The winter, the kids, and "Φρέσκος χυμός...!!!"

We spent the last two nights in Poros, which is both the name of the island and the name of the town on island.  To be accurate, Poros is made up of two smaller islands that are connected together by a narrow isthmus (and neither are actually named Poros).  The town pretty much IS the smaller island which leave the larger island green, vegetated, and more natural.  The first night we stayed on the anchor and slept soundly despite the 25 knot winds blowing through.  We thought it might be nice to see something different, so we moved the boat to town and stayed near the dock on the edge of town.  You never know when you are mooring the boat in the morning just where the discos are until the thump thump thump of the beat starts up at about 10 pm.  Unlike the states, the bars and their music go on until 4, 5, or even 6 am.  Needless to say, we woke up a little tired after our second night in Poros.

We have heard much fuss about bad weather in the Mediterranean in the winter.  Big winds with even bigger gusts, cold weather, and generally a dismal experience.  It sounds a lot like sailing in San Francisco in the winter months.  Turkey has been our unofficial destination for both Code and I; it fascinates both of us.  I guess it is a combination things, like its being Islamic yet secular; or that every  European history experience I have had from high school to standing in line at Pompeii always gets back to how Europe feared and fought the Turks.  We realized that we just don’t know much about Turkey except for the Blue Mosque, whirling dervishes, and baklava.  Everyone who has ever gone there has loved it, so it is only natural that we want to winter-over in Turkey where we can take our time to really explore the country – and it is the least expensive country in the (European) Med.  This said, the only timetable we are committed to is to reach Turkey by mid-October to be sure we get there while the weathear is good.

The down side of this is that we have been rushing a bit, or so it seems, despite the fact that we have been averaging about one month per country.   It is funny to think of a month as rushing things, but we actually have little time to just sightsee between doing routine 'life'.  You can squeeze a lot in on a vacation with no cooking, cleaning, or provisioning, not to mention that we only travel at6 knots at best (I can comfortably run that fast).  We have seen our share of rolling blue seas, and we are once again in transit today.  The kids seem to roll with it and modify their routines weather we are on land or at sea.

We do some ‘school’ everyday, but the kids don’t always know it.  For example, yesterday we discussed the Beaufort Wind Scale and worked on where we go to find information on weather forecasting.  Much of 4^th grade is about learning how to work independently and how to find information, and so far, 4^th grade has been harder for Code and I than Aethan.  It takes a lot of self discipline for all of use to do lessons.  Lately Code has been working with Aethan on reading/English and I am working with Graeme on the same.  It is amazing how differently kids learn.  I realize part of the differences we see are the ages, but the other half seems to be genetics.  Aethan is a whiz at math and can whip out an answer as fast as it is asked.  He is starting geometry and you can see his confidence in math.  Graeme loves to sound out words, can tell you the difference between a noun and a verb, and is already writing words and phrases on his own.  I can see how each kids is simply drawn more to subjects.  Graeme loves the stories of the Greek gods and heros (Aethan thinks they are boring) but Aethan is drawn to more concrete things: how bridges are made, he notices different kinds of sailboats, and is always designing the perfect ship (usually for him, but sometimes for his brother).

They enterntain eashother really well.  There are plenty of spats and tears, but for the most part, they are happy to have eachother.  I hope that this experience bonds them together for life; I cant imaging it any other way.Aethan has always relished the beg-brother role, and Graeme uses that role skillfully.  They both occasionally need alone time – especially Aethan now that he is becoming a young tween.  He will go off to his room or to the bow or otherwise pairoff with either Code or I for errands.  There are moments when they both miss home and friends badly.  Last night I saw this in Aethan;  we were sitting on the boat alongside a city dock and a group of Greek kids his age walked past having a good time laughing and giggleing.  I could see who much he wanted to be a part of a group like that.  The moment passed and he seemed OK again.  It must be hard to have no real friends to play with for a year. 

I am starting to set up some Skype calls for him.  He is now getting the skills to have a real conversation on the phone with a friend.  When we moved from California we set up calls, but they were really just wanting to play or just say Hi and were pretty unsatisfying for him.  He isnt a prolific writer (seems to take after his dad there) but he does read all the comments and emails sent from home.  I am looking forward to staying in one place for a few months where I expect to find other cruising families.  I hope he will find some connections there, and if he is lucky, make a friend or two.

Graeme doesn’t have the same needs, and he is pretty chatty with about anyone (it really doesnt matter if they don’t speak English).  I overheard him last week sitting on a bench near the dock talking with this old Greek grandfatherly type for a good 20 minutes.  Graeme discussed the finer points of sailing and home reconstruction efforts in Silver Spring to this kind listener, but I am not sure that if he could even hear Graeme if he understood the chatter about insurance, our tenants, and how his Dad sailed here all the way from DC. 

If I have one outstanding memory of the boys in Greece, it would be the day that they decided to set up a lemonade stand near Amy's house.  Since life gave them a bounty of fresh oranges, not lemons, it was an orange-juice stand instead (and it was delicious--fresh off the tree).  Aethan managed the business end of things (unfortunately, Greeks dont understand the entrepeneural likes of a lemonade stand and stayed away from the scene), but he had everything all set up, complete with the sign that read: Φρέσκος χυμός, 50 cents, while Graeme marched up and down the dusty street, yelling out 'Frescos Humos...Frescos Humos!!!' (Fresh Juice....Fresh Juice!!!!) to people who were probably watching all this from their houses.  Graeme didn't get any customers, but one lady patted his head and gave him a candy.  We all got to drink the leftover juice and I doubt any of us will come down with a cold for several weeks.

As I sit here this evening writing, I want to mention one odd detail.  When the boat is quiet (kids are in bed, Code is reading, engine and other systems are off) I can listen to the fish nibble on the bottom growth on our boat.  It is the oddest sound, like someone is dropping sand or tiny pebbles on the boat (but of course, the sound is underneath, and not specific to one spot, although they seem to work the boat in a group and stick close together).  I have watched the fish 'clean' the boat, and they are almost a solid ball, maybe 1-2 feet, of small fish. As an aside, the water is so warm that growth accumulates quickly.  The fish nibble like crazy when we get to a new port, as if whatever it is we brought with us is an exotic treat.  After a day or so, they lose interest, more bottom growth accumulates for the fish in the next port.  I guess the seaweed is always greener (or tastier) next door even for the fish.