Читать книгу The Journey: How an obscure Byzantine Saint became our Santa Claus - David Price Williams - Страница 58

Outwardly I felt full of confidence in the future, like all young people. I could do anything, I thought and I mean anything!

I finished my wheat cake and drained the beaker of tea. I walked back to the ship and up the gangplank. I introduced myself to the three crew and a few minutes later the captain arrived with the warping gang and made ready to cast off. The ropes were untied and the gangplank taken inboard, at which point the captain gave the signal to the gang to begin pulling the ship away from the quayside wall. When we had reached the middle of the harbour, the haulage ropes were let go and the crew began to pull the cross spar up the mast until it reached the peak at which point they unfurled the rather patched sail. As Polios gave orders to brail the one side of the sail, the wind caught the other and the little ship started to make way across the harbour towards the mole. It picked up a bit of speed as the captain steered it away and it surged out beyond the harbour wall into the open sea.

As Patara began to fade away into the early morning mist, we sailed around the headland and headed towards the far horizon. My adventure was about to begin and with it, my new life. And what a life that was going to turn out to be.

THE JOURNEY