There are some stories from our sea adventures that never get forgotten, no matter how much time goes by, simply because they have that something…
This story is one of them. It began 4 years ago with a group of crazy kids that wanted to go on a fishing trip right in the middle of winter and especially in March. George, John, Antonis myself and my friend Katherine that was going to have her first fishing trip with a sleep over.
Our plan was to fish all of Saturday at the island of Giaros, sleep over according to the weather, at Tinos or Kea Island, continue fishing on Sunday and return late in the afternoon of the same day.
Saturday morning will find us gliding over a very calm sea with two ribs. The 5.30m belonging to George and the 4.60 of John who as a new captain was twice as happy.
Arriving at our destination, we split up and started swimming and fishing. The time went by very fast (as usual) and there we were all gathered up in the afternoon, eating the food we had with us and fooling around. At some point we decided to get started and head for Tinos.
There is a saying that goes like this: “When we make plans, God laughs”. Indeed a true phrase.
George turns the ignition key for the outboard of his inflatable boat but nothing happens. “Come on, please get started…” Nothing. The boys checked out the motor, but nothing. Time was going by and soon along with the temperature that fell tragically, our smiles froze up. Just for our luck it was one of the coldest months of the year…
After a small discussion, we decided that John would go to Tinos along with Antonis to get a new battery, just in case that was the problem. He had a friend there that would buy a battery and bring it to them down at the harbor. It was also his first trip with the boat and he wanted to drive as much as possible. So they towed us to the closest beach and set off to bring the new battery. Why don’t we gather some washed up wood and light a fire? Yes, that was my brilliant idea.
So, there we were gathering washed up wood, taking pictures of us as castaways (we were making fun of our situation) and trying to light the fire. After we did all of that we simply started waiting for the others.
Our saviors would come sometime after, the smiles would return on our faces but not for long.
They change the battery and that special time comes to turn the key once more. Nothing…
Once, twice, 3 times the motor simply did not react at all. It was time for plan B and that is where the disagreements started. John and Antonis wanted to get all of us (one of which was over 100kg) on the smaller, 4.60m rib, travel 20 miles towards Kea with the weather picking up and the darkness of the night around us. That of course meant we had to leave the broken down motor and rib on Giaros and return for it the next day, something George was not going to do in any case. He told us to leave without him, while I was strictly against travelling with such conditions. My friend had also come for the first time and I felt twice the responsibility. Katherine on the other hand was having a splendid time thanks to the adventure the fishing trip had turned out to be.
A second brilliant idea came to me. I called a friend of mine that does underwater work and I explained the situation to him. He told us not to leave the island and that he would come up with something. Indeed, after a few minutes he called me back. Call Peter he said, that is working over at Kea and he will come pick you up when he is done.
So I called Peter, a captain to a boat that was landing underwater wires for the national electricity company in Kea and he told me that at around 4 in the morning he would begin coming towards us. I didn’t have much battery on my cell phone so I didn’t ask many questions. Who is Peter, how is he going to take the boat, how will he come? These were only some of the questions the others were asking me while we were grilling Grouper over the fire. What else could we do? Thank God we had the fish. We were hungry, so our choices were dusky grouper or barracuda grilled over the fire with the help of our shafts. As for plates, we used the wonderful stones of the beach. They were smooth and clean enough.
When the time for sleep came, the best place were the abandoned prisons that still stand on the island. The problem was that George was afraid! No, you didn’t read something wrong, he simply was afraid to go there. If he didn’t want to go, no one would. So we would sleep on the rocks, next to the sea right in the middle of March with only the clothes we had on!
It was a good thing those rocks were smooth and the fire kept going throughout the night. Who cared about the smoke and sparks that burned in some places our clothes…
Only Katherine had an annoying smile constantly on her face. As for the towel she had set on the beach to sleep, she still has it, showing it proudly whenever the story comes up.
But the cold was truly strong. The dampness we had to withstand all night will always remain in my mind. Having my mind constantly on the fire and the cell phone, I surely didn’t sleep over 1 hour that night.
With the sun just rising, George and John decided to take a tour towards the prisons. The funny thing was that when they came back, George told us that we should have slept in the abandoned buildings and that it was better than he thought. That is how one commits a crime…
While our “little pioneers” were looking around the prison and taking pictures, the captain called me and told me he had arrived and was waiting for us. So I call John to tell him that our ride was here and he responds by saying that he saw no one but a large ship waiting.
“That is our ride my friend!!”
And so it was. The captain had come to our rescue on a 60 meter ship, the “Ikaros”. And not only did he get us to Lavrio, the mechanic of the ship fixed the engine of our boat that had been hoisted on board (!). He told us that the problem was not so easy to spot and that we had no chance of finding it.
The coffee we had on the ship but also the food we consumed when we stepped after some hours on land, are of those pleasures you just do not want to end. Actually, when the owner of the tavern took our order, he asked “How many others are you waiting for”
John and Antonis returned with their rib but we also came into the harbor by ourselves, since the problem with the outboard had been dealt with.
The icing on the cake was that Peter, the captain of the ship didn’t want even a dime for his services. He actually thanked us for the fish we left him (the ones that had survived our feeding frenzy the previous night)!
Now that I think about it, I haven’t been to Giaros since then. I even know where to sleep!
You think?
