Easter (It’s bigger than Christmas!)
 
I kid you not Easter in Greece is huuuge. It really is bigger than Christmas. We were soooo looking forward to it and I can honestly say it was fabulouso!! We missed you Richard & Adrienne, hope your having a great time. I’ll begin at the beginning. A couple of days before the Easter weekend we and all the other sailor bods in the marina received an invite to the Marina’s Easter party, which was to be held at a rather smart hotel on the coast. The pontoon was positively jigging with excitement, none of us knew what to expect and more importantly what to wear. I chortled to myself as I heard Captain M ask one of the other guys on the pontoon what he would be wearing to the do. We arrived at the hotel expecting a glass of raki (the local firewater) and a cheese pie (there big in Greece). Well you could have knocked us down with the a fore mentioned cheese pie, because we had been invited to a luncheon, three courses plus vino. Hosted by the marina and attended by the mayor, he came round and chinked glasses with us all!! There were a few speeches, the odd chuckle and lots of clapping. Then we ate, drank and waddled home. Not before enjoying a coffee at a lovely bar right on the beach, we sat in the glorious sunshine, listening to the waves lapping on the shore. Sorry am I going on too much. You know I’m exaggerating the waves weren’t lapping that much. Later that night (midnight) we went down to the lake with a few hundred Greeks, tourists and yachties to light candles and watch a spectacular firework display. It was a lovely evening, everybody lighting each others candles and exchanging good wishes. The mood was joyous and warm. During the firework display flares were let off and dynamite was thrown into the lake. When the Greeks celebrate they do it in style. On Easter Sunday some of the more lively members of the marina were up with the sparrows (we surfaced a little later). A special Easter barbecue had been arranged. The Greek tradition is that on Easter Sunday a whole lamb is spit roasted. As there are quite a few of us in the marina we needed four lambs and a suckling pig (living on a boat gives you a big appetite). Now roasting four lambs requires a special type of barbecue. Gerry (salty sea dog) and Robin (walk adventurer and all round live wire) were on the case. They built the King of barbecues. Roasting started at about 06.00 hrs, we turned up to do our stint of turning Larry the lamb and his chums a little later. We feasted until the sun went down. But there was still lamb left, people were taking bits to make stews and curries. The Captain said he fancied some for a sandwich. I came back with what looked like half a lamb and all these grand ideas of making a stew. Will the real Karen Macdonald please stand up. She who is squeamish about raw sausages, was hacking up a lamb carcass to make a stew. Well I think that’s what I’ve made!! One of the highlights of the Easter Sunday barbie was the Easter bonnet competition. Sorry to say there was no contribution from the Stella Maris camp (I know bah humbug us). Not to worry though Mandy from ‘Moli’ turned up with a rather fetching pair of bunny ears!! The celebrations continued on Monday and throughout the rest of the week. There was a Greek festival down by the lake lots of singing, dancing and raki!! On Wednesday night we went to a choir concert (we are trying to keep our finger on the cultural pulse). The moto on Stella Maris this week is ‘work, work and more work’ (now now). We are really knuckling down to try and get Stella ready for the high seas (hope there not too high). We’re leaving with ‘Moli’ (Ian & Mandy) early next week. Yes campers the sailors are going to have a bash at sailing again! First stop Santorini, only problem we have at the moment (other than we’re not ready) is the weather, it’s sooo windy (not the right way) we’ll probably get blown back to Crete!! Today the Captain has looked at the Auto-helm and declared it fit for duty (yippee). I’ve had a bit of a varnishing disaster, I’m on my last coats of the sole of the boat (floor to you and me). Other than some idiot walking over it when it was wet, (I’m trying to let go of this anger) it’s gone reasonably well. That is until today, I’ve been using matt varnish, but for some bizarre reason today it has come up shiny. What’s the problem I hear you ask. The problem is that the other half of the floor that I’ve already done is matt and actually looks like matt varnish! There now you can see my dilemma, we could always go for a two tone gloss matt effect! I can feel some more sanding coming on. Got to go lots to do. Love & Easter joy The Captain & The Varnisher XX
Tuesday, 10 April 2007