Amore Mio

There is something special about early and belated sailing, those outside the season and the hot summer. During May and June, as well as after the middle of September, all the tourist boats disappear, and only the truly devoted to the sea remain. Years ago, during one of those trips through the Sporades, fate brought us to this German pensioner, who had found shelter on Alonisos. The person had taken a very smart approach when it came to what he sailed in, as you can see in the image above. His sea home looked as if it were found at a junkyard, and it would come as no surprise if that actually was the case. The first thing that caught our attention was his make shift cockpit, that looked like the cabin of an excavator. Another thing was the mainsail, where instead of a real boom stood a boom from a windsurf.
Regardless of the fact that his floating home was not in a good state, the man was enjoying life with a drink in his hand, while laying on a tanning chair on his deck. This is where we thought to ourselves that the visual style of the movie “Water world” was not fictional - all this could definitely happen in real life. The moment we came near him, the man started waving. It turned out that his engine wasn’t working, he had no wind, and he was in desperate need of a tugboat in order to reach the nearest port. We threw him a rope, he caught it, and we slowly began sailing towards the port of Alonisos.
We were sailing peacefully, saying cheers to each other, until at one point the man asked us to hurry a bit. Surprised, we asked why, as we were only going this slow for safety reasons in the first place, to avoid breaking the rope or causing a different issue. It was as if pulling a broken car. It turned out that the older gentleman had a romantic date back on land, and he simply wanted to be on time, as to not offend his lady. This made us like him even more, and we did everything in our power to help him reach his rendezvous.
What happened on his boat in the meantime was interesting - he went inside for five minutes and he came out a completely changed man. He no longer had anything in common with a character from “Water world”. He had on long trousers, a shirt, and a bow tie with his hair combed, he’s anticipating the moment he sets foot on dry land. We untied him somewhere close to the port and left him to row towards his beloved.
Of course, this love story has a soundtrack - Amore Mio. by Kostis Maraveyas from the movie by the same name, where the seasons change, but the story remains the same.
May 2020
Photo©MA