Sennen and Ethan high-fived the Hellenic Coast Guard officers as they exited the boat. Never in his more than 20 years of doing dayboat swimming-tours from Patmos has Iakovos had a passenger need a medical evacuation, but as far as the kids were concerned, being boarded by officers with a stretcher was kind of cool.
It helped that the Greek 37-year-old woman needing medical assistance was in what I would call “sub-acute status” – requiring attention, but not bleeding out on the deck.
Sadly, she was a cautionary tale. At our very first stop – Macronisi – with its giant stone-arched caves, the very nice woman jumped the tracks from what Iakovos advised: “Swim through the cave and stay close to the boat.” Instead, she climbed the cliff and jumped. Most of us didn’t see the event or get the full details, but there was a red mark on the woman’s lower back and she was in significant pain. Her friends got her onto the boat and laying down on the cushioned area – where I had been seated – on the bow. At first, she seemed to have roughly the symptoms of someone who threw out her back. One of her friends had some ibuprofen – as did Iakovos. Everyone seemed to feel the “Take two of these and call me in the morning” approach was all that was required.
Only the woman’s pain increased and mobility decreased until she also felt cold and wanted people’s towels and clothes to keep her warm. As we arrived at our second stop, Aspronisi, with its giant white cliffs, crystal blue water and white, polished stone beaches – it seemed to be decided between crew and the woman’s friends that she wasn’t fit to make it through the remainder of the day.
The rest of us swam and enjoyed the white stone beaches – which were awesome as always. Ethan explored the cliffs on the side, Sennen found a piece of bamboo on the beach, Ailyn acted like a mermaid with a New York attitude, pushing me out of her way. It was fun.
When we got back to the boat at the end of our hour, the crew was serving the customary watermelon and Greek breadsticks snack. Only unlike usual, the boat lingered well past snack time. It turned out, Iakovos was still communicating with authorities and filling out paperwork required to have the passenger taken from the boat for medical help. Because we were off the coast of Lipsi – Patmos’ little sister island – there were no quick-access medical resources. So, when the dust settled, it was decided the Hellenic Coast Guard would come to the rescue. Our boat – the Iakovos M. – was told to position itself in a beach cove off Lipsi and wait.
I’m not sure what the Coast Guard in Greece does on a typical day – but medical evacuation seemed like something with which they were familiar. I also didn’t understand most of what the officers said, but apparently it was humorous enough to get some chuckles from the crew and the Greek passengers. The Hellenic Coast Guard didn’t seem to take itself too seriously and had what I would describe as a rather human touch.
Naturally, the boys – who had been annoyed by this woman whose poor choices impacted their expected enjoyment – were all about the Coast Guard. I mean, how many people ever experience getting boarded? And more or less, these guys came off like floating firefighters. who besides being cool, rescued a woman in need and got our day back on track. To them, a clear win.
The day from there was less exciting and more relaxing as a good Boat Day should be. We voyaged on to Tiganakia, the incredible tourmaline cove at the island of Arki where we swam and then onto Arki’s port where we ate a very late and delicious lunch at one of the three tavernas. Following that, the kids really just wanted to lay around the boat and tan. Even at our final stop of the day, a beach on Marathi island, we stayed on the boat and chilled. Needless to say, I annoyed the kids with very regular applications of sunscreen.
We were scheduled to return by 5:30 pm, but didn’t pull into port on Patmos until 7:15. No one seemed to mind. Boat Day was full of sun, swimming, breezes and sprays. It had fun, excitement, danger and relaxation. There were lessons – especially for Ethan who had REALLY wanted to cliff dive and to whom I have been saying “no” to both boat days. But also for all three kids when they were annoyed about the delay in the middle of the day for the poor woman’s evacuation. I pointed out that if one of us had needed help, we would have hoped for the kindness and understanding of others – and it costs us nothing to give it. Besides, if the worst case scenario is hanging out in gorgeous seascape for an extra hour – how bad are things, really?
Because we ate so late, we didn’t really need a full dinner. The kids picked up a gyro per person while I worked.
As was the case last time, following Boat Day, the kids find the beach less attractive. We made our list of final places and activities for our remaining time and decided taking Ethan to walk around Hora was a good one for tomorrow. If we want some beach time, we’ll just go to the small beach at the front of town and Ailyn will paint her next masterpiece. Maybe, if I’m lucky, the boys will help me transplant a jasmine vine into a big new pot. It seems like an easy, more land-based day ending with Sennen grilling some steaks I picked up from the butcher. Barbecue has absolutely been one of his favorite parts of Patmos this year.
Also in keeping with Sennen, by the end of the day Sennen decided he wants to sometimes be a deck hand for Iakovos, but sometimes work in the Hellenic Coast Guard. Ethan and I questioned how this could possibly work. Sennen hopes he can work for Iakovos in the summers and the Hellenic Coast Guard the rest of the year. Somewhere in there, he also wants to start a restaurant on Patmos. How will this all come together? It’s anyone’s guess. But I can say people’s lives and stomachs will be all the better for it if it does.
