another day in the office....

Greetings from Mykonos..wow finally a week off and a chance to update this most neglected blog!...this work block was 4 weeks straight....I feel like i've run a marathon...phew...and gawd the year is flying by!

Guess some of u might think what i do is hardly work but the dream job is hard work and long hours sometimes...Especially when u have 10 hours of bashing to windward through wet and lumpy 2m swells, rip not one but two sails, have puking guests to settle, as well as totally unpredictable Greek winds that can be blasting u one min the next not a puff of wind! Challenging and exhausting as it is, it is still fun...

Some highlights from the last month:

The spice girl cruise from mykonos to Santarini. 5 20 somethings always singing and always laughing + a middle aged couple and her 65yr old mum...I was shocked at the mix at first but it worked out well in the end. Did some great touring on Amorogos in something resembling a cut down beach buggy...its mind boggling what is allowed on the roads in greece.










• Athens to Mykonos with 7 girls roughly my age...There was 8 to start with but one jumped ship on to the waiting ferry on the second day. This was during the heat wave that hit Greece last month. It was 48deg in athens! Unfortunately she got heat sickness due to sitting on the deck all day in the full sun...Made note to explain the risks of sun exposure in my pre-trip spiel.. This turned out to be a legendary trip. It was like we'd all been friends for years and were into doing the same things like not eating out so much and instead bbqing and preparing meals on board. Maureen from GAP head office in Toronto was especially good value and could be handy to have connections :)




• Santarini to Kos. On board were a hilarious family of 4 from southern usa, a couple from toronto, he mad professor type who spent 99% of the trip sitting in the cabin tapping out his book on a laptop! She a blond travel agent..Interesting mix. + a Brit and a Candian dude. Did a big detour all the way down to Rhodes. Stunning. Especially the island of simi. Managed to get a beach bbq in under a starry night. Brilliant.. Also hiked into a live steaming and stinking volcano crater on the island of Nisiros. Was really interesting and different.
  








• Finally. Kos to Santarini. A mid 20s cruise with a couple of Aussies, Canadians and a Swiss guy..More stunning island stops. Highlights was mooring eva to rocks in a fjord on the island of kalimnos and hiring cars on Leros and visiting a impressive 11th century fortress perched high up on hill top with commanding views of the surrounding ocean and island..
  

Have to say while i have gained a little more sailing knowledge, the main thing has been learning about group dynamics. The crew mixes are totally random and u can never predict what unlikely friendships happen. Sunday is a weird day for me. In the morning a group of guys that u've bonded with (and sail trained up) in a confined space over the last week leave and then in the same afternoon you have a totally new bunch of people. Its like have a week long one night stand and then waking up on sunday...hmm ok not the best comparison in the world but kinda of fitting....

So tonight am leaving MYK (mykonos) and catching the 1am ferry to Samos where i'll jump over to Turkey ending up in Istanbul in a few days. Really looking foward to a change of culture and food!

So signing off from MYK....yasis!
ps enjoy the pics from the last few weeks...

pps having trouble reading my usb data key so pix will come in a few days!