Moonbeam's crew is down to three...Jackie, Captain Ken and me. Despite being short-handed, the new Team Moonbeam has done quite well: we've Med moored stern-to on a windy day, and dropped anchor in a crowded anchorage, all with no yelling or bad words. I think Jackie is auditioning for a spot on the Atlantic crossing.

We are basically moving Moonbeam north to Corfu, where we should arrive today. The important activity of the past few days has been reading the news about the Greek economic situation on-line. This is summer re-runs of my vacation in Greece in 1971. I was there with friends, and we were sitting in a cafe in Athens enjoying our morning coffee, when we noticed an unusually high level of activity around us. We bought the day's copy of the International Trib, the traveller's bible back then, and learned that President Nixon had taken the US off the gold standard. The prior day, everyone wanted US dollars. This day...no one did. The American Express office was cashing $25 per person per day...and there was a 2-hour line each day...not how we wanted to spend our hard-earned vacation. After a few days of this, we went into a travel agency to find a place where our money would last longer. The gentleman suggested the island of Naxos. We boarded the ferry in Piraeus, arrived in Naxos, and, the way these things often work out, it serendipitously turned out to be a wonderful decision which landed Naxos on my list of favorite vacation spots.

So, here we are, again, with a money crisis in Greece, albeit a totally different one. Several of you have emailed me or FBd me, asking if it is affecting us. Actually, it isn't having a direct affect, and most likely won't. We will only be here for one more week. The banks have been closed for the weekend, but last week, there was a run on withdrawing euros and there is talk about shutting down the banks this week. By coinkydink, I had trouble with the ATM last week, and Ken and I ended up withdrawing an extra 400 euros, which will more than carry us. (Hmmmmm...maybe that was the run on the banks.) Our friends, James and Jackie, who are currently living in Crete, are somewhat concerned.

While I said that the Greek economic crisis was imperceptible to us, that's not totally true. The people themselves are just going about their business, somewhat nonchalantly, although I know they are privately very concerned. However, wherever we go, we can see the signs of the economic situation of the past few years. The infrastructure is crumbling. The streets need repair. One of the archeological museums we wanted to visit was closed. There is little or no maintenance going on. Fortunately, the picture above (courtesy of Jackie) is of a revolving bridge in the Lefkas Canal opening...on time...to let us pass through.

This is such a beautiful, wonderful country with warm and delightful people, and they are and will be going through a very difficult time. It will be interesting to see what happens today. It is all very sad.