"All good things come in threes", they say. Does that also apply to bad things? We hope so! Yesterday on the way from the island of Icarìa to the island of Patmos, our engine didn't start. We had sailed, but then the wind took a break for lunch. It was like déjavu: the same thing had happened to us in April near Monemvasia. We then sailed into the harbour with our small sails. Lots of mud in the diesel tanks had blocked our fuel line. After the tanks and lines were cleaned, everything was OK again. Then a few weeks later at the northern tip of the island of Euboea the same thing. So, in the harbour of Oreoi, we put in an additional pre-filter. This third pre-filter was supposed to catch additional dirt. Well, that's what it did. After we couldn't start the engine for the third time and had ruled out all possible causes for the problem, we replaced the new filter in zero wind but a little swell. A bit of a mess. But with success. The engine started again and ran perfectly. And the removed filter was totally dirty. Where does all the dirt in the diesel come from?
In any case, we were able to reach our destination on Patmos relaxed. One thing is clear: we will buy a family pack of these pre-filters. And: All bad things are hopefully only three.
