Evening and the Wind

Traveling Classroom^™

Evening and Wind

We arrive back at Zoe Zoe just in time to meet Lee and Warwick, our Australian friends, coming down the dock. We give them a tour of the boat and then sit for a while on the aft deck, telling them of our trip to the Acropolis and listening to tales of their adventures. As evening approaches we start thinking about food. Most Greek people do not eat dinner until around 10:00, but that is a bit late for us. Also, if we want to buy food, it is time to hike up the hill to the shops.

Our friends haven't visited Mikrolimano before, so they want to bring their cameras along. We walk around the harbor, beneath the Yacht Club of Greece on its rocky lookout point, to the waterfront street where restaurants are setting up for the evening trade. Most of them have outdoor seating under canopies along the quay, and they are busily spreading fresh tablecloths and putting out the utensils. Just across from the quay is a steep marble staircase up to where a narrow road scales the hill between carefully maintained homes.

The hill is known as Prophetias Elias (in Greece there are many hills and mountains named after the prophet Elijah). Mikrolimano lies around the base and the neighborhood of Kastella is at the top. As we climb, we can see the remnants of the fortifications which were part of the Wall of Pireás. The harbor of Pireás (then called Kantharos) and the smaller ports of Zéa and Mikrolimano were components of a military plan to create a fortified port and protect the city of Athens from naval attack. Until the 5th century BCE, Faliro was the port of Athens. Themistokles built the military fortifications between 493 and 479 BCE, and turned Pireás into the city's main port. Later Pericles completed the job by building the makra teiche (long walls), which protected both sides of the road all the way from Pireás to Athens.

We stop near the market at the top of an ancient battlement, so that Warwick can snap some photographs. This place affords a wonderful view of the Saronic Gulf, Salamina island and, across the Faliro bay, the city of Athens crowned by the Acropolis. It is plain to see why these ports were so important to the defense of ancient Athens. A great fleet of triremes (warships) was moored here, armed and ready for action. If enemy ships approached, the Athenian triremes could be quickly launched across the bay and aligned in formation, creating a giant floating barricade against the invaders.

Today there are yachts on Faliro bay and fishing boats headed back to the Mikrolimano harbor. Farther out to the southwest are freighters steaming towards the docks at Pireás, and ferries moving out across the Saronic Gulf carrying passengers bound for Mykonos, Paros and Santorini, or even farther to Turkey, Israel and Egypt. Pireás is the largest harbor in Greece, and one of the busiest in the entire Mediterranean region. It is usually crowded near the Pireás waterfront, along Akti Miaouli and at the metro stations in Plateia Odisson and Plateia Themistokleous. That is the reason we haven't visited there.

We continue on, past an American-influenced kafenion (coffee house) to the market. We buy yogurt, olive oil and other supplies, including several loaves of bread (because the bakery is closed at this time of day). The next stop is the green grocer's stand for vegetables and fruit, and then to the butcher's shop.

The butcher and his assistant interrupt their game of cards to welcome us. They are pleased to see any foreigners because Greeks don't eat meat during these last days leading up to the celebration of Orthodox Easter. The butcher slices four very nice steaks for us and tries to interest us in some lamb or chicken or anything else in the shop. We must be his only customers of the day.

It is getting darker and the wind is rising as we descend to the harbor. Back at the boat, I use the yogurt, cucumber and garlic from Samothraki to make a nice tzatziki that we spread on pieces of bread for a snack with wine. The wind is causing the halyards to clatter against the masts of boats in the harbor, and Zoe Zoe is rocking back and forth as we prepare the meal. I cook an eggplant dish with a spicy tomato sauce, while Duane prepares other vegetable dishes and cooks the meat.

Just as dinner is ready to serve, the cabin is plunged into darkness. I retrieve candles from a cabinet while Duane goes topside to find out what has happened to our electrical power. He returns and tells us that our power cable appears to be all right, and there are lights elsewhere around the harbor. Perhaps there is something wrong at the fuse box in the sailing club. We don't want to start up the engine or deplete our marine batteries to get electricity, so we decide to dine by candlelight.

Dinner is great fun, even though the boat is rocking about. Warwick has a wonderfully sly sense of humor, and he tells us about their travels around the world. Our guests stay until quite late, and then announce that they must get back to Athens. We offer them berths in the main cabin, but they must prepare for another trip in the morning.

As we see Lee and Warwick to the dock and wave good-bye, we notice that the sky is very dark and the lights in Athens are barely visible. Noise from lines beating against metal masts has increased greatly and there is a lot of wave action in the harbor, but the wind is rather warm. I hope it doesn't rain tonight. We check our stern lines and the fenders to be certain the boat is secure before we get ready for bed.

In the forward cabin constant swaying is much more bothersome than earlier, because there is no way to compensate for it while in lying in bed. I just have to try to ignore it, and also the clanging, clattering, chattering noise all around. Whether I will get any sleep is questionable. Duane is already snoring. He is the only person I know who can fall asleep in less than a minute anywhere and under any circumstances.

This harbor was once protected by the goddess Artemis. Is there some way I can get her to talk to her father Zeus about calling off this storm? Probably not. I wonder which of the Hellenic deities is responsible for bringing sleep.

On wakening I'm not certain how long I have slept, or if I'm only imagining that I slept. The first thing that I notice is the stillness. There is no rocking, no sloshing waves, no banging halyards. I wake Duane from a deep sleep (of course he has not been disturbed by all the events of the night), and then go out to the galley and start water for coffee.

As we climb up to the deck we are surprised at what we see. Colorful banners and flags that were strung from sheets and lines on many boats are hanging in shreds or missing altogether. All the boats in the harbor are coated with a thin layer of fine coppery dust, the sky has a golden cast, and the city of Athens is invisible across the bay. The air itself tastes dusty and to irritate our throats.

Duane sweeps off the aft deck and puts out cushions while I bring up the French press and cups. As we sit on the deck drinking our coffee and pondering this strange phenomenon, Nikos comes by to check his boat before going to work. He wants to know about the arrival of Jeanette, the owner of Zoe Zoe. Duane tells him when the plane is scheduled in from France, and Nikos says he will try to be here when she comes.

Then he points at the dust on his boat and ours. "Sahara," he says, "Dust storm from the desert." He explains that such storms do not usually occur at this time of the year, and that the one last night was not too bad. When he leaves we drink another cup of coffee and think about it some more. It had never occurred to us that Athens is really not that far from the Middle East and the North African coast. Certainly not too far for a boiling dust storm from the Sahara.

After breakfast we will have to get out the hose and the scrub brushes to wash Zoe Zoe. The other members of our crew will be arriving later today, and we must be ready to sail on the morning tide. No self-respecting sailor would leave harbor on a boat coated with desert dust.