Gizie & John's Summer in Europe?
 

Greece with Patrick Wehner
May 26-June 3, 2006

Few people would have the opportunity to water ski in Greece. So, when Patrick Wehner invited me to join him at his yearly barefoot clinic in Greece, the answer was obvious. For those of you who don’t know Patrick, he skis for France and is ranked in the top 5 in the World Standings list. He has a number of European titles and records to his name, not to mention previous holder of the World Open Men Trick Record and 2002 World Trick Champion.

The clinic ran for 8 days from 26 May to 3 June at the start of the European summer. It proved to be a great way to start my European vacation. Temperatures were in the 30s (Celcius) and with daylight saving already started we were guaranteed long, hot, summer days on the water.

The site was a 23km long lake at Neraida, located an hours drive from Thessaloniki. This town is tiny and basically consists of 3 hotels, 18 restaurants and a church, all nestled on top of a steep hill. At the bottom you will find a huge dock which could cater for 50 boats if not more. Fortunately for us, most Greeks have not yet discovered the opportunities this lake has to offer and we only had to share it with one other boat. The closest town of any real size is Kozani. To give you the bigger picture it’s 135km from Thessaloniki (a 98 Euro cab fare) which has the nearest airport. For those that came from Athens it is a 500km drive which could take 5 or 8 hours depending on the traffic and time of day.  

If I were to describe my week in Greece in one word it would be ‘magic’. The water was great, the people awesome, the food fantastic and not a single thing to worry or stress about. I always thought the Aussies had a good reputation of being hospitable and down to earth but I must say the Greeks are no different. Right from the start they adopted me as one of their own. The main crew for the week included Nikos, Christina, Jean-Mari, Patrick, Corinne, Lefferis and of course Patrick Wehner.  Others joined us through the week on various days. Greece has about twenty barefooters who enjoy the sport socially and regularly venture out in the summertime. Allow me to give you a snapshot of what happens at a Greek Barefoot Clinic.

A typical day is one that starts with breakfast at 7.30am. No need to wake up before the birds to get good water. Breakfast, like all meals in Greece, is not to be rushed or eaten on the go. Every meal is to be enjoyed. The food in Greece is plentiful and always has a homemade taste. No fast foods here. Wholesome foods cooked with care and attention. You can never find yourself feeling hungry in Greece.

So, then it’s time to hit the water. The boat, a Mastercraft Barefoot 200 with 225 Evinrude, is moored at the dock, fueled up and ready to go. The water is picture perfect and that’s how it stays the majority of the time. Everybody has two sets each before lunch. Christina and Jean-Mari were in charge of the catering and what a great job they did. Most days we had lunch delivered by a local restaurant and we left it up to Christina to order. The dock was quickly transformed into an outdoor dining room (boogie boards come in handy when you need a serving table). On other days it was a quick trip down the road, remember no fast foods here, so it’s Souvlaki with the works from a roadside food van.

The footing continues into the afternoon and like clockwork the classic skiers arrive at 4pm, as does a little wind. We have been told by the local skier Nikos, that this wind will arrive at 4pm for the next 3 days, after which the weather will change for the better. This I will have to see to believe. I have never been able to forecast the weather with such certainty back home.

While the wind blew it gave the guys a chance to set up their brand new (homemade via email instruction from Patrick) barefoot jump. Oh and let’s not forget the afternoon feed of watermelon and other fruits. It’s amazing that in 38degrees heat you can still chill a melon by anchoring it in the water. Yes, you can cool off real quick when you take a dip in the lake. The only hazard with the melon is you don’t want the fish to eat it.

Now there are fish, up to two metres long in this lake, there are photos to prove it. So you would think where there is fish there are fisherman. Wrong! There were no fishing boats to annoy the skiers. The only other boat on the water was the Nautique, belonging to the afternoon classic skiers. Imagine that!

The sun goes down just after 9pm. The boat and gear is put away for the next day and its time to shower before dinner. Yes, food again. Dinner is never eaten before 10pm. This time it’s not because we are mad footers putting every ray of daylight to use on the water, but everyone in Greece dines late. When you walk down the street families and groups of people fill the cafes and restaurants. Dinner is again to be enjoyed and there is no chance of retiring to bed before midnight. But somehow we manage to do it all again the next day.

Well, the 4pm wind did stop on the fourth day and we only had one storm which lasted a couple of hours the whole week. Lots of new tricks were learned and five new jumpers have emerged. After getting a feel for the barefoot jump on shoe skis, this group can’t wait to try it on their feet. They have gone back to the workshop to rebuild the jump surface in time for the next clinic.

It had been a magical week with lots of good times shared and food consumed. But what I realised most this week is that it really doesn’t matter where you live, what boat you ski with or how often you’re able to get on the water, there is a common passion that is shared by all footers. The passion we all feel when we go ‘barefoot’.

Gizie is sponsored by Wing Wetsuits and BarefootCentral.com.au.  We appreciate his support and efforts to bring us these interesting articles.

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