Thursday, June 5, 2014

The Legend of the Mountain Man

5/15/2014

Symi was the domain of King Nireus.  He loved Helen, so when the time came, he joined the campaign against Troy.  His renowned good looks did not protect him.  He died in battle for love.

I have now spent a number of days in Symi.   Much of that time has been used to write and edit pictures.  Maintaining my blog is hard work, but I do so hoping my readers will contribute and make finishing this quest and starting the next one in good time a reality.  I've also been working on my Greenland rolls, mending my life jacket and pants, bleaching my water bag, washing my clothing, patching my water bag and generally getting overdue logistics done.
Hopefully my negotiations with customs are at an end and I will receive my package on the island's mail day, Wednesday.

Theseus's ship was damaged in battle, and some of the boards needed to be replaced.   The vessel hit a sandbar, and some of the boards needed to be replaced. There were termites,  and pirates,  and sea monsters,  and so many of the boards had been replaced that Plato wondered if it was still the same ship or an entirely new vessel.

I repaired 16 leaks in my hull and gunnels over three sessions during my stay.  Most of them were the result of old patches degrading; so I sanded, taped, and epoxied.   I'm using a new kind of repair goo, hopefully it will last longer.

I met a man who liked my shoes, or lack thereof.
"My family is called the shoeless family.   I remember my grandfather.   He climbed all the mountains on the island with a pair of hiking boots slung over his shoulder.   He lived to be 99."
The Aegean resonated in his bones.

The Charites, demi gods of charm, beauty, and nature, daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite were born here.  It suits the place

I called FedEx to change the package destination to future Greek islands.  I hate waiting like this.  They can't do it.  The courier that they are committed to work with, unlike the Greek post, does not deliver out there.

I came up from a reverse sweep roll.  My glasses were gone.  The fact that I was sure I tied them on didn’t make them less gone.  The wind was pushing my boat, so I looked around and set boundaries for my search area.   I was about 30 feet from the beach and the crystal clear water was maybe 15 feet deep.  The sea floor was covered with algae growing rocks.
I beached my boat and dove.  From up above I hadn’t realized how many fish were swimming down there.
When I came back up I saw a dinghy was carrying a couple crewmen from a luxurious double masted sailing yacht to shore.  I called to them and explained my problem.   Soon after they returned with a snorkel mask, flippers, and Piere.
Pierre and I searched for the glasses.  We swam on the surface and dived down until I was so cold I was shaking.  We didn't find them.
My vision is -2.25. I hope that's good enough to safely finish my trip.

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