And the usual Symi Dream blog is all about cats and weather – well, maybe with some stuff about writing and living on Symi. Today it’s about nothing in particular, except cats and weather, as I do a quick Sunday morning catch-up before heading off to hang pictures, put some more things away, do some more housework and go shopping for a barbeque which may or may not happening tomorrow.
You may have heard about the problems we had with boats and wind and how the man now known as ‘Captain Kotopoulo’ (Captain Chicken) decided not to stop on Symi on Friday evening because someone here told him the weather was giving ‘cyclone conditions’ on Symi, when in fact it was a meagre force five dropping to four, with very low swell. (I sound like the shipping forecast.) Well, instead of calling in, he turfed 120 Symi-bound people off the boat, leaving them stranded for another night on Rhodes. (There had been no boat to Symi since Tuesday, and some of those trying to get here had left Athens on Tuesday morning and had still not arrived.)
Anyway, the Dodecanisos came in on Saturday morning, and the Blue Star is due to put in an extra run today (Sunday) and call back in later this morning and again tomorrow. Mind you, the forecast now is for a force seven on Monday so, unless Captain K feels adventurous, there may not be another big boat in until Wednesday… And so it goes on. It’s what you have to expect from Symi at this time of year, or any remote and small island with a difficult harbour to dock at. The new one landing jetty coming on though, and I heard that most of the underwater work is now done, so we should soon start seeing something concrete down there, quite literally. Hopefully, when it’s done, the boat won’t have any trouble docking.
And so, to the house. Well, we’re all in now apart from the new furniture and fridge freezer which, I assume, have been ship-bound since being loaded in Piraeus on Tuesday morning. If it is on the boat then it’s been to Rhodes, hung around there for a day or so and then been back to Athens, and is now, on Sunday, heading back down again. Let’s hope it’s a) on the boat and b) the boat lands and c) gets unloaded and d) everything is in one piece. (Well, it’s from Ikea, so it will be in many pieces, but you know what I mean.)With Monday being a bank holiday here (Clean Monday, the start of Lent) we are not expecting to hear anything until at least Tuesday. Meanwhile we continue to use the marble kitchen shelf as the fridge, sit on two director’s chairs in a rather big and empty sitting room and dress ourselves from ruck sacks and plastic bags.
Jack has been settling in. He loves it that he is allowed to sleep in the bedroom at night (until he is 100% confident with outside), and he has even adjusted to his litter tray, which is a bit noisy and smelly at his usual ‘go’ time, which is around five in the morning, but which will, eventually, end up outside. So, here’s wishing you a good week, and watch this space for more ‘un-put-downable’ boat, furniture and weather news.
