the ionian may 2011

The Ionian / May 2011 www.theionian.com 1

May 2011 Volume 2. Issue 2 www.theionian.com Newstand price €2

The Ionian

The Tree Of Life’s Other Gifts

Page 6

Kefalonia Taverna Review

1

Adventures Of A Shield Bug

Page 8

A Dream Come True

Page 10

The Greek Fisherman’s Art Of Positive Thinking

Page 7

The Ionian καφενείο International No-Diet Day

Page 5

Amvrakikos Gulf - A Hidden Paradise

Page 9

The Drip - A Sailor’s Moan

Page 12

2 The Ionian / May 2011 www.theionian.com


Here we go! Every May in the Ionian we open our doors to the visitors who have been planning all year their holiday and who now begin to arrive by plane, yacht, ferry, car, bus – anyway possible including as a stowaway, as you will see in one of our stories — to spend a week, two or in some lucky cases even the whole summer in this beautiful area.

We, the locals are lucky to be living here all year and to be able to share our love of this area. Greeks have this welcoming attitude naturally; I think they’re born with it - so no wonder the Greek word for guest and stranger is the same, Ξένος / Ξένη (kse-nos / kse-ni).

The rest of us, expats, new residents, immigrants, and long time visitors, gladly try to follow our hosts’ lead.

And so, in this issue of The Ionian we hope to share with you some of this welcoming attitude with several stories about life in the Ionian.

Barbara de Machula, who is a long time resident of Palairos, introduces us, in our Through The Porthole column, to the Greek way of gentle life in her story, “The Greek Fisherman’s Art Of Positive Thinking.”

In Health and Beauty, Richard Booth, whose family lives near Lefkas, shares a recipe for ancient medicine that will cure anything and everything using the leaves of the tree of life—the olive tree. And believe me, it works—I’ve tried it already.

Our regular incognito man around the Ionian Sea, Plato Chipz, gets pleasura-bly stuck in Agia Eufimia, Kefalonia and wastes no time cooking on board when so many lovely restaurants abound and where one can eat one’s fill. In this is-sue’s Ionian Taverna Review, he praises the culinary skills of the chef named George at to Perasma Taverna.

And if you are worried about eating too much, don’t — Eirini Tzima, in The Ionian καφενείο reminds us that May 6 is the International No-Diet Day. Never heard of it? Well, we propose to start an International Diet-Free Summer — and since everyone knows that the Mediterranean diet is so good for us—why not? To encourage you, we offer a recipe for the Ionian Diet-Free Pizza.

Ready for another kind of an adventure? When Tina and Graham Stewart left the Ionian last fall in their land yacht (camper van), they found a stowaway who insisted on staying along for the ride all the way to Scotland AND back. Who was this creature? Read Tina and Graham’s story in “Adventures of A Shield Bug.” Continuing with the environmental theme, we have an article about the need to protect one of our most beautiful gems, in “Amvrakikos Gulf — A Hidden Pardise” by Venetia Gigi and Vasi-lis Lekkas, two marine biologists, who made it their mission to teach the rest of us about this beautiful and special area. And if by now you too would like to move to the Ionian — read “A Dream Come True,” by Ronne van Zuidam to find out how one family did it in our Living The Ionian Dream section. Finally, just in case you think that life here is all fun and games, beauty and relaxation, good food, and lots of sun, “The Drip, A Sailor’s Moan,” will show you the other (rainy) side of yachting in our Be Practical column. No worries though - there is no rain in the Ionian in summer - the weather is perfect to dry out that boat.

Καλωσορίζω (ka-lo-so-ri-zo) welcome!

Enjoy reading. Γεια µας, ~~~_/) Barbara Molin

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ΑΦΜ: 148426549. ΛΕΥΚΑ∆ΙΟΥ ΧΕΡΝ 24, ΛΕΥΚΑ∆Α, 31100. ISSN 1792-4650. The Ionian is published monthly. Published on the last day before each month, approx. Publication is for informational purposes only. Although The Ionian has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions it may contain. The opinions expressed by the contributors are not necessarily held by the publisher.

Editorial

Cover Photo: Sunset at Sea, Barbara Molin. To purchase any of the photographs in The Ionian, please contact the Editorial Department: [email protected].

PHOTO CONTEST: Send in your best photos of the Ionian. Twelve winning images will feature in The Ionian 2012 Calendar. Subject: Ionian people, nature and landscape. Digital images only, horizontal format. One per email. Please check photographers’ guidelines and contest rules at: www.theionian.com. The best photos will feature on our website and the winning entries will be published in the calendar. Dead-line for entries: September 30, 2011. Email to: [email protected].


Send in your Ionian news, photos and calendar events to: [email protected] Check our website for up to date Ionian news and events at: www.theionian.com

Tuesdays and Sundays - morn-ing street market in Vonitsa.

May

First charter flights arrive in the Ionian. The season begins.

1 May Day Festival, Labour Day On this day everyone leaves the city for the country. Have a picnic and gather wildflowers to make into wreaths to decorate your home or boat.

6 International No-Diet Day —read more on page 5.

15 Boat Jumble: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in Aktio—Panos Taverna parking lot. Call Preveza Yacht Services for more information: 26820 60940.

June

4 Corfu Business Enterprise Fo-rum with dinner and live music in the evening. Call Emma Wood: 0030 69435 34654 for more infor-mation.

13 Holy Spirit Monday

24 Feast of St. John the Baptist. Wreaths made on May Day are

kept until this day, when they are burned on bon-fires. Summer solstice.

Helenic Festival. This is the most important sum-mer festival. It features performances of music, dance and drama all throughout Greece.

Navy Week. This festi-val celebrates the long relationship between Greeks and the sea with events in fishing villages and ports everywhere.

End of June, early July.

Local News

You might not recognize one of the favourite family tavernas in the Ionian, o Kontos near the boat yards in Aktio since it has recently been renovated. Chef Panos Maris and his wife Kaiope welcome new and returning guests for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between.

Come and say Yassu to Panos and Kaiope and all your friends at the International Sailors’ Home.

The Ionian News and Community Calendar

May 15 Boat Jumble and Swap Meet in Aktio at o Kontos Taverna

parking lot.


The Ionian καφενείο Being a woman can be a blessing. We are

beautiful, with a great mind, able to think on so many different levels, with an ability to offer and share emotions and to protect and to take care of others. How many women do you know that match this profile?

The whole society depends on women not to mention the business world. Clothes, jewel-leries, art and of course luxury cars, yachts, jets, apartments are usually bought by wealthy men in order to attract and impress women. There-fore being a woman is a good thing, no? Well, everything has its pros and cons.

The ideal woman, especially in the last 40-50 years is supposed to be skin and bones. The fashion designers demanded from their models to be thin in order to highlight their clothes. But since when do clothes or fashion matter more than the people who wear them?

This situation has lead women to become vic-tims of their own image. They are humiliated at school or work for being fat and have so many regrets whenever they want to have a slice of pizza or a piece of cake.

During this “how I look” madness, many women have lost their lives going through sur-geries for fat loss, have lost their unique moments of life such as playing with their children (being weaker as a result of strong diets) or enjoying their sex life with their partners (due to lack of self confidence…close the lights, …I have cel-lulite).

I think that what matters the most is being healthy and happy. Love and respect your body and soul exactly for who you are. Each one of us is so different and unique, so why should we all look alike?

Ancient Greeks used to say «ΠΑΝ ΜΕΤΡΟΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΝ» which means “MODERATION IS THE BEST”. Enjoy your food with moderation and remember we eat in order to stay alive; we do not live for eating. So enjoy your food and make sure it gives you all the energy you need to enjoy and live your life! And I’ll share with

you a small secret. When it comes to “how do I look?” - only your opinion matters!

Mary Evans Young, a British feminist was motivated by her own and other women’s experi-ences and in 1992 introduced the first International No-Diet Day. So, enjoy your DIET-FREE DAY!

Eirini Tzima and her brother Kostas own and manage Ionian Breeze, a yacht charter, manage-ment and repair business in Preveza. www.ionianbreeze.gr

The Ionian DIET-FREE PIZZA

1 pkg. yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 1 cup warm water 3 cups flour 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon sea salt Your choice of toppings (feta, olives, tomatoes, courgettes)

1. Mix yeast, sugar and warm water—let activate for 10 minutes.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix in small portions until the dough is dry enough to handle but not too dry. Let rest for 20 minutes in a warm place.

3. Knead well and spread on a lightly greased baking sheet then rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the toppings.

4. Lightly oil the top of the dough and spread with your choice of toppings. Top with grated cheese and oregano.

5. Bake in hot oven for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden. Cool and serve with a salad and wine.

Happy Diet-Free Day! Yamas!

May 6 - International No-Diet Day Eirini Tzima

When it comes to “how do I look?” - only your opinion matters!


The benefits of olive oil are widely acknowl-edged and appreciated by anyone familiar with a Mediterranean diet.

However, the leaf from the tree of life has had less publicity, although it’s been used as medi-cine throughout the ages, even making appear-ances in the Bible (Ezekiel 47 : 12 , "The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine").

A quick Google of “olive leaf extract” or “olive leaf tea” reveals numerous blogs and websites dedicated to the antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal qualities of this unsung herbal remedy (for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_leaf ).

An Athenian craze in early 2007 saw the rapid increase in the use of blended olive leaves as a supposed cure for cancer. Whilst researchers were fairly sceptical about the thick green juice made by boiling and blending the leaves, the benefits of the extract itself are widely accepted by many scientists.

The science behind the remedy is in the bitter extract taken from the leaf called oleuropein. This compound is found throughout the olive tree and is the substance that makes the trees so resistant to disease and bacterial damage.

Oleuropein can be bought in capsules and has been shown to work as pain relief, to raise en-ergy and as a successful cure against the com-mon cold.

Olive leaf tea contains double the antioxidants of green tea with a fuller aroma and better fla-vour, not to mention one of the most important factors, it’s free. To make the tea it is a simple case of picking, washing, sun drying and then pouring boiling water over the leaves (you can buy the tea on the internet, but at seven Euros for 140g why would you?). On the other hand, making the olive leaf extract is more time con-suming but rewarding task.

So here is a step by step guide to making the home remedy that has been reported to cure anything from head ache to heart burn and back ache to bad cholesterol. The whole process itself will take roughly 17 hours so it’s best to start early!

1. Strip the branches of the leaves; I find it

helps to think that 250 grams of olive leaves in England will cost you up to 14 Euros, so the 20 minutes of picking and stripping doesn’t feel so difficult after that.

2. Wash the leaves and then put out in the sun until dry but not brittle; you can also do this in the oven on low heat.

3. In a large pan put the dry olive leaves and 4.5 litres of water, then heat the water to roughly 80 degrees Celsius.

4. Place a lid on the pan and simmer for 10 to 12 hours adding a little more water if necessary. Once finished, leave the pot to cool for 5 hours.

5. Sieve the finished result and bottle the left over extract in a glass container.

The resulting liquid should be a dark brown colour. It is best kept in a glass container in the fridge and will have a shelf life of two weeks. A recommended dosage is a few drops when you feel a cold or flu coming on. (mixed with a squeeze of lemon as it’s a fairly acquired taste). Apart from that about two half cups of tea a day should keep you feeling healthy by lowering cholesterol and fighting viruses. Richard Booth is cur-rently studying a NCTJ

journalism course at Brighton and Hove Col-lege in U.K. with a spe-cific interest in magazine journalism. In 2001 his father and stepmother moved to Lefkada where they currently live in a villa overlooking Lefkas town.

Photos: Richard Booth

The tree of life’s other gifts Olive leaf tea and olive leaf extract

Richard Booth

Health and Beauty

The science behind the remedy is in the bitter extract taken from the leaf called oleuropein

Two olive trees ©Barbara Molin


Future is a thing of the mind - it is always closely related to imagination and positive think-ing.

One generally doesn't know about one's own future, unless one has a special gift, which some would also consider a burden, as future may be nice, or grim. In Greece it seems, every next day is a positive gift, related to the art of life and enjoy-ing.

What I admire in the Greek way of life, is the ability to disregard one's agenda of duties and sched-ules when a friend turns up and orders an ouzo with you. It happens to me many times, that at the end of the day I find myself among friends new and old, ignoring my dutiful tasks without the feeling of guilt. There is always a tomor-row to finish the jobs on hand. The future is a positive one and a sense of gratitude pervades every day we may spend in this beautiful place with beauti-ful people.

The best lesson about the art of positive thinking came from a well respected source, the 94 year old fisherman of Palairos, the little village on the mainland opposite Lefkada. We both frequently visit the local taverna by the harbour and

he always has a nice smile, a little tsipouro and a cigarette. Just one of each, no wild things. He goes with his little boat to places nobody knows, and comes back with the biggest fish you can imagine.

He does not even tell his son, also a fisherman, where he goes to catch these enormous fish; it is a well kept secret. Till not long ago, he was rowing his little colourful boat- it had no engine. He didn’t seem to need one.

But one time he got in trouble, as his nets were so full of fish he could not get them inside the boat, and had to drag the full net behind him all the way to the harbour, where help awaited him.

His son then saw that it might be time to fit the boat with a little engine. Also for safety - imagine rowing against a sudden strong wind, with full nets, being of that age. In spite of his father’s protests the little engine was fitted and when it was ready, indeed it was an improvement.

It was much easier to get to his favourite se-cret fishing grounds, and he could even bring more big fish to the harbour. It also took less time, so he could enjoy his tsipouro after fishing a bit earlier, watching the other fisher-boats come home, while he was already done, sitting there with a big smile. Both father and son were happy.

They were enjoying each other’s company and the old fisherman thanked his son. "my son," he said, "this is a good thing, to fit the engine in my boat. I can carry more fish in any weather easily, the en-gine is a very strong one and never gives trouble, it will last at least for another twenty years! And, well, you know, after that, I will see what I will do...”

The son looked at his father with a warm smile. After twenty years

from now, if anyone would still be fishing, it would be my father, he thought.

Barbara de Machula was born in Amsterdam where she studied art and worked with stained glass, paintings, jewellery and illustrations. She had her own design agency for 15 years making animations, illustrations and

photography. She left Amsterdam and the rat race of business life in 2006 to write and teach painting and art. She lives with her husband in Palairos. www.paintingholidaygreece.com

Through The Porthole

At the end of the day I find myself among friends new

and old, ignoring my dutiful tasks without the

feeling of guilt.

Catch Of The Day ©Lies van ‘t Net

Palairos view ©Barbara de Machula

Fishing ©B. Molin

The Greek Fisherman’s Art Of Positive Thinking

Barbara de Machula


The Ionian Environment

After a summer of sailing in the Ionian, we left Aktio in our campervan and caught the ferry from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi. On arriving in Italy we were surprised to find we had a stowaway on board. He was a bright green shield bug and would buzz noisily around before coming to a very noisy stop. We thought he would soon fly off and make his home in Italy but no, he continued to appear at irregular intervals.

We traveled to the west coast of Italy via Taranto then slowly made our way north, stopping for sightseeing in Sorrento, Pompeii and Rome then on to a camp site in the Riviera for a week, while our shield bug continued to stay with us.

On our journey through France we were gassed and had two intruders inside our campervan while we were in bed. We came to, in a very groggy state saw the two guys in the van. They ran away and drove off in not one but two campervans. Fortunately we were not harmed but our mobile phones,

a purse with about 50 euros and computer were stolen. Our shield bug must have slept through the whole incident.

Driving on to Calais then Dover we continued north and arrived in Glasgow just in time for the ‘Big Snow‘. Glasgow was frozen almost to a standstill then another huge amount of snow was dumped on the already congested streets and pavements.. Motorists were stranded in their cars overnight and everyone was warned not the leave their houses unless it was absolutely necessary.

Temperatures did not go above freezing during the day and were down to minus 18 at night. It was the weeks just before Christmas and the supermarkets had to clear the car parks and remove the snow by lorry to make way for the shoppers. I do not remember every seeing this kind of weather in Glasgow before.

Our shield bug made a brief appearance on Christmas day but now he was a dull brown colour and we thought the cold was

getting to him and he would surely not survive. We explained to my four old grandson, Rory, that he was our pet and had come all the way from Greece with us. Rory named him Greecy Pet.

In February we left Scotland to make our way back to Greece and Greecy Pet made regular appearances - usually in the evening when we were eating - and we would wonder just how he had managed to survive and what he was eating. As we went further south we were pleased to see him regain his former green colour.

Once in France we retraced our journey making a detour through the Tunnel de Fejus in the Alps, then leisurely down the west coast of Italy. We realized that we had not seen Greecy Pet for a few days and wondered if he had succumbed to the altitude and cold.

On arriving at Brindisi we were told to queue up and wait to be loaded onto the 6.30 pm ferry.

There were absolutely no lanes or indication of where to park. Cars arrived and all parked at the front. Commercial trucks were being loaded and as 6.30 approached everything got more frantic as if shouting and waving of hands could have hurried things along. One guy would signal for the cars to start loading and the next guy would signal for the cars to move back and make way for the trucks. Eventually all the trucks, vans and cars were all on board and the ferry departed only a little bit late.

We arrived in Greece on a beautiful sunny day and opened all our campervan windows and there was Greecy Pet sitting on the roof. I just wonder how he is going to explain his four month absence to his friends.

Tina and Graham Stewart are back on board Shooting Star, their Jeanneau 452 Sun Odyssey sailboat for a fourth summer in the Ionian.

Adventures Of A Shield Bug Tina and Graham Stewart

Hawthorn Shield Bug photo courtesy www.wikipedia.org


Amvrakikos Gulf is the largest wetland area of Greece and one of the most important wetlands of Europe. The gulf takes its name from the ancient city of Ambracia located near its shores.

On the Gulf `s northern coast, the rivers Louros and Arachtos form a double delta with extensive fresh water marshes, salt marshes and lagoons. Amvrakikos is an impressive variety of ecotopes (the smallest ecologically-distinct landscape features in a landscape mapping and classification system) that constantly change unfolding a picture of rare beauty.

The geomorphology and warm climate favours the development of rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. 294 bird species have been recorded here, from which 101 are rare, endangered or threatened. The Gulf serves as an intermediate stop for migratory species that find supplies and rest, or as a hibernation area, or as residence ecotope. The most characteristic birds are the dalmatian pelican — one of the largest birds in the world (3.2m wing span, 10-12kg) and crowd of herons.

Amvrakikos also hosts a rich fish fauna, with several commercial fish species. Mullets (known as “petali”), sea bass, breams fished in the lagoons and wild shrimps, which are the specialties at the local tavernas. The lagoons are still fished the traditional way known as «ivaria" or "divaria". These include special constructions with canes that, while they allow the free entry of fishes from the sea, prevent them to return and thus entrap them.

A permanent population of the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) is also found in the Amvrakikos Gulf, while meeting with

loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and seals (Monachus monachus), which enter the gulf due to the abundance of food is frequent. The last few years several threats degrading the Amvrakikos ecosystem quality have been noticed and together with the importance of the region for birds, fish, marine mammals, land flora and fauna led to the protection of this area. So today Amvrakikos Gulf is a Ramsar Protected Area, a Wildlife Refuge, a Special Protected Area, an Important Bird Area, and since 2008 a National Park.

It is very important to

protect this hidden and relatively unknown paradise and the first step is learning about it and recognizing its values.

Vasilis Lekkas (marine biologist and ichthyologist with a Masters in “Coastal Zone Management”, PADI SCUBA diving and First Aid instructor) and Venetia Gigi (Fisheries and Aquaculture technologist with a Masters in ”Coastal Zone Management”) live in Preveza and have two children. Their passion for the nature led them to work in research institutes, universities, dive centers and ecotourism centers among others. They decided to share their knowledge and passion for the marine environment by creating Eco cruising, a company that specializes in marine ecotourism and cruises the Amvrakikos Gulf and the Ionian Sea. Photos by Vasilis Lekkas www.eco-cruising.gr [email protected]

The Ionian Environment

Amvrakikos Gulf — A Hidden Paradise Venetia Gigi and Vasilis Lekkas


About 30 years ago my husband and I with our two daughters decided to go to Greece to spend our holidays. The moment we arrived we fell in love with this country.

We visited Halkidiki, Thessaloniki, Athens, Delphi, Messolongi, Agrinion, Amphilogia and finally stopped in Paliambela near Vonitsa to have a drink.

We asked around for a nice beach to swim. We were told that Paliambela has its own beach and where to find it. So we went there and it was a very nice beach. We just loved it.

In the morning and late afternoon the dolphins were playing in the sea. It was love at first sight.

Since that day, we came every year to Paliam-bela to spend our holiday. In 1987 we bought a peace of land and started to build our own house. We love our house and the view. The view is never the same. We started to dream about living in Greece.

A couple of years ago we had the opportunity

to realize this dream and then we had an idea: Let’s build a few apartments with a pool so

other people can also enjoy this beautiful place and after we got the license we started to build. After more than a year of very hard work, we can finally open our B&B

apartments and we welcome our guests for the first time this season. We have three luxury

apartments next to a beautiful swimming pool, and a nice bar. Every morning we serve break-fast beside the pool.

It is a beautiful place and we hope to have a lot of guests this year. They can enjoy the sun, beach, culture and nature. We would also love to do a workshop of Greek cooking with our guests.

We organize a bbq every Friday and we can tell our guests what kind of trips they can make to all the beautiful places in this part of Greece.

This is what we wanted and what we love to do. We are very proud to be the owners of this fantastic place.

Ronne van Zuidam and her husband Frans Bendsneijder are from Holand. Ronne was the secretary for the highest DA in Holland and Frans was working at the Minis-try of Defence where his work was security for the Minister and the Secre-tary-General. Their daugh-ters are married and live in Holland..

www.5alonia.nl [email protected]

Living The Ionian Dream

A Dream Come True Ronne van Zuidam

In the morning and late afternoon the dolphins were playing in the

sea. It was love at first sight.


ANTIFOULING PAINT AND

Next port, Agia Efimia on Kefalonia...... I lobbed Wheezy Breath over the stern as an improvised kedge and there we were.

Once stopped by her huge feet, I put mine up, and sipped my arrival ouzo. After her weekly bath Medusa emerged from the deep demanding to use her hair dryer. I couldn't be arsed to plug into the mains hook-up, not halfway through “Stairway to Heaven,” so in order to use the inverter, tried to restart the engine. The injector pump was completely Gordon Ramseyed, and the fact that it took several days to establish that fact, (Thanks Dave) is how we came to fall in love with Agia Efimia and its friendly people.

Our second visit later that year, we had our leaded kedge line chopped up twice in three days. As it grew shorter our list of fellow sailors grew longer. The next visit, I set fire to the inverter (it doesn't like mains electricity up it). There is never a dull moment in Agia Efimia and the daily ritual of hauling out your neighbour’s anchor is a long tradition here.

Drifting and crashing in the afternoon wind that hurtles through the harbour is another entertaining spectacle. Last year a very nice European fellow began a chain of events with his chain that eventually caused the replacement of our cutlass bearing. Shortly afterwards another excellent sailor added a new decorative flourish to our hull with his outboard propeller.

For all that, we still love the place. We now have many friends and acquaintances there; I suspect that a milkman named

George once had some regular tea spots around here, as there are so many, just shout George and one will appear, perhaps from under your boat. Another George will supply you with diesel so pure he uses it instead of olive oil, and

during our latest visit we attended a wedding of a lovely couple whose names were not George. We were honoured by the invitation and spent a pleasant time talking to several other Georges. Now to food - I hear you say. In my opinion “To Perasma” (“The Promenade”) is a fun place to eat; you will be made very welcome by the brothers Babis and Angelos (mad as a bag of squirrels), and the chef, unusually named George, has cooked his way around the world (the first

circumnavigation in a saucepan). He will cook anything that you want, how you want it, given sufficient notice.

We have eaten there on many occasions. The food has always been of a very high standard

and is sourced from the brothers’ own farm, obviously not the fish. Apart from the usual array of excellent Greek dishes, they do a cracking good English breakfast.

In the evening, as the carnage subsides and flotilla skippers recover their shattered nerves, sit back and enjoy a meal from Perasma's comprehensive menu. I'm particularly partial to the creamy mushrooms as a starter and as a main, their version of fish and chips - homemade chips and a lightly battered fish that tastes as good as the best Dover Sole.

To Perasma Teverna, Waterfront, Agia Eufimia, Kefalonia www.inagiaefimia.com/toperasma.html G.P.S. Location N 38.18.189 E020.36.042

The Ionian Taverna Review

To Perasma Taverna, Kefalonia review by Plato Chipz

...the chef, unusually named George, has cooked his way around the world (the first circumnavigation in a saucepan).


Be Practical!

All boats leak, don’t they? If not right away then eventually. We search for the illusive drip and then caulk and seal and seal and caulk in a never ending yet optimistic quest for a dry boat. Is success possible? Is the quest worth it? Or will it eventually drive us crazy?

I have this annoying drip inside “Eidos,” my 32-foot East Orient, whenever it rains hard or when I’m sailing to windward on the port tack.

It falls on the teak deck, then runs down its sloping surface until it works itself under the port aft chain plate deck plate (quite a mouthful isn’t it? Try saying it faster) and drips down, (as drips do) following the chain plate, past the nuts, washers and bolts which attach the chain plate to the outside of the hull and which the drip visits on its way down, one at a time, quickly causing them to rust.

It rushes down the smooth metal, until it rolls down and thirstily soaks into the back of the teak cover plate, which contributes on the front side to the beauty of my cabin. So far.

Then it sneaks down on the bookshelf and saturates the bottoms of my Bowditch, World Cruising Routes, Rod Heikell’s Greek Waters Pilot, and copies of recent Ionian magazines.

Still not happy, the drip finds a route further down, between the bookshelf and the hull into my canned goods locker tucked away behind the settee cushions. There it pools lovingly around canned beans, tomato sauce, tuna and sardines, ravaging the tin cans with its rust producing properties, I might add.

Still not satisfied, it finds cracks between the plywood settee back and the canned storage shelf to saturate the seat cushions below. My new, beautiful settee cushions.

Then, if the rain or the passage is long enough, and the drip persistent, it runs down again, past the stainless steel water tank (the kind that rusts), under the seat and still further down into the bilge where the bilge pump finally gets rid of it to where it belongs.

It’s such a small drip and such a big annoyance.

When I first noticed the salty stain on my brand new cushions, I pulled them out to dry on

deck. I then unscrewed the deck plate for the port aft shrouds, scraped off the old caulking as well as I could with a screwdriver, taped around the area carefully and covered the teak deck underneath the deck plate with fast setting, 5200 sealant. I pressed down on the plate and screwed it down again. I was so proud of myself that I decided to re-caulk all the other shroud deck plates, five more in total.

The next time I sailed upwind, the drip was there again. Drat, I said to myself. Drat and double drat. What now?

Once again, I unscrewed the deck plate and scraped off the now solid sealant (ever try removing 5200?). Of course the deck plate cannot be lifted high enough for easy access at the cavity underneath it where the chain plate pierces the deck. The first time, I just gooped stuff on top of the deck next to the chain plate and left most of the old sealant in the cavity.

This time I would have to re-do the whole thing. (Why do we never have enough time to do something right the first time, but always have enough time to do it again?)

A fellow boater suggested that the drip enters the teak deck through one of the screw holes that holds the deck down and then travels between the planking and the fiberglass deck underneath, slowly working its way to the chain plate at the level of the fiberglass. So sealing on top of the deck would not have solved my drip problem. I had to get down to the fiberglass.

To do that, I had to remove the shrouds, so that I could take the deck plate off completely for better access at the hole beneath. I did that silently praying that the mast would not fall on me in gratitude. Then I turned into a dentist, poking and digging and scraping the cavity around the chain plate. A good hour later I had most of the gunk out and could even see light through the hole from inside the boat. I carefully taped around the spot and then cut the tip off a new tube of Life Caulk in matching black to blend in with the deck seams. I pressed in as much as I could from below the deck on the inboard side, noticing that I couldn’t get to the outboard side of the chain plate. I would have to remove the chain plate completely to get on that side with the unwieldy caulking gun. Never mind, I would do double duty from the top. I squeezed and squished and pressed in with a screwdriver and an ice pick forcing the gunk into the cavity again. Finally satisfied that there could be no voids left anywhere, I pressed the deck plate back in place. Then, I re-attached the two shrouds carefully tightening to the correct tension and replacing the cotter pins and split pins after polishing everything lovingly. I replaced the cover plate on the inside after checking once again that the goop

was where it was supposed to be and spooning on a bit more for good measure. I replaced the now dried although wrinkled books and rusted cans after drying off the shelves. I brought back in the cushions. I said a little prayer and celebrated with a glass of wine.

There is a front coming in tomorrow with rain likely. Wish me luck...

The Drip A Sailor’s Moan

Barbara Molin


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