Life in a boat yard with a broken leg

After hauling out my sailboat, Eidos at Aktio Marina for the winter, I decided to take a short  holiday on a one way ticket (because you never know what opportunities or lucky breaks await) and flew to the Balearic Islands, Spain for the Ibiza Tantra Festival. For those of you who don't know about Tantra, it's mostly Yoga, meditation, chanting, dancing, massage, extreme eating, swimming in the sea in the nude and lounging around the swimming pool at a luxury hotel. I had an amazing time! 
Then on the final day, while waiting for my ride to the Ibiza Yoga retreat to relax doing absolutely nothing for another week, I slipped on a sloping path to the beach and twisted my ankle. It swelled up and was very painful, but two lovely gentlemen carried me back inside and put me on the sofa in the lobby. Someone else brought me lunch and a Tantrika gave my ankle a healing session. 
At the Yoga retreat, I wrapped the ankle with a tenser bandage and waited for it to stop hurting. It didn't. So, after five days, I finally gave in and got a ride to the hospital for an x-ray.

"You have a fractured fibula," said the attending doctor. "Possibility of surgery." 
"No, surgery," I replied firmly.
"In that case we put on a cast and you will return in two weeks for a consultation with the specialist."
"Can you not just give me a walking boot so I can get on with my life?
"You must have a cast, and keep your weight off that leg or you might never walk properly again."
Sufficiently frightened, I submitted to the doctors' authority. 
"You must also inject yourself into your abdomen with an anticoagulant medication every day."
"No. I hate needles and I will never inject myself."
"You might get Deep Vein Thrombosis or Pulmonary Embolism if you don't. And if you get one of those, you might die." 
Once again defeated, I returned to the retreat, but first stopping at a pharmacy to fill the prescription.

Back at the retreat, I paid for half board, which was sufficient, given that I was not doing anything to expend the calories. It was great having company while immobilized on the lounge sofa. I had access to the kitchen to make a simple breakfast and my lunch was cooked and served, dishes carried away and washed. Often there was tea and snacks during the day and sometimes I was offered dinner. 
One of the residents played a guitar, I had people to chat with, there was a nearby patio to enjoy the sun and sometimes we had movies in the evenings. I was even offered more healing sessions and massage treatments. What a great way to recover! If only I was independently wealthy!
Two weeks later, back at the hospital, another x-ray revealed that the bone seemed to be healing and the doctor agreed that I could return to Greece. He cut open the cast lengthwise in the front to give my leg and the veins more room to prevent DVT while flying, then wrapped it all up with a tenser bandage.
Meanwhile, a couple of friends in Greece had offered me their homes for further recovery but instead, I decided to first return to Eidos in the boat yard, to check up on some work being done, and put another coat of varnish on the teak. The cast would come off in three or four weeks and then, with help, I would move Eidos to Lefkas Marina for the rest of the winter.
I booked my ride to the airport, my flights from Ibiza to Athens and a taxi to the boat yard. I then focused on my needs back on board. I needed some crutches (I had borrowed a pair at the hotel but had to return them upon leaving) and also groceries delivered. A couple of posts on social media and I was offered both and a quick phone call secured a delivery of the crutches for the following day. 

At the airport, I was taken care of door to door with wheel chair service and hopping up and down the airplane the rest of the time. On the way from Athens airport to Aktio, the taxi driver picked up two loaves of bread for me while getting a coffee at a bakery, some souvlaki at a road side stand, and then stopped at an ATM so that I could get cash. 
The biggest challenge still lay ahead: how to climb a ladder on one good leg so that I could board my boat. 
We arrived in Aktio Marina after dark, but the night watchmen brought a ladder and carried up my suitcase and hand bag. They also helped me hop from the taxi to the bottom of the ladder. I quickly realized that using my knee instead of the foot on the ladder rungs was quite simple. And so, with one good foot and the other knee, I carefully climbed up into the cockpit and then swung myself into the cabin. Easy, peasy... It was good to be back home and soon I was in my bunk, the electric heater purring in the middle of the cabin. I would deal with the challenge of living in a boat yard with a broken leg  - tomorrow.
Since this was the end of November, there were very few people around, mostly the boat yard crew and a few service contractors. The usual, spring to fall van shuttle that the boat yard provided for clients was no longer running and the local taverna was closed for the season. I was not allowed to drive - the cast was on my right leg. Furthermore, even with crutches, getting around the gravel surface of the yard would be risky if not outright dangerous especially with rain coming in a few days. 
So, the next morning on one knee and one foot, I managed to stretch and secure a waterproof tarp over the boom for extra shelter. Inside, I hoped and slid around to make hot drinks and sandwiches. A friend had also dropped off my new crutches.
In the afternoon, I rigged a line to lower the crutches off the boat as needed. I then climbed down and removed the aluminum foil plugs from the thru-hulls. Gray water would drain out to the gravel. For the toilet I had the holding tank. I spent the rest of the day making my space comfortable, knitting Christmas gifts and updating family and friends online.
On day two, I added 5GB of Internet access to my telephone contract - I would be depending on Internet for many things. There is free Internet access in the boat yard, but I would have needed to walk 100 meters to reach the community area where the signal was strong enough and at the moment that was beyond my ability. Very humbling.... 
I called the office and learned that the mechanic would be coming to replace the exhaust elbow for my engine early next week. And when the sun moved into the cockpit, I put on two coats of varnish on the companionway doors.
Later that day, I called my favourite supermarket and spoke to the manager who told me that the store didn't offer shopping service or delivery but that he would do it for me. I was grateful, but that's not exactly what I had in mind. A friend was too busy to help me and I was afraid of what it would cost me if done by the YachtFresh provisioning and catering service in Lefkas, since it involved half hour drive each way for the delivery. There had to be a better way. 
In the evening, I continued with my Greek lessons, added a few rows to the scarf I had been knitting and called my younger son, Justin for his birthday.
And then, in the middle of the night, it dawned on me that Costas, the shuttle driver in the boat yard, often went shopping to town to buy food and supplies for the boat yard staff and crew. I would ask tomorrow and then start working on the shopping list in Greek.
"Yes, we can do that for you," Ioanna from the office replied to my email the next morning. On Monday. Great! Another problem solved - I will have my groceries delivered.
Later that day, I noticed a large garbage bin in front of Eidos, so tossed my trash. I might never need to leave my boat!
So, with some planning and a lot of help from the yachting community, living in a boat yard with a broken leg is a snap!