Hi everyone,

The first time we sailed into Sami harbour in May 2011 we hired a scooter from Sami Scooter hire. We met Andreas the owner of the company and ‘Mr Fix it ’mechanic.

Since then we have visited several times during 2012/13 and Andreas has become a friend.

Andreas lives in Athens in the winter with his Kefalonian wife,’ Matiina’, fondly known by us a ‘Mrs Andreas’. They run a business in Athens in the winter and the one in Sami in the summer months.

Andreas mends local scooters, outboards and yacht engines etc whilst ‘Mrs Andreas’ knits clothes for her new grandchildren, answers the phone and does the hire paper work.

Whilst jobs progress various local people come in to ask for spare parts, advice, exchanges in Greek appear like greetings and arguments, people come and go and we are not sure what went on !

On one occasion a small boy arrived and pushed his bicycle into the shop and up to Andreas who was working on our outboard…….. Andreas with his hands covered in oil and greese…. a happy man.

An exchange in Greek with Andreas raising his voice almost shouting at the boy in a friendly way, he chastises the boy for being so stupid to ride it……. a monkey wrench comes out, the large and very important nut is tightened on the very loos back wheel, the boy says ‘thank you’, gets on the bike and rides away. 

And so we said to Andreas that he is like a priest in a church. Locals come and go, ask for advice, tell him their problems. Being likened to a priest and to a place of ‘confession’ and advice made Andreas laugh loudly. He found the idea very funny. ‘Sometimes’, he said, ‘I mend very old Kefalonian motorbikes, and they are before the time of Hessus!!!!!!’……. We realised this was the Greek pronunciation for Jesus. He then laughed even louder.

He is a man in his element, he loves solving problems and repairing things, but not in isolation. Despite the fact that all of his jobs take twice as long because of all his ‘priestly’ interruptions, he loves his hands covered in oil and people coming and going and calling to him from the passing cars etc.

Photos of………

Sami scooter hire shop

Mending the outboard with Tony

Chastising the boy and fixing the nut

Religious icon on a scooter to be fixed…..older than ‘hessus’.

Love to all

T and T x x x x