March 2023 – week 4 round-up - Spring is in the air

The week got off to another very North-windy start. At one point we even thought we had an owl in the garden but it turns out it was just the wind hooting. The rest of the time it howled and raged and bothered us in different ways and to different extents.

We decided a brief a change of scene was in order, and went on a road trip round the island. We were rewarded with beautiful light catching the reeds down by the salt lake (at the far side of which you could just make out – but not photograph successfully – flamingos); turquoise and dark blue seas backed by warmly-lit mountains; some impressive inland terrain riven with canyons; gorgeous long beaches with waves whipped up by the wind. And we had a delicious lunch down by the front at Kardamena, which was otherwise wholly deserted. I came back with a slew of photos, a pocketful of beach finds, and a happy glow, ready to face whatever was coming.

Thank goodness the wind eventually took leave of absence at some point later in the week. This meant that we were able to achieve another milestone on the "Readiness For Sailing" journey, i.e. the boat was finally lifted out onto the dry dock for all the final work to be done on its underside and outside. A huge crane like a 15m-high square trolley on wheels, without a top, stood waiting for Opua at the slip. Ralph guided Opua into the frame before she was lifted up on wide slings, and then the frame wheeled her off and deposited her in a vacant lot on the dry dock.

Since then there has been a lot of activity on the boat, in the boat, for the boat, around the boat, under the boat and with the boat. If not quite yet, by the boat. Some tasks are inevitably more fun than others, but to give you an idea let me mention a few: cleaning the water tanks, scrubbing the 90m of anchor chain with vinegar solution (don’t be fooled; it looks exactly the same now as it did before); painting the anchor yellow (don’t ask me, I’m just a foot soldier); finishing our lounge project, as well as sourcing various materials and equipment to complete boat-related tasks.

We are not alone in preparing for the imminent season. Kos town has been waking slowly from its winter hibernation over the last few weeks, with gradually more and more cafés, restaurants, hotels and other businesses sweeping off their cobwebs and whitewashing their boarding. In the marina there has been a big push to prepare the charter boats for the season, and in fact the first charter catamaran set out optimistically last week. Day by day there are more people out and about in the marina and in town, and generally spring is in the air.

Buoyed with enthusiasm by the warm sunshine – and it is warm out of the wind – and by the general pre-season buzz, Ralph and I decided to go for our first swim in the sea. We got installed on a remote beach at the north tip of the island, and approached the water boldly. I only managed about 4 steps before I reversed out squealing. Braver souls (and at least one nutter in my family) might have been OK with a water temperature of about 12 degrees.  But I have apparently become a warm-water swimmer. I am hanging on for more favourable swimming conditions. In the meantime may spring finish springing, and may the owl become a cuckoo.

We wish everyone a happy and healthy springtime.

Translated into German by www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)