The riggers from Athens did not make it this week. They would have had to arrive by the Sunday ferry to catch the only clement weather slot for setting the mast this week, which would have been on Monday morning. While this was not wholly unexpected it does mean we have to continue to be patient for several more weeks to be ready to sail. Apparently patience is a virtue.
Anyway the week started with a major thunderstorm in the night of Sunday, followed by a welcome beautiful sunny morning and a hot day on Monday. And it ended on Sunday with a wonderfully warm sunny day for a big colourful parade celebrating the Unification of the Dodecanese islands with Greece. Half the town turned out to watch, lining the main street past the harbour, which was fringed in Greek flags. As we waited for the parade (lead by a brass band) to start there was an air of great festivity and excitement. Little kids clutched garish balloons and candy floss; and stalls selling popcorn and fried dough balls were dotted along the front. Some of the costumes reminded me of the Landshuter Hochzeit; the popcorn smell reminded me of every fair, and the children and teenagers all reminded me of children and teenagers all over the world. So it was both familiar and new.
In between these two happy sunny days bookending the week, we have had varied weather, sometimes rather chilly, often windy, and occasionally very wet.
The good news is that we have been able to start loading our gear onto the boat. It has been fun finding the best storage space for each item. The catamaran has a lot of space compared to most monohulls of its length and for just the 2 of us it is a generous size. But since we brought 1.5 busloads of various stuff with us it is already proving an absorbing challenge to squeeze everything on. (This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows us well: we are still of the oxymoronic “handy to have, even if you never use it” mindset.)
Ralph also embarked on a project to enable the saloon dining table and seating to be converted into a lounge/extra bed as needed. This has involved changing the table leg to an adjustable one, and measuring and cutting out a board to sit in the gap when the table is down. Then there will be some metalwork involved, and we will have to have the missing cushion made.
The riggers from Athens are now rescheduled to arrive Tuesday 14.03. to set the mast. If the weather gods allow. This will involve motoring the boat round to the boatyard slip; the mast will be lifted by crane and fitted, and then there will be a test sail. Once all rigging is successfully set, we will motor back to the marina. We will probably be reassigned to our current mooring, which is actually a nice safe berth but at a good 500m from the main part of the marina the furthest mooring; we have borrowed a bike to be able to scoot more efficiently back and forth. We will almost certainly have to wait until the following week to get a place in the boatyard for all further work to be completed. In the meantime: some twiddling of thumbs, some loading, planning, optimizing, maximizing, and socializing, and of course dreaming of the open water and exercising our patience.
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