Caryn has returned from a frustrating and cold trip to the UK. It took her nearly a week to recover with plenty of sleep. The journey worked well but it very tiring particularly the return journey as it means two nearly sleepless nights. However it is cheap and comfortable.
Svein has been very busy. He has serviced the bicycles that take a beating in the sea air. He has also covered, at long last, the ceiling in the saloon and above all he has really made progress on the new seating arrangement. It is built and now needs to be treated and fixed into place. It looks good and will give us valuable extra storage as well as the possibility to entertain on deck and enjoy the scenery when we sail. It only remains to find the cushion material and cover them with the material bought in France.
Once the sewing machine is out we will also change the lazy bag on the main sail and make new sail bags for the sails and also new bags for the bikes.
We are still waiting for solar panels and wind generator from the UK and hopefully it wil l not be too long now as we are getting itchy feet and trying to plan the summer sail.
Before we leave here we will be visiting Kalamata where our good friends on “Catanelo” will be christening their two boys. We have not seen them since March last year so it will be fun to catch up.
The ferry is still out for servicing and it looks to be out for another month so before the trip to Kalamata we will sail over to Kardamena (Kos) and hire a car as we need to do a big shop. It has been over two months since the last one so the list is long.
We are also busy sorting out Sven’s pension that he can now receive from the age of 62. As he left Norway many years ago we now have to apply via France so we hope that all will go well.
The weather has been very unsettled since Caryn’s return with thunderstorms and hailstones that have covered the boat. It has also made driving into Mandraki very uncomfortable as the roads have been flooded and awash with mud from the hills.
One can feel the island getting ready for the new season. Restaurants are starting to open again after the winter and buildings are being renovated and spruced up.
The island is now very green and more and more flowers are in bloom. The trees are also starting to flower and the hens have started to lay again, according to the locals a sure sign that winter is over and warmer weather is on its way.