Bow Thruster Woes and the Island of Siros

We said our goodbyes to Nita and Stacey as they headed off to the Athens ferry. We then made preparations to leave Paroikia Harbor and head west for the island of Serifos. Plans were to reach mainland Greece and the Peloponnesus Peninsula within a few days. Instruments on – check; Nobeltec up and running – check; engine on – check; bow thruster down – check; bow thruster working – “Jan we might have a problem” – no check. At first check the bow thruster worked only in one direction. A second try it worked but suspiciously. We continued to lift the anchor which came up clean and as we made our way out of the cramped harbor the bow thruster quit working all together. Once we were clear of the harbor and out in the bay Craig started trouble shooting the problem. At first we thought the emergency breaker may have tripped but that was not the case. Further testing and replacing the fuse proved unsuccessful.

Craig determined the problem had to be with the solenoid. At this point we went over our options and decided Serifos was not a good choice for us. The pilot book indicated very limited if any boat services and the island did not have daily ferry service to Athens in case we needed to have something shipped to us. However 28nm due north was the island of Syros, the “capital” of the Cyclades, with numerous boat yards, chandleries and daily ferry service to Athens. It was time for a diversion. It was a 4 hour uncomfortable sail with winds and waves on the beam, increasing and clocking to directly on the nose. During the ride we discussed docking possibilities. Without a bow thruster our mobility would be limited. Lone Star has a rudder that is hung on a skeg and does not back well at all without assistance from the thruster. A med mooring would be next to impossible. Instead, we needed tie up alongside. Of course as we entered the Ermoupolis harbor the winds were increasing with gusts in the low 20’s. The town harbor was out of question so we headed across the bay to “Marina Sirou”. The pilot book stated the basic marina structure was complete. That is barely correct. There are pontoons. But as the case is in so many Greek marinas, work has stopped and nothing else is complete. There were a number of boats tied off to the pontoons, but we did manage to find one spot we thought we could maneuver into. With the winds working against us and the bow thruster not working at all, it took three men on shore helping with the lines but we managed to get Lone Star secured to the dock. By the time all was said and done the winds were approaching 30 knots blowing us on to the dock; we had every fender and ball out and were double tied on all points. Now the real work started – figuring out how to get the bow thruster repaired. Turns out that Side Power, the bow thruster manufacturer, had an office in Athens. The receptionist/manager turned out to be a life saver. Turns out Side Power has an electrician on Syros they recommend. Several calls to the electrician resulted in no answer. The next morning we made contact however the gentleman spoke no English and our Greek amounts to hello and thank you. Side Power in Athens took over and within a few hours we had a call from someone who did speak English and set up the appointment for that afternoon. The electrician (still no English) arrived at the appointed time and after inspection called the Athens office which acted as interpreter and informed us it was the solenoid. The Athens office said they would have a new part shipped via the morning fast ferry the next day. The next morning at 10:30 the electrician was back and after much gesturing we realized the part was in and he wanted Craig to go with him to pick up the part so we could pay for it. Off they went to who knows where but they were back in ½ hour and within a couple of hours we were hearing the beautiful sounds of a perfectly working bow thruster!

The meltimi was still screaming into the bay so we stayed put that day and the next morning decided to motor over to the town harbor and med moor since we had been stuck out in the boon docks for 3 days. We were glad we did. Emoupolis feels like the capital of the Cyclades and is its largest town. It has an active harbor front and just behind the harbor is a wonderful pedestrian shopping area with marble lined streets, cafes and parks. There are many 18^th century ship owner mansions, classical buildings and an enormous church on top a hill. It’s definitely a different feeling from the small island villages. But, all in all, it was a great last day and a wonderful end a trying time on an island.