TIME FLIES WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN !!

I am sitting in McCafe on the top floor of Athens airport, writing this! Nigel, on a boat opposite us, very kindly drove us to Agios Nikolaos bus station at about 4.45 yesterday afternoon. We then got the bus to Iraklion for the ferry. We actually arrived there quite early (gasps!) (classic RATS timing as good friends know!) Great ANEK ferry, very smart. Found our seats and headed to the self service. We had a good trip except that the TV’s were on really loud all night. Arrived in Piraeus Port (Athens). While we were getting our suitcases from the store, a guy came up to us and told us about a bus that you can get straight from Piraeus to the airport. He carried two big suitcases all the way to it and told us which one to get etc. It’s a very good idea because otherwise you end up paying loads of money for a taxi! And that is how I am now sat in a McCafe in Athens airport !!! lol

This is now the end of our trip, because we are coming back to England, which is how some people would see it. But not me. I see it as a gap, and there are many more adventures to come! I reckon our next adventure will be in Crete, but who knows ???!!! I think I might make another website – call it www.ratsoncrete.gr !!! – what do you think ?? !!

Thankyou everyone who has been looking at our website, hope you enjoyed all of the blog posts and pictures! :)

x x x x x x x x amber x x x x x x x x x x

 

THE LAST SUPPER !!

Have been packing like crazy and we also had to go out of the harbour to empty our tanks + other bits. Whilst we were doing that, we got a phonecall from the airline saying that they have cancelled our flight and put us on another one from Athens to Frankfurt to Birmingham! But luckily it doesn't change our ferry tickets! I have just packed my suitcase for England and I have realised that it is over the weight limit. Now, which 1 of my million garments of clothing will I discard ??ahahaha ?? lol

I don't knowwwwww !  :( 

We have met a lovely Swiss family on a catamaran opposite us. They invited us onboard their boat, so spacious !!! We met EVERYONE, George, Nadia (his wife), Alize (daughter),Xavier(boyfriend) and Jeremie(friend) !!!! Whilst we were onboard, Alize sang one of her songs from her CD. She was amazing! Her songs were captivating! We bought her CD called Aliose. Her website is www.aliose.ch.

We are just about to have the Last Supper of pork kepabs and rice !

CRETE !!!!!!!!!

Arrived at about 7pm and tied up alongside the quay after a very rough and windy sail. Very wet too! Leaving now as I am writing this to head for Agios Nicolas to see Nick and Ann marie! Arrived in lots of wind to Agios Nicoloas marina. Good facilities there so it is an option to leave the boat there. Nick and Annmarie came down at about 8 to the boat! Great to see them again ! ! !  ! Showed them around the boat and then went out for supper on the harbour. They have spent the last 2 days with us. Took them to a little cove near Spinnalonga. Fab water and shore. Felt like a mini holiday with them! They then drove us down to their house at the other end of the island near Hania. Gorgeous house! The beach is just 5 mins down the road and the nearest town is Kalyves, very sweet. I stayed on the most comfy sofa EVER! The have a little kitten that they rescued called Jacko! He is very nervous though. Annmarie had to go to Scandinavia to work :( but we will see her again at the weekend back at the boat hopefully. We borrowed Nick's jeep to search around for any marinas at this end of Crete in Rithymno and Souda but we didn't find anything suitable for leaving Carina. On the way back up from Souda, about 2 miles down the road from their house the engine stopped on the busy main road. Pulled right over and made a very embarassing phone call to Nick asking him to rescue us. He towed us back to his office! Mega mega embarassing ! We had a very nice barbecue at the house and watched SuperNanny on the T.V ! Jacko sat on Nicks lap for ages ! Off to Chania for a look tomorrow with Nick.

Chania was lovely, especially the old part and harbour. Spent the afternoon there and then we caught the bus back to their house. Had a great barbecue with Nicks homemade chips!

Caught the early bus over to Heraklion. Really sad to say goodbye to Nick but hopefully they will come down before we leave! Stayed about an hour in Heraklion and caught the next bus to Agios Nikolaos. We are now winding down and packing up the boat :( Looking forward to seeing everyone though !

 

 

KASOS

Rough sail to Kasos, tied up alongside a quay 5 minutes walk from the town where it was more sheltered from the Meltemi than the town harbour. A Greek man, Alexanros, helped us, then his wife, Marilena, and daughter, Sofia 6, came down to say hello. We went to the concert in the town where Mario Frangoulis, a local man, was singing opera. Fantastic singer! Met Alex and co there and they invited us for lunch the next day. I met their other daughter, Eleni, 11, the next day when Marilena took us for a whistle stop tour around Kasos! Had a lovely lunch at the restaurant by the boat. Did some snorkel boarding too! The next evening was Cuban music! Met lots of Eleni’s friends. :) Love it here in Kasos, everybody knows everybody! There were 18,000 people here and then the Turks came and destroyed parts of it and now there are only 700! Had a Greek night last night, great fun, I went up to the souvlaki place where all the girls were and we played black murder! Sad to say goodbye to everyone:( But we will return one day :L !

 

KARPATHOS

Had another fast but rough sail from Lindos. Tied up to the very windy quay at about 6pm. Went into the town to walk around. There was also a gorgeous Schooner with a very complicated name, on the quay- beautiful! Very touristy place, but all of them are Italians! Dad said, after walking past endless shops and bars ‘I’m so bored!!’ Mum and Dad were repairing a small rip in the main so we ended up staying 2 days!

 

LINDOS (Rhodes)

Had a very windy sail – 8.5 knots for four hours straight! Anchored in Lindos. Gorgeous place, tiny little streets with white wash walls and patterned cobbles! Filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. Met a couple on their honeymoon, she was a teacher and the husband was a training pilot. We talked with them for ages and meanwhile a kitten sat on my lap the whole time! 

 

FETHIYE

A very roly sail to Fethiye, and no wind so we were slogging it out for ages! Anchored in a bay just off the town, and took the dinghy with the big outboard in. Had Turkish fish and chips on a sinking barge!  Walked along the front and saw the statue of Fethi Bey, an army pilot who the town was named after. We also found the old amphitheatre. The old Paspator was gorgeous with the vines hanging over it all. The big market was just how I remember it! Crazy and fun! Mum and Tom went riding to Kaya Koy, the deserted town. Took one whole day just checking out of Turkey!

 

OLÜ DENIZ

Left at 6 in the morning form Kalkan and stopped in Olü Deniz by the gorgeous rocks and clear water! Went ashore to the famous beach for a few hours and watched the paragliding. Spotted ANOTHER big turtle by our boat again! We came to Olü Deniz when I was about 6 years old from the Asfiya Hotel! I didn’t remember it though! Peeped into St Nicholas bay and stayed there for the day, jumping off rocks and swimming!

 

KALKAN AGAIN- just can’t keep away from here !

Left for Kalkan the next day and anchored just off the town beach. Went for supper at our favourite Fener Cafe! Then to Erjan's for a drink. Moved into the harbour at 2 o’clock as we were rolling too much and the wind was picking up and up. The next day, we went to the town beach and I was playing with a little puppy when who turned up...? Andrew, Helen Bridget and Caroline! We had met them in Kalkan 2 years ago and we have been on boat trips with them before. It was great to see them again! We arranged to meet them that night. We also met an English girl called Lily, by the cold water springs, and we chatted and swam with her for ages! She came down to have a look at the boat too! The Townsends came down to the boat at about 8 and Bridget and Caroline were teaching us card tricks and games for ages! Really good fun!  

 

KAŞ

 Sailed over to Kaş the day after saying goodbye to the Cousins. Tied up on a quay by the gulets and other yachts. The harbour was quite like Kalkan but twice the size. Spent the first morning sorting out all of the entering Turkey documents! Visited Smileys for a drink, where we always used to go when we went to Kaş! Met some lovely people on a boat called Time Out. We took photographs of them landing after they had been Paragliding! Walked around the town, remembering bits of it from our holidays. Tried to up anchor from the quay and found that we had anchored right on the huge chain that held the lazy-lines to some of the berths! Took us two men and an hour to get it off! Anchored in a bay just across from Kaş. While we were swimming, Mum spotted a big turtle about 10 m  away from where I was swimming! We tried to catch up with it with the RIB but it swam away quite quickly :(

 

KALKAN !!!

After about 23 hours of tide against us, no wind, then the tide with us, but still no wind, we arrived in Yali Bay. I did a two hour nightwatch by myself with Mum sleeping up in the cockpit too! It was really weird arriving in Kalkan from the sea. We suddenly realised that we didn’t even have a courtesy flag, as well as not having our Turkish Visa, so Mum and I set about making one. We found some cheap red material in a locker and then cut out a moon and star from white paper, then stuck it all together with sticky back plastic and staples!!!!!!!!!!!! It probably looked normal from about a mile away ! Walked to the Fener Cafe, one of our favourites. Guess who turned up at the boat at 7 ... Rosie followed by Jack and Henry! I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t even realise they were in Turkey! I 

bet you can’t guess who was next; Oonagh, Nattie, Freddie, Isi and Tony! So great to see them all again! Went out to supper to the Merkez, great fun! The next day everyone, including Birdie, Jack and Jeremy, Debbie, Felicity and Henry, all went out on a gulet called Pina-x. Carina followed behind. Fantastic day out, lots of swimming, diving and more swimming! Spent a day by the pool the next day. Chilling. We went with the Cousins to Ozydana where we had delicious Pede bread. Very late back though! There was a funny waiter who called himself Tom Cruise! The next day, I bought a ring from Just Silver with Oonagh and Nattie.  Mum and Isi went to Kas with Orhan to sort out some Power of Attorney things, while the Rileys and Cousins came with us to the Kalamar Beach Club. Great day! Met Rosie, Jack, Henry, Debbie, Felicity and Henry in Merkez. We then went to the Yali Bar for a drink until Debbie + co left for the airport. We then went for supper at Kalamaki with Rosie and boys. Very yummy food. Played backgammon with Memik the Metal Man afterwards too! Said goodbye to Rosie at the taxi rank :( Everybody leaving. The next day the Cousins came down to Indigo beach club for a swim and then we did some snorkel boarding! Very sad to say goodbye to them as well :( see you again soon everybody! Omer came down to the boat in the evening. We have also seen Erjan and his wife and boys in their new cafe!

 

TILOS

Good sail to Tilos, not too choppy. When we were just coming around the point to go into the bay, a huge blast of hot wind hit us. It was incredible, it was like walking into a sauna, except it was blowing 30 knots or so! Anchored in the bay and went swimming and snorkel boarding! Pure sand bottom and crystal clear water, the nicest bay yet! Went ashore in the dinghy and had a drink at the only place you can have a drink! Didn’t go up to the Chora as it looked quite a long way for that night. Mum and Dad walked up the next morning, very sweet they said. Went for a swim when they got back. Mum asked me whether this bay was all worth the hard, rough sailing in the winter, and I said “Well, it wasn’t that hard for me,” laughing, “I slept most of the way!”  Now starting our long hop to Kalkan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to get there to see the Cousins family and the place! 

VATHI

Tied up alongside a tiny concrete quay, only room for one boat! Right next to a taverna, about the only thing on that side of the island I think! Had a really good supper at the taverna, socialised with the fishermen and Greek people. Finally not rolling for the first time in about 5 days!

 

KOUFONISSI

Very sweet town and gorgeous water and sand! Still rolling at anchor though :( Windy sail to Vathi. Did nothing but sleep the whole way!

 

PAROS – PAROIKIA TOWN

Anchored to the quay – very full on the inside so we were stuck on the choppy, swell side. Fierce Meltemi coming through  the Cyclades islands. Non-stop wind and swell for the time we were there. Very pretty town though. Tom finally got a haircut!!! Went into the Church of 100 doors. Glad to leave for Koufonissi.

 

LIVADHI

Arrived in Livadhi, on the island of Serifos, because it was too rough out. Extremely windy and choppy. Didn’t even go ashore because of the anchor. Livadhi also had a Chora higher up(old town).  

 

KINTHOS

Very windy in the bay. Kinthos is an island which is joined by a tiny spit of sand to an even smaller island. On the small island, Ay Loukas, we walked up to the 1777 AD church on the top, the only thing there except for a few goats!

 

ATHENS – THE ACROPOLIS

We caught the 7.30 Hydrofoil, the Flying Dolphin 15, to Piraeus. The port is HUGE, the biggest I have seen in the Med, loads of ships coming and going. It was going to cost €20 to get to the Acropolis by taxi, so we flagged one down on the road about 10mins further on, and it was only €9 !! The taxi took us straight to the Acropolis and all we had to do was walk a tiny bit further to the entrance. Mum and Dad were only €12 each, and by using the “I’m 12 years old” trick for me, Tom and I were free! First you walk through the Propylaia, the entrance to the Acropolis. Then past the Temple of Athena Nike, the west side of the entrance. The Parthenon was incredible – the size of it was unbelievable! “Mrs Cronshaw, if you want proper Greek History, take Year 3 on a field trip to the Acropolis!” We also saw the Porch of the Caryatids, where there are the statues of the ladies, similar to the ones in Montpellier near Mum’s workshop. Had a really great lunch just outside the Acropolis, after walking through the Agora, we didn’t have the energy to go in the massive museum! Walked around for a bit, I bought a hat, Mum bought a dress and we bought Dad some really nice worry beads. All the men in Greece carry them. Saw the Tower of Winds and the Turkish mosque. Very hot and tired, so we caught the hydrofoil back to Aigina. Got front seats at the very bow!  

 

AIGINA TOWN

Went to the Ruins of Apollo’s Temple and also the museum, very well done and laid out but so hot! The Danish people form Perla came onboard and told us about why they say Sköl as cheers. The Danish Vikings used to cut off the heads of their victims and then fill the skull with their drink ! Hence the saying Sköl, when about to drink! Eeewwwwwwwwww ! Your HORRIBLE history fact for today !!!!  

 

15.07.09 - LIFT OUT !!!

After spending the night in a bay on the island of Aigina, I woke up to lots of shouting and confusion! I didn’t realise at first, but we had arrived at the travel hoist boatyard on the island. Still in my pj’s and barely awake, we put out fenders and lines and with lots of help and confusion plus shouting, we managed to get in the slot to be lifted out. We had actually gone aground pretty much as soon as we got into the slot! Very scary when they were putting on the slings and lifting but I kept looking at all the boats in the yard and thinking ‘They’ve done this a thousand times before!’ They  were really nice old boys and they laughed when they saw Dad biting his fingers, a bit nervous about the slings !! They left us in the slings for the moment until they knew how long we were staying. We all had jobs cleaning the hull while Dad fixed the generator and bow thruster! Fixed everything in two days. Back in the water again and off to the town.     

 

13.07.09 – CORINTH CANAL !

Left Galaxidhiou at about 6.30 in the morning headed for the Corinth Canal. Did lots of washing and jobs on the way. We also saw some dolphins for the first time in ages, but unfortunately they didn’t stay for long. : ( 

As we neared the Canal, we called the Corinth Patrol on the VHF. They told us to wait for about half-an hour outside the entrance. They gave us instructions to follow the big cargo ship through the canal. We went two boats behind it in the end, so we could see the canal better! The Corinth is about 23 m wide most of the way so it was very exciting!! At 6km long, it took us and hour and a half or so to get through. Once at the end of the canal, we tied up to a quay and paid the €200 for passing through. Now we are just trying to decide where to sail to!

Spent the night in a roly anchorage and considered moving but we decided that the wind would die down eventually.

 

12.07.09 – DELPHI

... Found the best way of getting to Delphi, supposedly! Woke up to catch the 9.45 bus but it didn’t arrive until 10.15! Took that bus to Itea and then connected with another bus to Delphi that was also half and hour late! Finally arrived at the Delphi Museum. Decided to go in there first. The museum was brilliant and gave us loads of info for when we went out to the archaeological site. First we walked up and around the houses and The Temple of Apollo. That was amazing, the sheer size of the columns. Also the Stadium where they used to have competitions. The most famous temples and buildings were on the VERY steep Sacred Way, that used to be lined with over 3,000 statues. Delphi is nowhere near as big as Pompeii and a bit smaller than Herculaneum. It is also very spread out which made it very hard to run from one end of the site to the other to catch the 3.45 bus that actually never came! 1 hour later... we are still waiting with some American, Danish and French people on the steps. We decided to do what the Danish were doing and walk back to modern Delphi town and see if we could catch a bus there ... no such luck! Ended up waiting another hour for a bus at 6.15 that didn’t exist to anyone but the man in the cafe next door! FINALLY we took at taxi down to Itea to catch a bus from there. Finished back in Galaxidhiou after getting ANOTHER taxi from Itea. I am definitely ready to go to sleep now !!! ‘Interesting’ day though! Turns out that Greek buses aren’t anymore sussed than Italian ones! But why is it that all of the Greek people know when a bus is going to come however many hours late ???!!!!! :L

 

GALAXADHIOU

Sailed from Trizonia to Galaxy! Managed to anchor stern to the quay without the bowthruster. Went for a walk in the morning, very hot but now it is blowing a hooley! Trying to work out the best way to get to Delphi...

RION BRIDGE

Sailed under the Rion Bridge, the biggest in the world of its kind !! Tied up in the tiny harbour of Navpaktos! Looked around and Mum walked up to the castle in the morning. Sailed, and really sailed to Trizonia and anchored in the bay. Went ashore and walked up the hill, came back and found a note in the dinghy from Steph and Andy who we met in La Coruna a year ago!!! Went onboard for a drink and talked for ages. Also our bow thruster is broken, maybe terminally - ahhhh! We can't live without it !!!

 

PROSPERO

Motored through the Levkas channel. It was very nerve racking because the channel was only 5-5 m wide and when we went through, there was a big clonk and Mum nearly had a fit because she thought we had hit the bridge! Headed across to Spartakhori where we spotted Prospero moored against the wall! Had a great time swimming from the boat and the beach, suppering at the Taverna! Really great to meet up with them again. Have anchored in Nidri to get our sails repaired but we will be meeting up again!

We have been to various islands and Vathi with Prospero. Loads of fun, been swimming and diving .... We had to unfortunatley split ways in Vathi, but got one extra day with them because Clemmy got stung three times by a bee and India hurt her ears jumping in! Sad saying goodbye, but we will see them again !

 

MONGONISI

Anchored here and tied to the shore, very embarrassing! Had a big argument while tying to a tree, because the lines weren’t long enough! In the evening we went to the only Taverna in the cove and watched some Greek dancing, very unusual!

 

LAKA, Paxos

Arrived in Laka to find the most gorgeous bay I have ever seen! Bright, turquoise water and green trees all around it. A few boats anchored too. A little harbour off a tiny village of tavernas. Went ashore the following day and walked around the village. The people were very friendly and welcoming. I like Greece so far .... Motored through Gaios harbour and Tom and I went ashore in the tender to get ice creams while Mum and Dad drifted around in Carina!

 

IT GROWS ON YOU ...

We have been in Corfu for about 13 days now, filming with K,L+M, fitting 4 new batteries and sailing with KLM too! Kris actually stayed onboard one night and we had the foil food packs from Dad’s Round Britain Race. Kris’ idea!!! We also took KLM to Vidos, a small island off Corfu, anchored, swam and walked! Sad to say goodbye to them, great fun being with them!

 

GREECE

Left Taormina, and sailed towards Corfu, but all the wind went and then Dad realised that we were running out of fuel so we had to preserve ithe bit left. So we floated in the middle of the sea, between Greece and Sicily for the day. Only moving 0.6 knots so we had a swim in 7657 m of depth !!!! Reached Corfu and met Peter and Joyce from Cefalu again. Went on board their boat twice for drinks and supper. Great seeing them again !!! The marina has a swimming pool that we have been to loads !!! Luxury! We have met a family, Louis, Maria and Kris, who live in their caravan just outside the marina. They have a puppy, Konto Kali, who they rescued off the side of the road. Black labby !! They took us into the market of Corfu town, to get the veggies and fish for the barbecue we were planning. Then they took us into the town which was really sweet. Much nicer and spread out than I thought. Chris is really interested in filming and making documentaries, so as a bit of practice, for the last couple of days, apart from sorting out the batteries, we have been filmstars of our own story! Kris is making a documentary about every aspect of our trip - Brilliant !! We will hopefully have the end result sent to England ready for watching when we get back !!!!

 

7.06.09 – ETNA

Caught the 7.30 bus with SAT from Naxos. (Moved there last night as it was roly where we were.) First we stopped at Gola Alcantara. The Gorge with running water from Etna. Very pretty and similar to Saklikent Gorge in Turkey. Stopped there for about and hour. Lots of people, including Dad, went down to the bottom of the gorge. Carried on to a town called Randazzo. They were really living in the shadow of the volcano there! Looked around for about an hour at churches made out of basalt and just generally walked around the town. Alfredo, our guide, had to speak in three languages straight after one another !! He was really funny! We started driving up Etna. We went through forests and lava rocks that had destroyed huts in the forests. Drove into a car park/ cafe/ souvenir shops/ restaurant area. We were told to have lunch and then catch a particular ‘jeep’. They were actually like big mini buses with gigantic wheels. They stopped with us to look at an extinct crater and then to the highest point that you can go to. When we reached the 2800m limit, we were looking across snow and a huge crater. The guide told us (in French) that the smoking over the other side of the crater that we could see, was from the last eruption in 2008, still going! It smelt of sulphur up there and everyone was coughing and spluttering. But that could have been the altitude and dust as well. What was amazing about Etna was the sheer scale of it, whereas with Stromboli, it was the action! We had an incredible day, I must be a volcano expert by now !!!!!

 

6.06.09 – TAORMINA

Walked up to Taormina. It was much nicer this time as the sun was shining. Very sweet town and people. We actually stayed there all day waiting to find out about trips to Etna. Finally found a good company to go with. Still quite expensive though. The Public Gardens were very pretty.

 

5.06.09 – LUXURY

Arrived in a bay just below Taormina. Met George, and he showed us to a Yacht Hotel buoy. George set up a business where yachts can go on to a buoy and pay to be taken ashore in a water taxi, have bread taken to them in the morning, trips up Etna arranged and various other things, all from this one buoy. The water there was incredible too, AND the Yacht Hotel is just a short walk from Taormina. If you are ever thinking of sailing on that coast, we definitely recommend the Yacht Hotel. It is between Giardini Naxos and Lido. George took us over to Hotel Capo Taormina for a buffet lunch and swim! RELAXATION!

 

HAIRY BIKER (Dad)!

Decided rent a quad bike and a scooter from Paolo. Went right the way around Vulcano and to the famous black beach. Stopped there and we rented a canoe. The beach was absolutely scorching because the sand was pitch black! Tom and I also got to drive the quad bike loads. Dad rode this tiny little scooter that was rubbish! Mum rode the quad bike and Tom and I took it in turns. I am actually old enough to drive it on the road here if I just got a mini license. Really fun day. 

 

3.06.09 – VULCANO

Sailed to Vulcano from Palermo. It got very rough and so, without me knowing, Mum and Dad anchored in a bay called Porto Cello until morning. Extremely windy, passing through Lipari and Vulcano. Found an anchorage in Porto Levante. Rowed across in the dinghy the next morning to the town. Very unhelpful people, so we decided to beach the dinghy instead of going on a pontoon. Started walking on a track gradually sloping upwards. Much, much easier than Stromboli so far. We walked on black sand for about 200m upwards. Then, just like that, the ground changed to a beige – orangey colour. Climbed that for another 200m. Reached the ridge that ran around the top of the crater. We walked all the way around that. As we went back down the other side of the ridge, smoke started appearing. Loads of different colours of rock. Green, pink, black, orange, yellow and red! Descended towards the sulphur holes and smoke! Had to hold t-shirts over our mouths so we didn’t breathe in the sulphur, except we did a bit and it really got you coughing and your eyes watering. Slipped back down, just like in Stromboli but not in the dark. Amazing but totally different to last time.

 

29.05.09 - PALERMO

Arrived in Palermo and berthed but were then told that we couldn't stay so we berthed somehwere else! Pretty much in the centre of city where the marina is. Very handy. Walked around the Garibaldi Gardens. Palermo is very dirty and rough as though it is still recovering from war damage. This dog followed us all the way back to the boat after waiting for us outside a cafe for a couple of hours for us! Looked aorund the city and the market in the daylight the next day and then again in the evening. Although it is like there has just been a war there, everyone was extremely friendly. Mum and I went shopping for bikinis, came back with nothing. Looked in the Cathedral, very grand like most others! Finally got internet to work!

Don't know where we are going next ...

27.05.09 - SCOPELLO

Anchored in Scopello and took the dinghy ashore. We realised we were anchored outside an extremely old Tonnery(tuna) canning place. Walked to the nature reserve and found a beach and ate our picnic. Went through the town of Scopello and stopped for a granite. Very old town but sweet.

26.05.09 - PROPER COWBOY STYLE!

We have stayed an extra day in San Vito because Bianca, who took Mum and Tom riding, came down to the boat and invited us to go to her house to see her horses. So at 6.30 pm she picked us up from the square and took us into the countryside. We drove into a small, rubble shack and there were all 6 of her horses in a rope pen! Bianca and her boyfriend sleep in the caravan as they are slowly refurbishing the house to live in later. We had absolutely no idea what they were planning for us so we just went along with it! It actually turned out Mum and Tom were riding with Paolo and Caspare up a mountain. We followed them in the truck, 4 wheel drive up the rocky mountain after them. We went to a very Italian butchers and bought loads of meat. Then back to their ranch/house. Loads of people turned up and we grilled all of the meat on the bonfire. It was all very rustic! We stayed there until 12 at night. So fun. Tom didn't want to leave!  

 

KITE FEST IN SAN VITO

Found out that there is actually going to be and international kite festival in San Vito on the beach for the next week! More than 40 huge kites being flown and shown! We also met Ray Bethell and his wife Dolores. He is the world's greatest stunt kite flyer and guess what, he 82 years old and flying 3 kites at once! An inspiration to meet him and Dolores or what! Unfortunately Ray is completely deaf but can lip read so well, you couldn't tell at all. We were talking with Dolores and we said that it is probably and advantage to him because he can concentrate totally on flying the kites and block out the noise around him. Good luck with all of your kite flying, Ray. Really nice to meet them, really sweet and friendly people. Granny and Grandpa left at about 11 for Trapani airport, very very sad to say goodbye and I am missing them already. We had such a great time with them! I love it here in San Vito and I would stay here any day!

 

21.05.09 - ERICE

Took both of our hire cars into Trapani and caught a very long cable car up to Erice. It is a medieval town on the top of a very steep mountain. The town is now touristy but parts are still unspoilt. Had lunch in a restaurant and left Grandpa behind in the Cathedral while the rest of us walked up to the Castle and forts on the top. Very old with incredible views from the top. Took the cable car back down and left Mum and Dad in Trapani to look for oil for Carina while G+G took Tom and I to the beach for a swim.

 

19.05.09 - San Vito Lo Capo

I stayed in the hotel again because I wanted to go in the car with G+G. We drove through Palermo where the roads were absolutely chocablock with traffic. We didn't get to the cathedral in Monte Real because we missed the turning. We got to Balestrate and had lunch on the beach, looking out for Carina the whole time. We arrived in S.V.L.C (San Vito Lo Capo) and got directions for the hotel. Hotel Riviera inside is lovely except they haven't got a room with a sea view. San Vito Lo Capo is a very long town along the side of a huge and immaculate, sandy beach. Met Mum, Dad and Tom on the boat for a drink. We had a day chilling out on the beach. Grandpa went swimming and ran himself aground on a shallow patch and we sent the RATS Rescue Team to save him!!  

 

18.05.09 - MUMS BIRTHDAY

We decided that we were going to celebrate Mum's birthday a day early so we didn't mess up Granny and Grandpa's hotel pre paid plans. So we celeb'd it today! We went up to La Calette for the morning and had a complete chill out by the pool plus lunch. Mum opened her pressies. I had also been busy the night before making Mum's cake, Grandpa had bought very funny decorations for it !! Very nice to be able to relax for a day after rushing to Sicily in time to meet them. We suppered at a very nice restaurant on stilts across the rocks into the sea. Great day.

 

16.05.09 - CEFALU WITH G+G

I actually went in the car with G+G instead of on the boat. Mum, Tom and Dad sailed on to Cefalu while we did a detour in the car. Through the mountains to Taormina, a very sweet little place but crammed with tourists. We went into the amphitheatre. I was too young to pay and Granny and Grandpa were too old! Very old theatre, but still standing. Just! Lovely views but it was unfortunately raining. Etna was like the sun, wherever you looked, the whole way on our journey, you could see it. We drove through a lot of Mafiosi looking villages. We had been driving for the whole day when we arrived in Cefalu, to find that the Art Hotel, which G+G had chosen, was not at all what they wanted. There were loads of young hippies lying on the lobby steps. So we left and found Le Calette. A beautiful hotel AND right next to the marina. The Art Hotel was actually 25 km away from Cefalu. Carina arrived the next morning and we walked into the town. Very beautiful but quite full with tourists. Granny Diana, Mum, Dad, Tom and I walked up to the Temple of Diana! Great views of Cefalu from there. Joined Peter and Joyce, from a boat in the marina, for a drink or 6 on Carina with Granny and Grandpa. Great evening!

 

14.05.09 - MILAZZO CON RICHARDSONS

Arrived in Milazzo, dying to see Granny and Grandpa! They came down to the boat at about 4 in the afternoon. It was so good to see them but it didn't feel like we hadn't seen them since Nov (our visit to England)! They had brought teabags and Reggae Reggae sauce and various other things from England for us. It was hilarious trying to get Grandpa up the gang plank onto the boat!! We had our first meal in Milazzo with them. The hotel that they were staying in was really nice and friendly. Granny and Grandpa took Tom and I around Milazzo in their Fiat 500 sports version ! It wasn't a very photographable place but it didn't really help that the weather was awful. Quite rough in the marina too, so Granny and Grandpa couldn't get on the boat sometimes. So good to see them.

 

LIPARI

Anchored off Lipari in a little bay and did some swimming. Then went and picked up a buoy nearer the town. The town was gorgeous, small friendly and very pretty. We went to the museum of Volcanoes and Greek Pots! Really looking forward to seeing Granny and Grandpa.

 

10.05.09 – STROMBOLI

Sailed through the night and half the day to Stromboli. We could see it erupting for miles. Ships used to use the volcano of Stromboli for navigating into the straits of Messina. Stromboli, unlike other volcanoes, lets its steam off every ten minutes instead of building up to a huge eruption which destroys everything near it. We motored right up close and from the top of the volcano came steamy smoke and then rocks and boulders (probably pumice). After that came a huge cloud of black smoke with fire and sometimes a thunder sound. Though the water is supposedly warm, it isn’t any warmer than anywhere else, we found.

At 4.30pm the next day we we were waiting with the rest of our group with our helmets, boots and backpacks listening to our guide, Sergio about our trek up the volcano. First we climbed through the cultivation. At 400m. we stopped for a drink on the track. Getting very sweaty now. Once we had left the bamboo, we were onto black sand and ash. Very hard to walk in. Sun had started to set so it was getting cooler. There was a very hard climb up to 250m. then an easy traverse across the volcano. Very nearly at the summit. we climbed slowly slowly and zigzagged up the last 200m.. Reached the summit ridge after getting changed into warmer clothes and our helmets. We had been walking for 2 and a half hours!!! Walked the last 10 minutes to the side of the ridge at 918m. and we were looking down into the crater. Positioned ourselves around the edge and waited. The first eruption came from a big crater sending huge, red hot molten rocks flying into the sky with clouds of smoke and fire accompanied by loud, low rumbling noises. The heat was immense! There were actually 5 different craters, all wth different characters. The far left one was a huge black pit which filled up with ash and rock. When it was full, it exploded with a huge rumble and sent a mushroom into the sky. The next one was a bubbling, red hot bowl, about 3 times smaller than the first. It fired up red hot rock and the cloud of smoke was pinky - white.The next one along looked like a big knife wound slit, the same size as the bowl next to it.This was constantly sending up red rocks in a line, quite like a sprinkler! The highest crater was a slightly smaller pit. This made the second biggest eruption, it threw out burning rocks which rolled down the volcano.Another crater was on the side of Stromboli and fired rocks towards the town! We were up there for an hour! Sergio handed out the white face masks as we began our descent. The black ash was like snow as we slid with our torches all the way down to the vegetation in the dark. We then walked on down to the town. We handed back our helmets and sticks and said thank you before heading back to the boat. THE best experience of my life.....so far!!

8.05.09 – POMPEII

 After enjoying Herculaneum so much, we decided we could not miss going to Pompeii. Took the direct bus this time and spent the day in Pompeii. It is much bigger than Herculaneum but was slightly more destroyed. History shows that Pompeii was gradually filled with ash. At first, people living there thought it was really quite funny, but only when the ash was waist height did they start to panic. By then, the ash was making it impossible to escape from the city. According to a letter from a boy about his uncle, it was also pitch black and the people could not identify their family from others. There was smoke and rain. Of course when it started to rain, the ash at waist height turned to mud, like cement. This killed most people. Then the rocks and lava came down. This destroyed the city completely. Having been buried in ash for thousands of years, things have been preserved. Even bodies. We walked around Pompeii for the whole day. There were a lot more temples and grand places here, more so than Herculaneum. You could imagine being back in time because there were the dips in the roads where the carts had worn the pavements. The roads constantly had water flowing down them, so the Romans had to build large stepping stones across the streets in various places, so the people didn’t get wet feet. Just like today where we have zebra crossings (sort of!)  We even went inside the Amphitheatre! I enjoyed our days in Herculaneum and Pompeii so much I would definitely go again.

 

7.05.09 – HERCULANEUM

As I have said time and time before, our fate is not to catch buses or trains. Missed the direct bus to Pompeii from Amalfi which was just as well because it was better going to Herculaneum before Pompeii. After lots of help from various people we managed to arrive at Ercolano Scavi station. The excavations were incredible. In case you don’t know about Herculaneum, it was destroyed after Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Herculaneum was no more, along with Pompeii and Stabia. Buried under 60 ft of ash, the buildings were preserved over thousands of years. There are still mosaics and paintings, also statues and wooden beams, although they are almost charcoal. Though it is said that the inhabitants of Herculaneum actually all died when a pyroclastic blast of poisonous gases at the temperature of 400 degrees engulfed the city at 70 km an hour.This blast did not hit Pompeii. Herculaneum has only just recently been excavated, unlike Pompeii. I just could not believe how much of the city was still there. Walls and temples, houses and baths. If anyone ever goes to Italy on holiday, go to the Amalfi Coast. It is fabulous. We stayed at Herculaneum for the day and so we had time to go to the interactive museum where there were DVDs and computerised versions of the cities. Brilliant.

3.05.09  5.05.09 – Ponza, Ischia, Capri, Positano then Amalfi

Left Anzio and headed for Isola Ponza. Very expensive but pretty. Then onto Ischia, anchored and walked, again a very pretty town and harbour. Sailing to Capri still on the same day as leaving Ischia. Nearly at Capri when we found Grotta Azzura. We paid a man in a tiny wooden rowing boat to take us into the cave from the sea. There were loads of tourists. He took Dad, Tom and I as Mum had to stay and drive Carina. You had to lie down as the entrance to the cave was tiny. The little boats pull themselves along a chain and then the whole cave opens up. The water was bright turquoise from the sunlight outside. Just incredible. Sailed on to Positano and nearly picked up a buoy but then decided to carry on to Amalfi. In fact we stayed in Amalfi. Gorgeous little town and lovely harbour though expensive but worth it. Really nice people everywhere.

1.05.09 – ROMA

Took the train to Rome where we met Giuseppe and Mirella from Santa Teresa, Sardinia. Giuseppe picked us up and took us on a tour in his soft top car around Rome. We visited lots of famous piazzas including Piazza Popolo, Trevi, Navona and Spagna. Joe also took us to see the Colosseum, Arc of Constantine, Circo Massimo, Palatino, The Spanish steps, The Pantheon, St Pietro, The Trevi Fountain and finally Castel Sant Angelo! We got around so much! We went back to their house where Mirella had cooked us a lovely meal. Joe played the piano for us. We actually ended up staying in Joe’s Dad’s apartment for the night. Comfy comfy comfy! Went out and had a pizza then slept like logs! The next day we walked to their house and said last goodbyes where Joe played the accordion for us. He was unbelievable. The way he played the accordion sounded like not only one instrument but a whole orchestra – now whenever we hear someone playing the accordion in the street they don’t sound so good because we were so spoilt by Joe’s playing! We didn’t manage to get into the Vatican Museum as the queues, we estimated, were about 6 hours long! Walked into the Vatican City and saw the cathedral and went up into the Cupola for the view of Rome where we met some really lovely Americans. Had a brilliant time in Rome, and will definitely come back here one day.

 

25.04.09 – 28.04.09 – So many places!

Since we are trying very hard to get to Sicily in time for Granny and Grandpa we have been to Elba, Punta Ala Marina, Giglio and Anzio, where we had to hove-to all night as it was too rough to enter the harbour.

 

FLORENCE (FIRENZE) – Elba

Took the train to Florence, where Mum was really eager to go. Once we arrived after 1 and a half hours on the train, we caught the tourist bus from the train station. It gives you a tour too. Got off at the third stop to have lunch. Found a museum with all of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. You got to use them to see how they worked. Really fun. He actually invented the concept of the crane. Also the swing bridge so taller boats could get out under bridges. Walked around the amazing cathedral but didn’t go inside as it had huge queues outside. This cathedral, like the one in Pisa, had a dome on top. The Italians call their piazza’s (squares) by the cathedrals, Piazza Duomo. Presumably because the Latin word for dome is duomo. Finally reached the gallery which houses ‘David’ by Michelangelo. It was the most fantastic statue I have ever seen. The detail on it was absolutely incredible. He was about 25 ft tall. His hand, people say, is purposely out of proportion from the rest of his body because Michelangelo was portraying the hand of God. His ‘men’s parts’ were a bit on the small side too!!! The statue of David was made out of a huge piece of marble lying outside a church that Michelangelo begged to use to make something. So he made David, from the story of David and Goliath. David killed the giant with only a sling and a stone. His power is shown in the statue. Got back on the bus, thunderstorms and rain. The men selling umbrella’s had a lot of business. Reached the Ponte Vecchio. The shops on it were all selling jewellery. The Ponte Vecchio bridge reminds me of pictures of Venice. Stopped for supper on the way back to the station. Had a very nice meal. Caught the 9.57 train back. Got on a bus at the other end. At one stop, two ticket checkers came on board and gave one old man a fine and chucked him off the bus. Two other Asian looking boys wouldn’t pay so they had to call the police. We had to wait about half an hour for the police to come! Got back to the boat at about 1 o’clock in the morning!

Next morning we did diaries and went over to the fuel pontoon. In the evening we went to the Regatta. There were sailings clothes stalls, fair stalls, and lots of other things. There was also a huge marquee with model ships and boats. Some the size of Dad! Did a night sail from Livorno to Elba. Very pretty place, walked up to the citadel and in the evening there was the army in a band with lots of trumpets in the main square. Their hats looked like peacocks on their heads. It was really funny. I think it was for the Liberation of Elba.

PISA!!!!!

Took the bus to Pisa! Walked up towards the centre. Very beautiful buildings. Followed the suggested route to the tower, over the bridge on the Arno River. Found the tower!! There is definitely something seriously wrong with it! Took the inevitable photo! The Cathedral and the Baptistery were also built right next to the tower. Had lunch on the grass outside the tower. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Bought tickets for the Baptistery and Cathedral.  Very expensive but worth it. In the Baptistery there was a huge font in the middle for adults to be baptised and smaller ones around the edge of the dome building for children. A lady from the staff came in and sang some notes which echoed, but only from the middle of the building. As the sound travelled up it just kept on going. The Cathedral was very big, ornate and had lots of ecclesiastical paintings. But the rest was just like a normal Catholic church. It was so expensive to go up the tower, 15 euros a person, so Mum and Dad said I could go up by myself. The only problem was, I had to get past security looking 18 years old. Under 18 you had to be accompanied by and adult! I went in the queue and stood as tall as I could! The ticket man didn’t even look at me twice!! PHEW. My legs were really shaky all the way to the top. The stairs sloped inwards so it was really hard to walk up and down! The view from the top was amazing. You could see right across the city all the way to the mountains. When I reached the bell part, a security lady called out ‘senorina’. I thought I was in big trouble but she just wanted to tell me to wait for the people coming back up the steps. PHEW ! close one. Caught the bus back to Livorno. Very sleeeeppyyyyyy. 

LIVORNO

Arrived in Livorno at about 3.0. Huge ships manoeuvring in and out of the port. Very ugly and built up place by the port, but the town was actually really lovely. Unfortunately the port is quite a way from the town. Livorno wasn’t really very special, just a port to visit places from.

DAD’s B-DAY !!!!!!!

Woke up and gave Dad his pressies. I gave him a painted lizard / bottle opener. Tom gave him an Australian style wooden lizard for the wall. Mum gave him two t-shirts and a pair of shorts. Got out the dinghy and went up the river to the boat show. It was just for speed boats though so we carried on. Went past some ponies by the edge of the water. Carried on a far as we could but reached a fallen down tree in the middle of the river now becoming a stream! Tied the dinghy up on the bank and had our ‘mini picnic’ – e.g. Cake!! (Ginger to be exact) Went back up river to the horses and stroked them. Went for a quick walk up to the Citadel. And then went out for supper. Very yummy lasagne. AND the best chocolate mousse ever ever ever! We played noughts and crosses on the paper table cloths!! Dad had to go out in the rain to get out some money from a cash point because the restaurant card machine wasn’t working! Poor Dad. That put the cherry on the top of his ginger birthday cake! (Wait, cherries and ginger don’t go!)

SAINT FLORENT

Very stormy weather on the way here. The Full Monty. Lightning, thunder, strong wind and buckets of rain. The depth dropped to 1.6 m and we need 1.4 !!! It kept dropping to 0.9 too but that can’t be right! There was a huge crash of thunder and lightning right above us because they came together. The ground shook and so did the boat. It completely freaked me out, I was hysterical. I could smell smoke in the air from the lightning! More settled weather now, so we walked up into the town for a coffee.

CALVI

Really windy all the way here. Had very bad weather helm too. Good fast sailing though. Berthed on the visitors quay. Very pretty harbour and town. Went and found the huge supermarket. Walked around the town and up to the Citadel. It was deserted – there were hardly any houses fit to live in. The old town just below the Citadel was gorgeous. I bought some really nice shorts with my birthday money. We took the kite on to the beach but there wasn’t enough wind for it. I manoeuvred Carina out of the berth and onto anchor. We are moving on from places a lot because we are trying to get to Sicily in time for Granny and Grandpa and Mum’s b-day.

13.04.09 – AJACCIO

Too roly to go all the way to Ajaccio so we stopped in a little bay called Campo Moro where we spent the night with 4 other boats. Got boarded by Customs in the morning. They like doing their job and try to look intimidating when they board but once they start asking questions they start conversations about football and our trip. Finally arrived in Ajaccio. I felt ill all the way there. Yuk yuk. The harbour was really silly as it only had tiny little finger pontoons which we couldn’t  fit on, we didn’t want to go on the quay because there was a boat being sanded down – not good when it blows dust all over your boat ! Walked into the town and went to the beach. The old part of town was really pretty. Had running races up and down it! Found the tourist office and the lady in there was really nice and gave me and Tom these really funny flower pens. Really long with a huge fluffy flower on the end. You can’t write with them though! Walked to the House of Napoleon Bonaparte. You can look around all of the rooms. You could see the trap door through which he escaped to go to mainland. You cannot go in the Citadel because it is military. :(   Really looking forward to Calvi – it is meant to be really nice.

BONAFACIO – CORSICA !!!!!!!!!!

I can speak French again – yay!!

 Bonafacio is incredible as you enter it by sea. There are absolutely amazing cliffs and the houses are literally on the edge, hanging over. The rocks that have come off the main cliffs are all in the sea but sticking out like sculptures. The shapes of them are so strange. We walked up to the Citadel the day after we arrived. We were the first boat in, then another came and in 10 minutes another and another and another etc etc!!  The Citadel was really full of life. Probably because there was an Easter service that had just finished and everyone was coming out of the church. We went into a little museum about the history of Bonafacio. The things that had happened in Bonafacio were unbelievable. They had so many sieges and fights over it. It is an incredibly good position in the Med. Had a really nice Easter. Ate lots of chocolate !  

 

RIDING – AGAIN !!!!

Mum and Tom went riding with a really nice lady called Anna. While they went, I made 5 Easter cards for Grannies and Grandpas and family. Left Santa Teresa on the 10th and headed for Madalena. Very very pretty place and extremely busy too! I liked the town a lot.   

 

 

SANTA TERESA DI GALLURA

Met Tina and Marco here after they came all the way to Santa Teresa, couldn’t find us so went to Isola Rossa, then couldn’t find us again because we had left!! They finally saw us coming into the port of Santa Teresa and helped us with our lines and then came onboard. Had a coffee and showed them around the boat. They really loved it. Then they took us up to the town in the car to the Pirate Bar. Really nice to see them, hopefully will see them again. Santa Teresa is so lovely, the shapes of the rocks and the colour of the water is amazing. The marina is also very very cheap. Recommended to any boating people! Been to the town and walked in the country side too. Met a couple, Mirella and Giussepe who came onboard. They live in Rome and have a house in Santa Teresa. They speak very good English. Mirella really wants to buy a boat so coming onboard was really interesting for her. Good fun. Tried to catch the bus to an archaeological site but there wasn’t a bus to it. I think we are just destined not to go to those places! Anyway we ended up in a town called Arzechena which was quite nice, but we didn’t spend too long there because everything was shut! Tom and Mum are going riding tomorrow – don’t know what I will do!

ISOLA ROSSA

Tom and I didn’t actually go ashore here because we were so tired but the rocks were so red as we were coming in. Hence the name Rossa. Left for Santa Teresa in the morning.

MORE OF CASTELSARDO

Michael took us up to the laundry which we ended up paying 50 euros for two not that big bags. We have inherited some of Michael's food because he is going back to England. Thank you !! Been to the old town in Castelsardo and met up with Marco and Tina form Stintino. We had lunch with them in a really sweet restaurant and Marco took Tom and I for a ride on his Honda motorbike, loud and very big! We are going to meet up with them again hopefully. Walked up to the Cathedral and back around to the town. The old town was really lovely and quiet. Also we went to a museum of baskets, traditional to Sardinia.

 

1.04.09  CASTELSARDO

Had a really really calm sail here. I actually had a shower and did some school on the way. Met a really nice Welsh man called Michael on a boat opposite us. He came onboard for lunch and helped us with lines. It looks really nice here in Castelsardo. Saw some Germans who chartered a boat who came in stern-to. The one guy jumped off onto the pontoon and slipped straight over onto his bum and the other guy threw the line on top of him. He then tried to get back up but slipped nearly into the water. He managed to get the line on the ring but it was very very hilarious.(well it is April FOOLS day) AHAH.  That’s probably what we looked like when we tried our first med mooring though!

 

30th March – TOM’S BIRTHDAY

Tom opened his presents. Mum and Dad gave him a watch which he had chosen and lots of books. I gave him the huge Horrible Science book. Haribo’s and great cards from Prospero too! I made Tom pancakes but the gas bottle ran out half way through!  It was a gorgeous day so Tom and I took the bike up to the car park where we made bike jumps and ramps out of the stuff that was lying around the marina office. Then Mum made a picnic and we went off walking. I was riding the bike and 5 minutes into the walk, I managed to embed myself into a gorse bush and with spikes all in my right side and hand, Mum and I had to walk back to the boat and pull them all out, traditional style (needle and tweezers!) We found Tom and Dad again and set off. We found a beach where we ate lunch and then Tom and I found a mini open theatre and we started doing track bike races around it. I held the record for about half an hour but then Dad just beat me on the last go.  We walked and cycled for ages and as we started to walk back to the boat, we got lost in a holiday complex. Found our way back finally. Ate Tom’s chocolate cake with nutella middle with another layer of chocolate cake and chocolate icing and chocolate chips on top! We watched Wedding Crashers and Nim’s Island with a bowl of ravioli. Great day! Leaving for Castelsardo tomorrow. . . . .  .  . . . . .  . . .  actually we went out and came back in again!

STINTINO AHOY !

Had a good sail to Stintino. Went through the Fornelli passage which was very (formidable) I have been using my thesaurus! Had to line up marks which proved difficult because they were painted a very stupid colour - grey, the colour of the sky! Stintino is a sweet little town, but everything is shut except one restaurant which we have been to twice. We have had two storms here but the boat is fine. Tried to leave the day before Tom’s birthday but the wind blew up to 40 knots so we decided to stay.

NEED TO GET THE HANG OF ITALIAN BUSES !

Since being in Alghero we have been in two very strong gales but the harbour was fine. We went to the Territorio museum in the tower and they opened it up specially for us! It was all about the history of Alghero. Tom and Mum went horse riding early for Tom’s birthday. We went to the local market where the people were all really friendly and we tried so many different Italian cheeses, I can’t remember the names of them.  We had delicious pizzas at a family bar, Lu Furat's, where we met the Mother, Father and son all working there. They helped us with our Italian a bit too! We took a bus and tried to get to an ancient monument but we missed the stop so instead we decided to go on to Capo Caccia where we had a nice walk because Neptune’s caves were closed. “owing to extraordinary works in progress the cave are shut!” But we did have a lovely walk and the view was spectacular. Sad to be leaving Alghero as it was such a great place. Hopefully we will see David and Fiona on Ceilidh again.

SARDINIA AT LAST !

Left Mahon, Menorca , and unfortunately Prospero too – very sad L , at 3 in the morning we set off for Sardinia. Everyone else had a really good sail because our average was about 6 or 7 knots – reached 8.9 at one point. I didn’t have a good sail because I was sick all the way there! Took us 33 – 34 hours. Alghero is lovely place, it is really weird changing language again because we have been in Spain for soooooo long! Now it is Grazie not Gracias, similar but so different. We have a met an Italian person called Christopher who can speak really good English and has been playing football with Tom. Christopher has very kindly given us his bike.  Also about half an hour after we arrived, David and Fiona came in on their Ovni, Ceilidh, lovely to get to know them. They are going in the same direction to Greece. So we may see them along the way! Alghero is very unspoilt, so unspoilt you can’t find the tourist office! I have decided that I like Italy but I haven’t quite got the hang of the language yet !

 

MAHON

Mahon is nowhere near as nice as Cuidadela and there is not as much life here, though Mahon has a very big market with fresh stuff. I like it here. We took Prospero and Carina to an anchorage and put down the big outboard and explored around the islands by Mahon. It was a really nice day and India and Clemmy got to sail with us on Carina tooo !!!!!

CUIDADELA

Cuidadela is a lovely place - we met Prospero here too ! Been for a few coffees in the town. Cuidadela feels more like the capital of Menorca than Mahon.

12.03.09 – TOO ROUGH !

Upped anchor from Porto Cristo and headed for Menorca. Quite rough and gusts up to 40 knots. So we just went into Cala Rajada and will try for Menorca tomorrow. Tied up on the quay. Prospero turned back to Porto Cristo, but then at about 3 we got a text from them saying they were going to try again!!! We are impressed guys! Rajada is a lovely little place but there are soooooo many Germans! Hopefully it will be better weather tomorrow. Prospero are just coming in – so will go and help them with lines. Carina out. 

11.03.09 – PORTO CRISTO

Sailed into Porto Cristo at about 3 o’clock. Anchored. Prospero moored in the marina. Went ashore in TT Carina to their boat. Kids went to the park and bought some ice cream without the parents knowing. Good times. J

10.03.09 – Cala Llonga/ Cala D’Or

Upped anchor from La Rapita after Prospero. Caught up with them and motored alongside them for a while – good fun! Anchored in Cala d ’Or. Took the dinghy ashore and met them on the beach. We rowed around in the dinghy for a while in the marina with them. India and Clemmy came back to our boat for a bit.

9.03.09 – LA RAPITA

Left Palma after filling up completely with fuel.  Caught up with Prospero (Paul, Di, India and Clemmy). Anchored for the night in La Rapita.

8.03.09 –MY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!!

Opened my presents in the morning. Last night everyone came over for drinks at our boat and Eran, Sigal and Raz gave me a really lovely scarf – thank you. This morning Mum and Dad gave me a nice white top and the grey cardigan I have been searching for for ages, and a gorgeous pink scarf. (Note by now I have been given 2 scarves for my birthday) Tom gave me an orange dream catcher to hang up in my cabin too. Di, Paul, Clemmy and India gave me some chocolates and ... wait for it.... wait for it .......  a scarf!!!! (Never would have guessed that!) I had phone calls and texts from lots of family. It was a gorgeous day so we went out for a coffee in the hot hot sunny sun (do I sense some jealousy?)  We had a picnic lunch out on the pontoon – and the cake that Mum made. We started to play bobbing apples with Clemmy and India but it turned into a full blown water fight after Tom shoved my head right into the bucket of water! When we had thrown all the water anyone could ever throw, it looked like we had just been swimming in all of our clothes! That was the best bit of my birthday. Got dry and played charades. Then we walked to the Indian place. I had chicken korma (not much of a surprise!) and for dessert, that we didn’t order, they gave all of us ice cream, and the adults, some brandy, on the house! Clemmy and India slept over – and we did actually sleep, we were so tired from the water fight! Best birthday ever ! 

6.03.09 – ART

Went with Clemmy, India, Di, Tom, Mum and Dad to two art galleries. First we went to the J.Torrents Llado gallery which was actually inside his house. The paintings were of landscapes and people. They were just amazing. www.jtorrentsllado.com if you want to see some of them. Thank you Granny for recommending we go there. The second gallery was a lot more modern and interactive. Most of the exhibits were to do with how light travels over shaped objects. And the complexity of light moving. But there were also lots of abstract paintings by people like Picasso, Salvador Dali and Miro.

5.03.09 – First visitor from England in Palma

We took India and Clemmy with us to the English bookshops. Unfortunately, we only managed to get one book!

Set off on the bus to Hotel Riu Bravo. Tom didn’t know where we were going. Arrived at the wrong hotel, caught a taxi to go the last 2 miles down the road. We walked into the dining room area in the hotel. And there was sat a lady who looked exactly like Leigh – Tom’s face !!!!!!!!! ahahaahahah .....

Leigh took us straight into the restaurant to the buffet. She had brought from England, Typhoo tea bags and Swan matches. And Jelly Babies for my birthday! The lunch was really yummy – it was an all you can eat one. Me, Mum and Tom all went swimming in the 4 star pool !!! We met lots of old ladies who were on holiday there too. We showed Leigh loads of photos of our trip and then we had to say goodbye. It was a really fun day. Thanks Leigh.

PALMA

Since being in Palma, we have realised that we will not reach Sardinia by my birthday so we are calming down a bit on time. Have met some really lovely people next to us from Israel, Eran, Sigal, Raz and Bar. Eran and Sigal are designers who specialise in lamps, the ones in their house are fantastic. We went for some really really nice Paella (homemade by Eran himself!) at their house. The day before that, we walked into the old city and went to some shops and the public museum of famous Romans. 25th – We went to the palace museum, it was very interesting, also has some audio guides which are very good. The palace was massive and overlooked a lot of the city. AND finally bought a grey cardigan in ZARA. I really like Palma- it is a nice place. We hired a car (thankfully not puke green coloured !) Drove to Andratx in the evening – we watched the sun go down over the port which was very relaxing. J Then drove up to Andratx town but we couldn’t find the centre for something to eat, so we drove back down to the port and had an Italian (it was all we could find!)

Next day we went to Vall de Mosa, Deia and Soller. Vall de Mosa was where Chopin, the piano dude, lived for ten years. Also Coll Bardolet – a really lovely painter- whose gallery is there. Deia was a really small town where everything was shut but we went into a little church and sat in there for about quarter of an hour. Soller was very nice too, quite touristy though. I thought the port was quite similar to Andratx. A very nice day out. Next day we took Raz in the car to Santa Maria market where they had fruit, veg, clothes and animals and birds. Good fun ! Drove up the mountain to Castello de Alaro where there was a restaurant which was completely full so we couldn’t eat anything so we ended up eating all the fruit that we bought from the market !! We walked all the way up to the castle which ended up being just two walls about to fall off the edge of the cliff. It was SOOO high up! Prospero have arrived !!!!!!!!!!! (Paul, Di, India and Clemmy). Moved in next to them in the marina so we are now alongside ! Everyone including Raz, Sigal and Eran all came onboard our boat to have the delicious supper (courtesy of Mum and Eran!). That was great fun. Clemmy and India stayed over the night. (why do we call them sleepovers ?? – because you don’t sleep at all !)

Mum took just me to the Joan Miro gallery. He was a bit like Picasso but he had an obsession with painting women and birds – Weird ?

I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO MY BIRTHDAY :) :) :) :): ): :) :) :)

22.02.09 – Perfect Sand

We sailed on to anchor in Formentera today. Anchored by the beach with the little fishing huts that go down to the sea. Moved into the marina the day after next. It is incredibly expensive there – even in the winter!! The rock is sandstone and volcanic we think. The second day in the marina we hired some bikes. Dad, Tom and I had mountain bikes and Mum had a city bike ! We went quite about 25 miles. Around the lake and to San Francesc , the capital of Formentera. We also went to Copinar beach where we had lunch at a little shack – famous with the Spanish – that they rebuild every year. The wife makes the best homemade hamburgers known to mankind !!!!!!! (And the best marble cake too!) Got a really numb bum from the bike ride though .

Left Formentera and sailed to a bay with the most gorgeous beach and dunes. Took the dinghy ashore and walked around the point of the beach. After the storm a few weeks ago, there was a lot of wreckage everywhere. Since then we have found a few smashed up hulls of big boats on the beaches. Unfortunately we also found a dead dolphin washed up as well. We buried it in the sand. We found a huge oil drum about 30 ft long or more. Dropped the buoy and did a night sail to Palma (Mallorca). Dad scared the doo daa out of us by nearly missing a Baleares ferry by about 70 metres! When we arrived, a tall ship was just coming out of the harbour. The boats in Palma aren’t boats, they’re flippin’ ships ! We are tiny tiny tiny compared! Found a berth in Pier 46 marina. 

 

Ibiza

Been here for a few days - first we anchored in a little bay and the next day went to Ibiza town. We are actually on the public pontoons so are infact not paying for a berth ! I like the town but i would not want to live here - too small and in the summer it is meant to be horrible. Caught the bus to Santa Eularia one day - a nice little town by the sea. Met some people on Valentines Day who wanted to go sailing around the island. Dad offered to take them. So the day after next, Sophie and Andy came with us up to Santa Eularia and anchored, had lunch and did some more sailing. It was really fun to have some more guests come with us !! Have been in Ibiza for a few days and are going on to Formentera next. Not long till the 8th of march either !!! :) x x my birffffday .

31.01.09 –JAVEA / XÁBIA

Wind got up quite a lot while we were leaving Cartagena – said a very sad goodbye to Gill, Martin and Leros. Sailed for a day to Torrevieja – anchored for the night there.

Set off the next day to Villa Joyosa and stayed there for the night in the marina too. Finally in Javea – I couldn’t wait to see the Hobley clan. Javea is beautiful – behind the marina is a huge cliff but the whole of Javea is really nice too – even the tourist bit!

The second night in Javea, Chris, Sarah, Sam, Amy and Alice all came over for a drink on our boat – all us kids were a bit shy so we didn’t talk much – I got invited over for a sleepover after having supper at their house. Their house is soooooo nice, I want to live there! Chris and Sarah cooked us a really nice meal. I stayed in Amy’s room and we ate loads of sweets and watched a film. Dad was a bit drunk and started playing on the Wii – OH DEAR !!!

I stayed the night again ...

And again ...

And again ...

And again !

On one of the days we took them out sailing for the afternoon - it was great to have lots of people on board - but i don't think sailing was quite Chris' thing ! I went on loads of bike rides with Amy and the dogs – Harvey and Max(imus) !!! They drove us up to Guadalest and we saw the lake but it was so cold, we went home pretty quickly !  Amy and Sam and Alice all caught skivalitis – children at school are especially susceptible !

I had soooooooo much fun in Javea with everyone. The last day we chilled because it was so hot, Amy and I were in shorts and t-shirts ! Really sad to say goodbye to everyone. Miss you all

Hopefully see you again x

On to Ibiza next. PARTY !!!

 

29.01.09 - CARTAGENA

Today we went to the Teatre Romano and saw the theatre. It was so fascinating that the theatre was built over by another town. There are more details on the museum on Mum and Dad’s blog. It was really fun. Two days ago, Gill, Tom and I did the lavender experiment. We went to the tip and kicked up some chairs and doors for the wood for the fire – Gill found a tin we could use. We then went and picked loads of lavender. Then we got the barbecue and steamed the lavender to make the lavender oil. It didn’t actually work but it was a good experiment anyway !  

25.01.09 - Cabo Tinoso

Drove up to Cabo de Tinoso where we went to the old Battery with huge guns. You could dance along the barrel of the gun – just to let you know, I didn’t! The view was brilliant. There was a gorgeous bay with bright blue water down the cliff from the Battery, that was the first time I felt like going swimming in winter!  

25.01.09 – ARQUA – Museo Nacional de Arqueologia Subacuatica

Went here and it was really fun – all about underwater technology and history. In the main part there were experiment things which were fun – you looked through a microscope at artefacts they found underwater in wrecks. There were huge cylinders with water that showed you how things change in the water, like the colour red becomes greener in the water – not really rocket science!

 20.01.09 –SIERRA NEVADA AGAIN !

We knew that we were hiring a car and going somewhere where there was snow but we definitely didn’t guess we would be going skiing. A resort called PRADOLLANO. I was so excited!! It was a really cute little resort and you met the same people about three or four times! On the first half day it felt really weird being in ski boots and skis! Unfortunately lots of the lifts were shut on the first day. The pistes were really good though. We found this really nice tapas bar which was run by Pepe. He was really friendly and we went there everyday. We stayed at a hotel about 10 mins down the road called El Guerra, the breakfast was the best!! We didn’t have to go to ski school either!! We skied for two and a half days – on the first day the weather was alright, on the second it was gorgeous but on the last it was horrible so we only skied for half a day. =(  

4.01.09 – ON TO CARTEGENA !

Finally left Almerimar – it was a really good fast sail to start with but after a while the wind started to drop completely so we motored most of the way ! It took 24 hours aprox.  When we were about half an hour away from the harbour, our engine cut out but it was ok because we turned it back on again and it worked... ten minutes later it cut out again and again and again... we called the marina to stay on standby in case we needed assistance – luckily we got all the way to the pontoon and we had just passed the marineros our lines and it cut out one final time and would not start again !! Phew , it was close . Dad has spent the last 10 days clearing out the dirty fuel – from Ceuta we think – from the tanks because we had a diesel bug. It was a really messy job but with all the help of everyone else in the marina of their jerry can lending we were ok. The sailing school invited Tom and I to go sailing in their Oppies with them ! We also went to the Three Kings Festival where lots of floats with cartoon characters went past and chucked sweets for the kids ! I got at least 100 ! =) We have also met a sailing family – Di, Paul, India and Clemmy – who are doing the same as us, just the other way round. We have been playing with them and India, Mum and I all went shopping in Cartagena for the day !! Di took Tom and I and the girls up to Concepcion Hill museum where there were loads of peacocks !

Gill and Martin have taken us kids on loads of walks with their dog Leros. They are really fun. We have also met loads of other couples in the marina who are all on boats .

 

ALMERIMAR – STILL !

We have been in Almerimar for a long time now but have caught up with loads of school and jobs that needed doing on the boat. Christmas was really good. First we opened all of our pressies from people! Then we went to the beach on our new rollerblades. Had a really nice supper too. On the 26th, we did a sports day down by the beach where Muriel, Bastien and his family came and played football, rugby, basketball, netball, badminton, boule and juggling and stuff. Not sure what we are going to do on New Year’s Eve yet. We have been having French lessons with Muriel which is really fun. We have been watching loads of films – I have actually watched MAMMA MIA ! tons of times!! My fave film at the mo! Been shopping in El Ejido with Mum. We hired a car and went up to Puerto de la Ragua to do some tobogganing!! It was brilliant.

 

24.11.08 - Barcelllonaa

Flew in to Barcelona. Booked into the ‘Floating Carelia Hotel’ At least I hope it was still floating when we left !

We absolutely adored Barcelona. You need about a year to see everything and to experience Spanish life,lthough Barcelona is said to be the least Spanish city in Spain ! The architecture was incredible – mostly the buildings and gardens by Gaudi.  We visited Casa Batllo which was the most fascinating building I have ever been inside. The whole building’s structure was based on a whale, even the doors !  We also saw The Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell which were also designed by Gaudi.

The atmosphere of Barcelona was fabulous. We saw the Picasso Museum, Chocolate museum and the Maritime museum. Also some great flamenco – the passion and amazingness in it is, well ....  amazing ! Also went to a guitar concert by a famous chap called Manuel Gonzales. We also saw the Olympic stadium. There are so many things to see there – we hardly scratched the surface!

Thanks ever so much Mike.

Nearly missed our train back direct to Almeria by 4 minutes !! The journey took us about 12-13 hours but it was a nice train so that was ok.

Back on board and it is awful weather but hopefully calming down again. Planning our next leg to Cartegena. Lots of school to catch up on. =(

 

ENGLAND  =)

Had a really great time seeing everybody- and thanks to everyone who helped out and organised meet ups ! It was fab seeing all of our friends and family. Had lots of yummy meals – I have never been so tired as we were out every night until about 11 – or gone 1 o’clock for Christine + Mike !!

The weather wasn’t too bad because it thankfully wasn’t raining! Absolutely freezing though. Ate as many crumpets (pikelets ) as possible ! With marmite .

Thanks again to everyone. Great seeing you. =)  <3 <3

 

3.11.08 - Granada

Drove to Granada today. Arrived and found another great track to drive on. We had some breakfast in the centre of the city. Walked around for a bit and then caught the bus up to the Alhambra. It was absolutely incredible inside the Nazares Palace. The architecture was beyond belief, how did they ever managed to come up with a design like it that long ago.  We hired an audio guide which gives you info about the Alhambra as you go round. The Alhambra is amazing, amazing, amazing and lots of other thing I can’t describe! I don’t think I could have taken any more pictures!! Also walked around the Alcazaba and Genera Life. I will definitely come back to Granada again one day.  

2.11.08 - Sierra Nevada

Left for the Sierra Nevada in our puke green rented car! Drove all the way up to the thick snow. Really cold but lovely – reminded me of our skiing holidays in France. We also found a little pension where we stopped for a nice hot hot chocolate! Drove on through some mountain towns and villages. Reached Travelez; the highest town in the Sierra Nevada. Stayed the night in a prison – I mean, pension, in Orgiva. Had supper in a very Spanish Bodega. There were some really posh Brits talking about Great Grand Fathers and how the Spanish are mostly well spoken – such a boring convo!!  We were taking the mick all night. Dad thought they were so embarrassing, that if they came over to talk to us, we would pretend to be Norwegian or something! So funny!  Since we have been in Almerimar, we have been riding, driven to Almeria and explored cowboy Texas!!!  It was actually called mini Hollywood. It’s where they filmed some of the most famous cowboy films like A Fist Full of Dollars. Situated in the only desert in Europe – the Tabernas. I got stung by a wasp within the first 5 minutes of being there!! Tom and I rode around the village on horses and then went to the saloon for a drink and to watch the show. Three cowboys came in and started shouting, then they had a drink. They played cards. They had another drink. They shot each other for a while. Then had another drink!!  It was hilarious. Had a great day there.  Mum and Dad found us a track where I drove the car up and down. (not quite sure whether I would be able to pass my driving test yet!)          

29.10.08 - Hipica

Went and found the Hipica and went for a ride. I rode a lovely grey with a really long, dark grey tail, mane and forelock. She was called Dulcimea. Quite slow but when Badre (the guy who came with us) made me a stick out of bamboo, I was fine! It was really fun. Dad came too!! He rode a small chestnut called Jose. He cantered too. Tom, Mum and I all went for really long canters across the beach. Sometimes the horses would veer off into the water. Tom was standing still when his horse just went down and rolled in the wet sand!! It was really funny. Tom managed to get off in time. Badre started to gallop and then all the horses followed. Dulcimea was going really fast. That was the best ride ever, and it was only 10 euros and hour!! I think we might be going again!  

24.10.08 - Almerimar

Smir – Almerimar. It took 24 hours and meanwhile, we caught a 10 pound tuna, but without all of the guts and icky bits, it weighed just over 5 pounds. I don’t know how Mum and Dad managed to get it onboard!! Almerimar is really nice but we have had some very windy and horrid weather while we have been here. The only day it has been nice so far, we went for a walk around and then to the beach for a swim.  

20.10.08 - Chef Chaouen

Caught a crazy bus to Tetouan. I wasn’t quite sure that the bus would make it up the hill with so many people. There were people sitting on each other’s laps!!! Mum was nearly in the middle of a punch up between two old ladies! Another lady asked us if we wanted to go to her house. Someone offered to take us to Chef Chaouen, so she got off the bus with us and took us to the Gare de something or other! We got on a bus that went to Chaouen. It was pouring with rain when we arrived (I think it does that a lot of the time because Chaouen is up in the mountains.). We passed the school, where the children were coming out. Met a lady called Icram who took us up into the medina. It was beautiful; all painted a light purpley-blue. Apparently, this is to stop the mosquitoes coming into Chaouen. She took us up to a hotel, where, in the end, we stayed the night in. That was gorgeous too! Had a yummy meal in a restaurant. The main part of Chaouen was really nice. It is my favourite place in Morocco so far. Went up to the Cascade where all of the ladies do their washing on stone washboards. The Moroccan laundrette! Walked up to the old mosque and back down again. Unfortunately, it was time to go back to Smir. Took a taxi back.Back in Smir we were doing school work, when Yazid, Hayatt, Adam and Khalid arrived. They stayed for supper and then went home again. It was really nice to see them again.  

 

19.10.08 - Rincon

We were told to try to go to Chef Chaouen today because all of the Berbers would be down at the market. Met a man called Yazid at the bus stop who told us to get a taxi to Rincon and then go on from there. We stopped in a cafe in Rincon and decided that because it was already 3 o’clock, it was too late to go to Chef Chaouen. We saw him in the cafe and he asked us to his house. (He also told us that our watches were two hours ahead!!) He gave us a tour of Rincon and then took us to his house. We met his wife, Hayatt, and his 10 month old son, Adam. Hyatt made us some wonderful couscous. We stayed for hours until we finally decided we needed to go back! A wonderful, exciting day.  

18.10.08 - Gib to Maroc

Saw the tanker that had crashed on Europa Point, as we sailed past and out of Gibraltar Bay. Nice Calm sail to Smir, Morocco. Berthed in front of a French Catamaran whose boat we went to for afternoon tea! By the way, when we were in Gibraltar, Tom and I washed some boats after the storm and earned a bit o’ wonga!

 

HURRICANE

Still in Gibraltar. Really bad weather again, 80 knots of wind! Crashing around in the marina. Horrible. The storm started at about 7o'clock Friday morning. Then throughout the day it got much much worse! Dave and Linda , next to us, left and anchored in La Linea. Their boat was being lifted out of the water and then crashed down onto the concrete pontoon. There was too much damage to stay any longer. We all worked together in a great team to put out more fenders and shorten the lines. There were loads and loads of people not on board their boats, so they will have a huge shock when they get back. The damage is horendous. The boats were crashing against the pontoons and smashing up their sterns and bows. Jayne and Mel, across the pontoon from us, offered that Tom and I stayed the night in their car with them. So first we went up to the Waterfront to have a hot chocolate and then went to the car. We walked around the marina looking at all of the smashed up boats. One had no fenders on the bow so it had a hole in its hull !!!!  There is a huge boat in the marina called Aliseia and all of her fenders popped and lines broken!! There was rubbish floating around everywhere. Then Jayne and Mel took us up to the Doner kebab place. Yummy! Then back for another hot chocolate and then to sleep!! And then we woke up and got some sandwiches from the garage in the car. The weather at that point was almost a hurricane. The boats were being smashed around so badly that you would have been at the point of crying (even the maniest man on earth!) It was really scary because then all of the ramps to get to the pontoons all fell in the water so we couldn't get on or off! ( Forgot to tell you that earlier Dad fell in and all he said was "I was just worried about catching me nuts on that spring!" )  Oh yeah and all of the springs were just snapping too! This carried on all night and until about 3 o'clock the next day. The devastation is phenominal! The most scary marina experience of my life. And its not over yet for some people.

UP THE ROCK (not sure what date!)

Today we walked up the Rock. We started walking along a road, then we spotted a sign - TOLL - so we tried to figure out a way to miss it!! The road went round a bend and the toll was at the corner, so we climbed the rocks until we were past it!! It was really funny! We carried on walking for ages then we reached the steps up to the apes den. There was an ape on the steps so we had to walk around it! We arrived at the den to see to apes sitting on the minivan. The tour guide was touching them and ruffling their hair and they didn't mind! We climbed up the steps and we met an ape called Churchill! The tourguide gave us some corn and we held out our hand (closed with the food inside) and Churchill would VERY gently prise your fingers open and gently take the the food with his hand (not sure that's what you call them on apes, if anyone knows please write in the comment box, Thanks.) Dad tried to touch the ape and it attacked him. Went up to the restaurant and then back down to the apes and then walked all the way back down the rock by the steps. I was really tired but it was a great day! Met lots of people in the marina: The French - France, Frank, Jeanne, Colin and Juliette. Also Jayne and Mel. Alun, Andrew and Heather. Dave and Linda and finally some Norwegian people too. I played Norwegian monopoly with Hanah!

24.9.08 - GIB

Next morning, we left for Gibraltar. Anchored near La Linea. Got woken up by Police at 2 in the morning being told to move ! First day, we walked over to Gibraltar to have a look around. I quite like it, lots of shops but warm weather . FAMOUS LAST WORDS !!! Next few days it has been pouring with rain ! Typical. Marina is very nice, showers are bliss !! Walked to the Gibraltar Museum. Watched a film and then looked around, absoloutly huge !! Found a café. Me and Mum went shopping for some clothes and then to Morrisons. The weather has been dreadful !

23.9.08 - KING  !! ( and sandwiches ! )

Crossed the border to Tetouan. It was all very official at the border. It was also pouring with rain. When we arrived, we had to go to the car park to eat our sandwiches as it was Ramadan. Then we found out that the King of Morocco ( Mohamad 6th ) was coming to Tetouan today!! There were officials all along the roads, and there were barriers everywhere. Police, Army, Officers and not forgetting his own personal security were there ! There were lots of black cars and motor bikes before he came and then he arrived in a very smart car with his head and shoulders sticking out of the roof of the car!! ( and it was pouring with rain ! ) Then lots of black cars with men dressed in black came past, they were all leaning out of the car doors, ready if anything went wrong ! They really love their king, though i still can't understand why there was so much security. Well that topped my day in Tetouan. A guide that we " adopted " took us to all of the Berber markets, smelly and quite dirty !! , We saw where they dyed the leather too. That was all very interesting.

17.9.08 - Horsies !

Decided we would go more into the countryside. Grabbed our riding kit, and caught a taxi to Miguel de Luque's. Beautifully kept horses. As you walk into the yard, you are greeted by dogs, cats, goats, ferrets, ducks, rabbits and finally the horses ! I mounted a 14.2h called Abaléra. Mum rode Quagi and Tom rode Naséeda. Mine was a beautiful dark bay. She was really nice and gentle and calm. The first canter was really fun, especially from up there in the mountains. I loved it. We rode for 1hr and a half. Went back to the ranch, washed down the horses and then went and jumped in their swimming pool !! Fab afternoon ! Stayed ages in Ceuta, Met lots of people on other boats, Hank, Mark, Fatimah, Alice, Damien, Jamie, Micheal , Jeri, Sarah and David.

13.9.08 - swim.
Went to the Parque Maritimo del Mediterraneo, which was absoloutly fab. It was a huge park with one huge swimming pool, and i mean massive, about 1 and a half miles long !!! It had bridges and island of rock in the middle of it with palm trees and gourgeous gardens. It was amaaazing. I would love to go there again. You could swim around the castle in the moat. There were three waterfalls, a lighthouse and a museum !!! Oh and not forgeting the Casino and the restaurants and play areas. It wasn't tacky , but something you would get in a 5*+ hotel ! Met a boy called Louis, 15 years old, who swam with us all day ! Gone back for a drink and kebab at the Spoon.

12.9.08 - MED !!!!!!!
Sailed to Ceuta. Back into Spain, sort of. We were doing 9.7 knots because there was 4.5 knots of tide with us !!! Arrived in Ceuta and we had to do a med mooring which was quite difficult as it was our first time !! Then it twigged , WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN THE MED !!! - This calls for a ginger biscuit !

8.9.08 - Tanger
Sailed to Tanger, arrived and there wasn't much space but we squeezed on the end. Next day, Mustafa gave us a tour of Tanger, he took us everywhere and we rode camels for a little while. Really fun. I like Tanger but some of the back streets were very dirty. The port is absolute havoc, there are fishing boats everywhere and everyone is shouting! There are boys 15 - 20 years old swimming across the harbour to the ferries so they can smuggle themselves into Spain! We had drinks with Jimmy and Caroline ( Tubs + Chubs !) on the boat next to us. Great time.

6.9.08 - i think ! ?
Arrived in Cadiz and anchored actually in Santa Maria. Beautiful place! Rushed to find the bullring, then found out that it was on the next day! So we bought tickets and walked around the town. Next day, we went in the dinghy to Cadiz. Cadiz is quite nice but i wouldn't live there ! Had lunch at a cafe which was complete havoc but great fun ! Went back to the bullring and sat down there. I watched for two rounds and then i had had enough, it is a horrible sport, do me a favour and don't go ! Had supper at a restaurant near the beach. Met Helen and Tracy , we talked and talked for ages. When we finally went back to the dinghy the outboard motor was gone. Some piggy had knicked it! Dad was really annoyed.

?.9.08 ! - Seville
We caught the bus to Seville which took 2 hours. When we arrived we headed straight for the Cathedral and I bought a lovely fan on the way. At the Cathedral we waited for the bells, which were not as spectacular as we thought they would be, and then we walked inside. It was magnificent, like there were lots of different chapels inside it. We walked up the tower which had an amazing view. We chose a pony, one that was well looked after, Pepe, and jumped in the carriage. We had a horse driven tour around Seville. He let me drive for ages . Amazing. We said thanks and headed to the bus station. Great day out. Best city yet !

4.9.08 - Spain's dolphins
Set sail for Chipiona, back to Spain again ! Very calm , and we saw sooooooo many dolphins , there must have been about 150 of them feeding ! One dolphin stayed with us for about 2 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called him ipod ! We spent 1 day in Chipiona , very beautiful buildings and architecture.We also went to the beach as well.

2.9.08 - Aground !!
Arrived in Faro and anchored for the night. Next day we motored up the confusing canal that leads all the way up to Faro. I steered all the way ! When we arrived, we went a little too far for our depth and we went aground. Suprise, suprise ! Unstuck ourselves and anchored where it was deep enough and then put down the dinghy and drove up to the city. First of all we walked to the Cathedral which was really interesting. In the cloisters, there was a statue which was made out of dead monks skulls and other bones !! urghhhh ! We walked around the city and then went back to the dinghy. We had to squeeze under the railway bridge because the tide had come up so we could only just get out !! We got very wet on the way back to the boat ! Moved back down the river to Olhao.

31.9.08 - Sardines !!!
Stayed in Ferragoudo for the night and went for supper in a fish restaurant up on the quayside. Yummy, but very expensive ! We will sail further along the coast tomorrow.

26.8.08 - Lagos

Sailed from Seixal to Lagos.  Fab sail. 8.4 knots getting here! Beautiful place but very roly on anchorage in Lagos bay, so we are in the marina. Met Steph and Amos and Sylas again.

25.8.08 - Seixal

Sailed, well actually motored, under the Ponte d'Abril 25th 1974. It was huge ! Carried on up river, caught 8 mackerel and headed for Seixal, when we arrived we went straight to the beach !

23.8.08

Sailed to Oeiras today, loads of wind. We got up to 8.2 boat knots. Our top score ! Checked in at marina and then we went swimming in their pool. Met Steph, Chris, Sylas and Amos and went for a drink on their boat. Next day we went on the metro to Lisbon (Lisboa). When we arrived we headed for the cathedral and then up to the Castelo de São Jorge. We walked around and went to see the 360 panoramic view of Lisbon. Saw a man playing the guitar, very relaxing ! After that, we walked around Lisbon for a while and looked at all the buildings and then went on a tram to the metro station.

 

 20.8.08

2nd day in Cascais , and we are catching the bus to Sintra. Arrived and walked around for a bit then went to the Palacio Nacional De Sintra. It was amazing inside.  A lot of the rooms were named after birds. The rooms had lots of ornaments and furniture given by lords as presents. Next we walked to the Quinta de Regaleira. It was really strange, like something out of a fairy story. We went to the Initiation Well which you walked up inside and there was a trap door!

     

 17.8.08 - CasCias

Today we sailed to Cascais but actually stopped off at Paniche before carrying on after breakfast. It took us 32 hours in total to get to Cascais and when we arrived it took us 30 mins to anchor because it was blowing 45 knots of wind !!!!!! Very scary. need to go to bed now, byeeee.

     

16.8.08 - Off to Porto (by metro !)

Went on the Metro to Porto. When we arrived , we had to go back a station because we had come too far ! First of all we went on the sightseeing bus to get a feel of the place. Then we had lunch at a really nice restaraunt. After that we went up to the rougher and poorer part of the city. We also looked around the cathedral which was amazing ! Aftre that we walked across the bridge to the cellars where we went around the Calum cellar. The biggest barrell held 52,600 litres of Port wine !!!! After the tour around the cellars we tasted some Port and then went back on the metro to Povoa De Varzim. Great day out, all shattered though.

14.8.08 - Povoa De Varzim

It was a really calm sail there so Tom and I made a pizza - delicious - Portuguese style ! When we arrived we went into the marina next to some English people. John + Leslie + Sophie + Lucy. We went into town with them to watch the festival parade - amazing , there were lots of children dressed up as gods and saints and then men behind were carrying floats with statues on them. really pretty ! We walked to the old town after that which was really fun. Tom and I went on a huge climbing frame in the park - will put a piccy of it when we have more internet time! Watched fireworks at 2 o'clock at night. Next day we just did jobs and school. Also met a couple called Mac and Sammie who were on their boat too !

12.8.08 - PORTUGAL

Today we set off for Portugal and we had to motorsail all of the way so it was really roly poly! When we arrived at Viana De Castelo we went under the lifting bridge into the marina. The next day we walked up to Santa Luzia, a temple at the top of a hill. 620 steps to get there ! It is really pretty in Viana De Castelo, would love to go there again.

11.8.08 -  EMERGENCY ANCHOR !

This morning we woke up , still in the bay on the islands , and it was really  really windy, blowing force 6 occ 7 ! We decided we would not carry on to Porto but go back to Bayona as we needed fuel. It was quite hard getting off the anchorage as the chain kept jumping and then letting go of the anchor so it went back to the bottom again ! Finally we managed to get away ! When we left the islands it was getting rougher , so Tom and I put on our oilies and went out on deck and got soaked. Mum and Dad called us in because the engine had stopped. It was ok though because we were sailing 7.9 knots (just with the staysail and genoa ! ) It was tricky navigating and telling the helm what to do.

When we had finally sailed into the harbour and past the breakwater , we just had to tack then tack and tack again until the marina guys had got help. Then Dad took Carina into the part where all of the little racing boats were moored and tried to tack but it was too late, we did not have enough speed. We had to do an emergency anchorage (which means pull all of the sails down and drop the anchor immediately. I have to say i was shaking like crazy as we were sailing towards a load of boats. Me and Tom were in charge of pulling in the sails and Mum the anchor. Good ole Mum just got it down in time because we almost hit another Bavaria !!! I was in fits, shaking and i felt like throwing myself over board! So now we now never to take Carina into tight spaces to tack her !!! ... The marina guys had to get us off the anchorage and into the marina. When we pulled up the anchor, we thought they weren't going to be strong enough to pull us but in the end they were and we got safely into the marina. Now to find out what is wrong with the engine !!! .........

10.8.08 - Unic

This morning we went to see the Pinta, one of Columbus' ships in which he discovered America. It was really interesting to see where things were stored and to learn about the living conditions. She was suprisingly small ! Then we set off for Islas Cies islands. There we anchored near the beach. No sooner had we done that , a boat called UNIC came alongside us asking for help. In the end they tied up to us and we went over onto their boat for a drink (and lunch ! ) They were lovely Portuguese people, their names were Francesco, Belen (and their friend whose name i can't quite remember ! ) . They had a daughter called Arianna and she was 12. We went to the beach and swam although it was very cold ! We had a great time with them.  When they left the wind started to pick up and the weather got worse. In the morning a boat shouted to us that our dinghy had floated away. The people brought it over and Dad had to swim to get it ! We tried our new crab pot ... no success yet !

9.8.08 - Santiago

Today we decided to go on a bus to Santiago de Compostela. We went from Bayona to Vigo and then Vigo to Santiago. When we arrived it was a short walk to the town and we had breakfast in a lovely little hotel called Costa Vella. Yummy! quick walk from there to the cathedral. It was humungous ! Can't put it into your own words kind of place! It was so magnificent and it was amazing to see. It was even more amazing inside. There was an area which had gold statues and a golden carriage. people were walking up inside it ! There were thousands of Pilgrims all lined up from one end of the cathedral to the other to get in! it was incredible. We saw the incense hanging from a huge rope in the middle of the cathedral. After we had seen what we wanted we went for lunch in a restaraunt near the square. I had my picture taken in a street less than 1 metre wide ! TINY ! I bought a scarf in a shop. Then we had to rush back to catch the bus back at Santiago station. When we arrived at Vigo we had to change bus and we were waiting for about an hour for the one to Bayona to come !! Finally it arrived and everyone piled on, at every stop we picked up about 20 people !! There were 4 people on 2 people seats !!!!!! We were all squashed on and we had to turn people away at the stops!! when we got back to Bayona we went for a drink and then to bed. A busy day !!!  amber x

3.8.08 - Camarinas to Bayona

First part of the journey we motored but then the engine started to change revs up and down then after about ten minutes of trying to work out what was going on the engine stopped altogether !!! We decided that we would just have to sail into Bayona and anchor , easier said than done !! It took us about half an hour to get from the end of the harbour to the anchoring bay ! After ten minutes of trying to anchor we finally dropped it , but to dig it in we had to get down the dinghy and pull Carina round with our 3.5 hp outboard!!

Very funny . It worked though and we settled down for the night ready for tomorrow where we would get and engineer. The next day we were having lunch and we met two Canadians called Francis and Philip who were really nice and gave me and Tom a Galician necklace with a barnacle on it. really pretty. We have been spending the last few days with people trying to get the engine fixed in the marina. Last night Alfredo took us for a drink with his family at the yacht club. Thankyou! amber x

 

1.8.08 - Ares Bay

went out for a really good sail today, were going to go to Camarinas but the wind was not right , so decided to anchor in Ares Bay. Really nice and sunny so me and Tom dunked each other off the end of the boom into the water !

Next day sailed to Camarinas, really good sailing, not really what we wanted the wind to be like but anyway an ok sail. We were going to go into the little harbour just off Camarinas but it was too small so we went into Camarinas harbour instead. our anchor didn't hold because of a weedy bottom ! So we moved further up river and stayed there !

30.7.08 - Darsena De La Marina

Still in the marina as weather is getting windier again. Looked round the town and had yummy paella in a restaurant last night, great stuff. Need 2 get my beauty sleep. TTFN ! amber x

26.7.08 - La Coruna

Took us 5 hours to get here, sailing very close to the coast all the way. Anchored and chilled on the beach, went swimming. Really hot here. But it started to rain today, 28th. Run out of water , so going into the marina.

20.7.08 - Ria De Cediera

Set off at 8.15 to Camaret, but weather was so good and sunny we decided to just carry on across they Bay of Biscay and to Ria de Cedeira. Really fun. Lovely weather , first night slept really well and second day great as well. I plotted my first position on the chart. Last night i helped Mum with her watch and then the wind started to get up to force 8 - 9 !! Very horrible , lots of green ones. Wet Wet Wet! Great arrival, you could smell the pine trees ages away. Lovely place. Soooooo tired, just chilled on anchor all day. Lunchtime second day - Mum noticed a British Warrior coming in to Cedeira and we said how strange it would be if it was Iain, Sue, Hannah and Fraser. We though it was impossible but as they came closer, we noticed the name - Iceni !!!! It was them , we waved and they didn't recognize us at first but then they did. It was soooo funny! The next three days we spent playing with them and we took Hannah and Fraser ringoing. This was the family who had been to the Caribbean for 4 years! We left on the same day but went in a diff direction. Loved Ria de Cedeira ! amber x

16.7.08 - L'Aber Wrac'h

We left at 4.30 am. Good sailing so we skipped Jersey and St Malo and went straight to L'Aber Wrac'h. 2 panics, we thought we had lost 2 main batten car covers and then we had a leak in the bilges. Luckily we didn't take any more water onboard because it had just come from a disconnected pipe in the water tank. Main car not broken !! All ok again. We saw some dolphins near the end, they were beautiful and our spirits were up again! When we arrived in L'Aber Wrac'h we realised the lockers were all diesely and oily so more cleaning!!! We spent two whole days cleaning! 2nd night we walked into Landeda and had a crepe and the owner of the cafe played us his accordian. Great!!! The next day we went for a fish lunch and then went to the market and bought some food. Fab. Next day , too windy to go to Camaret , so just went out for a sail, did a 'hove to' and a 'Martin to' and practised man overboard procedure. Decided to go to Aber Benoit , just up river. Picked up a mooring, but the line got stuck and we dragged it , we had to cut the line and then the mooring buoy floated away, embarrassing!! Picked up another one and slept there for the night. amber x

 

8.7.08 - ST PETER PORT, GUERNSEY

We decided to brave it and sail for Guernsey. It was force 6 - 7 . It was really rough as we had to go through the Alderney race ( the really high and rough waves area) exept we couldn't dodge it because it was so windy, the race had spread everywhere. So we had to go through it. The waves were about 15 ft high and we were just going up and down , up and down! We got in late as we were fighting the tide. We were alongside in the QEII at about 9.0 pm next to a really beautiful wooden boat!

I had my hair bobbed, well graduated bobbed ! It looks much better ! Really pleased. That day, Dad decided that we were going to be lifted out of the water on a trolley! So when me and Mum got back from the hairdressers we went round to Boat Works. It was really scary as you had to tie to these three posts which are attached to a platfrom which is winched up a slip by a cable. Well freaky and lurchy !! When you get to the top, they put chocks and barrels under the boat so you can't fall over. very scary !!!! We set to work straight away cleaning the hull because we had loads of work to do. Dad fitted the keel cooler for the freezer and we also unblocked one of the seacocks. Unfortunately we had to go back in the water but we were hauled out again because we hadn't finished all of our jobs. The second time out we had to drill out the broken bolts from the seacock and re-epoxy them. That night we went for a curry. We also went to the Beach Boys copy band 2 nights running. They were fab!!!!! Time to go back in the water and leave Guernsey byeeeeeeeee.   amber x

 

3.7.08 - ALDERNEY

At about 3:30 we left Cherbourg to sail to Alderney. It took about 3 hours to get there and it was quite windy aswell. I was feeling slightly sick but i wasn't thankfully! When we arrived we had to choose a mooring buoy and tie to it. We picked one without a harbour rope attached to it. It took us a while until all of the lines were ok. All the way through the night the lines were creaking and screeching. The next night Dad tried to make them better but in the end me and Tom just slept in the saloon! One sofa each! 3 nights on and the ropes were creaking. In the morning Dad rushed out to check the lines and he found one line completey snapped and the other about to go!!!!! We quickly changed mooring to one with a harbour rope on it!!! The waves are smaller now and it is not so windy (8th). We are thinking of going to Guernsey today at about 2:30!  amber xx

30.6.08- CHERBOURG

Crossed the channel and loving Cherbourg. It took 14 hours to get from Yarmouth to Cherbourg but it was worth it! Me and Tom felt sick and i WAS sick three times but i didn't care LOL. There was quite a bit of wind for the first few hours but near the end it calmed down a bit. When we arrived in the harbour Tom said " there's a huge fish over there." Turns out that it was actually a huge dolphin!! It was swimming under and beside our boat . It was so special. After we had moored up and everything was tied up we went into town for a drink. The next day Dad went to get a hire car and he turned up with a pale yellowy green citroen C1 . urgghhhhh! We drove to Barfluer for breakfast and then drove onto St Vaast where we walked around the town for a while and we watched the fishing boats unloading. After that we drove to the Battery Museum in Crisbecq where we walked around the German's base camp. That was where the Germans tried to fight back the Allied Forces ( British, Canadian and American) on D-Day (6th June 1944) . We walked inside the shelters and bunkers. It was amazingly camoflauged as they painted all of the bunkers and shelters to make them look like innocent houses! It was incredible to see and it was a great museum. After that we drove down to the Utah beach and then we went to Gold beach , that was fantastic because there were still some monuments and things left from the D-Day landings. Fascinating. After we had seen the British beach (Gold) ,where we saw the remains of the landing docks for the troop transport and tanks, we drove back to Cherbourg and had supper at Le Pommier. Very nice. The next day at about 11 o'clock we set off for Alderney which only took about 3 hours because it was pretty windy. We picked up a mooring. We went for a walk into town and had a drink at the Rose and Crown. We played darts and the barmaid , Krys, was telling us how to play it. We  had a great evening. amber xxx

 

25.6.08 - THERE'S A BIG ONE COMING!!!

Can u guess what the big thing is ? ... WET , SALTY, HIGH ? Guessed yet? i will tell you , a green one, in other words a big humungous wave!!! And not just one but all the way to Yarmouth!! I was laughing the whole time because as soon as you had got over the last wave, there was another one. Tom sat out in the spot right where all of the waves were crashing down on the boat. He shouted to me " there's a bigun coming!" i shouted "where?" and as i put my head around the sprayhood to look, it hit me. Guess what Tom shouted? " There, i think you found it!" It was such a fun day because we had huge waves the whole time. Best sail yet!!!

22.6.08 - GONE PLACES !!!

Hello there . We haven't been updating much as it is quite hard to fine internet connection but we are getting along fine. We went to the Submarine Museum which i definitly recommend. It was great. Scary how they lived on the submarines. !! We r havin a dandie time !!! luv yhuu

amberx xx

8.6.08 - WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON OUR VOYAGE!!!

Helooooooo again. Today we left Northney, finally. It was very sad leaving but exciting to know that that we are on our way..... We only motored to Itchenor, but what a relief to be finally out of a marina. We stayed at Itchenor for the night and then at about half past 5 in the morning we set off for Chichester marina. Only for a couple of days but still back in a marina. You will never guess what happened whilst me and Tom were doing our school work after we had arrived in Chichester... We had put out a crabbing line off the side of the boat, in order to catch some crabs... Instead we pulled up a huge great EEL !!!!!! Ahhhhhhh it was all green and slimey, sure wouldn't want to meet one of those whilst swimming , HUH? We did have to put it back though because we didn't really like the thought of eating an eel from a marina!!! So that creeped me out for a while! We tried to find out what the eel was but we couldn't find a picture of it in the book. We will HOPEFULLY be going sailing in a few days. So OVER AND OUT for now.

amberxx

 

31.5.08 - 1.6.08 - Our Maiden Voyage!

Helloooooo. You will never guess what we did - Do you know? Well, i will tell you. It was Saturday and we decided to go for our first sail. Nick Maladrinos came down to the boat to come with us. We were ready. Slipped the ropes and we were off!! (Can you believe it?)

We first sailed out in the Solent where we didn't do much sailing because it wasn't that windy. Anyway, we decided to go and pick up a mooring at Itchenor and stayed the night there. It was very peaceful until the morning when all of the Mirror dinghies came out racing! It was slighty more windy that day and so we decided to go fishing while sailing. We caught 14 mackerel!!! A record - i caught three at once! We went around the Solent again but this time we went aground - twice!! We did manage to get out again though, but it was quite scary!! We sailed back to Northney and cooked the mackerel on the BBQ. They were tasty!

Great weekend - and a memorable one too!!!

Amber xx

26.5.08 - Great day out

Hi, today we went to Pizza Hut and then we went to play badminton. It was really fun but I still need to practice a bit!! I had a really nice pizza. We have borrowed Tim's Land Roverfrom Windward Yachting until we go. That was really fun going in it. After that I went into Pets At Home and looked at all of the rabbits and hamsters and guinea-pigs etc. Then we went into Hobby-Craft to choose some paint for spraying the RIB so no-one will steal it in the Med. Outside Pets At Home there were some Grey hounds up for adoption. We had a really fun day. Bye x

6.4.08 - SEA SURVIVAL !

Today we went on a sea survival course in Southampton. There were about 8 other men  on the course so we met all of them. Steve, our instructor, intoduced himself and then we introduced ourselves and told him why we came on the course. Everyone was very interested in our trip which we told them about. We listened to some theory and then we went in a minibus to a pool for the practical. We started by inflating a liferaft and, in all of our clothes: thermal top, fleece, trousers, shoes, waterproof overalls and a life jacket, our instructor told us to climb into the life raft and out again. It was really hard - lol!! Then he told us to jump off a huge platform above the pool- I was terrified because he told us to walk vigorously off the end but I had a slow swimmer in front of me and I had to stop right on the end of the platform. I managed it but with shaky legs and an awful landing. I was proud of myself for doing it!! He also made us turn the life raft upside down and swim underneath it which was really hard because my life jacket was too blown up so I couldn't swim under the water- LOL!! Then in the afternoon we had more theory!! I learnt loads and had loads of fun!!! YAY ME !

luv yhuuu      amberxx mwah  

p.s our instructor told us the real meaning of the word ASSUME - ASS of U and ME   LOL!