News & Events
Odyssey to Greece in the Homeric Tradition
The amazing trans-Atlantic journey to Greece and the 2004 Olympics of City Tech hospitality management student Christos Katehis and good friend Andonis Prikas aboard their 40-foot offshore cruiser, “Adele,” was enough of a celebration of “the best of Brooklyn” to merit a Proclamation by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in May. On May 30, the two set sail on “an adventure of self-discovery that will take them from the Miramar Yacht Club across the Atlantic Ocean through the Mediterranean Sea and north on the Ionian Sea to Kerkyra, Greece, and then on to the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens.”
In a special salute to their venture, Markowitz declared Saturday, May 22, 2004, “Andonis Prikas and Christos Kathehis Voyage to Greece Celebration Day in Brooklyn, USA.” Brooklyn is home to the second largest and one of the fastest growing Greek communities in New York City.
Katehis, who came to the U.S. in 1971 from his native Mathraki, a hilly Greek island in the Ionian Sea, is not only a City Tech student but also owns and operates a small food service and catering business in Lower Manhattan. At work on 9/11 not far from the World Trade Center, Katehis was transformed by the tragic events of that terrible Tuesday and seized by a powerful awareness that “life is short, so explore and live your dreams.”
Katehis’ friend and sailing partner, Andonis Prikas, a native of Queens born of immigrant parents, holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and is a technology consultant with an investment bank. Some years ago he discovered the joys of sailing and eventually purchased the “Adele.” He, too, has come to appreciate that life is fleeting and that “if you have something on your mind that you really want to do, simply do it.” There was no better time to make his first trans-Atlantic crossing than on the occasion of the return of the Olympic Games to Athens, where they long ago began.
You can track the amazing 10-week journey of these two remarkable adventurers by visiting their website at http://www.wallstreetcaters.com/greece2004. Their odyssey is most assuredly one reflective of the best of the Homeric tradition.
