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.

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.

Gale force winds.

We had force 9 winds this morning but much better to be in the harbour than at sea. Even in the bay, we had good sized waves with white caps. I heard that some ferry sailings were cancelled.

A bit of damage to Eidos from hitting the pontoon - the teak trim ripped off. But having big fenders helped. We also had help from the crew of a neighbour's boat. They loaned us two fenders and helped when one of the shrouds came out of the fitting. Also, we threw the fortress anchor out to keep us away from the pontoon. Unfortunately,  a shackle on the anchor chain snapped and I had to call a diver to find the anchor. 

It is now early afternoon and the wind is finally dying so after a short walk, the crew and skipper can rest. 

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.

Second day prep for launch.

Now that the hull is nicely painted, we can no longer use the galley for washing dishes. So we have to use a bucket.

The next job is to clean out the bilge. Roane to the rescue, while I antfoul the second coat.

The bilge is as clean as possible.

Roane finished the painting while I prepared the fenders and mooring lines for tomorrow. 

All together, we used 7 litres (or is it kilos? At 40€/per) of antifouling paint.

The annode for the prop shaft finally arrived and has been installed. 

Eidos ready for launching.

Final preparations for launching.

We have agreed with the boatyard on a launch date: two days from today - Wednesday. Tomorrow, the annode for the propeller should arrive. 

Today and tomorrow we antifoul one coat each day. Luckily, the boatyard has everything I need, so we don't have to go to town for supplies.

First, I taped all around the waterline. 

Then, while scraping off the few remaining barnacles from the hull, I noticed some damage on the bottom of the rudder. I had bounced once or twice on a rock in the anchorage near Aegina town last summer. Good thing the scrape dried out through the winter and Takis agreed to do the repair.

Meanwhile, I got started on the antifouling using, I hope, paint that with two coats will last two years.

Hempel at €125 for 2.5 litres. Dark navy is not my favourite colour but it got delivered, and no one will see it under water except the fish. 

Watch the hair on the wet paint!

Roane's turn with the paint roller.

Time to get som cash for the boatyard and some supplies.

What I love about Greece

The sea and sky is everywhere. Greece has so many islands that it is much easier to find the sea and the horizon for a stunning view of a sunrise or a sunset. This makes days much longer.

Greece is the sunniest country I know. I suffer from SAD, so I  need the sun to feel happy. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern mostly due to decreased daylight.

Sunday in Greece

Just before 7am, the sun begun rising and so we went for a walk along the beach. Soon the church bells rang out for the morning service.A lovely combination of the sunrise and the bells.

I walked back to make coffee and prepare a kefir smoothie for breakfast, while Roane lingered a little longer on her walk.

Breakfast in the boatyard. 

After breakfast I repaired the bicycle paniers and Roane cleaned a couple of kitchen drawers.

Next was a mushroom omelet for lunch with a card game and then a nap for me, while Roane worked online.

Takis, the boatyard owner came by to ask (again) when I was planning to launch because Eidos is blocking another boat that he needs to put in the water. It could be as soon as Tuesday! 

Time for a swim!