Week 241: Farewell Matilda

There is a saying that the two happiest days of a boat owner's life are the day they first buy the boat and the day they sell it. I think we've had many wonderful experiences aboard Matilda, but I was surprised at how true this statement is! But it's not quite what I thought.

Selling a boat is incredibly stressful and time-consuming. From listing to closing, it has taken us around 13 months. We were not pleased to say goodbye to Matilda—far from it—but we are ecstatic to put all the stress and uncertainty behind us and now move forward and focus on Delfine!

We spent the early part of the week focusing on admin for Delfine and doing a bit of a cleanup on Matilda to ensure she was ready for handover. We packed our things on Tuesday and then headed off to Glyfada for the afternoon. We bought Karina a new backpack and had a little celebration at a Mexican restaurant (hello, 1 litre jug of Margarita) before heading back to Matilda to meet the new owner (who wishes to remain anonymous).

He arrived on time and we'd arranged for him to stay on board. We did a brief handover of the critical things and left him to settle in while we headed back into Athens and The Nest for one final visit. It was a nice surprise actually as we thought we'd left that behind for good, but it was great to enjoy a few more days there.

On Wednesday morning, I was off to Matilda early to work with the new owner and run a two-day handover of the boat. It was quite an exhausting and extensive process, going through all the systems bit by bit, ensuring that he knew how to operate everything. I wish we'd had the same, to be honest!

I still tell the story of the first time we cruised Matilda from the shipyard. We pulled up into the harbour, and there was a bit of wind, so we had to use the thrusters. But the stern thruster wouldn't work! I couldn't get the thruster controls on, and in desperation, I flicked on all the switches at the helm, including the "black water pump." It was an ignominious beginning. The marinaro took one look at us, discharging sewerage into his harbour and shook his head, then had us come alongside instead of backing down.

There were so many misadventures in that first season as we worked everything out for ourselves, but we did it. So, even though I was very keen to get home to Belgium, it was good to share much of the knowledge we'd gained with the new owner.

Karina chose to stay in the city and worked on some Delfine things, in particular, selecting lights and working with the lawyers on website policy items.

The other item on Wednesday was the transfer of the money. I sat with the buyer and helped provide information as he filled in the transfer form (in Hebrew). I've never checked a series of numbers (our account number) in as much detail as that time. He forwarded confirmation the money had left his account, now to wait for it to arrive.

By Wednesday afternoon, we were all exhausted! There were a lot of questions, explanations, and talking, and he had a lot to absorb. I returned to The Nest and collapsed with Karina, enjoying a last Greek gyros from our favourite place. At the same time, we refreshed our banking app repeatedly, waiting for confirmation that the money had arrived.

Thursday morning, the money still hadn't appeared in our account. I headed back to Matilda to spend the day on the water with the new owner while Karina rang our bank in Belgium. She was told it could take 2 weeks to arrive as it was an international transfer. Ugh. Then, while she was on hold for thirty minutes waiting to speak to their head office in Brussels, it suddenly showed up, and all was good.

Back on Matilda, I received confirmation from Karina that the money was in the account so I could complete the document handover. With that, Matilda is no longer ours.

As part of the handover, we did a last little cruise along the Athens Riviera, enjoying the weather and the crystal clear waters. Then Thursday afternoon, once we were docked securely, I waved goodbye and returned home.

I took a moment to say goodbye, but we haven't shed a tear. It's all a huge relief. Two boats are one boat too many, and we can now move forward and focus on Delfine without worrying about Matilda and Greece.

We learned a long time ago that we need flexible fares as, more often than not, we change them. And this time was no exception. We switched our flights back to Brussels twice already. We were ready to go home and didn't want to wait for Saturday, so we checked the flights, and there was one available on Friday for €0 fare difference, so we grabbed it. It's time to return to Belgium, home to Gent and Delfine.

And that's it—farewell to Greece. We used the time there to wrap up as much as we could. We've signed a Power of Attorney with our lawyer so she can handle the apartment sale for us, and the next time we return to Athens, it will be en route to an island and a holiday. Nothing is tying us there anymore.

We've had a wonderful four years in and out of Greece, but we're also ready for this next phase of our lives. We're both looking forward to a little more certainty and being a bit more settled. Our possessions are all collected together in one place for the first time in years. Our favourite things from Matilda, The Nest, and storage at my parent's place in Australia are all in this tiny flat with us at the moment (not even on Delfine – because she's a building site). It's a novel feeling. We've got a few favourites we've started collecting, like the photographic artwork we purchased for The Nest that we dragged back here.

With Delfine and a business here, we know where we will be. Belgium is home. We'll take a longer lease on our next apartment and one that's a little more modern, and we're excited to have a base again for a while. It's a good feeling. We plan to have a home base, cruise for 6+ months on Delfine with guests, then use that home base to travel for 3 - 4 months and explore the world but keep somewhere to come back to.

We crashed into bed in Gent around 10 pm on Friday. After a few weeks in Athens, we were amazed at how quiet and peaceful Gent feels! Where are all the people? The traffic? The noisy cars? It's very quiet and sedate. We slept very, very well that first night.

Saturday, I was straight back on the bike (not as bad as I'd feared, although we both have sore quads today after a few weeks without riding), and I headed to Delfine while Karina stayed back to unpack, make sure we had food, and clean up all the dust from being away for over 3 weeks.

The electrician was there finishing the last few items on the rough-in, and I had some work to catch up on! It was exciting to be back on board. Delfine has changed while we've been away! She's filthy, but lots of progress has been made. Some more electronics are done. The new toilet cisterns (which will be hidden behind a wall) are now mounted), and the plumbing and wiring have all been moved around. We finally got to see the new floors (looking good!), and overall, it was just great to back.

After the electrician finished, I started fitting back all the walls. It felt fantastic to be doing something constructive again and to continue BUILDING Delfine. On our weekly call this morning, Ella asked, "More demolition?" I said, "No, actually building things now." We have a bit of the kitchen left, which we'll demo Monday morning, plus one small part of a cupboard, and that's it. The demolition will be finished.

Karina came out to Delfine at lunch, and as I kept finishing the walls, she tidied inside and moved the kitchen up into the wheelhouse (microwave and kettle as a temporary spot for now). It was a huge first day back on Delfine, but it was satisfying.

This week, things continue apace. There will be contractors on the boat almost every day from now on. Next is the bathroom walls being finished.

After a very stressful past two months, we feel like there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. A huge burden has been lifted with the sale of Matilda. All the dominos are starting to topple over now, and we're picking up speed.

Farewell Matilda, you will be missed, but now, full-steam ahead on Delfine!

Until next time,

Tim & Karina