Alone again.

I decided to have some alone time and not host any helpers for a while. It takes a bit of time to get used to this again after hosting three helpers one after another. But I have neighbors on boats next to me and I can get off the boat at any time. So now I can wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and not worry about disturbing someone else sleeping. I love early mornings. I must insist on this one priority when hosting again. They say that we are most like ourselves when we are alone. Perhaps people who enjoy being alone like themselves more than people who don't enjoy solitude.

The other thing I should remember, is that people tire me out. I am an introvert and get energy from being alone. 

So I varnished the cockpit, I'm playing the piano, and I finished my watercolor so now it only needs a frame. I prefer to work on boat maintenance first thing in the morning when it is still cool, so that I am done by 8am and have the rest of the day free. Most jobs, such as sanding and varnishing can be split into one hour segments. 

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.

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.

Day three

Breakfast in Poros.

We spent the morning in Galatas, searching for new mosquitoe screens for the doors and hatches, and settled on a fabric gor a wedding veil. Then on to Poros to pick up a prop shaft annode which hadn't arrived, so we'll have to come back on Tuesday. After coffee and chocolate koulouri at a local cafe bar, Roane went exploring, while I did some online work.

Then  back to Galatas to finish shopping and home. Roane went for a swim, while I napped and then cooked some chicken with mushrooms for a late lunch. Finally work cleaning more kitchen cupboards, with breaks for cards and a game of Azul. And now, Roane is doing her online work while I do some writing. Another busy day!

Day two.

Tiramisu for breakfast. 

After breakfast we pumped out the bilge, and happily both the automatic and the hand pump are working well. 

And next, spring cleaning starting with the kitchen.

In the afternoon, Roane did some of her computer work and later went for a swim, while I had a shower, a nap, and then made an omlet for lunch and soup for dinner. 

Swallowing the Anchor?

Usually, after the end of the season of sailing, I haul out my boat and go traveling. And so, last fall I decided to finally revisit my hometown in Poland. My sister has settled there and it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other again after many years of being apart. I also needed to file some documents, so that I could finally have a legal place of residence. I rented an apartment, opened a bank account, transferred my pension, joined some clubs, and reconnected with my elementary school friends. It felt good to have a permanent base. I found a favorite cafe which offered exposure to whatever sun there was in winter. I joined a local hiking group, and attended church on Sundays. 

I began to think that perhaps it was time to sell Eidos and move permanently on land. After all, I was not getting any younger. So, in early April, I returned to Greece and to my boat with the intention of packing my things to take back to Poland. 

Of course, I should have remembered the power of the Greek sunshine and the draw of the sea. I am now in limbo land where I cannot decide what to do next. I could of course follow my original plan and prepare to sell my boat. But as I look around at what has been my home for the past 20 years, I cannot seem to be able to move. I have a hard time binning even an empty jar. So many years of memories! On the other hand, the transmission needs repairing, the bilge pump needs replacing, and the boat yard owner is asking how soon will I launch. Perhaps I should get the jobs done before listing the boat. Perhaps I should stay on board to show her to prospective buyers. Perhaps I should take her back to the Ionian where some friends could look after her if I can't. I want to pass her on to a new owner in as good condition as possible so that he or she can love her the way I have. 

If I hadn't just signed a lease on an apartment, the decision would have been easy. But a couple of months ago I really did think that I would stay in my hometown permanently. I felt like, after many years of being a nomad, I finally found a place where I belong. But perhaps, the nomad in me is not quite done exploring. And perhaps it's not the right time to let go of my magic carpet quite yet.

Preparing for winter.

Pepper season. These sweet peppers are now in season so I bought a whole bunch at the farmer's market and pickled some for winter. 

Mice can swim

Eidos is anchored about 160 m, or 500 ft from any land. I rarely go to land myself; perhaps once a week for supplies.  

Three days ago, I noticed a hole in my mosquito netting that covers the entryway at night. Careless me, I thought to myself as I looped an elastic around the hole to stop the mosquitoes from coming in. 

But the next day there was another hole in the mosquito netting. The second strange thing that I noticed was the cheesecloth that I use to cover my jar of kefir was lying beside the jar. I suddenly put the two together: Mouse or a rat. 

Rodents can do a lot of damage to your boat. They can gnaw on furniture and upholstery, destroy the wiring with the added danger of causing a fire, as well as ruin your food supplies and spread disease. I keep all my food in glass jars with metal lids or double bagged. Only fruit and vegetables are out in the net hammocks.

My fears were confirmed when something scurried away in the dark near my feet. I don't have any traps on board and I'm terrified of using them. First of all risking my fingers to set them and second of all dealing with the dead body of a mouse or a rat if it works. And so a couple of years ago when I had a similar problem with a rat on a quay in Vonitsa, I bought some poison. I still had some left. Judging by the size of the droppings, this happily was not a rat but only a mouse.

I put a cake of the poison in the cockpit, closed the door to the v-berth and attempted to go back to sleep. A couple of hours later, I checked and the poison was gone. Thank goodness, the problem has been dealt with. Just to be sure, I put another cake of poison out in the cockpit and a second one under the sink where I found some droppings. In the morning the poison in the cockpit was gone but the one under the sink was still there.

In daylight, I saw half eaten cakes of poison behind my herb garden. All I could wish for now is that the mouse would swim to shore before it dies. I imagine it would not be fun if it crawled into a small space in the boat to die. Rotting corpse of a mouse is probably not the most attractive smell on a boat.

Today is the third day. The cakes of poison have been fully eaten, there is a hole in the mosquito netting of one of the portholes as well as in one of the garbage bags.

And I just found some damage to my upholstery. I sprinkled cayenne pepper on it which I read repels rodents. I also put out some more poison bait. 

I replaced the netting on the porthole, and tonight I will have to close all the hatches and portholes in 30 degree heat, to hopefully keep the mouse out and not in. I also made up some bait using (organic!) almond butter and a) boric acid and b) washing soda, and made an anchor chain guard from an empty water bottle.

I sure hope something works soon, because I have no idea what to do next. 

Day four. The bait has been tampered with overnight so the mouse is still alive. I placed another one in the same area behind my herb garden . Happily, I have not noticed any more droppings or damage to my upholstery inside. I have not heard any scampering sound either. I am now hoping that the creature has either died or has decided that it's safer for it to stay outside.

I made patches for the holes in the upholstery with the hope that the mouse will not make any more damage.

Yesterday, I placed about 20 or so mothballs around the inside of the boat thinking that perhaps the strong smell would repel the mouse and cause it to abandon its hiding place.  There are hundreds of tiny crevices where a small mouse could hide that I would never be able to access and I hoped the fumes from the mothballs would chase it out. And then I Googled. Not only are mothballs and their fumes dangerous to humans but they do not repel rats and mice. So, I spent an hour retrieving as many of them as I could before I was the one that got gassed. And then another hour cleaning the boat with vinegar . As you can see, I'm getting desperate. My ears have become ultra sensitive to any unusual sound, I am not sleeping well, and I find it difficult to do anything else but getting rid of the rodent.

My question is, why would a mouse swim to an anchored boat when there are restaurants, shops, and garbage bins everywhere on land?

My onboard garden.

The one thing that I used to miss,  living on a boat, is having a garden. At one time, I had a huge vegetable garden and access to all the fruit I could eat from an orchard we lived on. But on a boat there's not much space, and many plants don't take to the saltwater air.

So I started small. An aloe vera in a pot thinking that it was useful to have to use as skin lotion after being in the sun.

This one is the latest in a series of my attempts to grow them small enough to fit on the boat, yet big enough to be useful.

But I longed to have a herb garden with parsley and chives and basil and oregano. 

A friendly carpenter built me a box that fits conveniently at the back of the boat. And that's where I planted rosemary and thyme, parsley and oregano, chives and coriander, and even a small bay tree that a friend gave me.

Of course the mint had to go in a separate pot, otherwise it would take over the whole box. And  there's a cedar tree that I've been decorating for Christmas for the last two years - also a gift from a friend.

I tried growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, but I could never grow enough of them to make it worthwhile. I need a big garden for those.

For my birthday this year, friends gave me some flowering plants and so my garden keeps growing.

I now even have shade loving plants in the bathroom.

Now and then, a butterfly visits my floating home.

That's the Green Hairstreek  perched on the leftmost flower.

Spring cleaning continued

This morning, the marina manager reminded us again to stay on board as much as possible. Also, we learned that a woman from a newly arrived boat that is now moored on the Lefkas quay was being tested for the virus. All three people on board are being quarantined for 14 days regardless of whether she turns out positive for the Covid-19. It's worrying.

Sailboat under quarantine. Note the fence surrounding it on the quay.

Meanwhile, trying to make most of my enforced self-isolation, I continued with spring cleaning. Much of my extra bedding and towels got mildewy over the winter while stored in the v-berth. And so today, on a cloudless, warm day, I hung it all out to freshen and bleach in the sun. Most of the towels came out smelling of spring, but some of the sheets and pillowcases will have to be bleached to see if they can be rescued. I put them in a bucket full of water spiked with bleach to soak overnight.

A freshly baked bread and lentil vegetable soup are on the menu for tonight's dinner.