The plan was simple if truth be told
Two days to Athens if weather would hold
We had no clue what Neptune had in store
After one night it blew 40 and more
Shelter was found but ‘twas no Shangri-La
The charts named our rock Astipalia
|
Wind howled through the rigging, we were in its teeth
But safe in a lee, our anchor snug beneath
In Athens wait an Austrian babe and stout Irish lad
But Slappy was stuck and desolation drove us mad
Our friends understood having worked long at sea
The delay they guessed wherever we be
Winds finally changed as they’re apt to do
In Paros a hull lay at anchor, we know who!
|
Palapa Palapa, this is Slapdash on one-six
We’re really here and this time no tricks!
He slept through our calls, on Slapdash a frown
We’ll side tie to his boat and shut the engine down
The clamour brought Captain Hayward on deck
Bright eyed? No way. Aloha boxer shorts? Check
For two days and one night the Paros marina was a treat
20 miles from Mykanos, 15 euro? Sweet
|
From there we made contact with babe and stout lad
Seats on a ship bound for Mykanos they had
|
In little Venice the stage was set
For the reunion, how little we slept
Chris was now shaggy and Nina a blonde
Those whose hair I’ve mentioned we are very fond
|
The next morning we woke and Little Venice it rolled
Sheltered water ‘round the corner (or so we’d been told)
Roger was right and a sandy bay we found
Revelry and hilarity abound all around
|
|
|
A pause here for an auspicious day of note
July third had special meaning on this boat
On that day an undisclosed amount of years prior
On faraway continents two children were sired
|
In Austria ‘twas Nina, in Canada, me
Years later met Chris, Nina, Seth ‘n Jaime
I could go on but this is filling a chapter
We share a birthday, my thirty fifth, and… ask her
|
|
Our finery donned we made for the town
If garb matched behaviour we should have dressed down
|
|
On this night we soared beyond modest means
seaside and seafood like rock stars you’ve seen
|
|
|
Were we finished or kicked out, no one knows for sure
This we pondered with models on leopard spot fur
|
Back aboard on the Slapdash things soon went awry
What’s the deal with that flip flop? I don’t know this guy
|
We danced in the dinghy, on deck, even dodger
8AM, hung over, whose knocking? Bloody Roger
Keel haul him! No wait, get the water board
Oh he brought coffee? Then ask him aboard
We broke fast together the coffee it did save me
With heads full of webs we sailed to Santorini
|
Two days later the crater of a volcano we found
Its last eruption grand but now views astound
|
Sailing through the crater, “still active” said the guide
Lunch was Spaghetti Bolognese that Chris had supplied
No slackers on this boat we drank Slapdash dry
In a fisherman’s harbour we replenished supplies
|
Palapa dredged its way in to meet this friend George
The next day on quads into the country we forged
|
|
|
|
10 days had passed so the conclusion we reached
To visit an anchorage nearby its name was Red Beach
|
|
Before we knew it and far too soon
Winds shifted again their departure loomed
Our last night at anchor did not go to waste
But alas morning came time for us to make haste
In a cloud of dust their cab disappeared
It’s a magical life with friends so dear
|
|
|
|
|
Transients and travelers can form bonds in iron cast,
Their time together is sweet for they know it won’t last
|
Kythira beckoned after another week at the volcano
So we ate one last gyro for luck and were good to go
A twenty four hour sail from the crater
We pointed due west and 100 miles later
White sand and azure water beckoned the hull
Hello Kythira, a sleep and a swim please that`s all
|
Avlemonas held us captive in her Mediterranean stare
A sleep and swim be damned, 10 days later? Yep, still there
Whilst we played landside a cozy berth Slapdash did need
Here`s one with power and water. What else? It`s free!
Further waylaid by Austrians we met at the bar
Over ouzo they admitted to having a rental car
The next day at breakfast we made plans for the day
A hike and a swimming hole that blew us away!
|
On July 28th our Greek saga did end
Playtime over now the high seas we would fend
We wondered where to go (only half in jest)
No problem, whenever in doubt we always go west
I hope you`ve enjoyed this ballad of the Greek isles
Because my cup of wine is empty and it took quite a while
I’m no poet so hope our pictures picked up the slack
If not then blow me a kiss, I`ll plant it firmly on my crack.
Slapdash out.
|
Good gad
my young lad
right mad
you must be,
for a loon so pure
I doubt there’s a cure,
but it beats the shit out of sad
and of this I am sure–
by the fun you’ve had
you’re alright by me.
Posted by Ty Gregory | 07. Sep, 2011, 5:26 amAwesome! I hate poetry, and read the whole damn thing!
:-)
Posted by Greg Burnett | 03. Sep, 2011, 8:53 amOh gad. Your positive feedback may cause a relapse. You need to be more careful Greg. He may strike again! ;)
Posted by theslapdash | 06. Sep, 2011, 7:30 pmWatch out for Scylla and Charibdys!
Good times good read!
Posted by Bob | 26. Aug, 2011, 11:02 amThank gad for google. Very cool reference. We missed the rock and we missed the hard place but friends say that the Straight of Messina had some serious ‘devil and the deep blue sea’ in it.
Posted by theslapdash | 06. Sep, 2011, 7:40 pmOh my word – 4 days straight I read your blog from beginning to end! Obsessed! I constantly have to remind myself that this is real-life happening to someone I know! Absolutely amazeballs! You look great, Jaime – is it too much too hope that there will be a rendezvous in the near future?? Hmmm, ponderous! Can’t wait to read more shenanigans in the near future!
Posted by Bryanne | 26. Aug, 2011, 7:15 amOk you won’t believe this but I was thinking of you on the way over to Spain on our last night passage. And here you are in the in-box!! I’m so excited to hear from you!!! You are totally on for that rendezvous. Gimme a year though; sailboats go too slow and it seems that Vancouver is a long way from Spain…Spanish hugs and well wishes being sent across the ocean atcha right this second.
Posted by theslapdash | 06. Sep, 2011, 7:44 pmnice one
you are so gay
which model did youtrade costumes with?
Posted by Di-jeff-nk | 26. Aug, 2011, 6:09 amIs that a haiku? There’s no rhyming. Where is the iambic pentameter? Your poem sucks. When are you coming out to visit you jackass?
Posted by theslapdash | 06. Sep, 2011, 7:46 pmLordy, how we loved sailing in greece…but someday, explain the fixation with the festooning of toilet paper when the spirts flow…nice verse..
Posted by Mike | 25. Aug, 2011, 8:13 amYou got it Mike. Until then it shall remain a mystery.
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 4:54 pmHey Dionysus,
The wine that flows down your Canadian gullet hath affected the way that your pen can construeth the fun that’s been had in a Slapdash way – It is clear that a multitude of neurons were paid. Cease and desist this horrible verse before you two are hit with a terrible curse – Wild women and booze will end yee Slap-Cap’n before you reach Andalusian shores so cast off and leave your leopard skin whores!
Posted by Javan | 25. Aug, 2011, 7:00 amHave you and Seth been drinking the same vintage?
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 4:56 pmGuilty as charged
Posted by Javan | 27. Aug, 2011, 9:44 amAfter reading all your rhyming
The walls I am climbing
Too much retsina and ouzo
Out pops your Greece-y poem flow
Attempting verse could be rash
But still fun to follow Slapdash
Posted by J. Schieffelin | 25. Aug, 2011, 4:46 amYou too? Someone hide the bottle.
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 4:57 pmNice work on the rhyming Seth, who knew?! Greece looks amazing, even sober!
Posted by Pamela Bayntun | 25. Aug, 2011, 1:13 amIt was! You guys should definitely check it out. I kept the LP thinking you could use it.
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 5:05 pmHomer would have been proud. Awesome!
Posted by Mike R | 24. Aug, 2011, 10:55 pmCheers! Although I think Homer was one of those smrt people.
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 5:07 pmA perfect dream, with perfect pictures!
You guys Rock!
Posted by Ken Page | 24. Aug, 2011, 9:56 pmThanks Ken, and for the cervesas too! Ooops I mean ‘thervethath’.
Posted by theslapdash | 25. Aug, 2011, 5:08 pm