The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2005, Qupperneq 20

146
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #4
along and we followed it in to the harbour.
We managed that easily and just after noon
on Wednesday, 15 June we landed.
Bonifacio is one of the most beautiful
places we had ever seen. The harbour is a
kind of a crevice into the land around 200-
300 meters above sea level. It first lies
straight in but then turns along side the
shore to the east. Therefore it is well
defended and safe once in and it is very
popular among yachtmen. The town itself
lies around 200 meters above the harbour
on a mountainside, surrounded by old
scarps. On the seaside the houses are built
straight up from a 300 meter high cliff, 5-6
levels. Down by the harbour is a row of
houses built by the root of the cliff, mostly
restaurants and hotels.
Girne, our ferry, was the biggest ship
ever to land there, so it got a lot of attention
as could be expected, especially because it
sailed under a Turkish flag. When we had
finished preparing everything and were
about to go on land, the customs came on
board. They had just finished inpecting the
ferry from Sardinia. They seemed surprised
to see the crew, a Belgian, Frenchman and
three Icelanders. We had plenty of beer,
wine and food. We offered them refresh-
ments and they accepted some beer. They
inspected the ship and found it particularly
sound. Then they said goodbye and left the
ship.
At that time most of the excitement we
had felt during the journey was evaporat-
ing. The further we got the more difference
we found in people’s manners and how
much easier it was to get what we needed.
In a way it felt like a burden had been
thrown off our shoulders. In Sicily we were
always alert and never felt safe. Therefore,
we felt good when we wandered to land,
sat down in the nearest cafe and ordered a
beer. We had only been sitting there for a
short while when a police car came down
the street and stopped by us. The chief of
police in Bonifacio was in the car. He called
Philippe and asked him to go with them.
The rest of us stayed. We were quite
calm and expected them back in a short
while, but time passed and we were getting
restless. What kept Philippe? To tell the
truth, we didn’t expect any inquiries at that
point, but you never know. After some dis-
cussion and consideration we decided to
check on things, so we went back to the
pier. When we got there an unpleasant
sight awaited us. A large group of customs
and police officers were getting off the
ship. They had searched all over, turned
everything around and inspected the lug-
gage. At first we were surprised by all this,
but then we realized what the purpose of
such extensive inspection was. They were
of course looking for drugs, which were
being smuggled everywhere. Gudjon had a
handbag with a double bottom, which
obviously was considered suspicious. It
was examined very carefully and literally x-
rayed. We had no idea what could be hid-
den in the ship, so we were relieved, when
all this was over.
This particular ship and the inspection
brought attention to us and people obvi-
ously watched our steps closely. Johan
meant to sell the ferry, in fact he had tried
to do so in Sicily without
success. Here he got in
contact with a dis-
cotheque owner that was
intersted in the case.
Further discussions were
planned for the evening
at his discotheque. We
were all invited there
with Johan. When we got
there we were shown to a
table in the corner. They
offered us whiskey, but
Johan, Philippe and the
owner went aside to dis-