From our lovely anchorage in Limeni Bay, we set off on the final leg of our journey before our summer break – to Kalamata. The winds are shifting, so we have to use the engine. About five nautical miles from Kalamata, our Nanni engine splutters and cuts out. What’s going on? We quickly hoist the sails so that we can manoeuvre to some extent. Fortunately, the wind gradually picks up. Several attempts to get the engine running again are unsuccessful. Walter checks everything in the engine room but cannot find the cause. Although we can sail nicely towards Kalamata, we cannot make it into the marina under sails alone. The entrance is narrow and shallow, and with the southerly wind now having picked up, any attempt to moor would result in damage. So we drop anchor off the harbour entrance – not an ideal spot. Our (first!) anchoring manoeuvre under sail is successful, but the wind and the strong swell are pushing us towards the shore. The anchor holds straight away, but our boat is dancing on the high waves. We spend several hours watching to see if the anchor will hold as the swell grows even stronger. Windy hadn’t forecast this much wind and swell. Anchoring on Legerwall is certainly no walk in the park. What do we do if the anchor does end up letting go? Hoist the sails and try to get away from the shore as quickly as possible.
We contact the marina and ask if a mechanic can come out to our boat. It’s not going to happen today. We spend the night at anchor off Legerwall, which we’re not at all happy about. In the evening, however, the wind dies down, so we can sleep with some peace of mind.
The following afternoon, Michail, the much-awaited mechanic, comes out to us in his plastic boat. We already know him from 2021, when we had Aglaya ashore here over the winter. He searches for quite a while and then finds the culprit: the fuel pump that feeds the diesel into the engine is broken. It’s fitted in such a hidden spot that we hadn’t been able to find it at all. We don’t have a spare part like that on board. Good old Michail heads ashore, gets a new fuel pump and fits it for us. He’s a real teacher, always asking us if we understand everything he’s doing. No? Then he explains it to us.
And then the call comes over the radio: “Marina Kalamata, Marina Kalamata! Sailing boat Aglaya calling. Our engine is working now. Can we come in?” We quickly leave the mooring wall and head into the marina. Now we can prepare Aglaya for the summer break. Tomorrow we’ll be able to move her to a better-protected berth. On 26 June, our flight home departs from Kalamata Airport. We’ll be back on board at the end of August. Then we’ll continue round the Peloponnese into the Ionian Sea.
