Kalimera!

We untied our lines at 6:30am and departed Yacht Marine for hopefully the last time. Bittersweet departure because of all the sweat and frustration while here but we also realize what an incredible place this truly is and have met some good friends while here. We were a bit nervous to make this jump into the next phase of our adventure. I noticed that my hands were shaking while I was on the forward deck taking pictures of Mike motoring out of our slip. Mike attempted to quell his butterflies with a bottle of Efes before starting the engine but the 35 mile motor to Symi (today was the ‘too little wind” version of sailing in the Med) went without a hitch. The ‘without a hitch part’ was mostly due to us stopping just before reaching Symi Harbour so I could practice with the new windlass. It’s a good thing we did because when Mike pulled up the chain from being hauled out, it wasn’t flaked into the chain locker and it was a bit tangled. We also discovered while I was trying to raise the anchor that the motor kept tripping the fuse. Both of these scenarios would not have been fun if they happened in the harbour while we were trying to go stern to for the first time in 2 years. For those of you who don’t know ‘stern to’ is the common way to dock your boat in the Med. Instead of pulling alongside a dock, you drop your anchor (in a very small and crowded harbour) and then back up to the dock (squeezing in between the other boats) and then tie off with lines from your stern. It sounds simple and sometimes it is. But sometimes it is anything but simple. Today, thankfully, we did awesome on our first attempt this go around. And our steel boat (now a bright red steel boat) always grabs the attention of the adjacent crews because they are right out there helping to fend us off! Once we were all tied up, we changed out of our sweaty, grubby clothes and started the check in process to Greece. First a walk to the Harbour Masters Office who then sends us to the Port Police on the other side of the bay. Then the Police send us to Customs but they are closed. We wait a few hours and then back to Customs and finally back to the Harbour Master. And it seems more than not that these buildings are always a good walk from one another, it’s always hot and it consumes most of a morning or an afternoon. But while waiting for the Customs office to open we were finally able to drink a cold beer which immediately put us into a coma. Wow, we passed out hard in the cockpit despite the sweltering heat and then at some point stumbled into the cabin to be in front of the fans. It was almost hard to get oriented upon awakening. After a groggy arousal we finished up with checking in and settled in the cockpit for our much anticipated first g&t of the sailing season. We were just talking about how it is hard to believe the work is (mostly) done when Mike got a call back from the fuel guy. Who says he can be at the boat in 5 minutes. Shit! Our fueling system needs some serious help. The port side deckcap doesn’t open. The nozzles are always too big to fit well so we were using a funnel and it was slow. So slow that the fuel guy put a cabash on that since he didn’t want to be there all night. That meant opening the fuel tanks. The port tanks are pretty accessible, just moving a bunch of tools, but then it’s undoing the couple dozen bolts in each tank lid. Only one of the starboard tanks is readily accessible because the other is underneath the fridge. So after Mike scrambled and struggled to get the port side open, he brought the hose through the cockpit and down into the cabin and I held the nozzle and put fuel in while trying not to get oil and grease all over my dress. And it was hot and smelly. What the hell just happened to enjoying our cool, refreshing g&t in the cockpit?! We then got as much diesel in the one starboard tank as we could but it will take time to equalize. But that is probably alright because we purchased 400L diesel as it was. And not to mention all of this chaos under the amused eyes of our neighbors who are 10 feet away on either side. And what probably didn’t help my deflating mood was watching one of those neighbors simply take the hose, open up his fuel cap, easily fit the nozzle in and getting all of his fuel after about three easy minutes. Just add it on to the project list…
We then ventured out in search of some calamari for dinner. But it was one of the nights where neither one of us could make a decision on where to go. After a mild barrage of spitwads from a gang of little local boys, we ended up at an Italian restaurant and eating pizza (with real salami!) which I devoured. When we arrived back at the boat neither one of us wanted to crawl into bed because we felt like we would stick to the sheets. But the new water pump for the shower needs a filter placed. Fortunately, Mike let us overlook this fact and we took our first shower in the new head. Although it was just a quick rinse it felt heavenly. Then it was to bed with the street still full of people practically right above our heads. It’s funny how at Yacht Marina we couldn’t stand having one neighbor. Now we are surrounded on three sides with endless boats and people and somehow it is just fun!

A mid-day swim break

Where's Indy?