At last we are off heading towards Gibraltar. A pop around the corner first to Mazaron

Then a trip to Garrucha – Emilie and Luke – from Bury St Edmunds – a fantastic couple – great meeting you. Thanks for all your help. Take care and safe sailing.

It’s a hard life..

and then onto San Jose..a beautiful bay..a real delight

Then onto Almerimar – a great day sailing the whole way- a place we visited on the way in.

Another Frere was in the marina so out came the flags…

 

Well it’s 29 April 2018. It’s raining here in Cartagena, Spain. We had planned to have departed by now but the day before leaving another problem came along and as such we are waiting for a new thermostat for our boiler to arrive.

Caroline is teaching the girls today so I thought I might write some more blurb:-

So we are about to enter our third season. It will be coming up to 2 years in July since we left. It’s amazing isn’t it. The girls have grown up a lot and I have been privileged to be with them everyday and spend all that time with them. They really are turning into fabulous young ladies. They are both very different but are so special. They both make me smile so much everyday. I am a very lucky man.

When we arrived in Cartagena last October I cried a lot and was a bit of a mess. I felt so amazingly proud  of what we had achieved as a family and as a unit. I think also the fact we had spent nearly the whole season on anchor and that being in the safety of the marina may also have had its effect. Anchoring is beautiful, waking up in bays with no one else around sometimes, seeing stunning sunsets and sunrises and the tranquillity is awesome. But always you are 100% on your guard in your mind, bad weather coming, rocks, a heavy swell from the wrong direction. A beautiful place can become a nightmare if the wind changes. There have been many times when myself and/or Caroline have spent the whole night in the cockpit making sure that we are safe, not dragging, other boats not dragging into us. There was one night when at 4 a.m. we had to move due to the risk of dragging into rocks that were very close by, as the seas state got worse. At these times the family work as a team to make us all safe. It’s an amazing feeling when that happens and you then move to a safer place.

So we are about to start again which means being 100% on your guard and aware of everything. Throwing off the lines of a safe marina but with the world ahead of us. Many of you may know that we plan to head off to Gibraltar, then Morocco, Canaries, Cape Verde and then hopefully across the Atlantic. A big challenge for us all to go back into the Atlantic ocean with the swell that it brings. We are also looking forward to some of these amazing places. There seems to be a theory that when you turn up at these places for the first time we all go WOW, but after seeing the same place for a while the WOW factor disappears so by continuing to new places you can keep up the WoW’s which drives you onwards.

So our girls, after another 6 months in a Spanish school, have become even more natural at speaking the language. I always love hearing them speaking so fluently to Spanish people, such a gift. Well that’s it for a while. Take care and look after each other all those who read this. x

 

 

 

 

 

An amazing Nun that hugged and kissed all the children everyday at school. She is so fabulous.

A big thank you to their school whilst in Cartagena. All the teachers hugged and kissed the children. How lovely is that? Not many schools in the world are allowed to do that and I applaud it. All the children at that school showed so much love and caring to each other and their teachers in all years which the school excelled in. Something that a school is rarely assessed on but this one would come top of in any league table. Thank you.

So something amazing happened to me this year, my childhood sweetheart replied to a comment on Messenger. I had loads of her posters on my wall and I practiced her signature for hours. WOW how cool.

So Cheryl and I are best friends now…my other sweet heart was Doris Day (she’s not on Facebook)….

So what else has been happening-

Christmas came to Cartagena:-

Olivia got eaten by Mario :-

Enjoyed a motor boat excursion on Avalon Star – thank you Dave

Carnival time –

Got caught on TV at Easter…

Caroline’s Parents joined us for a few weeks:-

Cleaning up the marina with the marinero

2018

The list of jobs is getting shorter although sometimes we do one job and end up adding another 3 or 4 to the list. This year’s main task is to have a stainless steel arch added to the rear of AF so she can then have solar panels to help with keeping the batteries charged. It’s under construction and we shall await its fitting with trepidation.

It’s January and Olivia turns 8 this month. Where has the time gone? When we left on this adventure she was 6 years old, that means she has had the last 2 birthdays living on board a boat. I wonder what she will say to her children about turning 8. Will she recall where she spent her 8^th birthday and will she have fond memories of her time living aboard?

As always when it’s time for present giving we have to think about something that will not take up too much space. So we opt for a tablet, one that can allow her to have books loaded onto it so she can read without the need to have a light on and disrupt her sister – Olivia is a bit of a night owl. Well, the plan didn’t quite work out as expected. I could not figure out why the thing would not accept the books we had bought for Jessica’s old style reader. It’s the same make just a much newer version. All I can say is thank goodness for the internet as the manufacturers help line was not able to help. On finding the answer it became clear that the manufacturer had tried to monopolise the selling of their books only and even changed the format the books are stored in from the old style reader to this newer style so they were not compatible or so they made out.  PC world had a very good article explaining how to get around it thank goodness as we had lots of books we had purchased for Jessica that Olivia could now utilise. Bowling was organised as a treat and new friends were invited along to join in the celebrations. Iain (10), Suella and Stephen off a catamaran called Tingha, all joined us for the evening. We caught the bus there and thought we had it sussed when we left the bowling centre for the bus back. After waiting for 20 minutes Suella and I grew restless and decided to walk towards the main plaza in the Mediterranean centre we were near to go to a restaurant that they also had in the main town. No sooner had we started to walk up the road in the industrial area did we see the bus heading our way. We were now nowhere near a bus stop but I just ran into the road with my arm out and stopped the bus. The lady driver was not at all happy, she gesticulated towards the camera on the front of the bus and proceed to rattle of really fast in Spanish. I can catch most things but when they speak 50 to the dozen I am left unable to work out what is being said but I guessed she was telling me off; needless to say I apologised profusely and paid for the tickets glad to be in the warm and on our way back to the town. We tried to get food at the restaurant the girls and Iain liked but it was shut for another hour so we ended up in Burger King. Olivia was happy though so being birthday girl that’s all that mattered. That and the fact that you can get a beer with your meal as your drink here in Spain so happy parents too!.

The arch is finally ready to be fitted; it looks large and causes some angst about how we are to fix it to the deck. It means putting more holes through the deck into the boat and therefore more holes in the aft cabin ceiling. I agree on a way forward and the fixing begins. Antonio ( the stainless chap) works without a drawn plan, all freestyle from his brain and the countless times he has made similar structures. He works alongside his father (Jose) and listening to the two of them is very funny. A typical father son relationship, sometimes fraught with disagreements, other times the sound of laughter catches your ears. It is even funnier when we try to explain what we would like using a translator that you speak into. Antonio is preparing himself waiting for the translator to stop whirring when suddenly Jose blurts out a stream of Spanish. This happens not once or twice but several times and Antonio is exasperated. I tell Jose he needs to be quiet but he cannot help himself, he does not seem to like emptiness and has to fill it with speech. The translator is struggling.  It becomes a running joke each time they come to the boat.  Eventually all requirements are taken into account, new bits reshaped, new bits made and it is attached and fitted. It creates a shadow across the back deck and sitting in the rear corner seats is now rather impossible but it will serve its purpose. The new solar panel is fitted, it’s huge and causes even more shadow to fall across the rear deck, it also vibrates in the high wind and we need to fashion something to stop the wind tipping the panel against the frame. Howard fashions 2 cleats to stop the panel tipping on its own and it works.  A note to anyone who has any stainless work carried out on their boat, ensure all electronic things are switched off before they do any welding on your boat. We found out the hard way, it blew up our wifi antenna which had to then be repaired at a rather large cost.

Something else that we had an issue with was the radar. It was new when we left the UK and now would not work. We spoke with Raymarine and it turned out that if you upgrade your chart plotter without the radar attached it can then not talk to it, technology was a daft thing to have happen. We had the radar disconnected and packed away whilst the arch was being made. Howard updated the chart plotter and when we affixed the radar back up it would not power up or speak with the plotter. Raymarine were very good, they put us in contact with the Spanish representative and they had a dealer in Cartagena who could collect the unit and get it repaired under warranty. It in fact was replaced completely as it was not fixable.

February went by in a blur for me as I had the full on flu. I went to bed on the Sunday and did not get back out of bed until the Thursday. I had never felt so rough – even my tequila binge in Mexico wasn’t that bad compared to how my body felt now. Everything was an effort and every part of my body hurt. I heard the girls getting ready for school each day but could not muster the energy to help. Homework was getting left as Howard just did not understand the language. The girls kept asking when I was going to get better. After 2 weeks I think they were fed up with Howards cooking, our friends all thought I had been buried under the patio and my body was crying out to get better. I don’t want to experience that again; it was so draining and took ages to get fully well again.

March was soon upon us and time for school camp. After last year we knew what to expect. The girls would hate the food but love the time away. We packed them up with lots of nibbles to eat and a homemade Sheppards pie each to heat in a microwave. No-one had ever seen a Sheppards pie before and all the teachers wanted to know what it was and what it tasted like. At least we knew they wouldn’t get hungry this time. It was soon time to collect them and they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves again. Zip wire, Archery, Dancing, Singing, Sleeping in a tent, painting stones, making jewellery, bouncy castles – a child’s paradise. Thank you school for making their weekend away such fun again.

On the Monday after camp my parents arrived. They were here for 2 weeks and we had hired a car for the duration of their time with us as it was so cheap. 58 euros for 2 weeks, Howard even got us an upgrade to a 7 seater.

During their stay they would celebrate their Golden (50^th ) Wedding Anniversary. I pause to reflect on what that means:-

a – that’s 50 years of living and breathing with the same human being and surviving. I can’t even imagine what that must be like.

b- I am therefore nearing a zero……aargh.

We made the day special for them, took them out for dinner and spent some time touring the inner parts of Spain.  We travelled hours in the car, Howard finding the most awkward roads for me to drive down and round, lots with hairpin bends in them. My wrists ached after days of driving but it felt good to see in the inside of the places as well as the coastal side. We took a trip along a river on one occasion, it was wonderful to see the wildlife and nature. I am a full on green grass, trees, flowers and creatures person, as is Olivia.  We enjoyed the earth and its life and feeling of belonging. Eagles sawing high up in the mountain tops had us watching for a time transported to another place. It was so nice to be away from the water. Being able to hear birds calling and bees going about their collecting, things you so miss on the water all the time. It’s odd but until you don’t hear them you don’t really know that you pay attention to such things. I miss the countryside. I think that if we settled anywhere it would have to have access to the sea for Howard and Jessica and access to woods and mountains for Olivia and I. Two totally different worlds really.

 

I love the Cartagena Bombero’s….

Our favourite baker in Cartagena- Davos

Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog.

January:- is a special month because it’s my birthday.We went bowling. We invited some of our friends, Iain Suella and Steve, caught a bus to the bowling alley which was faraway. I won one of the games as we had 2 rounds.  We had a curry for dinner which is my favourite. I had my haircut at a hairdressers as part of my birthday treats. I had long hair when I went in and came out with really short hair, see the photos.

The wind was very bad in January which made lots of rubbish come in, so we cleaned the water with a marinero(Pedro) because we didn’t want anything wrapped around our propeller. It was fun and he gave us a green ball for helping. Jessie and I pulled a bag out of the water and it had 2 little fish trapped in it.

Daddy and I went for a walk one day to the park near us and we saw some peacocks. I thought they were interesting. We then went into the town where there were bouncy castles. I went on one that was shaped like Mario. I had to climb through his mouth and he ate me as the mouth shut behind my feet. There were lots of other bouncy things which I went and got Jessica for so she could come and have fun too.

One weekend we were lucky enough to be invited on a friends boat, it’s a motor boat which is different to our boat. We went to Mazarron and had a sleepover on it. It was very fast but I still felt sick!.

At school we went to the town square for peace day. I had been practising on Thursdays but didn’t het chosen to be in the final line up as i was forgotten. We had to put on white gloves and sing the peace song. We had to do actions too. Mum and dad came to see us. After we went back to school we blew up the white gloves to make birds and decorated them.

We also were part of the carnival parade again. My class were policia, which is spanish for police. I had a hat, utility belt with; a gun, walkie talkie, handcuffs, notepad and pencil and a badge on my top. I also had policia printed on my back. It was good fun.

February:- it’s carnival time. Geoff came to see us off Magellan and he had dinner with us before coming to see the carnival with us. We made sure we had our coats this time as we got cold last year. We caught lots of sweets and had a nice time. It was nice to see Geoff too.

March:- we went to school camp again. It was on a Friday and Saturday this year. We caught the bus and went to the same place as last year. We slept in a tent with 4 of us and no teacher, it was great fun . We did zip wire, archery, singing and dancing and playing. I didn’t like the food much. We had a great time though.

Grandma and Grandy Noble came to see us for 2 weeks. We had a car and went lots of places with them. Luckily it was Easter holidays so we had no school. We went near to Mazarron and saw the big cannons \ guns. We even sat on them. There were some dark tunnels too which I went in. Jessie and I went up some thin steps and saw everyone from the balcony.  Another day we went into the mountains near Cerveza and saw the fruit trees in blossom, it was pretty. We stopped near the river and daddy, Jessica and I went under a waterfall. It was noisy.  We also went to the cemetery and whilst we were there we saw some painted pigeons. They were very colourful.

As we were getting ready to leave Cartagena at the beginning of April, we left school. It was really sad to say goodbye this time as we won’t be coming back. I made woven hearts and filled them with sweets for all my friends and paper flowers for all the teachers. I also made a boat for professor David. Mummy made chocolate brownies and cheese nibbles for everyone too. I was sad. My class have me a mug with all their names printed on it and a cuddly lion with a badge from the school. The teachers came to the boat to see where we live. It was very nice but senor virginia felt sick with the boat motion so they had to leave.

April

We made some new French friends and their names are Nolyne and Junswan. Jessica and I mostly played with them every day.We play things like dodgeball,volleyball,catch,balltag,tag,ghost tag. One day we saw a huge cuttlefish and a little one too. They also had dinner with us which was spaghetti Bolognese.The next day Jessica and I saw a bouncy castle. We went to it and found out it was babyish but there was music so we danced to it and bumped into the two girls again. It’s mummy’s birthday Jessica and I where at school so mummy did jobs. At about 8:00 Dave took us out to dinner.

May

Garrucha

When we got in there was a lovely marinero called Coco we stayed for a couple of nights and went. Coco was very sad but it was to rough so we went back into Garrucha. Coco was very pleased so he bought us a yogurt from yoyland.The next day we made some new friends called Emilly and Luke. They from where Bury St Edmunds too. We had a dance competition and Emilly won. The next day we invited them over for dinner which was a roast dinner.We also watched hitchikers guide to the galaxy.

May

Cala de genoveses

I made a curry for dinner then Jessica and I went to the beach. There was lots of jellyfish but we didn’t get stung.

Almerimar

Jessica and i went and made new friends called Robin and Lauren. With them we caught lots of big and little fish one was a haunted slime fish. The next day we went to the beach Jessica and I mostly played in the water. Daddy was watching us so we didn’t drown and mummy was reading a book called No time for good buy. After that we all went back to have dinner.The next day we made a new German friend called Lina. We played her every day. We even played with her yesterday. Today I’m doing school.

June 1

Gibraltar

We came in about 10:00 at night, after we had dinner Geoff off Magellan called us.Samji and Albatross came in about 4:00 in the morning. At about 10:00 in the morning we went to see the people on Samji called Duncan and pat. At about 12:00 we went to see the people on Albatross called Maritha and Rainer. It was nice to see them again.

The next day samji and Albatross left so we were alone but not for long because Peter off jacaranda arrived and we had a BBQ. Mummy bought us a diary. After that Jessica & I went swimming in the sea we also went paddle boarding it started to get to cold so we got out .

the next day we made daddy a fathers day card  for him.We also made some bread. We went to the beach because we were meeting Rachel,John and Theo at the beach. We made a new friend called Ella we played with her the whole time. Ella came on the paddle board with us.  We went back to have dinner.

The next day we met new people called Becky and Adam and we watched a film called Butch cassidy and the Sundance kid. After that we watched another film called Ballykiss Angel we went to bed.  Mummy read us a story called the golden compass.the next day we did English after we finished we all watched a film called the invisible when that had finished we watched another TV series of Ballykiss Angel. The next day Jessica mummy and I went to the park with some friends called Katie and Phoebe.

 

 

 

A great time spent with the Bombero’s in Cartagena

I caught a really big fish

https://www.facebook.com/colegiopatronatocartagena/videos/1956947881291544/

What a natural….. Kite flying in Almerimar Spain May 2018

Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog so here’s a big update

January- the three kings came on the barco turistico and waved to lots of people including me. Once they had done their walk around the town they then did a little carnival. In the beginning there were lots of different floats and dancers. There was a dragon, some unicorns and very tall people that were glowing [because it was about 6:00 Spanish time]. When the little carnival was having a pause we had a photo taken by daddy of Livvy and me with one of the people holding a flag. After the photo, he let us hold his flag and he danced. At the end of the carnival the three kings threw out toys Livvy caught one and it was an emoji.

Olivia’s birthday- on the Saturday before Livvy’s birthday we went out bowling and Livvy invited our friend called Iain. On the second round Livvy won it. After that we tried to go out to dinner where Livvy and I had been before but it was closed. In the end we went to Burger King because Cotton Grill didn’t open until 8:00. On Livvy’s birthday she went to school and made Rocky Road Cakes and gave them out to some teachers, class mates and me. Livvy had already made up her mind what she wanted for dinner. It was a curry which I am not really a fan of.

Free slides-in the town there was a free fun park. All you had to do was pick a ticket and then you were in. The first thing you had to do was climb up and then a little slide down. The next thing you had to do was climb through a spinning thing that was vertical and then through a horizontal one. After that you had to bounce across four balls and if you touched the ground or didn’t want to do it you had to walk round. You then had to climb through a tube and then another. After it was a very high and swirly slide. Finally the humungous giraffe slide. At the top there was a man who was always texting and he was making sure that everyone went down safely. Avalon Star- thanks to Dave we went to Mazarron and to get there quickly we put the engines on full throttle and we were there in about 30 minutes. On the way back I got to steer and it felt different compared to a sail boat. When we were in Mazarron we slept on their boat.

School peace day- at school they had a peace day and specific people got chosen to be at the front and learn all the actions and I got chosen to do that! All of the school came out and to a square in the town. Mummy and Daddy came to watch me. The school sang the chorus even though you weren’t meant to. At the end the teachers and Daddy took a picture of the whole school.

February- at school there is always a carnival and this year’s carnival was special for me… this year my class was bomberos [firemen] and we made a trolley into a firemen’s truck. I got to push it once. I got taken out of my class place and put at the front to hold up the banner. In the carnival I and all the girls were dancing to the very loud music. When we walked passed Tania said my name and pointed to Daddy who was on a stage and was dancing to the music [it was very funny to watch].

March- we start in this month on a bus going to camp with some of the school. We are going to the same camp as last year but the campsite is a little bit different. This time it was just Friday to Saturday. The first thing we did when we got to camp was make the tents. After that we unpacked and figured out where we were everyone was going to sleep. After we had finished we went out for a long walk and on the way back Livvy scratched herself and it was bleeding a bit badly. On the way back we passed the peacocks. When we got back we had lunch. After dinner we had a little concert. When we went to bed it was about 1:00 in the morning! The next day we did the activities the first one was the zip wire I was really scared again. The next one was archery with proper arrows. Finally a bouncy castle game and after just any games.

Grandma and Grandad- this year we have had grandma and grandad come out to see us and this is what we did together. First of we took the car to a mountain and we climbed up it. There was a really dark tunnel that Daddy and I went through and it led to the other side of the mountain. When we went through a gap we saw 2 big cannons and Livvy sat on the top and I sat on the thin part of it. Daddy took a photo of us on it and then Mummy and Daddy came on as well and grandad took a photo of us 4. After that Livvy and I went to a lookout and to get to the top you had to climb up really thin stairs. When you got to the top you could see for miles. After I climbed down Daddy and I went through a really dark tunnel and I was really scared so we went back and then we went with Livvy. It wasn’t really scary with Livvy. The next day Daddy drove us through lots of mountains and the sights were beautiful. Just before that we had gone through a little town with a beach. Livvy and I skimmed stones. The day after Mummy drove and we did the same. We also saw a bird of prey. On the last week that they were here Livvy and I went back to school. On Grandma and Grandad’s last Friday Livvy and I also had to say goodbye to our friends for a very long time. It was our last day of school.

Before Grandma and Grandad turned the corner in the car we were running by the side of them. When we were walking back I started to cry because if I cried when Grandma was with us she would cry too. Before they went we saw coloured birds and they were chasing the Mrs.

Big parade with sweets- when grandma and grandad were with us they saw us on TV because of a really big parade. In this parade you got given sweets from children who just came up to you and just gave you sweets. If you waved to them you would either get sweets or they would wave back. There were lots of people wearing triangle hats and there were drummers that were drumming very loud.

April-some weeks into April I started optimist sailing again. On the second time I did it I really liked it. After a couple of days Daddy went optimist sailing! After that Livvy and I were playing on an iPad and we then had 2 French girls come on board and they started playing with us and their names are Nolyne and Junswan. After a while Livvy and I made best friends with them. A few days after we saw a HUMUNGOUS cuttlefish. He was really really big. The very next day Livvy, Daddy and me all went to see what was happening in a medium square and it was because there was a running race going on and we were there with Nolyne and Junswan and as the runners were not there yet there was a band playing and us 4 danced to the music and made some more friends that were Spanish and they were adults.

May- this is the month when we started sailing. The first place we stopped in was called Punta de la Azohia and that night Olivia was cooking and it was chicken and chorizo [jambalaya]. The next day we went sailing again and this time stopped for 2 weeks in Garrucha which is where we met this lovely marinero called Coco and he was Spanish. On the second Monday he bought Livvy and I an ice-cream. The next day Livvy and I made him a thank you card all in Spanish for him and he loved them so much that the very next day he had gone out and bought me and Livvy a teddy each. Before we left there were 2 lovely people called Emily and Luke. This is crazy but they lived in Bury St Edmunds just like us! After the 2 weeks we went to Cala de Genoveses and it was lovely there. After dinner Olivia and I went to see where the anchor was so we didn’t drag. After that Daddy rowed us to the beach and there were lots of jellyfish but we didn’t get stung. When we were sailing to our next stop we had a little sparrow sitting on our deck for a little bit but then he flew of. Before he had flown off he had bumped his head on our window. Our next stop was Almerimar. When we got in we met these lovely people called Shirly and Andy, Collin and sue and finally Barbara and Peter. These are all very nice people and very good friends. There are also some more friends and their names are Robin, Lauren and Lina. Robin and Lauren are Dutch and Lina is German. Sometimes you get to see ducks and really big fish. You are allowed to go to the beach so you can go swimming. The third time we went to the beach Daddy taught me how to fly my stunt kite. Now I know how to fly it.

So that is all I hope you enjoyed everything that I have done. I miss you all.

May-the last day of May we were moving to a lovely place that we have been before and it is called Playa de Torre Mar. We stayed there for one night and then moved on the next day to La Linea or Gibraltar.

June-on the way we had our friends traveling with us (SY Merit – Sue and Colin) and they were friends from Almerimar. On the front of the boat Livvy and I were doing meditating and we had lots of mayflies land on us. After a while daddy scared me when he shouted out “Dolphins” so we saw them but I think they were chasing after he fish that the fishermen had caught. When we were just outside Gibraltar rock Mummy found out that all our veg had been  covered with rust killer. It was very late when we got in to the anchorage and without any veg daddy cooked what he called a ten minute curry. After we had eaten it Geoff phoned and we spoke to him for a little while. Whilst we have been here we have done lots of things. Very early in the morning Albatross and Samji arrived and daddy got five emails in one go all from Grandma Mears. A couple of days after we went into Alcaidesa marina and we stayed there for about three days. Some days after Livvy and I went paddle boarding on our paddle board. The next day we went into Gibraltar marina to get our Liferaft serviced. In the marina we met two girls that were ten and eight and their names are Phoebe and  Katie. We also met up with Rachel, John and Theo. They came over for dinner one night and Livvy, Theo and me all played mine craft on our PS Vitas that Grandma Mears got us for Christmas. The next day John came over and he helped daddy fix something whilst Livvy and me were doing school. Some days after we went back out on anchor. Two days after daddy, Livvy and me all went swimming and daddy was cleaning the bottom of the boat. A couple of days after Grandma Noble Skyped us and we got to talk to our second cousins. The next day Grandma Mears Skyped us and daddy told her to down load an app. About half an hour later she phoned back and told daddy off because she had a headache because she had been searching for a long time. We were in the middle of a film called Butch Cassidy and the sun dance kid.

 

 

 

The girls checking that the anchor has bedded in well.

My first fish…an historic moment

Just off Isla de Benidorm- awoke to a loads swimming….

8 – 21 September -Valencia Spain.

 

We take stock and get on with trying to fix the issues. Joe once again takes time out of his family time to assist Howard and I. He spends all day trying to get the split pipe from the rear shower out of its inaccessible space and then re fit a new one. Before that though there is the need to purchase a new mixer tap as the one on the rear does not work properly. It’s bought and it’s needs a much larger hole than the one there all ready. There is also a need to make an “inspection” hole in the mahogany back wall in the aft cabin to get to the pipe work.  Hole cutter at the ready and the new holes are made……inside one fits a plastic cover for any future issues with water pipes external one fingers crossed it fits the new unit. I am always nervous when making holes in a space that needs to be water tight but it’s like a glove. New shower unit installed now to fit the pipe in. Howard and joe try for the whole afternoon but are unsuccessful the blessed thing just won’t play ball. I get in and wiggle my hand into the small space. Your arms are trapped, unable to freely turn but you work blind trying to figure out why the pipe won’t thread through. I get hold of the connection of 2 pipes, shove one up and to the left whilst pushing the new pipe in from above. I then tell Howard to pull the pipe end which he has. It gives a bit but not a lot. More wiggling of the joint to the left a bit more and suddenly he can pull the new pipe through. Hurrah, only taken 10 hours for such a small job. We radio joe and he knows before we tell him that we managed to thread the pipe. Tomorrow we’ll finish up but for today we’re pleased to have it done this far and that the mattresses have been drying up on deck. They are still too damp to sleep on so I am in the saloon on the bunk there and Howard sleeps in the cockpit with the canopy up. Living the dream!

 

Shower gets finished, mattresses get dried, boat gets put back together and onto the wretched throttle issue but not before a nice hot shower in the marina block. Feels really odd being attached to a floating bit of wood which has such luxuries as easy flushing toilets ( the girls think they are great as you only have to push a lever) and powerful showers you don’t have to turn on and off for fear of using too much from the tank. It’s nice to stand under flowing water for a while letting the heat of the water ease some of the aches. Oh how I long to lay in a hot bath….

 

We decide to change the fuel pipes as it’s the only thing left that could be making the fuel black as it runs into the pre filter etc but forget that the shops close from 13:00 till 17:00 so have to wait to get the piping till later. We catch up on washing and get the towels that were soaked by the water leak freshened up in a washing machine that is much larger than our motorised bucket.  Such luxuries. Pipe installed and we find that arctic has magnets inline in the fuel lines. Not sure if they are still working. Looking into it they seem to be used for optimising fuel so perhaps we need to work out if they are indeed doing what they should be or changing them or even getting rid of them all together. For now we will leave well alone.

 

One reason for coming here was to collect an outboard that Charm had as extra. It’s a 5 horse power instead of our 3.5 so should be better when all 4 of us are in the dinghy. Howard collects it with joe from the shop they had it up for sale in. When Howard gets back to the boat, we are all excited by the new addition to our family but it’s short lived as realisation hits that Howard has lost his phone. So much for getting an outboard cheaply, we now need to buy a new phone and the hassle also of stopping the sim with the prepaid credit and getting it transferred. Great. Our luck surely has to change soon doesn’t it.

 

We spend some really great days here in Valencia with the family on charm. They know the city having wintered here so take us to lots of places directly. We go to the cinema, visit gullivers park ( find out more about this on the girls pages) see a triathlon taking place right outside our bow, enjoy the free entertainment put on by the marina for their 10 anniversary celebrations and lots more. The city has a lot to offer, it is cheap in the marina and it is a possible place for us to winter, but Cartagena has caught our hearts and the girls like the school so although it’s a good contention we shall return to our roots and head back down the coast for winter. Charm is heading to do the Arc and back to the USA so it will be very sad to see them leave us. The children have all been great friends and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company as we have enjoyed Joe and Lara’s. Distance will not stop us keeping in touch, hopefully one day when we are across the pond we can meet back up in person. We wish them the best of luck in their travels and much love goes with them from us all on Arctic Fern. If I ever wonder who is singing a song I’ll say ” it’s Tom Petty” …….

 

22 – 23 September -Denia Spain

 

We drop along the coast and anchor in the lee of the marinas wall at Denia, 4.5 mtrs over sand and weed bottom. No one else is here which is a little worrying but the marina is rammed so I guess they all have a bigger budget than us. We settle down for dinner and plan to get ashore tomorrow. The throttle has been fine so let’s hope that the final bit of changing the fuel pipe has fixed it. Who knows.

 

We motor round the dirque and into the marina. It’s a bit rocky but we now have our bigger outboard which helps within the larger waves. We tie up to the end of a concrete pier and attach half a ton of locks to the boat and outboard, you never know if it will be there when you come back and I don’t fancy the swim back to the boat with the provisions we are going for. Denia is a very pleasant surprise. It’s a lovely town with good provisions and is clean and friendly. We re stock at the mercadona, Howard treats us to a new grandma trolley to use for collecting provisions as our 2 old faithful ones are literally falling apart and we use it for the first time. The girls enjoy taking it in turns to pull/ push it along. We have long since figured out that the most cost effective way to have ice cream for all 4 of us is to carry plastic spoons in our bags and buy a tub of it from a supermarket. It was Jessica’s choice and she went for a double chocolate type. It was delicious and cooling in the sweltering heat as we sat and looked out to sea.

 

24 – 26 September – Cala Sardinera / Javea – Spain

 

We drop down another 10 miles into this Cala and anchor in 8.5 mtrs over sand. We are surprised at it was supposed to be a buoy field only to save the grass but lots of others are anchored and there are no buoys left to pick up. It’s very pretty and we relax enjoying the sun. We did not have any issues with the throttle so we are hopeful that it’s fixed. Lots of the day boats leave and we are left with only a few boats. We decide to pick up a buoy and choose one after Howard has checked out the gear holding hem to the floor. We attach to the buoy and enjoy the day. The evening however turned out to be a different story. The wind picked up, the sea got angry and the block got dragged along by the weight of Arctic. At 02:00 it was so worrying that we decide to move to the opposite side of the bay and re anchor. We had seen a French boat leave and drop to that side about an hour previous as well as a 54 foot moody. He however did not stay but turned and went down the coast, we do not know why.

 

We start engine, I go to the front of the boat in what can only be described as a  crab stance. The boat is lifting out of the art and slamming so hard it shakes your whole being. It’s pitch black and scary as heck. I try to undo the rope we have attached but it won’t give as the weight of arctic is slamming up and down on it causing the rope to be tight nearly all the time. I manage to get a little to move, all the time conscious of the rocks behind us. The nose gets buried in the waves, I get soaked and still the rope won’t give. Eventually I work out that if I heave on the down drop I can get a bit of line each time. After what seems like an eon we are free and we head over to Javea. The chart says no anchoring in the lee of the marina but we don’t like the look of the anchorage space and find the French boat is already anchored in the marina entrance. So we drop here and try to get some sleep. It’s much calmer now, but the whole boat is awake and it’s now 05:00. We all huddle up into the aft bedroom and get a few hours rest. Once we awaken, I radio the marina to se if they have space, they are full but give us the ok to remain in the entrance as long as we are off the channel. We stay all day and even head into town to get a stretch of legs. We buy a gaff for when we eventually catch a substantial fish and some other fishing parts to replace swivels that have seized. Arctic is still there when we get back so all is well.

 

 

27 -28 September -El Rinconet /Moraira – Spain

 

What a delightful find. This was a lovely bay. It had a fabulous beach and good protection from the swell as well as a sandy bottom and crystal clear water. We anchor in 6mtrs over sand and are met by loads of sea bream almost immediately. The girls drop into the water for a swim and spend hours playing on the old lilo from the 1970’s. It’s not had so much use since Howard was a little boy. We row to shore and amble into the town. Howard takes a call from a friend back home and we can hear him getting enthusiastic about the bike track days he used to do and his laughter is a lovely sound(if not a little loud). We find some charity shops and get new books and DVDs for the girls, Livvy gets some knitting needles as she wants to learn to knit and she and jess get new items of clothing to wear. Lots of British voices drift passed us and for once it’s nice to hear. Howard chats to a group of ladies and we meet them again when we walk back to the dinghy. We meet others on holiday with their children and take some time to talk about our experience so far. There are lots of British flagged boats in the anchorage but we have found that this does not necessarily mean they are British. Howard investigates with liv and comes back that there are actually uk people aboard.

29 September -Isla De Benidorm-Spain

We work down the coast a bit further and show the girls the mess that is Benidorm. There is nowhere to anchor along the huge stretch of bay as it’s taken up with tourist type development. A huge waterski park is set up in the chart area marked as anchorage and although it states it’s only set in summer the structure looks like it’s a permanent one with huge towers dragging a handle around on a motorised circuit. Not temporary at all. The rest of the bay is completely open to the swell and having experienced what that does to your nights sleep we try to think what to do. The Isla is only a few mile away so we motor across to see if it’s tenable for night. There are buoys here for you to pick up and one of the boats we met in the last bay us just readying to leave. They drop off the buoy and we pick it up just as a spanish vessel enters the area. We attach with no issues and settle down. However, we are out a way from the shoreline sitting in 25 mtrs of water and the swell is making undertaking dinner rather untenable. Howard takes the dinghy round the remaining buoys,  which look too small for arctic, to see if they are actually suitable. He picks out 2 and we move onto one of them. We quickly decide that we are likely to get caught up on one of the buoys remaining as we are a little big for the space between so move again. Having hooked the leader rope the boat swings before I get it on the cleat or the rope through it and I ask Howard to reverse a little to give the buoy a chance to swing back. Somehow I damage my fingers, there is lots of blood dripping into the water. I do hope there aren’t any sharks here. We secure the boat and I get nurse treatment from the girls. I’ve taken a large gouge from 3 of my fingers, I have no idea how but there we are , more war wounds to add to the many. The dinner can now be done without any issues. It’s 3c’s tonight, a new recipe from a book and Howard is cooking. It turns out to be quite nice but the girls don’t like the roux that was meant to go across the whole thing. Thank goodness he had the fore thought to put it on the side of their plates.

We all sleep soundly and awake to loads of swimmers entering the water to undertake a swim around the island and back to the shore. We allow the start boat to attach to arctic and have front row seats as it is started. We see a few poor people picked up by the Red Cross rescue boats as they struggle with the distance and the coolness of the water. Although the sun is out the water is pretty chilly, it’s only 08:00 so it’s not had chance to warm up yet. We move on again down the coast once all the swimmers are out of our way.

 

30 September -1 October – San Juan nr Alicante -Spain

Howard made history today, he caught a fish. Livvy heard the reel running and ran up on deck shouting “daddy daddy you’ve got a fish”. He works the rod and Jessie is ready with the net at the rear. She gets too worried and passes the job across to me. We land a nice bonito. They are beautiful looking fish with iridescent blue marking along their backs, unfortunately the hook has penetrated the poor thing eye which is no so great. I fill it’s gills with alcohol but it won’t stop breathing. Next I try to pierce it’s brain but it’s still alive. I resort to hitting it hard with the winch handle, this has the desired effect. Poor thing. Now the gutting and filleting. Jessica is now nowhere to be seen, Olivia on the other hand is right next to me. She tells me she stays so that when one of her children catches a fish she will know how to kill it and gut it. She watches the whole thing telling me that although it’s pretty gross she wants to know how to do it. She helps me to bone it and fillet it. I now won’t eat it having done all this but Howard will get it all. He has though decided that he doesn’t want to catch anything else as it’s too traumatic to kill it and cut it up. I decide we need to have a table up higher than the deck as it kills my back doing it this low down. Something more to add to the wish list for the stainless solar panel arch we shall be getting at the end of this season.

Excitement over and we drop into a sleepy rather run down place near Alicante. We drop into 3.5 mtrs over a weedy muddy looking bottom. We have shelter from the swell here and hope to be comfortable. The jaunt into shore is a little hairy as it’s pretty rocky and Howard is rowing. We find a supermarket so we can have a Sunday dinner with full roast potatoes cooked in dripping etc. looking forward to cooking it later today. It’s grandmas 70th birthday tomorrow so lots of work has been done today by the girls to get ready for it. Let’s hope someone back home is going to make it special for her.

This is Valencia – another fabulous city

 

The Volvo Ocean Race – trophy

The actual “Volvo ocean race” control room for this year which starts soon here in Alicante

Previous trophies

The girls with the Spanish football team

The real football trophies…Not sure what ones but there was a big queue to have a photo with them…

Well done Livvy, you got Daddy’s dinner..

A”‘s following us everywhere..”

Over the next few days Howard and Joe work really hard to sort the throttle issue. The fuel filter is once again thick black so it’s time to clean out the tanks completely. We are still holding over 220 litres in them though so we need to get rid of it somewhere. Joe pumps most of it into charms tanks through a filter and we fill lots of jerry cans on deck too. The tanks get completely cleaned out, thick black gunk is found, the dreaded bug we feel even though we religiously add in marine 16 or fuel set each time we refuel. So we now have only 25 litres of fuel but a nice clean tank. Hopefully it will cure the issue.

We head to the marina to refuel, 505 litres later and a rather hefty bill and we have diesel pouring into the bilge from the tops of each inspection hatch. We try to tighten the screws but they won’t stop the flow. I run the length of the marina front looking for cup washers to replace the old ones which no longer stop the flow and am unable to fond any. I buy nylon washers and some stainless ones but they do not do the job either. The marina wants their fuel dock back in service so we move across to an empty pontoon as the occupants are out racing in the regatta. We make washers from the patches of hypalon we have for the dinghy and they look like they are holding. Just as well as the official is now here telling us the racing is finishing and the boats need their pontoon back. Boy, it’s pretty stressful this living the dream lark!.

We motor back to the anchorage and settle in for a movie night with charm and her crew  and a big thanks to joe for all his help with the issue.

We are also awaiting a part for the engine as the water coolant pump is leaking. It won’t be in for a few days but we can only stay here for 3 nights before you get moved on so well have to leave and come back again. Charm is on a timeframe to collect friends too so it will be a sad farewell to new made friends.

3 – 4 September -Cala covas Mahon.

My favourite place.

As we come in there is a large catamaran moored. As we start to drop anchor a chap appears at the front of the cat moaning that his chain is now under ours. Howard holds station whilst I jump into the dinghy and take the bathe scope for a look. For those of you wondering what a bathe scope is, it’s a large devise a bit like a periscope that you place over the side of your dinghy and you can look into the water without getting wet. It magnifies the bottom too so it’s great for what we use it for.  I locate his anchor and it’s a good pace away from our, we are not anywhere near it. He settles down and even gets into his dinghy to help me tie up. I manage quite ok on my own! It turns out he is the skipper and the owners were on board so he had to look like he was doing his job. We spend some nice relaxing days in here with Sofie 2 boats down. Sigi and Richard wee even given a taxi ride by Jessica and Olivia back to sofie after taking a stroll to the next Cala.

5 September -Mahon menorca

Back to collect our part. Throttle problem seems to be ok, fingers crossed. We restock on food and provisions as we shall be heading straight back to main land Spain from here.

6 -7 September – crossing to Valencia Spain.

We leave menorca at 08:30 and no sooner have we left the safety of the channel Olivia has a fish on her line. She has caught a 2 tone green fish. No idea what it is or if we can eat it. We use it as bait for bigger fish just in case, we don’t catch any!.

It’s a pretty uneventful day but at 10:30 we see a pod of dolphins. They are the biggest pod we have seen since entering the med, in fact the only real pod and they have absolutely no interest in us at all. At 17:00 the clouds look like we might be in for something so we recheck the weather again to see if we need to divert to Ibiza instead. We decide to head on, reef the genoa and will sail like this all night as it should stay the same. By 22:00 the genoa is away and the main is reefed due to the roll. Better motion now, watch start for Howard too.

My watch starts and it seems like all hell is breaking loose. I hate thunder storms, always have  and I have huge streaks of lightening crossing the sky as I look across the water. Although the beauty of them is awesome, the power of what they can do to us out here is terrifying. I try not to cry out loud as another crash of thunder shakes over head. Fork ligthning is now filling the night sky and shining up the huge tankers drifting on by. Great. At 05:00 there is another storm starting and you can see 2 distinct storms across the skyline, yippee……

Everyone awakes and the normalities of daily life continue. I go below and check the gauges, I note the water tank gauge now seems to be faulty. We had full tanks when we left Mahon, the gauge is now reading empty. I tell Howard we have yet something else to fix. I then go back into the aft cabin and note that the bed feels wet. Surely the girls haven’t had an accident? No they are both ok and would have said something. When I check the whole bed is soaked through, mattresses , duvets, sheets, pillows etc. I check the engine room and note water is everywhere. Our fresh water tanks have emptied themselves into our rear cabin. We have no idea where from but it’s happened and we now have no water. I turn off the fresh water pump and assume it can only have been from the rear shower. When we inspect, the ceiling is dripping wet, it’s run all through the clothes cupboards, across the wifi booster ( which was brand new ) and finished up in the towels cupboard. We have wet cash too- we peg it up on the spin drier – brings a whole new meaning to money laundering. Marvellous.

Our mattresses in the aft cabin are new. They are sprung loaded proper ones not sponge as is usual in a sail boat. I now have to try to dry them and get them out to dry. No mean feat. I heave one up the companion way steps and lash it to the rear of the deck hoping it will dry. It has a horrid stain on it from the water which is not very nice and rather annoying too. Next we have to figure out if we can hold water in the tanks without the same thing happening again. We decide to keep the pump off unless we need lots of water and just use the foot pump at the points of taps to get it out. So the water maker gets put on and we make as we go along. Just got to find out the source of the leak but whilst at sea it’s a little impossible.

Second mattress is up on deck along with anything else we can get up top to dry. Talk about looking like a gypsy camp, we look like we have the kitchen sink out here there is so much.

By 17:00 most things are drying to go below before they start to get damp again. We only have 18 miles to go. I notice that the engine has coughed a couple of times as we motor on, but with everything else that’s going on it will be just another thing to worry about.

20:30 we are entering the marina at Valencia. What do you know, the throttle issue rears it’s head. It’s the first time into a marina all season and now we have this problem rearing it’s head again.  I jump off and try to get a wrap on the bollard with a rope, the boat is 19 tons moving at 6 knots. She’s a big girl to stop. I can’t do it. I try the next one, can’t do that one either. I have one other to try before I run out of options. I run ahead and get 2 turns on her. Jessica throws a rope and lassos the front. Arctic is pulled up short and the nose immediately turns toward the pontoon. She’s going to hit. Olivia is there with a fender but just a tad too late. The starboard side hits but no damage to boat or pontoon. Thank goodness for the Kevlar. I am shaking, have burnt hands and am close to empty. What if I couldn’t stop her, I would have been off the boat and Howard would not have any help apart from the 2 girls. Thank goodness she got pulled up short and that we were in a relatively large space with no other boats to hit.

Joe from charm comes across to help again. Fuel filter changed and once more it’s black but not as bad as it has been. That’s all we can do for today. We all need food and a strong drink. I thought about making myself the figure head for arctic but decided that a squashed face covered in blood was probably not the best for her. The marina allow us to spend the night on the fuel pontoon before getting us to a berth the following morning. Joes picks us up in his dinghy and takes us to a restaurant within the marina complex. The marina is massive, exploring it will be fun once we have eaten and slept.

226 miles and what a way to end the run.

 

 

The last blog was getting long so created a new one…

 

Great new friends. What an amazing family on a similar adventure to ourselves. Thanks Joe for all your help and thank you all for becoming a part of our family.

 

 

Our crossing back to Menorca, seeing loads of flying fish. Finally got to photograph one….

Just before the night sail (above)..the sunrise below.. The trip had thunder and lightening, speeds up to 10.1 knots, dolphins, sea sickness and dirty fuel problems again. 2 reefs put in the main around midnight. But hey all part of the adventure. Thank you again to “Charm” staying with us through the night and then shooting off with speeds over 13 knots by wind alone…they have a great boat.

The Russian vessel “A” was with us in Cartagena, then she was in Olbia with us and now travels with us across to Menorca and is currently anchored in Mahon with us….I think she is trying to get Arctic’s attention. She is an amazing vessel especially when she is sailing nearby.

 

13- 16^th August – Porto Brandinghi – Sardinia

It’s our Jessica’s 9^th birthday today – amazing to think this is her 2^nd birthday whilst living afloat. Boy that year has passed in a flash. She is certainly moving quicker into adulthood than I would like but we can’t do anything to slow it down can we. Let’s hope she enjoys her special day.

So we head out of Olbia thank goodness, for a bay we haven’t been in before. And it looks like the world and his wife are all out too. This week Italy is on holiday – everything closes and it seems that everyone who owns a boat is out making use of it. Its manic!. There are boats absolutely everywhere, at all angles of the compass and many without any fore thought to the bow waves their ludicrously large motors make for us sailboats to contend with. Brandinghi opens before us as we drop down the coast, a large bay nestled in behind broken rocks at its entrance. Where to go? We decide to head for the left side of the bay and pick our spot. At the same time a German boat; who has just upped her anchor; moves towards the same side of the bay we are heading for. We slow to allow him across our nose as he was rather close quarters, for him to then just suddenly drop anchor whilst still moving forward at speed. He wanted the space we had chosen that badly he wasn’t prepared to wait sensibly for it. What a berk. The bay is big enough that aggression is not needed but I guess certain inbred racial characteristics are hard to overcome. We alter course and choose a different space and drop gently into 6 mtrs of pure clear water onto a sandy bottom. We settle down to enjoy the birthday celebrations. A full on day of playing in the water, eating favourite foods, baking a chocolate birthday cake and trying to make a 9^th birthday (devoid of friends and family) fun and memorable. Reminiscences of previous birthday parties are discussed – seems like she enjoyed her previous years passing’s and remembers them all as fun times.  At least we are doing something right. Let’s hope in years to come these birthdays will be remembered as fondly as the ones spent on land with classmates and family.

After being holed up in Olbia, Brandinghi is a breath of fresh air. Beautiful clear water and a long white sandy beach.  For the 1^st time since the start of the journey it feels like a holiday. We relax on the beach for a few days (well in between the peddlers passing every 10 minutes with their differing wares) and just breathe.

17 – 18 August – Isla Ruja – Sardinia

Heading south again and we drop into this bay for the night even though we have been in before. A swift row to the shore as the outboard still won’t work for the girls to run up and down the dunes before the sunsets and the mosi’s descend on us. Its peaceful and beautiful, a wonderful place and it’s not too crowded either.

18 – 19 August – Cala Golorize – Sardinia

A fabulous sailing day today. Not too much wind 6 -10 knts but we make decent progress. We tack to get a better angle for the cape and manage to make the long sweep on the 1^st tack. Woohoo….As we pass Cala Luna the wind picks up considerably – 22knts and building, time to reef in things as its getting hairy. Flying fish are darting across our nose as we fly along with them. We make much better progress as it gets later in the day and we decide to stop somewhere new. This isn’t really a bay, just a long coastline but it will provide us shelter for the night; we are however in 14mtrs of water over sand so need nearly all our chain out. The upshot is that it’s beautiful. The rock faces are full of crevices and interesting shapes eroded by the sea into bridges and other shapes. Lovely and calm and quiet – well until about 09:00 the following morning when the tourist boats descend making cala Luna look like it was deserted – time to leave!.

19 – 20 August – Porto Frailis – Sardinia

High winds are forecast so we drop into a spot we know will provide shelter and a good night’s sleep as long as we have a rear anchor out too. Once the smaller boats leave we can set the rear and know we shall be ok for a decent night rest. Restock of food and beverages – Howard does the honours as I injured myself whilst trying to raise Big Blue today. My hand got trapped between the winch and the rope as she filled with wind and I have rather battered and bruised fingers and wrist. At least the Arnica gel is coming in handy, it really helps the bruising to come out.

The girls take it in turns to row the dinghy to the shore to collect Howard and it’s quite a distance to get there. They are fabulous. On one trip Jessica misjudged the angle and ended up getting into the swim area by mistake, I could see the look of disbelief in her face when she realised. Getting the boat back over the ropes and floats proved harder than she thought and took 2 attempts to traverse but she managed. Our engine issue is still proving a pain and more urgent to get it fixed – if only we could figure out what the problem is.

21 – 26 August – Capo Carbonara ( Villasimius) – Sardinia

The winds have gone and so we make our way down towards Cagliari. We have 13 – 16 knots of wind on the rear and a sea that’s the worst we have had all trip. We have a 4 metre swell which lifts us up and surfs us forward. At times it feels like we are literally being thrown forward like a paper plane. The rolling movement is pretty big but no one has succumbed to the motion – yet. We must finally have our sea legs. The sea state does not subside until 16:00 and we still have another 3 hours travelling to do.

We head on into the nature reserve where speed is limited to 10 knots and admire the fact that Italians don’t seem to care about that. We enter a shallow area (10 m) between rocks and are amazed at the stunning scenery. Some lovley bays are dotted along this part of the coastline which are not in the pilot books. We carry on to Capo Carbonara near Villasimius though as we need to be in a big bay should the engine decide to play up again. Famous last words……this time as we drop into the bay, having motored for the last 1.5 hrs, the silly thing won’t give revs in forward or reverse this time – it’s never done that before. We can always get reverse if we don’t get forward but not this time. Luckily we just drop the anchor quickly, hoping that to the layman nothing is wrong with the boat. This issue is now not funny. We have spoken to so many people about it but we cannot get an answer on exactly what the issue is. Some say the propeller not working as it should, others say the clutch / gearbox needs replacing and another the fuel pump may be sticking. All we know is that we need to rely on it working correctly in an emergency situation and it’s not. So we have to wait to find an engineer who can look at it and hopefully diagnose the problem correctly. I’m not holding out much hope of that happening – I just know that it’s going to be a big cost and a long wait.

Now I can hear you all saying how sorry you feel for us – stuck in a hot place with lovely water and a beach. Great if you’re on holiday staying in a hotel that provides all your entertainment and food; not so when its miles to row (outboard still won’t start) and the shops are miles away too. Sometimes I just wish that the problems only come in ones but we always get piles at once. Oh well, chin up and all that. Think positive thoughts and positive things will happen. I so hope so…….

On a much lighter note, the girls have been in for their morning swim today and have caught 4 small fish by hand. We have them in a pot in the cockpit swimming around like they are in a tank. That puts dad’s efforts to shame – he still hasn’t caught anything at all.

Well we have had a reply from the engineer. He wants €350 just to come and quote for the work, that’s not to actually do anything. What a  rip off.

We dinghy into the marina (under oars) and pass a 55’ catamaran flying an American flag. They also have the same swings hanging at their mast as the one the girls have. We decide to go over and say Hi. They have 3 children – Cobin (10), Marin (6) and Tully (3) who inform us they are sailing around the world. They become very good friends. Joe is a very quiet person who is deep in thought and  working hard on cleaning the bottom of the boat. Jobs never stop…Howard and he discuss the issue and Joe thinks it’s the fuel. He and Howard check the filters and they are as black as your hat. So we change them and hope.

27 -28 august – Porto d agumu Sardinia

 

Heading to this bay we have anchored in before and due to re connect with charm and her crew.   Hopefully the throttle will behave once we arrive. No wind to use so motor on but at least it’s using fuel up!

 

Had a close ish call with 2 tankers  bearing down on us from the ports to our starboard. Had to evaluate collision points and take action to avoid both even though they were moving swiftly and in opposing directions with us in the middle.

 

Anchored in 4.7 mtrs over sand and rocky bottom. Charm is an hour behind us as they left Cagliari to head this way so should be here soon.

 

Spent a nice day getting provisions, although the walk nearly cripple me as I did it twice in quick succession and in this heat 20km is pushing it a bit!.

 

29 august -calasetta sardinia

 

Today we did a crew swap with charm. We have cobin on our boat and they in return have Olivia. Will be fun to see how it works out for all concerned. Seems odd to see liv across the water playing on a different boat.

 

Jessie and cobin are below after helping with the anchor lift and hoisting the main. They stay there for the rest of the trip doing maths puzzles, spelling games and then ipad time. Lots of laughing drifts up which is pleasant to hear.

 

Wind is on the nose so motor sailing with the main up to help with the rolling motion. Livvy is having a ball swinging around on charm and bouncing on the trampoline net at the front of the cat. Not sure she’ll enjoy the mundane teak deck now she has experienced the cats trampoline……

 

45 mile trip and we average 7 knots, not bad as we drop into the mud of calasetta. Tomorrow we shall finally leave Sardinia. We had not intended to stay so long. After the initial impressions of not really liking the place, it’s grown on me. There are some beautiful spots you just have to know were to look to find them. I shall miss the place but not the problems we have encountered with the boat whilst going here. Let’s hope our luck has changed.

 

30 – 31 august crossing to Mahon menorca.

 

We ready to leave and motor away from Sardinia at 11:30 am. As usual wind is on the nose, feels just like back home going on a bcc cruise. At 14:05 we see flying fish. They are rather small but boy can they travel some distance. The sea is flat calm though so you can pick them out as soon as they leave the safety of the water, still haven’t caught one though.

 

Sea is now building as we finish dinner, typical that it’s doing this just as we want to try to settle for a decent nights sleep. I know the girls will sleep no matter what the sea is doing, I just wish I could be the same but I won’t rest properly. By 21:00 it’s as dark as pitch and we are still motoring with the main up. There is slight cloud cover and a half moon is rising. Girls are now in our bed at the rear and I make up a snack pack for Howard’s watch. 22:00, Howard’s watch begins and I drop below to try to get some sleep. However as predicted I don’t manage to drop off completely. I hear the Main sail banging as the battens flick from left to right as the head wind continues making it untenable to sleep when right below it. I pop my head up the companion way and tell Howard we will put in a reef to the main to see if it helps with the noise. So at 01:00 I’m up at the mast, hooked on, reefing down to see if it helps.

02:00 it’s my turn for watch. Bit tired but the stars soon have you thinking how wonderful it is to be outside in leggings and a t shirt whilst sailing at this hour. I send the genoa out reefed as the wind finally moves to a position to use it and we carry on pounding.

 

By 08:00 we have shaken out one reef from the main as the wind helps us along. Sailing yacht A seems to be stalking us, it’s right off our starboard side. We radio charm and sing happy birthday to joe hoping that it’s a nice surprise.

 

12:20, poor Olivia has succumbed to the horrid motion and is not feeling her best. The throttle issue is still being a pain and to top it all we are now trying to run from an electrical storm too. Managed to dodge the storm but it came pretty close. I found the radar invaluable during this time. You could watch the bad patches really easily. We clock 4000 miles at 14:30 in position 39degrees 49′.407N 004 deg 32′.573E.

 

We try to turn the engine back on as we approach Mahon and what do you think happens, the engine starts but the throttle once again plays up. We cannot get any forward motion with it. Great. There is a large regatta going on as we approach and they are all heading for the channel into Mahon. We call charm who went ahead of us and joe says he’ll come out in the dinghy if we need him too or at least be on hand to help if we need him. It’s really unnerving knowing you are entering a smallish place with the potential of an issue. However, We enter the anchoring area and drop it rather swiftly as the engine throttle once again refused to work when needed. Thank good ness the anchorage is not too crowded. Guess we’ll be working on this blinking problem again tomorrow. For now, it’s party time over on charm to celebrate Joes birthday. We have a great time and meet other new people with children also from the USA. Hazel, Leo, Jenna and Jamie are all on Sofie, another cat. They have guests with them too- sigi and Richard who are from Germany. We all have a good night but I make our excuses as we are dog tired, I think charm are too.

I Have also had to change log books as I finished the one we started off with. I am so used to the format and layout of the old book that this new one is not becoming my best friend. I will need to hunt out another Weymouth log book when I can because it’s so easy to use and it’s a part of my daily life too. You know how it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks…..

 

198 miles undertaken in 28.5 hours.