So there we were my teenage son and I. He was in the back seat and hubby had been sent back to the ferry offices to see what was going on.
We had been told where to park and wait until the loaders could work out whether there was any room on the car deck / lorry bay for our boat on its trailer plus our car.
They had promised that 'if they could they would squeeze us in' but I was pessimistic.
Lorry after lorry after lorry drove onto the ferry. Surely there would not be room?
The smartly uniformed guy with shiny buttons and a two way radio shouted orders, and another guy drove a clever little vehicle that hooked up to lorry containers that had been left as freight.
This little vehicle looked a bit like the one they use in hospitals to pull little trucks, but he drove it much faster.
For a while I forgot my anxieties as I watched him manouvre gigantic freight trailers expertly.
Then suddenly there was a head at the drivers door.
A bearded lorry driver opened the door and attempted to sit on the driver's seat.
From my limited understanding of Greek I managed to work out that because other lorries had parked and blocked his way he now wanted our car moved immediately - so that he could board the ferry with his lorry!!!
And he was intending to move our rig himself!!!
As I was fully aware that our insurance did not cover us for any damage to the boat if it was damaged by a stranger driving our car, I was very verbal in making it very clear that he was NOT to drive the car.
'OXI, OXI, OXI!!!; I bellowed at the top of my lungs and pushed him back out of the car.
He screamed back at me at the top of his lungs and while the tone was frightening I noticed that he maintained calling me Kyria at all times - which at least was very polite of him.
Teenage son leaned forward and pulled the door shut and I put the locks on. But the windows were still open due to the heat so I removed the keys from the ignition after a struggle and clearly sat on them so the guy could see there was no point making any more trouble.
As is always the case, help arrived just as soon as the crisis had passed.
Hubby arrived back from the offices of the SuperFast Ferries waving our boarding passes.
The lady in the office had secured us a space. The only snag was that hubby would have to get up at four in the morning to move the car and trailer to let lorries disembark to Igoumenitsa.
At last we were safely on board and the Powercat 525 Evolution Powered Catamaran was in the hold.
We had a cosy and relaxing time on the lovely Superfast XI Cruising ferry. This boat is amazing in comparison with UK ferries. It is like a floating hotel. We had a meal in the restaurant as I didn't want to risk seeing the hijacking lorry driver in the self service area.
So I can thank the lorry driver, for that as the meal was superb and the service fantastic. I have had much more inferior meals in expensive restaurants in both the UK and Paris!!
The cabins were very comfortable and apart from the early morning wake up we all had a lovely sleep.
The founder of SuperFast ferries is from our tiny village on Kefalonia so we felt pleased that his company had provided us with a brilliant voyage and it somehow made the experience feel like we were almost home already.
We arrived at Patra at around 11.30 in the morning.
This is the famous Rio Antirio Bridge at Patras - which is the longest suspended bridge in the world!!!
It has to be strong enough to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, liquifaction of sea bottom and the movement of the tectonic plates!!!
It is an amazing example of Greek engineering skills and I find it quite an inspiration.
Next post will be the last leg of the journey - as we finally bring our brand new Powercat 525 Evolution home to Kefalonia and start the story of our first few weeks ownership!
