Shavit's birthday was celebrated in Greece. Actually the celebration was delayed. The grands weren't present, which means it's not a birthday. Just for the record, Shavit considers it as celebration only when he'll receive the promised gift (a certain Xbox game).
As for the birthday, the main reference from Shavit was waking Ella early, and continuing to wake us up at our cabin. I guess a birthday on a ship is not his idea of happy birthday.
We began the flotilla on friday evening. Sleeping early, and preparing for a night ride to the airport, the flight was scheduled to early Saturday morning. Once we arrived, we were streamlined into the plane. Some minor delays due to a certain issue with the boarder control camera. Before we noticed it, we were on a flight to Greece. It took us a short while to get into Greece, and for the 1st time we were, as a family, in a foreign land.
The next stop was the marina. A greek marina can be anything from a haphazardly scattered boulders to a luxury pool with polished boats. The marina we started in was on a higher than average standard. The boats, on the other end, showed end of season signs. The locks didn't function anymore in both bathrooms, and the main door couldn't stay open unless we used a table spoon. The local workers, while being very nice, didn't have a clue about the boat's state. But that wasn't important.
Once we got the boat we started settling in it. Equipping the fridge was the beginning. Opening all the bags followed it. And before long it was time to sleep, an early morning wakeup was due.
The first sailing day was a combination of strange events. Lack of wind caused us to sail using motor only. The bay we wanted to anchor at noon was to full, so we sailed to a different location. After anchoring we found it to be a non-anchoring zone. So we moved quickly out of it. On the evening we tied ourselves to a strange location, which resulted in the gangway being hurled over over a large slippery rock. Later on Shirley fell of it, she wasn't happy about it, to say the least. For the finale Shavit puked during the dinner at a nice taverna. Just to add insult to injury, he puked over the best food, and Ella decided to skip tasting it.
The second day was a bit more promising. We couldn't use the wind, but at least we anchored at a nice bay. We found out most of our dingies to be malfunctioning. One got stuck without the oars, we learned towing upon first encounter with the dingy. By the end of the day i became a taxi driver in one of the functioning dingies. But it was a good day for the kids, and a bit tiresome for the dads who had to swim chase kids.
The third day was the last sailing day. It started at 4 in the morning with a pre-dawn flight to the base marina. By flight I mean we sailed as fast as we can, flying over the waves. Shavit woke up around 7 seasick. After letting his last night's leftovers a go he decided to stay sitting in the outside bench. It would be a bit better idea if he wore anything over his underwear. As it was he was in no condition to go and get dressed, the low temperature combined with sea sprays and the strong wind forced me to just put a warm blanket over him and wait. Ella at more or less the same time thought the high jumps was fun, and decided to enjoy a longer night sleep.
By noon we were close enough to the base to anchor for the last time. It was supposed to be a quick dip, but the cold water combined with strong wind made us just stay on board. After a while we decided on breakfast. It was a good idea, only when it was served we noticed we're the last ones on the anchor. It appears like a catamaran was the only type of ship that had a stable table for the food at the time. The other ships just couldn't stop the dancing over the waves.
When we continued the sailing I found holding the wheel to be an almost impossible mission due to the wind. Using an automatic system we sailed to the safety of the marina. That was the last time we sailed, from that moment on we were landlocked.
Thus Shavit's birthday was celebrated in a foreign land, on the land.
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