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Sept 1, 2000
August 31 We are en route to the Pontine Islands,
west of Naples, Italy. Before any travelogue news, here is how our day
started. S woke at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, an hour later I
got up to "check the anchor" (water the fish.) I found that the wind had
come round and we were now in a totally exposed anchorage and getting much
too close to the local fleet of fishing boats. When the wind shifts
overnight in a crowded anchorage it can be a bit disorienting when you try
and make sense of it at first in the morning. With the wind building and
very expensive boats all around, it is more than disorienting, it is
alarming. We got the anchor up in record time, waking Bronwen to stow the
chain (not nice to do to a teenager at 6 AM). We did such a good job
raising it that we got a bonus, a fish trap with lots of line was dangling
from the anchor. Through some pretty poor early morning communication, I
motored around the anchor tangle and proceeded to really tangle it in our
propeller shaft, stalling the engine. We had no propulsion, the fishing
fleet was looming to leeward and the wind was pushing us along towards
them. There was no room to set another anchor, and our dinghy was nicely
lashed on deck for the passage to Sardinia. We were very lucky that the
fish trap had an anchor of some sort that managed to hold the rather
overweight Margarita while Sarah the wonder woman dove to untangle the
mess. Bronwen stood ready to deploy the anchor again, Emma positioned
fenders for the possible collision with the fishing fleet, and Douglas
supervised. S finally had to cut the line just as the owner arrived
(alerted by the boat taxi driver). He was very understanding and waved us
goodbye, refusing to accept compensation for his cut up line. Mind you, I
am not fully clear on all Italian hand gestures yet, but I think it was
friendly. The weather forecast is not nice. We have altered our plans,
going to the Pontines to hide for a 2-3 day gale that is anticipated to
hit tonight. It is a nice place to go to, but it eats into our Sardinia
time.
We spent about a month playing in Greece.
Starting in the Eastern Aegean, islands that really seemed to belong more
to Turkey than Greece. We always go for the ones that are off the track,
few tourists. We loved Leros and Lipso, fairly small with great little
villages. Lots of blue and white paint all about (started, we hear, in
WWII when they wanted to proclaim their Greekness during occupation.) We
spent a few days on Agothonisi in the northern Dodecanese. A very out of
the way place. We watched a Belgium boat drag anchor down onto a local
fishing boat (sound familiar?). I was asked to offer an opinion about the
damage and whether the Belgium boat was liable. Hmmm. I was later pulled
aside by the local patriarch who said that the fisherman was crazy and a
thief and the yacht mustn't pay him a penny! We were relieved to see it
smoothed over with the exchange of a couple hundred US dollars and a meal
at the local rest. With the Meltemi blowing (local north wind) we were not
able to get to the northern islands of Lesvos and Limnos. Instead we
headed West for the Cyclades. These are in the heart of Greek tourist
grounds, not exactly our cup of tea, but we enjoyed it. We spent a day in
Mikonos, incredibly touristy, where we met two other "kid boats" from the
US and Canada, Hoptoad and Nanamuk. We traveled together to see the ancient Greek ruins at
Delos. Truly an incredible experience. We have seen lots of ruins and
sometimes get a bit ho-hum about them, but we were all impressed here.
You could make out old streets and buildings, old wealthy houses with
intact mosaics and fantastic columns. I was entranced by a huge (60m)
marble structure that held a victorious trireme (old sailing warship) from
300 BC or so. We spent the day there and then back to a great little
anchorage for windsurfing and kneeboarding. A great couple of days.
After Delos we Margaritas split off for a rental
car land-day on Tinos. We thought this was a more quiet island, and it
was, inland. The harbor was a zoo however. I got off onto an immediate
bad start with the "harbor master" (ha!) over how much line to throw
them. It was very windy, HUGE ferries all about, and we were backing into
a very tight spot with limited water under our keel. S and B dropped the
anchor and we reversed to the dock. D threw a line to the dock hand, and
he thought it was too long. OK, fine, make it fast and we will deal with
it later. The Dock Master from Hell (I had no idea who he was, looked
like a dock busybody) then came over and started gesticulating in a way I
cannot properly relate on paper. Shoulders back, both hands out, palms up,
stomach out, head back. "Too much! Too much!" he yelled. "Why too much!"
I yelled back. Unfortunately, not only was this a little confrontational,
I also decided, being the chameleon that I am, to imitate his gesture.
Oops. He yelled some more and stormed off. I could not get his
cooperation for the rest of our three day stay. Not for water, not for
fuel, not for checking in. I was a non-person. He seemed to take great
satisfaction in joking and visiting the neighbor boats on either side of
us and then frowning his way past us as I tried to get his attention.
We drove around Tinos for a day, visiting
incredible little villages built onto the hills. You see them in the
distance, drive up and then you are past them, as if you've driven around
the outskirts. Not the standard buildings on either side of the main
street through town, or even a side street going into town. We got out of
the car at one (Dio Choria) and walked up some stairs. Great view of the
sea below, lovely white houses with lots of blue trim. We followed the
stairs up to a town square. Not a big one, maybe 30x10m. A tree or two
and some benches. No grass, the whole place is concrete, built up on a
hill so there are levels with little streets and walkways and then more
stairs up to more walkways. With the clean white and blue paint and the
flowers and general tidiness, the effect is very nice. There were no
shops there, not enough people anymore to support them. Maybe 50-100
dwellings and it felt as if most of them were vacant. A man walked
through with a donkey loaded with cans of water, up the stairs. We felt
as if we were intruding. Too quiet to be a town square, but the old
(old!!) people sitting on the sides gave us big hellos. We picked out a
few of these towns and walked around, always a bit disappointed not to
find a lively center like we had in the Dodecanese. They were just about
ghost towns. The young all move off to Athens to make money, all that are
left are the retired. It must be very sad for them to see their special
little villages die. Several of the village buildings were decorated
with odd brown trim and imitation doves on the corners, which intrigued us
until we passed a few clusters of buildings like these in the open
country, with gingerbread-type brown on the top half, holes in between,
and doves flying around. We figured that they were dovecotes. We found a touristy spot to have a nice lunch at the
northeast end of the island, visited some marble workshops and picked up
some scraps from a huge pile, swam at a rocky dirty beach, let Bronwen try
driving a standard shift, and went back to our Margarita.
After Tinos we pushed on to Athens. A very dirty
harbor with the standard unfriendly dock people. We found the Greeks much
less friendly than the Turks. Quite the opposite from our
preconceptions. The Greeks have a way of showing total disdain that is
hard to overlook. Not sure if it is normal interpersonal communication
style or if it is something special saved for American tourists. We got
lots of these backhanded wave-offs that make you feel extremely
unwelcome. (Actually, it makes me feel extremely confrontational. I have
a strong need for total communication, and am really wanting to know why
we got waved-off, as the family tells me to "Let it go Dad.") You can ask
for directions and get a wave-off. Stand in line at a shop and die of old
age while people all around are greeted with smiles. You force your way
up and find a nasty snarly person who really doesn't want your business at
all. When we got together with the other yachts we traded stories about
the most insulting encounter we had, lots of laughs. I am sure it has a
lot to do with the tourism, yet in Turkey we felt so welcome. People would
close the shop to show you, not just give you, directions. I can't help
but think that the Greeks feel a bit bitter that they are no longer top
civilization ("Let it go!") Sarah tells me it is good for a white
American male to feel predjudice. The government services in Greece seem
to have fallen to pieces. Sarah took Emma to see a doctor ("Go to the
hospital, 24 hours a day, first class service, the best in the world") and
found, after several tries, that the hospitals rotate days of operation
for ER and outpatients. This is the nation's capital. It is not that
there is not enough demand, they are very busy. It is that they are
underbudgeted and way understaffed. On the way to the third hospital S and
E took a taxi. We had been warned of taxis but so far had had no trouble,
all use meters, and above average friendly for Greece. When they got to
the destination, he told her the price, about 8 times normal. She said no
and after much haggling he asked for 4 times normal (wrote it down on a
piece of paper and handed it across although his English was impeccable).
No, she said, and gave examples of prices we have paid. He started to
drive off. Sarah yelled "Stop!" and threatened to open the door. He
didn't slow down. S opened the door into the bumper of a parked car.
That got the message across and he stopped. And started yelling. S threw
him about 2 times the normal price said "Emma, GET OUT" and stormed off.
Perhaps he will think twice of trying that again. Or maybe he will just
wave-off the next American (British!) tourist he sees. Lesson of the day
was don't try to square up while still in the car. We did the sight seeing
required in Athens. Visited the Parthenon and other ruins at the
Acropolis. There was a big crowd there but it was still a great visit.
To look down on the city and the sea from up there is quite something.
In the museum we saw some great statues and friezes and some artifacts
that showed links between the Myceneans and the Egyptians. Traveling West
as we are from the Red Sea up through the Med gives you a real sense of
the continuity in the development of civilizations.
After Athens we transited the Corinth Canal.
Before the canal, Augustus Ceasar had his navy dragged across the 4 mi
isthmus while chasing Mark Antony. A very short but steep-to thing.
About 100 meters tall, 20 m wide. Then on to the Ionian Greek islands. S,
B and I have read Corelli's Mandolin and wanted to visit Cephallonia. We
were totally ignorant of the new movie and what a fuss the world was now
making of the place. It is still a nice island, but the tourists are there
in force and the locals are a bit unhappy with the romantic portrayal of
the Italian occupation ("Hollywood wanted a love story and that is what
they got," we were told by a shop keeper.) We also spent a few days at a
nice island up north, Meganisi. It is a real hotspot for Italian yachts
and was very crowded. We enjoyed it though, doing school and work and boat
chores. There is a real nudeness in yachting in Greece. Not by the
Greeks but by everyone else. About 50% of the women are topless and a few
men, mostly older and fatter, are bottomless. Now that we are in Italy we
note that NO ONE goes topless here. Not on the boats, not at the beach.
They don't do it at home, just over in Greece. Funny, and in a way
disappointing.
So that is the news from Margarita. We are safe
and sound in Ponza now, snuggled in for the blow. It started last night
and the temperature and humidity dropped (thankfully) and the air is
clearer than it has been for ages. We are all well. Managing to work
and play. Time keeps clicking on and we spend more and more time trying
to imagine our reentry into "normal life." We look forward to lots of
things. Being in an English speaking environment with the incredible
conveniences of North America will be great. Being able to nip to the
store for anything at all in the world that you might want, 24 hours a
day. Contacting people by telephone (good thing?). Going to the doctor
when something is wrong and knowing that you can at least communicate the
problem without resorting to charades and will get an answer and be
satisfied with the communication, well, most of the time. And of course
being able to drop by and see a friend or family, or call them anytime,
being close enough to lend or receive support. But how can we give this
life up? S and I keep talking about our "next trip" to ease the pain.
The kids don't seem to like us talking about it.
OK, all for now Love from Neill and all aboard Margarita
Ponza, Italy
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