Zakynthos first impressions and concerns, happy to be proven wrong!
Admitting neither of us were looking forward to coming to Zakynthos town and, on arriving, I wasn't initially impressed. Busy town wall, noisy Main Street with busy traffic, Med mooring, being glared at by the people on neighbouring cat who then asked us to move. Why? Oh our fenders were touching theirs...what???? We didn't move and I did explain to him what fenders were designed to do.
There's a chap called Dennis who offers to sort the paperwork out, it costs 15 euro per day to be ...
Holes! Alpha,beta,gamma,delta..oh the galley is closed! Poor tommy..
Love a challenge and Greek? Wow, it's challenging for sure! This clip is helping me learn the alphabet: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k6gCaGEi3rA
As is writing it out but, I suspect, I'll be carrying this bit of paper around for weeks..
The galley is closed until we get back in the water, at just after 7h it was already 28 degrees and 68% humidity so unless you want salad recipes I'm off duty. Actually forget that, even whisking dressing sounds like too much effort! That said I've got so ...
Flying Cat, Prop Swop and a Clean Bottom. Awaiting Captains Rant, it’s going to be good!
Well it's hoist day (gulp), doubt there's any of us who enjoy watching our boat being lifted? Very necessary as the last time was over 2 years ago in La Linea, Spain. We're at Cleopatra Marina in Preveza.
A little tight getting into the spot to be lifted but, watching them lift a boat yesterday, we saw that the guys operating the machinery were very good. Obviously being a catamaran means we can't just get lifted anywhere due to our beam so, yes if you've got a monohull, I'm ...
Clip the dinghy on….
Or this will happen, sorry not really a cruising tip but was certainly one for the Boss just now (can't stop laughing)
Impellers, Big Fat Greek wedding terminology, who blinks first and other rambles.
So the Boss called for some assistance and over came an engineer who spoke less English than Captains Italian (didn't know that was possible). He'd predicted hours to remove the water pump, engineer did it in 10 mins! (Caption huh?!)
Minor drama over confusion of days of the week, manager said Thursday but meant domani, engineer turned up later the same afternoon with fixed part. Fitted back in which involves lifting the engine up, guess who got to assist??? Now running ...
Little Tips
If you have a cat or dog onboard, get one of these window wipers. Simply sweep across the wooden floors and all the shed hairs are in one place, easy them to vacuum or sweep into dustpan. Quick too although tommy hasn't worked out how to use it yet..
My best friends in the cleaning department undoubtedly have to be baking powder and lemon juice - just make a paste and use a warm cloth. From effortless oven cleaning to degreasing counters, scrubbing floors and decks. Slightly ...
The Ionion is somewhere over there apparently….
Truly loved being in Roccella Marina, the free bicycle loan is genius (just leave a small contribution at the end of use for maintenance) and the cycle path is perfect all the way to the square. Poor tommy ran all the way there and back then promptly slept for the rest of the day, bless.. Excellent butcher, green grocers and other things that always make me smile :-) Pizza by the metre made the Boss smile.
Trip from there to Le Castella wasn't much fun, to say the sea was confused is an ...
Not just a boat mascot
I'm sure the dog thinks that at times, definitely when meeting fellow cruisers for the first time in several years with no recognition but the others say "oh look it's tommy"! I bet there's tons of woofs of agreement out there, we get it all the time right? :-)
Ok, I'm assuming we all keep their vaccinations up to date but what research do you do to find out what additional treatment they may need to avoid creepy crawlie things and diseases in other countries? I've never found one search ...
Birthday Boy!
It's my birthday so naturally invited on a super yacht, patted and adored by the owners.
No, we're not changing the boat for you tommy! He's 8 yrs old today and grows more loveable and cantankerous with each passing day/month/year I don't really know, you chose! Photo of him as an ugly guinea pig pup (2 days old).
My very lovely aunt owns his dad, so the conversation was along the lines of "Eddies puppies have been born, let's visit them" and next thing you know I'm holding ...
Gypsy excitement
Awake early full of ideas and enthusiasm. Huge thanks to those who shared the link and left comments either here or feedback on Facebook. All taken onboard, pun unintentional. So delighted you like it!
So explanations on some exercises and stick figure images (I can't draw to save my life, this will be funny!)
Today's recipe ideas are mostly salads (some warm ones), stuffed mushrooms and a few light suppers with Asian flavours. It's suddenly getting hotter where we are, minimum effort ...
