Captain Gerasimos Dellaportas from Ithaca first set sail in July 1964 in Palermo, Italy, aboard the M/V “OLYMPIC SUN,” a 32,000-ton vessel owned by Onassis’s company
He has since dedicated over 40 years to the sea. A devout believer in both God and himself, Captain Gerasimos highlights, “Islanders have always had, and still have, a strong maritime consciousness when it comes to the sea and ships. Greeks know the sea inside and out and have a deep love for it. In the past, many people followed the path of becoming sailors, but today, that number is dwindling. We must also give thanks to the wives of sailors, who held down the fort at home.”
Captain Gerasimos also shares a dramatic tale of survival from 1979, when he and his crew narrowly escaped a shipwreck off the coast of Boston, caught in a powerful cyclone with extreme weather conditions.
Presented and hosted by Antonis Karagiannakis