Treading Water

Could this be us?  Just think - there's more than one!  Also note chest freezer...

You’ll be pleased to hear our time in the yard is at an end.  This year, aside from usual chores that go into setting up the boat, WJ3 shines from a good (professional) polishing, the Cap’n serviced rusty bicycles, we cleaned inside and out and GS made good use of the yard’s new laundry block.  We had to come to grips with yet another internet system, made all the more difficult due to a minor language barrier – i.e. not being able to read the instructions!  Worst of all, the bow thruster batteries had not charged in our absence and we needed an electrician to sort out the reasons for this.  Nevertheless, we had a pleasant time of it and the weather stayed relatively mild with a few storms for good measure.  However, climbing that ladder to our lofty abode never gets any easier…

Our neighbours returned with sad tales.  Their friends returned to their boat in Turkey for the start of another season, only he fell off the ladder and sadly didn’t survive.  We also heard that a woman in our yard had fallen and seriously hurt herself.  We double checked the ties securing our ladder for peace of mind.

Finally, we felt ready to splash.  On launching, the engine started…that’s good, but the generator again chose to be obstinate.  Hmmm!  Something more to look at whilst on anchor, we thought.  Launching Bruce (the dinghy) too was something of a concern as the outboard stubbornly refused to function. Cap’n “I’m not happy about this” now thinks it’s cruddy fuel.  Meanwhile, he vaguely wondered why his feet were getting so wet inside the dinghy.  Yes, someone had stolen our dinghy bung.  To add to post launch miseries, the bow thruster continues to be obstinate and needs more professional help.  A kind neighbour (thanks, Paul) saw our predicament and offered to ferry us to shore to check in with the Port Police and beg a berth at the Marina.   So here we sit, rafted up but afloat with not much working (sound familiar?) but at least in good spirits, thanks to quantities of Greek wine.  The mere mention of our sailing schedule reduces us to fits of hysterical laughter. 

We’re waiting on the electrician and apparently, we are going to live longer because our world is revolving in accord with Greek time (GMT = Greek Maybe Time).  We’re treading water and going nowhere real fast…

Predicting Weather – An Ancient Skill

Weather and winds have long since provoked tales; some quite mysterious and others founded in truths.  Homer tells us that Odysseus (a mere 300nm from his home on Ithica) was blown off course near Cape Maleas for more than ten years.  Athenian General Themistocles used the force of strong north winds to gain victory over 400 Persian ships at Salamis in 480 BC.  Not to mention Octavian’s (Augustus Caesar) victory in 31 BC against Cleopatra & Mark Antony right here in our very own neighbourhood of Aktio (formerly Actium).  Even today, winds in Tarifa, Spain (think Pillars of Hercules) are considered very good for windsurfing or very bad, triggering dramatically high suicide rates, or so we heard.

So, with an hour to spare after a rather too enjoyable breakfast at the Athens Centre Square Hotel, we decided that it was worth a walk to see if the Tower of the Winds had been unveiled following 2 years of extensive restoration works.  Although sited in the Roman Agora precinct, the marble tower dates back to the 1^st c BC, and is thought to have been built by a Macedonian astronomer from Kyrrhos as a horologion or time piece.  Think how useful that is in sailing terms, especially for sailors who, in the not so distant past, used sextants!  This amazing octagonal construction stands over 12m tall with an 8m girth.  It was once bedecked with a bronze wind vane, Triton with a metal rod in his hand of course, and had a spring-fed water clock attached.  Its decorated faces afforded use as a compass**, sundial and  informant of seasonal weather predictions.  The ancients had a great respect for predictions….

The tower’s relief carvings, eight grumpy Ai Areides (or Windy Ones), is quite something.  We had hoped to meet Mr Meltemi in order to lodge our various complaints.  Instead we met Boreas, known for a violent temper and cold north winds that bring on winter.  Boreas blows rather too heartily into a conch shell (does this mean a gusting wind?) and as he is sometimes depicted with snakes for feet, we decided to leave well enough alone. 

Vaguely wondering if Mediterranean Wind Gods are ever truly appeased, we left before our not-so-pious thoughts were noted and we became singled out as future fodder for Mt Olympus’s Gusty Games.  We’ll just take it on the nose, like Odysseus.  Catch you in ten years!!

This is Kaikais - a dark NE wind with hailstones in his shield

** A true compass was not heard of until more than 1000 years later. 

Demons & Angels

2-3 Jun 2016

Demons:  Apologies if you think this is going to be an action packed, Dan Brown-style adventure.  Well, it nearly was…but not quite.  Our day of landing in Athens went without a hitch (well, in the usual Greek style) until we alighted the subway at Monastiraki.  With hands full, we waited for most other passengers to take the steep elevator up to the Square above.  As the Cap’n moved on, he was instantly surrounded by 3 young men.  Having his wits about him, he turned with this back (and back pack) to the wall and made a point of glaring at these men.  The First Mate, now separated from the Cap’n and surrounded by two young women, was pushed by one into the side of the escalator.  The tell-tale bag over her hand was a give- away, and GS smartly moved a step or two down, trying not to trip over her suitcase.  The crowd, and our pick-pocketing gang, disappeared like a flash at the top.  We quickly assessed any damages.  The Cap’n made it without any interference or loss, and although GS’s handbag had been unzipped, that section contained only flight socks, tissues and reading glasses….not the stuff of criminal dreams – thankfully!  Still, in all our time travelling we had only encountered one other pick-pocket (Marrakech, Morocco), and certainly not a brazen gang.  We felt rather shattered and made for the hotel roof-top bar (with that amazing view of the Acropolis) to drown our sorrows with a Mythos beer or two.

Angels: The first gold star goes to the camera lens that should have accompanied us last year!  The second goes to our Hotel Manager for suggesting that we take a taxi to Kifissou Street Coach Station (rather than subway (not again!) and local bus).  An even bigger gold star goes to our honest taxi driver who charged a reasonable & metered fare to get us there.  We easily made the 12 noon bus to Preveza (a six hour & €40 ride) with a gold star driver who kindly let us off at the Aktio Marina road.  We arrived in time for a yet another gold star welcome and dinner (plus necessary refreshing beers) at our favourite water-side taverna.  The Other Woman welcomed us back and informs us she is rather keen to slip into something blue and refreshing for yet another season of adventures.

Corinth Canal - from on high.  A road-side perspective

(For those interested in travelling from Athens to Preveza by coach, the service is excellent, the coaches modern and rest stop near the Rion Andirion Bridge clean and well serviced.  Coaches leave Athens for Preveza at the Kifissou Station, stand number 10, at 0730, 1200, 1330, 1700 & 2000.  This timetable seems to be incredibly difficult to find.  Buy your tickets, with allocated seat, at the inside ticket office; entrance near the taxi stand/local bus stop area. 

From Athens (near the main markets), our taxi, including a decent tip, cost less than €10; but make sure the meter is running – no excuses & walk away from aggressive drivers.  Otherwise, catch the subway to Omonia Square, walk down Konstantinou to Menandrou (on the left).  The #51 bus going to Kifissou stops at the intersection of Menandrou & Zinono.  Easy if you don’t have a lot of luggage to manage.) 

So, now you have the essential traveller’s guide necessary to “experience” Athens…