We said bye to our American friends, as they headed off on their journey east. We wandered along the main road out of Epidhavros in search of a fuel station, our journey over the past 13 days has been mainly on the engine, much to our frustration. Fuel is reasonably priced at €1.50 per litre, yet it will take a large chunk from our precious budget. The walk takes us past a few useful places, a pretty well stocked hardware store with everything we could possibly want, I guess we will call in once fuel has been sourced. Various fruit and fresh vegetables can be seen in the next tucked away little treasure trove. Then the fuel station takes shape on the winding road, unfortunately it is closed, and has been for a very long time! Hopefully this is not the only supplier locally! We continue on this road and hidden behind a huge pink bougainvillea flowering bush is a small bakery with the most delicious aroma wafting from its shuttered windows. We need bread, as I enter this haven of pastries and breads, a young woman appears from behind this display of loaves. We choose our crusty lunchtime bread and enquiry about the dilapidated fuel station nearby, the lady smiles as if aware of our confusion while explaining that a new garage has been opened just around the corner. Relieved, we thank her for our purchase and information before leaving this wonderfully smelling little shop. The garage is open, the owner is filling a delivery van as we saunter in. "How can I help you" he calls, we explain our need for fuel and that we are on the town quay onboard Kejstral. He nods while busily completing his current task, "how much do you need", well, possibly €150 worth of diesel we say in unison. With that, he nods saying "see you in a few hours" and walks away......So, have we actually ordered it.....When should we expect a delivery! Ok, so perhaps we should stay nearby the boat for the next few hours. Now that we had solved that problem, we can start on our other issues, one of which is a gas bottle replacement. That shouldn't be too difficult, we have seen them on our travels, just need to find one now. The local supermarkets usually hold a stock and have access to more sizes and styles. Our issue is that we are unable to replace ours as it originally came from Turkey, those in Greece have different regulators and connections. We take the same road back towards town, passing a laundry on the way, I called in to ask about cost and was surprised at the €20 total for two large carrier bags, excellent, what a great price. We rushed back to Kejstral as they required the washing now, if we expected it washed and dried by that evening. On Kejstral, I stripped the bed, grabbed all towels and raided the cupboards for anything grubby. Two full bags later, we barged back inside the warm, clean smelling laundry, the lovely man accepted our smellies and confirmed that we could collect this evening, a very slick service! Now that we have achieved yet another goal, a gas bottle search began. The fabulously stocked supermarket across from the quay had just what we needed, however the connector required was not available. In discussion with the staff, we could purchase our connector in a hardware store, so back along towards the garage, past the laundry we go. The difficulty was, our connector was attached to the boat, therefore guesswork was needed as to size and thread, we took photos to aid the process but it wasn't easy. In the end we had to abandon the task, we couldn't risk buying lots of bits if we had no idea of their use, these brass connectors are really costly and additionally the bottle itself would be €30. Our return to Kejstral coincided with the fuel delivery, perfect. €155 later we had accomplished yet another feat. All we need now is shopping and lots of it. Up until this point we had been using mainly the supplies brought with us from Turkey, the only extras we have bought were fresh fruit, veg and bread, this shopping trip was going to cost us! €100 later we had a very full fridge and well stocked cupboards. So today we have been rather successful, water from the shore taps, available free of charge is next on our list. As previously mentioned, our tanks hold 280 litres, that sounds a lot. However, when you calculate just how much we need in one week with showers, hand washing, teeth cleaning, dish washing, we go through it considerably quickly. That is without washing clothing, or the boat! Fuel, water, food and a launderette visit all in one day is great, expensive but great. So far today €270, and we still just need to solve the gas problem. Maybe on the next mooring we may have more luck, we have one full 3kg gas bottle which should last about a week.....Maybe! It has been a busy but satisfying day, we need a walk and a beer to complete the day as our journey tomorrow is a long one yet again. We took the footpath from the quay around the coast, what a fabulous view. The sea looked so clear, with a lush green grassy coastal path, it really felt like a spring day. The sun had shone for most of our busy day, but this evening clouds began to gather. With jumpers wrapped around us, we settled into one of the quiet seafront bars. The diminishing sunlight left a chill in the dusky evening, a few people wandered along the darkening waterfront, wrapped in wintery coats and footwear.
Epidhavros is a lovely little town, filled with great amenities and very helpful people, it is a pity our time is limited, however, I am confident we will be back at some point.
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Sailing Kejstral AdventuresRetired and following our dream of sailing around the world Archives
April 2019
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