'tis the season to be jolly!

[Yannis]

Oh yeah, time has come again!! I'm preparing for all that needs to be prepared...this here is the check list of all consumables aboard that should last for the whole summer ( I mean all, except for those that will be depleted and will require re-supply...).
The bins are getting ready to be moved to the boat once that is clean...which will take a few more days...
ETD first week of June!
I'm crossing my fingers so that new jobs/malfunctions do not pop up in the last minute...
Cheers everyone!

[Carl]

I’m impressed, all typed out and highlighted! Very organized.

But to tell the truth, It All Looks Greek To Me.




Your quite ahead of me, I just went in last week, been chipping away at the boats early season issues. Maybe today I’ll get out fish, sit n enjoy the start of this season.

Yikes…I was going to say leaving beginning of June, what will you be doing with boat till then it’s so far off…but only 2 weeks. Wow, time flies.


So finish getting boat ready, stock up with supplies, fresh recharge on batteries for plenty of pictures and enjoy!

[Yannis]

Carl,

A few times per year, mostly in the winter, there are short periods that we have strong south winds and rain. This combination lends itself for huge amounts of African dust from the Sahara to travel all the way over the Mediteranean to Greece, sometimes also Italy perhaps Spain too. When this rain reaches us, it is a disaster. Everything outside becomes brown. Veranda floors, outside furniture, barbecues AND boats! As if someone dusted fine brown dust over everything, like you sprinkle sugar on a cake. This thing is so fine that if you let it sit till it dries it needs a power water pistol to clean.
So, guess now what my boat looks like, and how much time I need to go clean all this mess BEFORE I even move the slightest of all the myriads of items that need to be moved to the boat…

I have a picture from my veranda here at home for you to see so that you grasp the intensity, only I have to go to my laptop which I’ll do a bit later.

[Yannis]

I'm sure that little helicopter on Mars took very similar pics!!

[Carl]

Oooff... I will no longer complain about everything having a green coating of pollen anymore. I thought that was bad. I recall hearing about the Sahara sands in Greece...I think from you. Ugh, always something.

[Yannis]

Carl,

Oh we have yellow pollen too! Especially the abundant one deriving from pine trees which is the main tree species in the Med. Only this is in spring. That brown one was in winter!!

I went down to the boat today to rinse the outside and make cleaning progress in the inside. I spent a few hours and can hereby claim that I made progress indeed!!
I cannot wait to launch!!

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

That is an impressive list. I am surprised the boat still floats after you have it all loaded up. Maybe in the next life I will try spending the summer traveling with the boat.

We have a lot of that Pine Pollen here in NJ and with no rain in quiet a while it is really getting ugly coating everything green.

I could see the Pollen floating on the water in the lagoon.

But brown sand and rain. You can keep it. That must really be nasty.

But at the end of the day, here is to a good summer to all of us.

[Yannis]

Tony,

During that forthcoming trip of yours to Sicily, plan a couple hour detour to Athens.

Im sure there’s even more capacity on my boat for your humble weight despite this list’s numerous items, of which youre seeing only the first of the three total number of pages!

[Yannis]

Finished with most of the inside stuff...
Launching on Wednesday!!

[CamB25]

The liquor to water ratio looks about right! Enjoy!

[Yannis]

Hahaha, good one!

[Tony Meola]

I see you are prepared for an extended voyage. Good for you.

You launch tomorrow and when do you start your journey?

[Yannis]

Unfortunately, Tony, I have to leave to Syros right away.
It stresses me a bit, as I will have no time to check the systems before the journey, but the marina I was always visiting for a few days before my departure is closed due to major works taking place in the area.
The whole Attica front has been under extensive restructuring; take a look at this link https://theellinikon.com.gr/en
It is the area of the old Athens airport that is being turned into a new park, plus the...necessary "evolution"...
The marina that will serve this new complex is the one I used to go. You can see it in the picture in the link.
When I asked if the marina will be finished and available by next year, they said yes, but far more expensive...no doubt when you consider who will inhabit the new buildings that are now being built...

[Carl]

Looking good.

"but far more expensive"...welcome to the way of the future!

[Preston Burrows]

Yannis, good to see you have 2 of The Bahamas' staples in your galley - Bacardi white rum and Campari!

Maybe not quite as popular here since our Government drove Bacardi out of the country with excessive taxation a few years ago, they used to distill rum here after importing raw molasses then export the finished product.

At least a couple of our southern islands are still fairly major suppliers to Campari of Cascarilla bark, which is used to make Campari.

Alot of the Bacardi family settled here after Cuba '59, along with quite a few of their knowledgeable/valuable/ skilled employees, and many of them and their descendants are still here.

The Bacardi story is an interesting one.

Cheers,

[Yannis]

Preston, thank you.

Very interesting indeed, I thought Bacardi was made in Cuba...perhaps it is still made there for us to import.
As for Campari, I was always puzzled how they make that very unique taste, but had never looked it up...now I know. I also assumed it was made with Italian ingredients, poor me...
Next time I will explain to you the origins of the other bottle in the display!!

While we are at it, take a look at these two pics; the current bottle with 37,5% proof and a very old bottle, must be at least 50 yo, perhaps even more, with 44,5% proof, before regulating everything was a state objective...

[Carl]

Huh….

This was a cause for a serious research dive.

Bacardi started in Cuba, grew huge, expanded to other countries, 1st distillery outside Cuba is Mexico, largest in Porto Rico. Fled Cuba when company was seized during their revolution. Bacardi Company expanded over the years…now owns Dewars, Patron, Martini and Rossi, Bombay, and Grey Goose.

[Preston Burrows]

Locally Bacardi is known as 'rat bat' due to the Bacardi bat logo!

Yannis: Bacardi is not made in Cuba by the way - Havana Club is.

Long story short being that Havana Club was the 'original' company/manufacturer that the Cuba regime took over in 1960 and, to summarize very loosely, Bacardi came out of it with Havana's recipes etc. in agreement with Havana Club and began production in places like Puerto Rico and here in the Bahamas.......... and so began their very successful climb in to being a huge global brand.

I think it is now almost 15- 20 years since Bacardi exited the Bahamas due to Governmental meddling - it always pains me seeing Bacardi rum that no longer have 'distilled in Nassau, Bahamas' on their labels!

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

Unfortunately that is considered progress. I am sure when Carl purchases his new vacation home there, he will make sure you have docking space.

Interesting about Bacardi and Cuba.

My father had a good friend who escaped Cuba
after the revolution. His family lost their Winery. He grew up and was good friends with Castro but the only thing that got him was a ticket out of the country for him and his family.

He never spoke kindly of his old friend.

[Yannis]

Tony, Carl hasn't contacted me yet to obtain supplemental information about his new purchase.
He is probably contemplating which is the best offer, the suites by the sea or the apartments on the tower...and which floor, as the higher you go the more expensive it becomes. We'll hear from him soon!
I think his girls are done with school, so he is suddenly really puzzled with where to invest the extra funds into something meaningful !!!

[Carl]

Suite by the sea, I'm not fond of heights.