Finally after 15 months Jacqui and I finally meet again,… in Athens. Arrived about an hour apart and first things first (a stiffling 37 degrees), hugs, collect the bags, get a SIM card for each of us and then book a COVID test for our trip to Leros in 2 days.

We had arranged a great little place in Athens close to the airport which allowed us to get our bags to the apartment then head back to the cargo section of Qatar air so that we could collect the 2 bags that Jacqui shipped from Sydney. The whole customs clearance and duty payment took almost the rest of the day.

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We decided that a visit to the Acropolis whilst we were only in Athens for one day was in order so we left early and arrived by 9am which was a good call because it just got hotter and hotter as the day went on. We transited by bus then the Metro into Athens and the Acropolis was a short walk from there. Beautiful scenery from the top with Athens spread out below us.

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That night we found a quaint little place to have a bite and the owner was very pleasant and talked about when he and his wife went to Vancouver and took the Alaska Cruise and the Rocky Mountaineer trip to visit Jasper and Banff. Dinner ended with an ouzo aperitif courtesy of the restaurant owner (Noel is still on the look out for the same ouzo it was yummy).

We had an early 1 hr flight (0700) flight to Leros on a Dash 8 and I think we took up most of the space available on the plane with our luggage, let alone watching the taxi driver try to fit it all in his car (resulting in a open boot strapped down with bungee cords :), but he managed to get it all in his cab but we had to continually look out the back to see if we lost anything.

The accommodation we booked was …. interesting …. made a coffee in the apartment and almost gagged! Seems the water supply on Leros is fed straight out of the sea. Just kidding, don’t know where they get it from but it sure tastes like that. We make our coffee and tea with bottled water now. And there is an abundance of bottled water, every time we have coffee at any of the cafes it comes with a small bottled water and with the heat we are drinking our share of the bottled water.

Getting around the island

Leros is a small island and can be explored very easily in an afternoon, our priority was to get to Artemis boatyard where “KARENA” has been stored for nearly two years and (Jacqui well planned to be standing in front of the new boat on her birthday, it was a great birthday present and have to say she met all our expectations, in need of a good clean and organize but we were so up for the tasks ahead). Our priority when we arrived at the boat was to retrieve the electric bikes waiting for us so we could get to and from the boat, but really quite unsure what kind of shape they would be in after almost 2 year of sitting here. Turns out the bikes worked GREAT! No maintenance required just charge the battery and go. We have been cycling back and forth from the hotel to the boat yard for the past 7 days. 7 KM each way. Have stopped and explored parts of the island during the week, but mostly stopping to get groceries.

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Rented a car yesterday and explored a little more of the island. For 25Euros it was well worth it. Stopped at the local, and only winery on the island We received first class treatment from the vineyard owner and as tourism is slow we were fed and wined nicely, had a taste of the greek wines 2019 crop much better than the 2018 crop. Had to get a couple of bottles after hearing the stories of how they have struggled with COVID and a lack of tourists to the island. But as a family run business they seem to be doing well.

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The Boat

First of all need to tell you all that “KARENA” has been renamed and as boring as it maybe, she is MAD 2 (or you could say MAD squared, or MAD (two) which I think we may qualify as with all the big major decisions to be where we are today, in Greece with a different version MAD and the main reason MAD really grew on is no-one who meets us in the past never forgets! 🙂

MAD 2 was in real need of some TLC as she has been on the hard stand since October 2019 and the wind and dust around here is brutal, in the short time we have been here it is either no wind stinking hot, or blowing like snot and still hot! We have been at it for 10 days, cleaning, organizing, fixing, arranging parts, removing names and rebranding her, arranging boatyard to repair things like wind indicator, seacock replacements, all the service, bow and starter batteries have been replaced. The wind generator is hanging by wires so we are arranging parts for that, the port water tank cap is stuck so we need to drill it out and order a new one, navigation equipment checked, dingy pumped and cleaned, fenders cleaned, top deck cleaned, we have been through every cupboard and locker to inventory and familiarize ourselves with what’s on board, honestly I could go on and on but you get the gist of how she is keeping us busy. We are going to start antifouling for a launch date of between July 15 and 22 and then I am sure we are going to head to anchorage to suss more things out.

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