…when we just couldn’t leave from Chania!

It’s not that we didn’t try to leave…it’s that the moment we drove our boat out of Chania old port we had to go right back in! At least the very noisy alarm showing the engine overheating insisted that we did! Last Friday was our first attempt to leave Chania, 5 days later and we’re still here. We paid our port fees, we got rid of our garbage, we secured everything that could move in the boat and we were off to Rethymno. The moment we got right outside of the port entrance a red light went on and a continuous “beeeeeep” showed us that the engine was overheated. So we turned the boat around and got right back in the marina but this time we just docked sideways because apparently we only had to change one thing and we should be good to go again soon.

Jeff got down in the engine room and changed the impeller (which according to Jeff, it’s a little rubber spoked wheel that pushes saltwater to cool the engine) and we were off again to Rethymno. This time when we were moving slowly towards the exit of the marina, I saw a big turtle’s head coming out of the water to breathe! I got so exited and was pointing to the head in the water but given our engine issues, I scared Jeff who thought that something bad was happening to the boat or maybe some part of it was coming off….(note to self: adjust excitement mode according to different situations so Jeff can easily distinguish happiness from panic!) I had seen a kiosk at the waterfront raising funds and awareness to save the Chania turtles but I never expected that the said turtles were literally living in the port. Afterwards when I spoke with the people at the kiosk they told me that there are a couple of turtles that actually live in the old port, Harry and Ethel I think they call them.

So we got out of the port for the second time and the engine, showing real determination to mess up our plans, overheated again…In we go again but this time we dock normally, dropping our anchor and backing into our previous spot. Now Jeff took a better look into the engine and decided to clean the sea chest (the thing that allows the sea water to come in and usually gets dirty and things get stuck there creating a problem to the water flow).

Chania is a beautiful city and the Old Port is actually a Venetian castle constructed in 1610 to protect the people from enemy attacks. The old lighthouse was originally built by the Venetians in the 1600s but it was rebuilt by the Egyptians in 1830-40 so it is called the Egyptian Lighthouse. Crete has its own distinct identity which is different from the rest of the mainland Greece. The locals are proud Greeks and they adhere to ancient codes of honor that historically had lead to many bloody conflicts. In my youth I spent some time in Chania and more specifically in Sfakia which is a little village on the south side of Chania. To get to Sfakia you have to go through the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) and during occupation from the Ottoman Empire the people from Sfakia would find refuge in the mountains and maintain their freedom.

Legend has it that when the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire had conquered Greece and all the countries around the Mediterranean, he sent many armed forces to conquer Sfakia but it was impossible. The art of guerilla fighting adopted by the people from Crete was terribly effective against anyone that was not a native and could not navigate through the many gorges and mountain tops of the White Mountains. The Sultan then wanted to give up the fighting but he needed to establish somehow that the area was under his control so he made an offer to the Cretans: provide one bucket of snow every year from the White Mountains to the High Gate to be given to the mother of the Sultan; this would be the only taxation that the Ottomans would receive from Sfakia and the Cretans will be free to live their lives. The Cretans accepted the terms and they provided the bucket of snow so the fighting ended. The second year after this agreement, the Turks asked for the bucket of snow to be delivered as the yearly taxation to the Sultan. The Sfakia people responded as Leonidas did 2,000 years ago: Come and get it (and presumably, bring your own bucket!). The Ottomans never got a second bucket of snow and that ended the so called “occupation” of the most rebellious part of Crete.

I remember that they used to say that if every man from Crete has a gun, then every man from Sfakia has an arsenal. This place has many stories and the language the locals use, has many words that derive directly from ancient Greek. For example one of the main local culinary specialties is a dish with boiled snails. The word snail in modern Greek is “saligari” (σαλιγκάρι) but in Crete it is hohlios=χοχλιός or κοχλιός which comes from the ancient Greek word κοχλίας = spiral (which is visually what a snail is!).

Going back to our boat adventures, after Jeff cleaned up the sea filter we felt fairly confident that we will be able to travel to Rethymno. In the morning, our take off ritual complete, and off we go again…for the third time…and right out of the magnificent Old Venetian walls, the engine overheated again…”Is there water in the radiator?” that was my only question because the only thing I know from my car is that when I saw the temperature go up, it meant that there was something wrong with the radiator. Jeff checked that maybe 10 times and although it showed that there was an overflow of liquid in there, when he took it apart he saw that he was getting a false indication because a cap was broken. Jeff took out the thermostat, changed it and called a mechanic because now we had to be absolutely sure we fixed it.

Today, everything works! we motored outside and back in and the pin showing the engine temperature is stuck at a wonderful 80 (which I am told is ideal and what we want to see!) Hurray!!! Chania is beautiful but I can’t wait to see Rethymno!!! I have realized that I am the ideal person to live on a boat: I am always extremely happy to reach a new destination and also extremely happy to leave a place and go to the next! Almost the same amount of enthusiasm reaching some place and leaving the same place a few days later! It’s very interesting to realize this about myself…and at the same time confirm the famous saying by Solon “γηράσκω αεί διδασκόμενος” = “I’m getting older while being taught all the time” ….(obviously except for the “getting older” part that simply doesn’t apply to me… getting wiser, yes; more mature, yes; more…ripe, yes; more mellow…sure! but older, NEVER!)