Leros part 2

Took the girls to the park that is close to the boat yard and Jordan was pretending to fix the electricity when she ran over to the slide stairs. She saw something that looked like a toy owl until it turned its head. Jordan ran over and asked is that an owl? We walked over to where she was  and noticed a tiny grey fluffy owlet sitting on a stair. Then Paige noticed another owl up in a tree close by watching over the grey one. The one on the ground must have fallen out of its nest. We looked on google and think it is a little owl.

We went back to the marina office to see if anyone knew who to call about the owlet. The ladies called a vet. The vet said to leave the animal where it was. We went back to the boat and then into town as Paige needed new runners. On our way home we wanted to check on the owlet. Unfortunately, the little guy was nowhere to be seen until Paige spotted it and another underneath the slide. This time when we looked up there were two owls sitting up in the tree watching over their babies.

Once again we headed back to the boat. This time Paige went to the office to ask them to call the vet again. He suggested to take fresh water down and that if they were still there in the morning he would pick them up. We set off with water and placed it under the slide.

We arrived back in the morning prepared with a cardboard box, net and gloves. The owlets weren’t under the slide anymore. The mother was still in the tree watching. We all searched and were about to give up thinking that they were eaten by a cat or something when Paige found one of them hiding in some tall grass. The little guy didn’t even notice when we put the net gently over its head. It must have had a rough night. It did wake up when we tried to move it to the box….. in fact it puffed up almost triple its size. 

mother owl in the tree looking over her babies

With owlet in the box we moved on to looking for the other one without success. On our travels back to the boat we discovered a pile of feathers indicating that it had been eaten by a predator. We were lucky to save one of them. We ended up driving 10 minutes away to the vets office and dropped “Giz” off. He told us that he would send the little guy to a place in Athens.

Giz in the cardboard box

The following day was Ron’s last day as crew on Element so we headed off to do some sight seeing. There is a bunker from WWII that had been converted into a museum. It was very informative and the movie allowed to see the historical significance of parts of the island that we had visited. It was very surprising to see such a fierce fight for this island. In a nut shell this was a major military installation for Italy, in fact as I am typing this at “Morano Café” I am looking out at Mussolini’s house across the bay. When Italy surrendered both Germany and the Allies wanted this island to control the shipping routes in the Aegean with large artillery batteries on this island. Germany bombarded this island day and night for more than a month while the people of the island hid in the bunkers. Germany held the island until the end of the war as Churchill chose to get a foothold in Europe via Sicily.

inside the museum

another bunker at the side of the road

Later on we headed to “The View” restaurant overlooking Pendeli Bay. It is a restored windmill. Absolutely wonderful atmosphere and ambiance.

the View restaurant

view from the restaurant

Yesterday we got up early to see Ron off. Shaun took him to the ferry dock only to find out they were on strike. They came back to the boat to search up an alternate plan. It turns out that it isn’t uncommon for business’s to go on strike. One of the waitresses exact words when Shaun told her the predicament were “welcome to Greece”.

Shaun was able to find another ferry company on the side of the island that would take Ron from Leros to Patmos to Samos. Samos is where he will take a flight to Istanbul. Off they went while we moved Jordan into her new to her room. Both girls are happy to have there own space. We are hoping this peace lasts for a while. 

Paige room

Jordans new to her room

The rudder is almost ready to be put back on the boat. We should be back in the water on Monday morning. We will anchor in the bay and then head on to Patmos. In the meantime we are scrubbing the boat, putting loose items in their rightful places and getting her sorted.

The rudder was completed on Monday. The lift arrived about 8:30 am to raise us up enough to put the rudders back on. We walked down to the chandlery to pick up some antifouling paint and accessories to be able to finish the rudder. On one of the trips we grabbed the port rudder and managed to stand it up in order to grease the post. We managed to manhandle the sucker back into place and bolt it. The minions (Leros marina staff whom are dressed in minion colours) dropped off the brand new starboard rudder for us to attach and paint. We managed to get this one up and attached but had to drop it down 3-4” again to put on the steering arm. We looked at the clock and it was already lunchtime. The temperature was over 30 degrees with zero wind. The girls had to occupy themselves during all of our repairs as we were on a timeline. Once we had the rudder painted we were to be put into the water. Before the move we had to put on the fenders and make sure we had bow and stern lines ready in case. By 2:15 PM everyone was off the boat and the fellows were moving us over to the water. During the week on the hard Shaun and Ron replaced the 12 year old thru-hulls (4 on port and 2 on starboard) so before the machine let us go completely we asked that they wait for us to check all of the thru-hulls. We only had one leak out of 6. Shaun and I must have lost a litre of sweat by the end of the day.

Before we headed out of the marina I asked the manager Nick what the cost would be for the bright yellow hats the minions (staff) wear)? He asked “How many?” I said “1”. Off he went and brought back t-shirts for everyone and 2 hats. I will proudly wear my Leros Marina hat. Jordan’s is a little too big (like it is a dress). Nick absolutely loves Jordan. His family lives in Athens and he only sees them on holidays. His children are 7 months and 4 years. It must be hard not to see them.

our new minion shirts courtesy of Leros marina

Finally out in the bay we dropped the hook. Our anchor watch went on and on and on as the GPS alarm kept going off. Shaun sets a distance alarm but when we swing in a radius the GPS doesn’t understand. We were dug in well.

We slept poorly due to mosquitos (as I left the bathroom window open without a screen), loud music, traffic and of course heat. It was time to leave Leros. We were up early to get over to the port police and grab a few groceries to tide us over. Shaun checked the thru-hulls one last time as we needed to pump out on our way. With our pre-sail check list complete we were off towards Patmos.