So we made it. What a long trip, 28 hours, at least four of which were incredibly unpleasant for me and a little frightening for Kirk. But the bottom line is that we made it. Tired, frazzled, bedraggled….but we made it. The plane left Athens right smack on time, and landed at Kerkyra airport exactly on time. We are glad to be done with planes for awhile.
We were met by a taxi driver who drove us to the marina. Seconds after we got in the car we both thought we were going to be creamed by a bus that he failed to see pulling out. He was a little on the crazy side. Any time he had a clear space on the road, he put the pedal to the floor. He’d pass where there was only really one lane, but apparently honking makes it all OK. It was a bit harrowing.
We had hoped that we could just get on the boat and crash. But no go. We did all the paperwork, passports and documents were taken to the Port Police who approved us (“Whew”) and then we were driven down to the boat and took about 2 hours to go over it and do the check-out.
We are aboard the Nikolas. A 33 foot Beneteau and it is lovely. But I have to admit, it’s strange being on a boat with a male name…how can I call it a her…when it’s a him? It just seems odd. Nikolas is really an amazingly well maintained boat and we think the fellow (Stavros) might actually either be her owner, or her owners brother. He took so much pride in everything he showed us and had driven all the way in from Athens where he lives to go through it with us. Nikolas is well appointed, well laid out, well maintained, and well loved.
After that’s all done, we are feeling famished and stop in at a taverna on the dock for dinner. While sitting there, we are looking around at the flags in the marina. Australia, America, Germany, Britain, Ireland…. we notice a small sailboat right out front being worked on by several young guys. There are some very large flags snapping in the wind…and one in particular catches my eye. But it won’t quite lay out fully, I just get fleeting glimpses of parts of it…it’s blue, and there is a circular bit in the centre…and some words under it…. suddenly I look at Kirk with an “Oh, you are joking!!!!” He is confused, he hasn’t seen it. I say there is a Canadian flag right there…he looks around and looks at em like I’ve completely lost it.
I point at the boat right in front of us….he still looks confused. I tell him to look at the bottom flag…he is stunned. Flapping in the breeze right in front of us is a Canucks flag! I walk over and ask who is the Canucks fan, an Aussie voice pipes up and tells me that he lived in Vancouver for two years and loves the Canucks. He watched them on the TV in the bar close by until they stopped showing it. Now he’s pissed that he can only watch it on the net. We think this is just the most amazing thing.
After dinner we stop at the market and get some provisions and basic necessities like dishsoap, a dish scrubbie…etc. We look at the wine selection and hope to see a bottom of “teo-twenty” but alas…it’s not there. We select a large bottle of “four-ten” But it turns out to be no match for our darling two-twenty of 2004.
Then we finally unpack and find spots for all our gear. With that all done we decide to go for a short walk to try to clear the sleepiness. It would be better if we could survive until the sun goes down before we go to bed….but I’m not sure either of us will make it…… it’s currently 8 pm and we are pretty much done in.
Tomorrow we plan to rent scooters and tour this part of the island. Scooters….interesting things happened last time we rented scooters…. stay tuned…..