This year, we didn’t get back to our boat in Nea Peramos until 29 April. Gisela’s 97-year-old mother is in very poor health. We’ve been looking after her and are still keeping busy with it all from afar, taking things a bit one day at a time. How lucky that Gisela still has three brothers, and how helpful it is, that so many organisational matters can be sorted out digitally.
This winter was “somehow peculiar”’, Stavros from the boatyard tells us on our arrival. It rained almost the whole of February and March. The boatyard was under water, it looked like a lake. But we found Aglaya in good condition. Although everything on deck was covered in reddish dust again despite the winter cover, below deck everything was bone dry.
So, let’s get to work! Scrubbing the deck, metal and wood care, greasing the turnbuckles, hoisting the sails… It’s cold (12 degrees by day and six at night), the north-easterly wind is blowing strongly and it rains on and off during the first few days. It still feels very much like winter. The snow on the higher mountains fits the picture perfectly.
But then the sun does come out after all, and on Walter’s birthday we take a trip to the ancient city of Philippi, the first early Christian settlement in Europe. There is plenty to see here of Christian and Roman origin, but little of Greek, as much of that still needs to be excavated. The Apostle Paul stopped here on his travels. The ancient trade and military route, the Via Egnatia, ran right through the city. We admire not only the many excavations, but also the magnificent mountain landscape.
More pictures from Philippi:
Back at the boat, the underwater hull still needs sanding and painting. The engine service is also still pending. And the mainsail still needs to be rigged. There has been too much wind for that over the last few days. We’re due to launch the day after tomorrow. Will it work out? We’re sceptical.
