3:36 PM: i made another creek scroll painting today.
In 1975 I was commissioned to paint this 2 meter wide oil painting by the late Avgoustis Polemis for his newly acquired ferry boat, Chrissi Avgi (Golden Dawn), which began service to Andros, Paros and Naxos in 1977. The painting represents the peninsula that constitutes the capitol of Andros, Chora, as seen from Paraporti. Tragically, on the afternoon of February 23, 1983, the ship, carrying 42 souls, sank in stormy weather, only 2 nautical miles from the island of Mandili. Only 14 were rescued. My painting went down with the ship, and rests on the bottom of the sea. One of the three crew members that survived, Mr. Simos Lavdas, second engineer, narrated to the website “En Andro” (www.enandro.gr) the shocking history of his rescue, mentioning in great detail the last moments of the ship. This is one small excerpt:
"We remained at the stern for a while. Fifteen minutes after the ship took a permanent inclination, a terrible explosion took place. The ship caught fire. The persons that we were at the stern started to fall into the sea in any way we could. As I was falling I looked at Evia. Andros was too far. Before I fall, I made the sign of cross and I said:
– Please God, help me. I came into your house today…"
More details can be found here: http://www.grafasdiving.gr/nauagia2.php?lang=en&id=62