The lock down in Greece has been a bit of a double edged sword in relation to us getting boat jobs completed on A B Sea.
On the one hand we've had extra time to get stuff done, but on the other hand not being able to visit the local hardware store for bits and pieces has meant that some jobs are still waiting to be finalised. We have been able to order some replacement parts from Athens and the UK but with fewer planes in the air and local courier services swamped, deliveries have taken a lot longer than usual to arrive.
Tick that box
With all of the above said we were very thankful to put a great big tick next to one boat job that actually led to three other boat jobs that we didn't even know existed before we started the main job. The job of removing the black water holding tank from the forward sail locker began on March 23rd 2020 and once we had it out of the locker it was plain to see that it was leaking at the seams so we took it to a welding factory in Chalkida were they patched it up. During the removal process one of the hoses that attaches to the tank decided to be stubborn and in the end we had to cut it off which meant a replacement hose needed to be ordered from Athens.
With the holding tank out of the locker there was more room to manoeuvre and it was when I took the floor up to inspect the bow thruster that we discovered the three other jobs.
With the floor up we discovered the bow thruster 12v battery was dead so we replaced that with a spare one we had hanging around. Then we discovered that the shore power doesn't trickle charge that particular battery, it seems that it only gets a charge when the engine is running. With the lock down in place and our engine still not fully reassembled, the engine was unlikely to be running any time soon. Somehow we had to figure out how to connect that battery to the shore power battery charging system.
While trying to figure out where the battery cables were routed we discovered the third job when we opened an electrical junction box and saw corrosion on one of the terminals. At first it looked pretty bad, but once I took it apart it was mostly superficial surface rust that cleaned up quite easily.
With all of that attended to it was finally time to reinstall the black water holding tank. The replacement hose had arrived from Athens and with the help of a borrowed 2,000 watt heat gun it wasn't too much of a struggle reattaching all of the hoses and securing the tank to the bulkhead.
So on May 5th 2020, 43 days after the job began, the contents of the forward sail locker were returned home, the hatch was secured and we happily put a big tick on the jobs list.
Easing the Greek lock down
We currently have a tentative date that A B Sea could be back in the water sometime around the beginning of June. Overall Greece has fared very well in dealing with Covid-19 and the infection numbers have been less than 2,000. There have been only 2 reported cases on Evia island. So it's time to put in a big order for various parts from the chandlery in Athens and add a few more ticks to the jobs list. We are however waiting on one very key part to come from the UK, but that's not featured in this week's video so I'll tell you about that in a future blog. Stay safe out there.
To watch the video that accompanies this blog click here.