Personality transfer

Delivery - crew needed // #capetandelivers
Bordeaux (France) -> Patras (Greece)
Lagoon 55
Estimated departure date: 31.03 - 01.04.2025
Estimated duration: 3 to 4 weeks
Paid position // costs covered // details on request
HOP/HOPA mandatory // min. RYA Coastal, preferably RYA YMC/ YMO

That was the advert. But how it sounded to me, after a long, cold winter: a super boat trip from France through Spain, Portugal, Italy and arriving in Tzatzichi.

April, so good weather, I'm taking my shorts with me as I'm sure to come out with a tan. Plus I really need some time with myself and it's perfect to do some introspection out at sea admiring the sunrise and sunset.
How was it? Crack open a beer and make yourself comfortable, cos you've got some reading to do.

We enter the Bay of Biscay where when there are no big weather systems to know what's coming and where it's coming from, you find yourself with two rows of waves from 2 different directions and the wind not necessarily where you want it. We leave the shore with the intention of going straight to Coruña and with our first stop in Porto for a warranty engine overhaul. Dreaming of sardines in Portugal. I finish the first watch, the first dolphins appear, but the Atlantic was rocking us quite chaotically. I get in the boat to eat and rest, because in 6 hours we had the watch again. Except that having the camera in the bow, the waves crashing against the boat felt like someone was throwing boulders in a chaotic, rhythmless way at us, and the motion of the boat was not the kind of rocking you want when you go to sleep. Anyway, I put the plugs in my ears and manage to fall asleep, I wake up after an hour or so freezing, it was 8 degrees outside at night and the same in the boat, I start to put on my first layer, training trousers, fleece but because of the movements, saliva comes in my mouth and the fun starts.

It lasted like this for two and a half days, big swells, so I spent the watches bucket-bucket-bucketing and afraid to go into the room. I was only vomiting water, after 2 days I managed to eat some sticks. When we decided to head for the shore, I think the joy was written all over my face.

We arrived in Gijón on Good Friday, so all the service centres that could service our engine for our warranty were closed until Tuesday. So we did Easter in traditional Catholic style, and on Monday the weather and engine hours allowed us to drive up to Viveiro, where we were scheduled for an oil change.
After that came the coast of Portugal and the further down we went, the more the fear of orcas grew, so we kept as close to the shore as we could, but we had to watch out for fishermen's nets, which is no fun especially at night.

We made it safely across and ended up on the south coast of Spain, where we tried to go to the 20 metre depth line so that we could run ashore if orcas appeared. They didn't appear but one night we had a net stretched perpendicular to us protecting an area of orcas. It wasn't fun to get out of it, but with a swim and smashed the support buoys we escaped and didn't stop until Gibraltar, where we could only get in with the tide. We still arrived at night, slept for a couple of hours, put on diesel and retired to La Línea de la Concepción because the wind was blowing 40 kn from the Mediterranean and there was no way we could get any further.

We went to a terrace for a beer. It was the first day in just a t-shirt, we were sitting in the sun, and we were the only ones sitting in the sun, as the cold was still in our veins. There were strange looks from the Spaniards at the neighbouring tables who were trying to sit in the shade.

We managed to set off after about 3 days and because we were already running late, we intended to leave for Palma de Mallorca but after about 24 hours the wind direction helped us to head straight for Sicily. So we started an 8 day journey from Spain to Greece and we didn't stop at all, we made countless charts. We'd meet up at the change of charts, exchange impressions, tie our harness to our lifelines, clip our PBL to our vest, sometimes pull our hats over our heads, sometimes put on sunglasses... Whoop cried for sleep, I cried for food, I lost about 4 kilos on this transfer, I fed myself with the thought of lamb chops from 12 Gods.

I forgot to tell you that my transfer mates spoke in a month as much as I did in the first two days so I had plenty of time for introspection.
Of course, in Sivota we arrived in the morning, had a beer, a rum and went to bed. At 9 o'clock the cleaning ladies came on the boat and were talking so loud I wanted to kill them, I went out to them but they were lucky that the boat's owner was with them. I swore and went for coffee.

In total it took nearly a month, I slept in the boat at 8 degrees, dried my socks on the radiator, slept and ate little and was forced to adapt to the 3 hour watch, 6 hour rest. I enjoyed catching the sunset or sunrise chart and trying to figure out what was in my head to do that.

All in all, I enjoyed it, glad I went but would not repeat just in 3 boxes. And ideally we would like to have someone on the boat who can cook at least one hot meal a day.
I'm writing this in my shorts, in the bay at Abelaki and getting ready to drink a cold Mamos and go ashore for perhaps the best hamburger in Greece.
For more details I'll be waiting for you in Greece, I'm sure we'll meet in a bay.