We awoke after
another wonderful night’s rest to find the fishermen had already returned and
were checking their nets again. The
consistency and pressure they endure for their jobs amazes me. It also impresses upon me that these individual’s
“career” is akin to what their father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc has
done for probably centuries. To find the
type of desire or willingness to continue in the family/community/cultural
trade is unheard of in America. These
families and communities are probably living very similarly to how their
ancestors lived hundreds of years
Moving on, we enjoyed our breakfast
again (toast, marmalades and coffee) before pulling away from Donousa and
heading towards Amorgos—our captain’s home.
There was just enough wind and
whitecaps to trick us into raising the sails.
Unfortunately, the wind didn’t prove to be steady enough so we again had
to make our own wind. Captain,
consistent with his jovial and generous spirit let me steer the boat in a SSE
direction. I was happy to do so but
became nauseated because I was looking down so much to ensure we were on
course. I went to lie down in the main
cabin and slept for the remainder of our journey to Amorgos on the Morgan.
When I woke up, feeling much better
by the way, I was excited (again) to see before me a beautiful beach with less
than 10 people on it with “flanks” of rocks on each side of the beach jutting
out into the sea—almost making the island seven more secluded. WE anchored close to the short. The name of the beach is Maltezi.
After closer observation, we realized
our paradise for lunch and early afternoon just happened to be a nudist
beach! I just hope for their sake that
sunscreen was applied to the unmentionable areas!
We boarded the dinghy and all went
ashore to bathe in the sun while avoiding the sights of locals in all of their
natural outfits. It wouldn’t be as
difficult to experience if the naked people happened to be young, fit and
beautiful. However, this certainly
wasn’t the case! We cringed and averted
our eyes away from the view of fat and wrinkly older man and woman flesh which
left on questions in one’s minds nor any unholy desires either! (This was my first day to don the speedo so I
probably can’t discuss the negative traits of naked or nearly naked beach
folk!).
Following another relaxed experience
on this secluded beach we took the dingy back to the ship were our commandingly
capable captain was setting out another gourmet lunch. Our meal this time consisted of wonderful
carbonara pasta, fresh bread, basil/arugula/tomato salad and another side dish
that escapes me at the moment. We
relished the pasta and the boys ate more than they had ingested the entire
cruise thus far! We enjoyed a dessert of freshly picked fruit salad that
was really divine to our American Wal-Mart taste buds. The produce here is better than anything any
of us have ever acquired at home.
Captain Benoit then served French press coffee following lunch (as he
always does) leaving us full and inspired to search for better ingredients once
home again.
After allowing our food to digest,
Everlie decided it was time for a swim in the Aegean Sea. With much coaxing and encouragement to jump
in the chilly waters, she took the leap and immersed herself for the first time
in the Aegean Sea… She couldn’t answer our questions at first because of the
shock but kept on yelling, “I’m sooo proud of myself” as soon as the initial
shock was over. She eventually admitted
that following the initial shock the waster didn’t feel half bad!
Observing her older sister take the
leap, Brittany decided to suck-it-up and do the same thing. She asked if I
would her hand and jump with her which of course I did! We jumped into the cold sea together and camp
up out of the water with big smiles on our faces despite the bone-chilling
fresh water begging to enter our bones.
Brittany did swim marvelously with me around the boat and agreed it
wasn’t bad after equilibrating with the water.
We got back in the boat and I felt proud again to be with my lovely wife
on a trip of a lifetime with our family. Shortly after drying off, we pulled anchor and
motorized our way the very short distance to our night destination in Katapola
(part of Amorgos). Our educated and
experienced captain recommended we rent a car and travel a few kilometers to
the Ancient Minoa ruins a the top of one of the mountains overlooking Amorgos.
We complied and Scott rented a
vehicle big enough for the 7 of us and we made our way to Ancient Minoa.
Everlie, Logan and Davis decided they would rather walk back to the harbor
instead of enduring the treacherously scary goat trail/road back down and so we
parted ways. We still had to hike up a
small incline to reach the ruins. We
arrived at the ruins and Scott said that the structure was literally 3,500
years old!!. The stones still have
markings on them from where they were cut and contemplating the work required
to make those stones and get them in place thousands of years ago without
hydraulic machinery astounds me!
Brittany stopped there while Scott, Ethan and I hiked to the top of the
mountain just to accomplish it! We met a few people (2 young men and one of
their moms). They had noted our boat was
flying a Texas flag and said “Howdy” to me as we came around the corner. Unbelievably, one of the men had just
graduated from A&M and lived just a few miles from our house in Bryan! Their family had chartered a 3 masted boat
and was on it with their 21 member family for a cruise! We said farewell to our Teas friends and
despite the plethora of goat droppings, made it to the peak of the mountain
that gave us beautiful views.
We started our climb down with
hesitation to leave the scenery and leaded the car for the drive back to the
harbor. We ate at a tavern (again in the
open air) just behind where the Morgkan was docked and enjoyed the pleasantry
of our captain’s company again. I ate
the local dish Patatato that is lamb cooked in the same sauce as the other
meats we had on top of a bed of potatoes.
It was tasty! The boys had pizza
that was also very good! Captain
Bertrand ordered stuffed squid and with fava beans on the side (obviously made me
think of “Silence of the Lambs”). Our waiter was an obese man with long
straight gray hair. He was quite a
character and reminded us all of David Hard, Brittany and Everlie’s first
cousin. He gave us complimentary
cheesecake before we finished eating.
Shortly after dinner, Brittany and I
went for a walk along the pier looking for a jacket or vest because the
temperatures were abnormally low and we stayed slightly chilled all day. Unfortunately, there were no affordable
options but we did get to taste the different liquors made on the island. I bought a few samples to take to friends
because I thought they were unique flavors – obviously infused with sweet
fruits, honey, cloves and cinnamon.
We made it back to the Morgkan and
were welcomed again by our ever-courteous captain. He offered me one of his jackets that I
thankfully and happily accepted. He and
I sat on the boat and talked while drinking Raki (the locally made
liquor). He shared much of his life and
spiritual convictions. He believes in
God and Jesus but has always been polarized to the Catholic church because of
the corruption of man. I pray wer ae
together in heaven some day. He is an
incredibly polite, selfless, kind and courteous captain. We are all safe and comfortable under his
care. While talking, Everlie, Scott and
Davis went to find crepes for dessert. I
went to bed warm (from the jacket and the Raki) and full from the Raki and
Patatato) and happy (from the Raki and the experiences of the day)! This trip has been absolutely amazing and
wonderful. I don’t know how it could
ever be better!
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