Our Wakes: 2020

When we were leaving Belgium in mid-march, several countries started to take measures against Covid. We could still enter Greece but soon afterwards confinement was declared and only essential travel was allowed. Boats could not sail in its waters anymore. When we arrived in Preveza were Terus was waiting for us we realized that Zeus, the God of lightening, had hit the boat and done a lot of damages to the boat, especially the electronic equipment. Due to the lockdown it was only in early May that the repairs could be undertaken. A technician came on board at the end of March so that an estimate could be made and the insurance company contacted. The list of damaged equipment was quite extensive. The AIS, Navtex, internal lights, VHF and it’s antenna, the windvane, radar, on board WIFI, Windex, the internal lights and navigation lights, Navtex, battery monitors, autopilot, remote keyboard, the windlass relay, the bow thruster command module as well as the external wifi booster, the chain counter, depth sounder, the rudder indicator,  2 multi-display screens, the fuel and water gages,  the freezer compressor, the CD player, the 2 solar panel regulators, USB ports to recharge cellphones were all out of order and needed to be replaced as well as the backbone cables and the electrical switchboard. Luckily, some equipment had been disconnected before our departure and was not damaged, including  the chart plotter, the genset, the water maker, the batteries, the printer, the 220V battery charger, the modem, the TV, the microwave as well as the water heater. In view of the extensive damage the insurance company asked an expert to check the damage and see if the estimate was reasonable. The expert approved the list and estimate by the 2nd of May and soon afterwards we received the greenlight for the repairs. During the month of May, the technician replaced all the defective equipment. He managed to finish the job by the end of May which coincided with the end of the confinement. We were happy to have completed the repairs by the time the confinement ended so that we did not lose any navigating time.