Chernobyl Special Chernobyl Special
I found this old photo taken in the Bahia bar. My silly way of lightening the Chernobyl crisis. At the time fallout was threatening to radiate all of Eastern Europe. I remember there was run on NoyNoy tinned milk (there was no fresh milk to be had on the island bac ...
Chernobyl Special
Chernobyl Special
Donkeys Uber Alles Donkeys Uber Alles
Happy to be back in Greece after my first trip to the States since 2016. On Thanksgiving my sister in-law asked me what made the biggest impression of change in the ‘real’ world since my last visit … post-Covid etc. ! Quite shocking I can say: see ...
Donkeys Uber Alles
Donkeys Uber Alles
Hydra finishes the season on a high note! Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Credit due, quite literally! When the world is facing an unprecedented energy crisis as 2022 draws to a close, our beloved Rock is now getting renewable energy. Hugely beneficial to the island in so many ways. Bravo, and thank you to those who made it possible! &nb ...
Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Inkaminicado! Inkaminicado!
Roger Green came up with a classic to describe the Rock’s permanent inmates when the summer swarms drive local denizens into hiding. Now into its third decade, the resident bard’s traditional Pirofani opening poem was spot on. We shall be blissfully Inka ...
Inkaminicado!
Inkaminicado!
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia
Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) { "@con ...
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini's Tassia
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia
Kamini April Fool? Kamini April Fool?
Who wants to go for a walk? Unanimous yes. Quandary in the port: left to Vichos, right to Hydra town, or a dip in the harbor. Happy Spring all. Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in ne ...
Kamini April Fool?
Kamini April Fool?
Romantic August Kamini Sunset Romantic August Kamini Sunset
  But the flip side of our photographic flags a fluttering in the breeze is that with temperatures in the mid 30,s  hot wind can cause deadly wildfires. (As poor Greece has already experienced recently)Please be extra vigilant and always carry water on walks, ...
Romantic August Kamini Sunset
Romantic August Kamini Sunset
Hydra Revisited Hydra Revisited
Honoured to be included. Latest Hydra Book Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend ( ...
Hydra Revisited
Hydra Revisited
Okay who’s next ??? Okay who’s next ???
Easy livin’ August was fun, y’all come back soon y’hear. So that is August in Kamini is almost done and dusted, who’s up for September? We are going to win this season, albeit on marginal points. Happy Fall y’All, still standing KC staf ...
Okay who's next ???
Okay who’s next ???
Not Kamini’s Baby Beach Not Kamini’s Baby Beach
We have heard rumblings about August “Baby Beach” being a tad crowded. Try China for fun bathing then. Surfs Up Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in n ...
Not Kamini's Baby Beach
Not Kamini’s Baby Beach

Guess Where?

Only the tip of the dump tip
Only the tip of the dump tip

At first glance one could be forgiven for thinking this was a photo taken in the outskirts of a place like Kabul. But not so, this is a snapshot taken on Hydra this month. Few would believe the amount of rubbish strewn on our pristine isle in outer Mandraki, East of the main port.

It is not our usual style to show a negative aspect of the Rock, but this was just too deplorable to ignore.

So what can we do about it? Instead of merely reporting “the dirt” we have a simple idea which could greatly assist the municipality with its complex garbage disposal problem. There is no easy fix, but if enough people backed the Comet’s suggestion, it may grease the lethargic wheels of bureaucracy. A simple and comparatively inexpensive proposal that has become widely used and popular abroad. As our photo above shows, plastic shopping bags are a major part of the problem.

Eco-friendly

Keeps cats out and groceries fresh.

These two bags are examples of what can be achieved with a little good will.

The green bag we found at a large supermarket in Africa, they charge for usual plastic bags to discourage the environmental plague, and sell the hot and cold lined sturdy bags for the equivalent of €1.40. The white bag (right) has a Velcro fastener and comes from a supermarket on mainland Greece which they sell at the checkout counters for €1.00.

The bags can be used over and over with the added advantage that they seal which keeps curious kitties out of the groceries, not to mention the ‘green’ aspect of using them. They fold away to almost nothing and weigh zip.

So what if the Municipality ordered similar such grocery bags, perhaps with a memorable Hydra flag and /or map with a slogan in Greek and English promoting keeping our island clean. Distributed to the Hydra shops; and it would be good advertising too.

So why are we not proposing this ourselves? Simply because we are too aware of the pitfalls. Even though I am an island resident with voting rights and all, I am aware of the folly of trying to introduce something ‘new’. We have picked up flack and suspicion for trying voice an opinion in the past, and we have reached a point of surrender. Like farting against thunder – it was not for lack of trying.

Back in 1995 when the internet was unheard of on the island I tried to get the Demos to give me a desk and phone line. In return we would build a website promoting tourism and offer an email service for visitors, (one of the first in the country)

To be honest the idea was enthusiastically received by the Mayor Mr. Anastopoulos, but in order to authorize said desk the project had to be submitted to one of the boards who convened only every other month or so, then a vote had to be passed and after that (if it was agreed upon) a various selection of other red tape processes, which including having our names posted on a public notice board for a period of time were to follow. Enough said, it would have taken ages and we opened the Hydranet site privately on our own terms.

Similar frustrations have re-occurred over the years when we brought up the idea of motion detecting streetlights in the outer suburbs, or when we presented the idea of solar heating. We even went to the trouble of finding a manufacturer who made solar panels that conformed and looked like roof tiles. (Being acutely conscious of the Hydra architectural bylaws).

Dare we mention the proposal of Hydra passports for tourism stamps at establishments, or perhaps the outlandish idea of two wind turbines up behind town, our research indicted that two would suffice for almost all power needs.

Again not to present a negative light on the system here, it is just that they are hamstrung by reams of red tape and laws and sub clauses that can derail the simplest and best of plans. So this time all we are doing is putting the idea ‘out there’ and hope that enough Hydrophiles are motivated to add voice and encourage the powers that be to do something.

Send them an email perhaps, contact via the link on the left hand side of this page.

David Fagan
David Fagan is CEO, president, managing director, author, publisher, and chief bottlewasher of DavidFagan.org. On his first visit to Hydra back in 1983, David decided that owning a bar in this exotic location was an ideal way not to spend the rest of his life in the fast-lane of corporate advertising and journalism. It was an idea spawned by the Honorable Bill Cunliffe of Bill’s Bar, renowned wateringhole for anyone who knew this part of the world at the time. He and a couple of old-timers, Anthony Kingsmill and Leonard Bernstein, planted the seed: Come!

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