The wind got up in the night so I knew it would be a blustery Early Walk. I put on a hooded fleece as my hair had been recently cut and didn’t fancy a stiff neck. Both Charlie and Skinny had fully charged flashing collars. Skinny had one just out of interest and Charlie so I could keep an eye on him. He seemed to be spending a lot of time on Alonáki Beach so I jollied him along with little success. I walked back and he came towards me bearing an empty meat tin he’d picked up somewhere. He wasn’t in the mood for sharing but I relieved him of it in the hope he’d make more progress. Skinny, meanwhile, was almost at Plakaki as I could see his flashes in the distance. As I suspected, Skinny just disappears into the distance but keeps out of mischief.
The remainder of the walk was uneventful so we were back in the camping around seven. I got on with a few things and then went out for a bike ride up the mountain and a little way down the other side as far as the first village. The wind was from the north so blew me back up to the top and down the other side into Paleochora. It was quite windy so I was using a lot of battery when heading into wind. Coming back from Paleochora was very easy due to the following wind.
Whilst riding back I received a phone call from a couple who were in Chania and thinking of coming to the camping. I’d not been back long before Maria called to say that another motorhome would be arriving in the afternoon. I knew that one was leaving so was happy the two arrivals would make up for the departure. The couple from Chania arrived quickly and turned out to be from Switzerland. They are now by the bar and sliding gate. The next arrivals had two dogs, both rescues. A German couple and the man spoke conversational English and was pleased when I commented about it. With the two scheduled arrivals out of the way,
I adjourned to the van to discover there was no electricity. The backup lights were on in the customer kitchen so I suspected a power cut. I grabbed the largest UPS and swapped it over for the smaller one in the office. There are lots of gadgets in the office so it really needs a more substantial UPS. The plan is to have a UPS on each switch and most WiFi APs so that we have some coverage during short power outages. I couldn’t find the keys to the generator so was unable to start it up. Fortunately, the power came back soon after. Maria informed me Tony had the keys about his person so I suggested they might remain in the workshop so we can all find them.
I wanted to cook some beans which I’d been soaking since morning. I was over in the Common Room collecting money from the Greek woman with the tent. She only came for one of two nights but has been here for nine so far. Maria quoted her €11/night but I said she could have one ‘free’ night for every six she paid for. €11 is more than enough for a tent at this time of the year as it’s nearly the price of a van and one person which is €11.90.
I put on the beans and got on with something else but then received a call from reception. A Romanian couple from Bucharest were waiting at the barrier. I gave the woman the tour and saw them into their place. They needed electricity but I noticed they had racking on the roof and four PV panels. I then had a tour of their van particularly their electrical setup. The guy has done all of the work himself to convert a high-top van into a camper. For the electrical systems he has used all Victron equipment except for Pylontech battery sets. They have plenty of comforts including an induction hob, water heater, fridge and WiFi. They also have a cat which didn’t object to being invaded by some of the camping cats.
The phone rang again to reveal another German couple at the reception with a large motorhome. They have bike at the rear of their van making it 6.4m long. They are down by the beach in the second German enclave. Luckily, we have some Austrians, Romanians and Swiss to break up the German preponderance. To summarise, we had one departure and four arrivals today. I don’t have electricity meters for everyone so we’ll have to work it out.
As a consequence of not being around, the doggy rice didn’t get put into the pot on time. The beans were cooked and now so is the rice. Most of the dogs are inside with me as it’s too chilly and windy to be outside.
Other than the wind, it’s not been very sunn so I was surprised to discover 3.8kW/h have been produced. As it’s now 18:30 the dogs are beginning to protest.
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