Sunday

Sunday morning begins with church bells at 7am, followed by a breakfast of fresh croissants, banana kefir, and coffee in Eidos' cockpit.

The rest of the day, I catch up on my writing, edit an article, and clean the laptop of no longer needed programs. The laptop is old and acting up by sometimes snoozing unexpectedly. Like its owner 😊. A quiet day, except that in the afternoon, charter boats once again arrive from Athens and the harbour soon fills up.

Delayed in Poros

My second bag finally arrived today, this one by courier. I am not sure if I would trust DHL again because the parcel was stuck in the sorting office in Bielsko, Poland for over a week, until I made a complaint, and then it arrived two days later.  Bennett freed the carry-all from the box and plastic bag and then brought it on board. Luckily, nothing was damaged. We now have filtered water and soon even sparkling, thanks to the Wessper jug and Sodastream unit. I had to abandon the gas cannister in Poland and buy a new one because no one wants to ship them. Hopefully, it will arrive from Skroutz shortly.

Also, my down douvet and winter clothes arrived, so I am ready for anything. 

However, the three fire extinguishers that were supposed to be ready this week, haven't even left the chandlery. And so we are stuck in Poros until they are taken away, checked, updated, stamped and returned. 

So, while Bennett is sanding more teak trim, I am relaxing with an afogato at my favourite Sailor Café. 

Work never ends. Back on board I noticed a clanging noise on deck and discovered that the screw for the lower port shroud sheered off.

And so, off I go to Galatas in search of Stamatis, the welder, who just happens to also be my engine mechanic.

And soon it's nicely welded together again. 

And holding the mast up once more.

Lazy day. Not. ;)

I took the local free bus to the fish market this morning and bought a half kilo of gavros ( anchovies). Here is the bus schedule for the summer.

And here is my recipe for gavros marinados.

Meanwile, Bennett has gone with Danie on board Nanna to help him tie up to a mooring. 

Time for a coffee break. 

And lunch.

After lunch of Greek salad and gavros marinados, Bennett found the leak in the dinghy and fixed it.

All done! Now we wait 24 hours while the adhesive cures and hope that this fixes the leak.

The end of another perfect day.

More work.

This morning, before coffee (!!!), I cleaned out under the v-berth where the rusty, and smelly, leaking holding tank used to live. I used Aqua fuerte, (which is a diluted hydrochloric acid), soda, vinegar, and finally soap. This is where the extra sails and other low priority items will now go. 

After breakfast, I cleaned out the port settee locker. The off season clothes get stored there. 

Finally, the morning chores done, it's time to shop and reward myself with an orange juice. More cleaning in the afternoon and a search for something that will seal the pin-prick holes in the dinghy.

We are getting some strong gusts of wind from the north west today, but Eidos is on the lee side of the floating pontoon for a change,  so being blown off the dock. Hopefully the wind will stay like this and there will be no more damage like the trim getting ripped off earlier this spring.

Traveling solo

I will be returning to Greece soon and besides the challenge of traveling with large bags, I am also faced with another dilemma. Overnight layover near the Athens hotel. For some reason, most of the accommodation I have been able to find is geared towards couples and families: Apartments with five beds and a kitchen, three bedroom villas, large hotel rooms for two. Of course the price fits the accommodation. What about a bed and a bathroom for one? There is one hostel within five miles of the airport for 30€ per night, but the check in stops at 17:00. And of course, I would need to add about 40€ to the cost for a taxi ride there and back. Incredible! 

Gatwick Airport offers a yotel by the hour. You get a bed, a shower and a toilet in a room as big as a train or ferry compartment for as long as you need it. Perfect. No need to travel anywhere while waiting for a connection. 

As it is, I will be slouching all night on a chair in a 24-hour cafe in the arrivals area of the airport. 

Perhaps it's time to stop this traveling and finally stay in one place. 

I finally decided to spend the night in my favourite hostel downtown Athens, the Mosaikon. The last shuttle bus and an Uber will get me there before 1am, and I can then sleep in in comfort, not worried about the quality of an unknown place. It's only 34€, so much better for a solo traveler. And, even better, I found out, that at an old  theatre nearby, a play Penelope will be performed the very next evening. So.... I added a second night to my reservation. It looks like more cultural events are in my future.

The plane doors are now closed, we are ready to taxi out to the runway, and I say good bye to Poland.

Sahara sand in Greece.

Yesterday and today we have the sky, the land, and all the boats covered in reddish sand that has blown over from the Sahara desert. 

It's not even the sand you find on a beach, that could easily be swept off, but fine powder that sticks to everything and coats all the surfaces of the boat. 

I can taste it in my mouth and it invades my nose. It even blocks out the sun.

The reddish powder is a permanent occurance over northern Africa but with southerly winds it spreads all the way as far as Poland on occassion. It is supposed to move east by tomorrow afternoon but will leave Eidos in a serious need of a wash.

Meanwhile, Poros is preparing for a catamaran boatshow this weekend do the crew have lots of washing to do as well. 

Safe travels, Roane!

Roane, instead of taking the bus to Athens, found a ride with Paskal who needed crew on his sailboat.

They should arrive in Zeus Marina in the early afternoon.

Not much wind today, so motoring. 

Bye, Roane. It was very nice to have met you and thank you for all your help! And for a lovely sketch of Eidos, plus a note. Hope to see you back in Greece soon.

Calm seas.

They caught up with a French training vessel, Belem, that will carry the Olympic flame from Piraeus to Marseille.

Roane spent her last afternoon in Greece exploring Athens.

Meanwhile, I moved Eidos to a mooring in Navy Bay. Another busy day in paradise.

Sunday in Poros

The sound of the church bells woke me up, so off to the bakery for a milo pita and machiatto.

Crew is sleeping in.

Roane will be leaving tomorrow, so she is packing today and hoping for a ride to Piraeus on board another sailboat. The dinghy has been patched as well as possible (thank you, Roane) and back on deck. Meanwhile, I washed the decks.

All ready to move Eidos on a buoy.

Roane went for one more swim before leaving and then an evening walk.

Life aboard Eidos

We begin our day at sunrise with coffee and breakfast in the cockpit. A bit of housework follows.

Major job - the dinghy sprung a leak. I go shopping for glue and Gorilla tape, while Roane works online.

After lunch, it's cards and strawberries and then more work patching the dinghy.

And then the skipper makes gavros marinados for supper.

Gale force winds, rain and thunderstorm predicted for tonight and tomorrow, so we batten down the hatches and tie down everything on deck.

Splashdown!

Lift off!

On the trailer to the dock.

Back in the air.

And in the water.

The mechanic had to come again because there was some electrical problem and the engine didn't want to start.

Crew on the wheel heading to Poros harbour.

Skipper takes over to manouver in the harbour and to dock.

And on the pontoon.