of biodiesel in it, which significantly increases the chance of diesel bug growth and blockages in yacht fuel systems.

After an hour or so we had taken the whole fuel line apart and checked each section in turn. We knew that there was no sign of debris, diesel bug or constriction of the fuel flow. So, we went on to strip down the fuel lift pump to check that its chambers were clear, the valves worked and the membrane was intact; they were. Having ruled everything else out, our conclusion was that air was getting into the system.

The leaking plastic plug (top LHS)   

We have a hand pump for transferring fuel and checking for water at the bottom of the fuel tanks and, using a spare length of plastic pipe to connect it, we used this to suck fuel through the lines as far as the governor. The strong suction that the hand pump provided allowed Nicky’s keen ears to picked up the faint whistle of an air leak. The noise was coming from the area of the water separator/coarse fuel filter unit. On closer inspection, we found that the flange on a plastic plug on the top of that unit had cracked and that, it seemed, was where the air was getting into the fuel line. It had taken all afternoon but it looked like we had found the fault. To be sure, we sealed the plug with silicon sealant. We’d be able to test the system the following day when the sealant had cured.

The sealant was good as an emergency fix but we really wanted to get hold of a new water separator unit. At 1550hrs we telephoned Frank’s Yacht Station; they were closing in 10 minutes but we arranged to visit first thing in the morning. Time was potentially against us because in 3 days everything in Greece would shut down for a 4 day Easter holiday; we might be a week late in leaving to head west!

With nothing more that we could do on board we went ashore to food shop and to have a look at a fishing tackle/chandlery shop in Porto Kheli we had remembered from last year. Chandleries in Greece do not normally stock our brand of water separator but amazingly this shop did. They had the larger version of our Parker-Racor water separator in stock which meant that they would most likely be able to get our version from their supplier. The shop assistant couldn’t speak any English and our Greek wasn’t up to it, so I drew a picture of what we wanted, added in the reference number and our contact details and left it with her for when the shop owner returned. Mr Fodis (Sp?) turned out to be a star, telephoning us that evening and promising to call again in the morning when he had spoken to his supplier.

Greek Easter bread   

In the morning Christian, at Frank’s Yacht Station, supplied us with the sailcloth we’d ordered and confirmed that the chandlery was our best bet for getting a new water separator before Easter. Mr Fodis called us exactly when he said he would and confirmed that he could get the part we needed; we ordered 2 so that we’d have a spare on board. Delivery would be in 24 hrs.

By way of celebration we drank tea and ate Greek Easter bread. It’s sweet and rich like brioche and is baked with a red Easter egg in the centre.

Servicing the lifejackets   

Nicky’s variation on Greek spanakopita    

Our silicon sealant emergency fix of the air leak worked and the engine ran smoothly at all revs. If for some reason we needed to move from our anchorage, we would be able to.

As it was, there was no requirement to move and so we set about servicing the lifejackets and then Nicky cooked a variation on Greek spanakopita using the filo pastry, fresh greens and feta cheese we’d bought in the morning.

On Thursday 13 April we were waiting for the phone to ring to confirm delivery of the parts. All the while we watched the perfect wind for sailing south build; typical! True to his word, Mr Fodis rang us just before midday confirming that the parts had arrived. We quickly picked them up and started to fit one. Fairly soon, we realised that there was a problem. Despite the instructions stating that you must be very careful not to over-tighten the filter element (“Hand tight only!”), it had been supplied from the factory so firmly screwed on that it wouldn’t come apart! We tried everything non-destructive with what we had on board but the filter would not separate. The marine engineer at Frank’s Yacht Station had a workshop which he kindly let me use. No-one in the workshop could believe that the filter elements were on so tightly. In the end, I had to bolt the units to the work bench and using a filter removal tool with a 30cm lever-arm finally managed to get the filters to come off. One of the expensive filters was destroyed in the process.

Back on board BV we unbolted the old water separator/filter unit and plumbed in the new one, carefully sealing each joint as we went along. After a quick bleed of the system we fired up the engine and all looked good; all except for the perfect sailing wind which had now died! Notwithstanding that, based on the weather forecast for the next 3 days, it was time to get going.

Porto Kheli, Greece