Packing Up – or a Catalogue of Lists

What follows was written three days ago. We are now back in Cheshire but in the flurry of activity that inevitably follows our return, the publication of this final post for 2022 has been somewhat delayed. Please accept our apologies.

 

So the alternator held out, I’m sure you’re all very relieved to hear, and we made it back up to Preveza. We spent one night anchored off the town while we checked what admin hoops we needed to jump through before leaving the boat and then spent the next few days at an anchorage near Vonitsa on the inland sea that we’ve been to many times before. It’s only about an hour and a half from the yard and very beautiful. It’s known as the Bay of Pigs however, because there are some very large and distinctly scary pigs that roam around ashore. We encountered one once and are not keen to repeat the experience so we don’t go for walks there any more.

Folding the sails while at anchor in the Bay of Pigs

After some torrential rain in last week, we did however manage to dry off all the sails, drop them and pack them away which was most satisfactory. We also packed up the kayak and started to compile a list of what is on board Rampage (and where it’s all stowed).  This is something I have vaguely been meaning to get done for years but never got around to and then this year we both found it very hard to remember after an absence of three years. Thankfully this was not too serious – there were no major items we failed to bring out with us – but it did almost lead to a teabag crisis. I had to ask Polly to bring some when they came out and inevitably of course, I almost immediately found some PG Tips for sale in a tiny shop in Vliho.

 

While compiling our inventory we discovered that most of the medicines etc in the first aid kit were long out of date. Thankfully we have not needed anything much other than anti-itch cream. Our stowage list has resulted in another list however, namely all those things that need to be replaced. This includes, in no particular order, fire extinguishers, flares, anchor chain, dinghy, alternator, replacement shower for swim platform, new aft bumper, fender covers, chart plotter etc, etc … Oh and really we need to replace the standing rigging (i.e. the steel cables that hold up the mast,) which has never been done and Rampage is now 22 years old so this job is over-due. Some of these above items,  you will note, are fairly significant purchases. I think over the winter we shall have to decide on priorities and then decide what we can actually afford to do!

Our rather decrepit dinghy

Our lift-out was scheduled for 08:30 on Monday morning (17^th October,) so on Sunday we made our way back to Preveza, anchored just off the yard overnight and went ashore to eat. Next morning we were up betimes in order to drain out the dinghy and lift it on board. The wretched thing has been gradually dying on us over the past few weeks and now despite Duncan’s best efforts, not only lets water in (never a good feature of any craft) but also leaks air from the tubes and deck so it has to be pumped up with monotonous regularity. Its days are numbered.

Running rigging stowed & hatches covered. Rampage ready for the winter.

After lift-out there are always a number of final tasks involved in putting the boat to bed for the winter, calling for another list! Canvas work and running rigging, (halyards etc,) needs to be stowed away to protect them from wind and weather damage through the winter. There is lots of last minute laundry and cleaning to be done, the water tanks must be drained, the anchor chain is let down to the ground to be rinsed by winter rain, the dinghy has to be cleaned and packed away and, and, and – well you get the general idea.

Sunset on our final evening. (N.B. The schooner the photograph is not Rampage).

It is now all done and I am finishing this as we sit in the airport waiting to board our flight home. All things considered, Rampage survived remarkably well in view of our long absence. Every year there are items that need to be replaced. This time though, the list is much longer because we have done nothing since 2019 plus the lack of maintenance during the period has taken its toll.

 

2022 has been our shortest season ever aboard Rampage. We didn’t go far or explore new places. We just enjoyed the sunshine, the beauty of the place and being able to relax heavily after a busy time at home, renovating our house in Cheshire. Our plans for next year are hazy. Once the work on Chapel Cottage is completed (we’ve done about 80%,) we are hoping to sell and would then like to buy somewhere in Cornwall. However, in the current economic climate, the future is very uncertain so we shall have to wait and see. We do intend to come back out for a couple of weeks in the spring, simply to catch up on maintenance. Beyond that, we simply don’t know.