Crews Letter #2006 07 Sporades

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“If you can do it, it ain’t bragging.”

Dizzy Dean

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

Eleven months after the 2005 plan and a week after Sara and Lisa left for Texas, We reached the Sporades Islands in the North Aegean. They are both beautiful and different. Calling on Skyros, Skantzoura, Skopelos and Skiathos, we have found sand beaches, good cruising and helpful people. Skiathos was our base while waiting to have the computer repaired. We arrived there with two major repair issues, the computer and the windlass. While the computer had lost 90% of its screen all of a sudden, the windlass had slowly ground toward a halt.

Phyl observed each time the anchor came up, “It gets slower and slower. Something is wrong.” Fred tried the things he knew: Read the manual. Charge the batteries. Clean the connectors. Clean and grease the parts he could get to: gypsy, shaft and capstan.

Phyl said, “It gets slower and slower. Something is wrong.”

Almost every restaurant and bar in this part of the world has a toke. He stands in front of the place and his job is to keep the place full of paying customers.

Charter companies survive, or die, on the quality of the engineers who repair their boats after one client breaks it and before the next one arrives.

We went to Skiathos Town to have a way to get the computer to and from Athens and to be at the base of several charter companies. Sun Sail, Set Sail, Kiracolis and Moorings have fleets at Skiathos. After docking, Fred went to the charter boat pontoon and didn’t find anyone connected with a charter company. He did find a building that looked like it was Sun Sail’s office. But he didn’t find the office. The toke for the restaurant / bar on the ground floor asked, “What are you looking for?”

“The Sun Sail office.”

“Are you chartering one of their boats?

“No, I am here on a private boat. I need to find an engineer for a problem on my boat.”

“I can find you an engineer, if you eat in my restaurant.”

Fred turned to go to Perception.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my wife. We will have lunch.”

In this way, we found Spiros, The Fresh Café and Bar, aka Yachting Club and Demetris, the base manager and engineer of Moorings, Skiathos. Spiros is the guy with a phone in his ear. It would be hard to say which of these two men is the better find.

Spiros is one of those people who knows someone who knows everything. His claim, “I can get you anything you want except sex and drugs.” Our experience, this is not bragging.

He has arranged or pointed us to laundry, stove gas, boat parts, electrical shop, hardware, less expensive, better supplied super markets, and a very knowledgeable engineer.

The food and drinks at The Fresh Café and Bar are very good as well.

Demetris met us as we finished lunch. He came to the boat and listened to the problem and what we had tried. He asked where the motor and gearbox of the windlass are.

“In the chain locker”

This picture of Fred in the chain locker will give you an idea of why Demetris said, “I hate you!” He climbed in to take it apart.

He sorted out the pieces and noted the absence of gear oil in the gearbox. There was ground up bronze instead. After he chastised Fred for not winterizing it every year, he said, “I don’t have time to fix it. I will tell you what you to do and check back to see that it gets done properly.” He did. Two days later, it worked better than it has in the last year.

The solution was perfect. A technician, who knew what to do, took the time to transfer the knowledge rather than hauling it off and fixing it without explanation.

Two guys who ain’t bragging.

Some days, we get lucky.

Sails, Full and By,

Phyl & Fred

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