Logs

MY DREAM TRIP TO CORFU AND THE ADRIATIC

Day 1 Trip to Athens
Well, Diary… today I leave and I am awaiting Barry's arrival for lunch and the ride to the airport… it is so darned nice of him… I never expected that… oops he's here now..

Later:
Gerhard called to wish me well… gosh I love these two guys…I've met lots of people who liked to think they were good models of how to live a gay life, but these are the only two people who actually know how.. and I will forever be greatful for the model..

Airport…
Guess I'm off…. Montezuma's revenge which took hold yesterday hopefully will let me get through the flight…. It's more like Montezuma's flood actually…

On the ride to the airport I remembered that I had forgotten my allergy medication, but more importantly I had forgotten the bear!!!! Oh lord.. how could I do such a thing.. I felt so bad…. ( I am writing this in Corfu and I am sitting here looking at The Captain's lonely bear… he (The Captain) was so disappointed, and rightly so… and I shall never be able to make up for this terrible omission… just looking at it now makes me want to cry for my stupidity… tried to find Muriel's phone number so I could call and ask her to mail me the bear but I don't have the number.

Air Flight
Flight to Athens went well… delayed in Toronto 40 minutes at Montreal's request… snow apparently… cold in Toronto but no snow. We arrived in Montreal, and yes… snow, to say the least… landed in a complete whiteout…until we touched down there was absolutely no visibility… delayed in Montreal another 2.5 hours… but finally we left.

Had a nice female passenger next to me , mid 40's or 50's, French, but with ties to Greece somehow.. goes there twice a year… sound system on movies didn't work for her… but she slept well… much better than I did…

After the 2.5 hour delay at Montreal I was the first to use the head… was only in there 2.5 minutes looking after MR when there was a banging on the door…. I came out to the glares of 8 other people lined up! Hah!! "One at a time" I said to everyone… then when I sat down I watched as they came out of the room with foul faces and as they walked down the aisles there was a mix of odd smiles as they looked at me… well, what can I say, Montezuma doesn't smell all that great!!

We flew directly towards Newfoundland and then off the coast to France. I slept most of the way, although fittingly to say the least…awoke many times wishing I could just lay prone in the aisle for a while. So much for the travel pillow I bought… the seats were sculptured in such a way that I didn't need the pillow… as we neared Athens, going past the Italian mountain range there was turbulence.. not too bad though… and then we approached Athens… wow!!… the coastline resembled a moonscape… fascinating..

Day 2 - Athens
Arrived in Athens safely, Friday, April 13…. And I kept believing that jet lag wasn't an issue… of course never having experienced jet lag how the heck would I know? Phoned The Captain to let him know I arrived, and then proceeded on a ten hour wait for the flight to Corfu…
At The Captain' suggestion took the public bus into downtown Athens …. The drive in is very reminiscent of rural California - basically ugly buildings, Ikea stores, small hills everywhere… somewhat desolate really.

The traffic was a wild mix of motorbikes and small cars… I remember thinking that my Grand Prix would never make it in this traffic… nor would I … I'd have a heart attack watching out for all the motorbikes…. Then as we curved into the morass of streets in downtown Athens I was both enawed and perplexed, trying to decide if I liked the architecture… never really came to the conclusion that I liked the modern buildings.. all reminiscent of 50's architecture in Canada… and the apartments/condos were packed together like San Francisco or New York.. nothing really all, but very dense…

Strolled around downtown Athens.. (see photos)… somewhat amazed at the ancient architecture but not feeling reflective…so I took photos for later reflection… and I went back to the airport after lunch, hoping to return again one day to get a better look. I remember thinking that everyone was so young.. barely anyone over 40… and I mean there were masses of people from everywhere…. More humanity than I ever saw in New York even on a busy day…

Observation: I do not feel badly using my English…those who can't speak it try very hard to help, and with a smile… and those who can speak English are instantly helpful..

Corfu:
Arrived in Corfu, 11pm, …. Airport was like old Malton….got off on the runway and walked to terminal…like a fool I walked up the locals entrance and couldn't figure out why there wasn't any customs there. The Captain met me and he was just as handsome as ever… the best looking man I'd seen on the entire trip ….I remember thinking when in Athens that no one looked as good as The Captain and I wondered again, as I had earlier, if he was really Greek ….

Finally after waiting forever for luggage which never came, a baggage handler arrived to tell The Captain that I was in the locals baggage area and had to go to the international baggage area… we went in there and there was my lonely bag… and a customs agent who just ignored us as we picked up the bag and disappeared. Now THAT is the way to travel.!!!

The Captain drove me to his house through old town and along the promenade, and my word… what a beautiful place this is at night… palaces… waterfront promenades… more on all that another time… with photos… I'm just happy to be with my love and when I walked into his flat I felt instantly at home.. it is just soooo The Captain and it is just sooo ME!…

Saturday in Corfu:

We went to the marina and I didn't take my camera… wow.. what a marina!! Boats, boats, boats… and then we came to the sailboat we're taking north… a beauty.. a true beauty.. but being the pseudo sailor I am, I kept wondering why anyone would spend os much money ($515,000euros or about $800,000CAN) for a boat that didn't have a generator… hah!!

The Captain had to pick up his daughter… so I had a nap in the V-birth… oh lord, I hope Bob (Sandy)<my oldest brother.. deceased in 1994- avid sailor and always wanted me to sail> is looking down on me and wishing me well.. it is just such a beautiful adventure that I can share with the person I love that I keep thinking that Bob would be so happy for me if he knew, and it would have been nice to be able to make him so happy… gosh, just writing this makes me want to cry..

After a short nap I awaken to shouts of "Anyone on board?" … and then another " Anyone on board?" so I get up and look out the transom to see a young man (30's) on the dock .. "Do you speak English?" he asks… "Yes I do" I reply…

"Good" he says, " I am from Canada"..

"Well, gosh" I reply.. " so am I .. I'm from Toronto" (what a small world)

Turns out he is from Quebec city and wanted to buy the boat.. it is his dream boat… we chat a bit, The Captain arrives and they chat, and then The Captain and I are alone for almost the first time.. privately… and it is wonderful… I can hardly wait to get started on the trip…

Sunday

It's Sunday morning and I slept in until 10am.. same as yesterday… nice feeling being able to just sleep in… The Captain is off with his beautiful, cute young daughter for an hour or so… He makes such an adoreable father… he feels apologetic to not have time for me at the moment, but it is enough time, and I am just so happy to have met Maria.. she doesn't speak any English but I managed to say hello in greek and she said hello back , with a cute shy smile…

That's it for now….

Trip to Slovenia Day 1

Well, the day finally arrived… Tuesday, April 17 and we are off to deliver the yacht to Slovenia. This ship is a sailing yacht, 44ft, immaculate design in the traditional Greek sailing ship style with modern fittings. It was designed by Broile (German Designer) using Hinkley base and modified, and finally built in Hamburg, Germany by Lutje custom yacht builders. We are delivering it back to Germany through shipment from Slovenia… this means a trip for us up and across the Adriatic… something I've never done, obviously, and something I am looking forward to.

In preparation we have placed provisions on board, registered the trip with the Corfu Port Authority with me identified as crew…well.. actually that should be interesting.. I hope I can be of some help as I have never sailed on a sailboat before, but I do have my basic recreational seamanship training with charting and safety and minor maintenance. The Canadian recreational boating card comes in handy for registration.

As it turns out the Captain has told them I am a friend of the owner and wanted to sail the Adriatic so am coming along as crew. Their response was.. "with you?! Well, he'll be calling for a helicopter pretty quickly!!" Hah!

Anyhow, to get back to the thrill of the day arriving!! The Captain and I awoke to the sound of thunder and lightening and rain… so much for that early morning departure…

Noon arrived and it appeared dry enough so off we went to the boat…

The owner's instructions read, "Be sure to open both seacocks before going anywhere." Guess what!! The seacock in the head broke off in the Captain's hand… and I know from personal experience that his touch is too sensitive and gentle to have broken off a solid seacock handle…!!

This meant a three hour delay for maintenance, but being the total professional we were going nowhere with even a minor leak, so repair it he did. During the lift out that was required for the repair the captain was asked if I am the new owner.. and replied, "no… he's a friend of the owner who is coming along just to drive me crazy!" I love the way he is having fun with my presence. It makes the trip so much more interesting and just shows what a great person I've been lucky enough to have as a present and future life partner.

Finally the boat is repaired and instead of returning to the slip we decided to just head out to sea… finally we are off!!!

The beginning of the sail went along nicely, … and it seemed it was going to be a nice evening … a perfect night for sailing although it was a little damp and misty…

On the first leg of our journey we are heading to Bari, Italy… crossing the Adriatic and heading North West rather than going straight up the coast by Croatia… this trip straight up the coast would have brought us past Albania, Croatia and into Slovenia… it might have been the shorter route but it means we would have to move from Schengen Agreement territory into non-schengen territory… a move which would be more costly for mooring and which we felt we would rather not make… so off to Bari we went…

As we approached the open seas where the Adriatic opens into the Mediterranean we lost any form of stabilizing wind and instead came across rolling seas heading mostly northwest, although coming from about two different directions most of the way… here was where I would learn what it meant to be in a sailboat. I think what I ended up learning the most of was what it meant to have a good knowledgeable captain on open sea trips, further I think if I ever had any doubts about how much The Captain loves me, (which I never did) I most definitely would not have any after this open crossing.

As the ship rolled from port to starboard all evening from about 8pm to 3am I said a couple of prayers and tried to get some sleep.. but it took me until about 2am before I realized that sleeping abeam was far more reasonable than sleeping bow to stern… in retrospect one wants to say, "Like, duh!!" The rolling and the tossing never caused any form of medical upset, but I do remember thinking on a couple of particularly deep rolls that my imagination was taking me to scary places I didn't want to go but if the captain didn't ask me to put on a life jacket then it couldn't be THAT bad..

The seas calmed at 3am and I managed to get some sleep but was of absolutely no use to the captain all night.. he kept watch alone most of the night and got us through the rough ride. I, in the meantime, managed to gain a more serious appreciation for the life of a sailor…and I decided that if they smoke and drink and lead a life of debauchery then good for them… even though there are the calm relaxing contemplative moments, life at sea is a roller coaster with mother nature playing the attendant… you either make it through the total ride or you get swallowed up along the way… I prayed that night that we would make it to the end of the ride, and we managed to do that…

When I set out on this trip of the Adriatic nations I wondered what it would all be like being in different lands and not speaking other languages… the captain speaks three languages fluently and that is saving my neck. I don't feel as uncomfortable as I thought I might feel being in the different nations. Since I am from Toronto I find that the people don't look unfamiliar to me.. just that there are more of them all of the same race at one location. It is definitely interesting seeing the biological nations versus my state nation background.

We made it to Bari at 5pm, and settled into a side mooring what really was supposed to be a stern mooring but the winds in the Marina were so bad that the Captain managed to negotiate the mooring we had. I think he probably told the marina crew that he had a total klutz on board who would never be able to help him leave the slip in the morning if we were in a standard stern mooring position… Ha !!

One of my responsibilities is to keep in touch with my web clients while away, so I needed to find access to the internet… we ended up going into downtown Bari by bus and went to an internet café… an enjoyable experience if somewhat brief… I always like riding within a city by bus… did that for the first time on a trip to Nassau and found it so much more enjoyable than being isolated from the local inhabitants in a limousine or cab. As it happened the client had no work for me so it meant I could spend another evening and day at sea without any work to do… just enjoy…

We managed to have dinner at 9pm (NOTHING is open for restaurant food before 8pm.The Captain suggested pizza.. and we went to a pizza restaurant… I commented that I would like to try Italian pizza, to see if it was similar to the Ristorante Pizzas sold by Oetker Industries… it was similar but it was even better.. but then it was made fresh, practically in front of us since our table had a view into the kitchen and the kitchen doors were kept open…. So, needless to say it was an enjoyable experience.

It's now Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 3.24pm and I must say that the Captain's patience far outweighs anything I've ever seen in my previous partners…. We've taken a lot of pictures but we haven't taken the photos showing me screwing up…. When we landed at Bari in the high winds I must admit I felt totally useless, like rubber tires on a snow sled… but the captain took it all in good grace… However I have vowed that by the time this trip is over I will definitely know how to tie a fender line and a bowline… if nothing else.

I have already learned that boating in the Mediterranean is nothing like boating in fresh water Ontario…

We spent a quiet evening in Bari, and a good night's sleep… much appreciated by us both…..

Friday
Heading out to points northwest…. Along the Italian shoreline… the evening went uneventfully.. the ride was quiet and comfortable with winds at 4knots and no sea swells to contend with… 11pm arose and I headed off to the cabin to sleep…. Slept right through the night, awakening about 8am and came out to the cockpit to find the Captain bleary eyed and exhausted… I don't know why he pampers me so… but I do know he is nervous, or has been nervous ever since the little "I'm the boss fiasco"… I kinda slipped over that incident but will retell it now.

Captain needed a break and asked me to take the watch for three hours… I really didn't want to wake him at all during that period so I had a good look at the auto pilot and decided I would alter course slightly to bring us a bit further away from land… visibility wasn't good and I didn't want land to approach me before I knew I was approaching it. After about an hour and a half the Captain came out and noticed I had changed course…wasn't a smart move and we switched back.. no harm was done, but I had over-ridden his authority and set my own course and wasted fuel… this delivery is his responsibility and he has the weight of making sure not only is the yacht safely delivered to its destination, but so am I… my bad… big time… and I promised him it would never happen again..

At any rate he took another chance on me and decided to sleep for three hours… lo and behold I did my bit as a true crew member, kept us on course and didn't hit any dolphins or sea birds along the way… and he got his three hour nap…. Kinda made my day actually, that I could finally give him a chance to rest.

We pulled into porto san Giorgio about 3pm and settled into a stern slip… had dinner, did some necessary interneting.. and slept the night away.. Porto San Giorgio looks like a recently developed tourist location… clean streets, quiet… good food… nice marina… but nothing to really identify it as a unique place in the overall scheme of Italian heritage. However, I liked it and remarked that it was reminiscent of Florida without the theme facades one sees on all the buildings in Florida.

Saturday, 2pm

We headed out with a course a bit north on the coast and then headed at 355degrees to take us across the Adriatic to Croatia..

Both in a good mood today… singing "Oh Susanah"… donning our sailor hats and looking like a couple of hillbillies. Although I didn't think I would ever mention it I had my first experience at walking around nude on a yacht in the middle of the Sea… well not the middle, but at least in privacy… and it was kinda neat… not a bad little break from the normal stodgy guy I am. But with the sun beating down I figured about 10 minutes of that was enough…

The Captain is napping now and it is 6:45pm… if he isn't a tad irritated with me he probably should be for I spotted a Cruise Ship crossing us from port side and figured we had plenty of clearance with no need for a change in speed… definitely no change in course… I learned that lesson yesterday…. However the cruise ship crossed us at about 300yards out and I think that might have been a tad close ( I mean a really good sign was when one of the ship's stewards reached across to our yacht and handed me a hot coffee) …as usual, when I woke the captain and said I think we have a bit of a wave to contend with here… he looked kinda startled at the closeness of the ship but said nothing other than that is the ship we will be taking back to Corfu.. He hasn't yelled at me once with all the stupid things I've done. no wonder he is dearly loved down here as a Captain… handsome, professional at all times, and really nice in the way he handles crew…

Even when I goofed up badly the other day he took a moment to ask me my reasoning for my choices… and while he understood them he appreciated my apology and promise not to make the same mistake a second time… and I won't..

I also won't be so brave with cruise ships in the future…will slow down and let them pass at a much wider birth…
After taking a watch for a couple of hours I headed to bed… and the Captain took over… no one will ever fully understand how very grateful I was that he allowed me to sleep nights and not have to sit alone in the cockpit under the stars both contemplating my fate and trying to watch for denizens of the sea….

I awoke to a grumpy Captain today…. 'You slept seven hours…" he barked quietly…. He never barks loudly and I have a feeling when we get back to Corfu he is going to let out one loud yelp that will be heard from one end of Corfu to the other…he hadn't shaved for four days and I remarked that his beard was grey.. he replied " It wasn't when we left" and said that with a smile.

Finally he went below for some much needed rest… and I took watch.. it was daybreak and although the visibility wasn't the 100miles I wished it could be, it was in fact about 8 miles and surely one can remain safe when seeing ships from 8 miles away… the next two hours went smoothly.. I saw all the moving vessels and a couple of the none moving vessels, although I thought they, too were moving… on one occasion I awoke the captain and asked for advice on how to maneuver around an upcoming ship… he remarked that "just turn 3 degrees to starboard and don't worry about him trying to find the right reckoning because that's an oil rig… it doesn't move!" hah… then he went back to sleep.. don't know why he did that but maybe he figured that if I was going to get really cautious with none-moving objects that I would be safe to trust with moving objects.

Everything went quietly and after a two hour sleep the captain awoke… freshened up a bit and as he was getting dressed I shouted down to him "Hey.. are we supposed to see warships in these waters?"

"What?, " he replied, "See what kind of ship?"

"Battleships… navy ships?"

"Well we could because there is a naval base somewhere around here."

That made me feel much better as I was hoping I hadn't steered us out into the middle of some international crisis… I felt even better a bit later when the 'warship', 'battleship', 'navy ship' turned out to be a ferry…. Like gee.. how am I supposed to know these things? I'm just an old man from Toronto, Canada who motored in Lake Simcoe for 5 years….

Once again I gotta say it… it 's a damned good thing this man loves me…how else would he ever put up with me… I hope I bring him some humour when he looks back on all the silly things that came from me….

Instead of heading into a Croatian marina we decided to go straight through to Slovenia… our final destination and it is only 10 miles from the marina we were going to use in Croatia, so why not…. Besides Croatia is not a part of the European Union and the entry fees for the country together with the hassle regarding passports, etc, just wouldn't really be worth it.

We arrived safely in Slovenia… and tonight we will tour the old town to which this marina is attached,… I think it is Koper or something…. Clean the yacht tomorrow and then head on to Venice by train…

I have promised to have a T-shirt made for the captain to wear that shows his name on the front and on the back it says.. "I was stuck with Mitchell for an Adriatic crossing and came back alive"

A truly sad footnote to all of this is that after treating me like a valued passenger and friend and companion on this journey, I have gone and lost one of his favourite pairs of sunglasses….

I don't like to think I am getting old and klutzy, but I really am… and I feel more sorry about this than one should feel about losing sunglasses… I am hoping that when I replace them in Venice with a new pair he picks out that whenever he wears them he will think of me and smile…

I love him so very very much…. My heart just wells up when I think of this beautiful trip and this beautiful man to share it with…