112 By the Dart • Postcard from Leonie


lysed by the airless humid heat in those first few nights, heightened after hotel air-con comfort. Along with all our other jobs (including a small mast


repair, general maintenance of running equipment, anti-fouling, lots of sanding and varnishing, replacing the batteries and repainting the hull), Carl also project managed the repairs. As Bob has lived in Greece for a couple of decades, sourcing replacement fittings such as bronze screws, copper nails, a bronze cleat and the bronze sail tracks from suppliers in the UK (they aren’t available in Greece) was down to Carl. He also contacted and arranged for the local metal fabricator, Stephan, to repair or replace the pulpits and stanchions; the local rigger, Joe, to fit new metal safety wires; dealt with our insurers and the ordering and delivery of Coelan deck coating and toplac hull paint. This final order gave us the biggest headache. Our insurers agreed to pay us to repaint Leonie’s hull


after a local company quoted €7,000 for the work. Not only was the sum outrageous, the firm also wanted to use strips of fibreglass where the planks joined – this is not how the boat is constructed and it wouldn’t have worked. The insurance company’s assessor asked Carl if he was capable of painting the hull. In theory, he was, so we bit the bullet and put in a quote of €3,500 (to include also varnishing the new toe-rail capping) which was accepted. Repainting the hull in Leonie’s distinctive squall blue


was one of the last jobs on the long list of repairs. Carl ordered it through a Lefkas-based chandlery, who in turn put in an order with the Athens-based agent for the UK-based company, International, which supplies the paint. It should have been a straightforward transaction. It wasn’t. For some reason the Athens agent failed to order the paint from International – not once but twice. Their ineptitude threatened to put back the launch date. After several phone calls and emails to International, the company decided the quickest way for us to receive the paint was


It took Bob nearly three months to complete the repairs. He did a fantastic job


to bypass Athens and fly it over. The paint arrived to us at the yard three days later. Carl and I watched a YouTube video demonstrating


how to apply the toplac. It’s a two-man job, with one person painting it on with a roller, closely followed by the second person tipping it off with a paintbrush to remove the bubbles for a smooth finish. In hot weather the job must be done quickly while the paint is still wet to the touch. It looked easy but had the potential to go horribly wrong. Carl was understandably nervous. Our kind and talented Dartmouth-based shipwright


friend, Guy Savage, who was cruising the Inland Ionian with his wife Chloe and young son, generously offered to sail over and lend a hand. He is a very skilled painter and tipped off two coats to complete one side of Leonie’s hull with Carl, while I watched and learnt so Carl and I could do the other side together. As we were


Launch day


Leonie at anchor in Varko Bay


Heading for Kalamos


Carl at the helm


Ginny at sea


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