Over the next few days we headed south and anchored at Petriti, the next day we went to Laka on Paxos. I speared 15 wide eyed sole in 2 days and I bought a new mask. On our second day there was a huge thunder and lightning storm, when it had finished we set off to Mongonisi. Nice little place where saw some Greek dancing. In the morning we went through the Lefkas Canal, the entrance was 6 metres wide. When we came out the other end we anchored off a private island called Scorpios. The next day we motored a couple of miles to Spartakhori where we met Prospero again, really nice to see them again. Swimming all day. The next morning we set of for Nidri to have our genoa and staysail repaired. That day me and dad organized some riding for the next morning. i had a great time, we saw 12 piglets. There were loads if huge spiders too. It was really fun!! As soon as we got back to the boat we set off for Sivota. We had a fantastic sail. We all went to the beach for the rest of the day and got some ice creams. That night we had a big barbeque to celebrate 1 year away from England!! The next day we went to Fiscardo. Dad and Clemmy caught one octopus and I caught the other!!! Lovely water and we were doing tight rope walking to the shore on our lines!!
TO CORFU
That night we left for Rocello. In the morning we got there and they said it was too shallow, so we went for a swim and carried on to Corfu. The next day we drifted for 11 hours at 0.4 knots. We had a swim and a buffet while dad was changing the engine impellor and we were going to run out of fuel! At 7pm we carried on motoring. In the middle of the night we sailed and in the morning it was really windy when we rounded a little island to head for Gouvia Marina. We got there and came into our berth and chilled. That was the longest we have been at sea, 3 ½ days! We saw Peter and Joyce from Cefalu. We went for a drink on their boat in the evening and Dad got drunk and fell asleep on their stern cabin bunk whilst having a look at their boat down below! We met two Philippinos, Maria and her son Chris, and Louis, English, married to Maria. They took us to Corfu town market to get fish and veggies for the barbecue with them. They took us into the town too. That night we had a big barbecue with them. It was really fun. They have a little black Labrador puppy that they found. Chris, their son, had an idea, because he was interested in filming, he said he would make a documentary about our trip. We had two days of casual filming of our life and then interviews. The next day me and Mum went riding. I rode a little bay called Brandy and Mum rode a grey called Caesar. It was really nice, we saw two tortoises and a big copper snake. It was very fun!
ETNA
We caught the SAT bus for the tour of Etna. On route we went to the Gorge of Alcantara where there was pure basalt everywhere. And then we went to the town of Randazzo. We arrived at some little huts form where we got a 4 wheel drive minibus to just under the main crater. There was about 7ft of snow in some places. Under the snow was a gravelly magma. The crater was smoking all of the time. We also saw some extinct craters too. It was amazing, just the scale of it. Then we got the bus back to Naxos. A fantastic day, 3 volcanos in a month!
5.06.09 TAORMINA
Left Vulcano at about 1 o’clock in the morning and we woke up to go through the Messina Straits. There was 4 knots of tide with us! We saw lots of swordfish and the boats that they catch them from. We saw a Manatee looking thing in the water and we went really close to it. We came into the bay of Taormina and picked up a buoy. A man called George owns them. He took us into the Capo Taormina Hotel. We had a very expensive buffet lunch. Then we spent the rest of the day by the pool. The next day we went into Taormina, it was very touristy. That night it was very rolly. The next day we went in to town again and booked a tour to go up Etna. We moved Carina over to anchor in Naxos.
31.05.09 VULCANO
Slipped berth, very rolly. Half way through the night we anchored in a little bay called Porto cello for most of the night. At 6:00 we carried on to Vulcano. As soon as we could see Vulcano the wind picked up and we were screaming along at 7.5 knts! It started to get rough when we were sailing between Lipari and Vulcano and we anchored next to where the ferries come into on Vulcano. The next morning we went ashore to climb Vulcano. We had a quick coffee and then headed off to the track. It was fine, black dust ¾ of the way up, and then the ground suddenly changed to soft, beige clay. We walked around the edge of the crater, it stank of sulphur! All of the rock around the blow holes was a bright yellow. We walked through the smoke and we had to cover our mouths so that we didn’t breathe in the sulphur. Dad chucked some water into one of the holes and it hissed really loudly! On the way down, we slid down the side in the black sand. It was amazing but quite different form Stromboli.
The next day we rented a quad-bike and a motor scooter. Me and Amber drove the quad-bike lots and we also went to the black beach. It was amazing, the sand was scalding hot! Great day, I loved driving! That night we watched Gladiator which was brilliant.
29.05.09 – PALERMO
Set off quite early in the morning and motor sailed all the way. Arrived at about 1. We cleared up and then went into town. A beautiful old place. The people are so friendly, but it is really dirty. Got lots of free fish from the market. It was fantastic. The next day we did school and jobs and in the evening we went out for a pizza.
28.05.09 – TO SCOPELLO
We had a very calm sail and we dropped anchor in a tiny bay called Scopello. We went ashore and walked to a beach in the nature reserve for an hour or two. Then walked back through the town of Scopello and had a coffee and rowed back to the boat.
19.05.09 SAN VITO LO CAPO
We went into the marina and then all went to the beach and relaxed then went to a lovely family run restaurant for another birthday supper! The next day we had 2 cars and drove to Erice and caught the cable car right to the top. We had a walk around and met a little pony called Pipo next to the Norman Castle. A beautiful medieval town on the top of a very high mountain. The next day Bianca picked me and Mum up and Dad followed in our car. I rode western but unfortunately Mum couldn’t because her legs were too short!! We rode with Bianca, Mario and Paulo, it was fantastic because the horses just wanted to go go go !!! I rode a bay called Chicho and Mum rode a skewbald, Kenzi. When we got to the top of the mountain we stopped and tied the horses to trees for a rest and to look at the amazing view. We rode for 3 hours and we picked up a tiny puppy left on the side of the road and carried it back to the ranch. A fantastic ride!!! The next day a huge kite festival started a there were kites of all shapes and sizes from all over the world. The next day Granny & Grandpa left a very sad moment, it was really nice seeing them. The next day Bianca and Mario came down to the boat and asked us all to come riding with them, so we stayed an extra day and at 6 pm Bianca came and picked us up and took us to her very rustic ranch/house. She has 5 horses. Mum rode western on a strawberry roan pony called Bandeira and i rode in a German saddle with my stirrups on a bay called Toto. Just before i got on i had a quick ride on Paulo’s huge black Stallion without a hat, it was amazing!! Then i got back on toto and we rode off with Paulo and Gaspare and Bianca, Mario, Amber and Dad went in the car. Toto was a dream! We rode up the incredibly rocky mountain, past huge quarries and a baby hedgehog. When we were nearly at the top it was getting dark. At the top we met Bianca and the others in the car. When we got back to the ranch Mario lit a bonfire and Gaspare put sausages and lots of meat on it we had a huge feast and more and more people started coming, it was a dream come true!
18-19.05.09 MUM’S 50th BIRTHDAY!!
We were celebrating on the 18th because G&G wouldn’t be able to be with us all day on the 19th. In the morning I made pancakes and we went up the hotel for a swim and Mum opened her presents. We had a sandwich by the pool and went back to the boat to get ready to go into town for supper. We had a quick drink in the cathedral square then went and met G&G in a lovely restaurant. That night Amber stayed at the hotel with G&G and we set off at 1.0am to San Vito lo Capo. Had a very flat overnight sail and 10 miles away from San Vito we saw 4 swordfish on the surface about 4 mts. away, they were a strange purple/blue colour. Not many people see four 4ft swordfish on their 50th birthday!!
16.05.09 CEFALU
Amber went with G&G in the car. We set off at 4.0pm and had a very flat overnight sail! We arrived early in the morning and went into the marina at 9.0. G&G came onboard then we went into the town for lunch. We walked up to the Greek Temple of Diana with Granny (but not Grandpa!)
14.05.09 MILAZZO
I found Granny in the port looking for us! Then they came out for supper with us, it was really nice seeing them again. For the next couple of days we went for breakfast with them in their hotel and there was a big storm.
12.05.09 TO LIPARI
We left our anchorage in the dark and watched some explosions then sailed onto Lipari to a small anchorage. A beautiful town which we explored for the day. The Citadel Museum was really interesting with thousands of Roman artefacts. The next day we sailed to Milazzo to meet Granny and Grandpa.
10.05.09 TO STROMBOLI, A VOLCANO ADVENTURE!
Sailed overnight, in the morning there were two 4ft tunas following us for 4 hours!! We tried everything to catch them but they weren’t interested! Our trek up the volcano started at 5.0pm. We all had heavy backpacks .There were 12 other people in our group, all adults and our guide was called Sergio. A really long hike to the top, 2 ½ hours, very steep, rocky and sweaty! At the top we had to put on helmets, jackets and trousers. What a spectacular fireworks show!! Red hot rocks and sparks coming up in thousands with a big plume of smoke. We could see right into the crater, we were sitting down watching the volcano for about 1 hour. On the descent the ground was really fluffy black ash and it felt like I was walking in 2ft of snow, we had torches and facemasks because of the dust, it was amazing! When we got the bottom we had been out for 6 hours, but hiking for 5. We had a drink and it was about 11.30pm, then we rowed back to the boat. That will probably be the most magical night for the rest of my life.
8.05.09 – POMPEII
Caught the direct bus to the excavation site in Pompeii. Spent about 8 hours in there as it was so big! In Pompeii, unlike Herculaneum, the archaeologists found bodies which had been stuck by the ‘cement like ash’ and hundreds of yea7rs later had been found hollow because the bodies had rotted inside them leaving an empty cast. During the excavations, they found a garden of fugitives. I found the roads the most interesting because there was always water rushing down the streets, so they made the pavements really high and they built huge stepping stones across the road so the people didn’t get wet feet. They had special carts which could drive between the stones. Really fun day. Caught the bus back to Amalfi.
7.05.09 – HERCULANEUM
Caught the bus then the train into Ercolano (Herculaneum). Went straight into the excavation site. It was amazing how much was still there after Vesuvius had buried the city in ash and lava. Loads of mosaics were still there and they let you walk on them! We stayed in there for about 4 hours. We had lunch and went to the virtual museum. This was where you could look at loads of screens to see what it was like in ancient Herculaneum. That was really fun. We caught the train and bus back.
6.05.09 – Everywhere
We motored straight to Capri. When we got there, Mum motored around while me, Amber and Dad went into Grotta de Azzura. The water was an amazing bright blue colour. Then we carried on to Positano. The buildings were on the very edge of the mountain. Then we motored on to Amalfi. All those places in one day! Amalfi is a very nice little town. Stayed here for a few days.
5.05.09 – ISCHIA
Put up cruising chute and arrived at about 7 in the morning. Went for a walk in the town. And I bought a €35 red walking backpack.
3.05.09 – PONZA
We sailed to Ponza, had a nice walk and ice cream! Very very expensive marina.
1.05.09 – ROMA
Mum and Dad’s 16th anniversary!!! Got the train to Rome and then the metro to meet Giuseppe and Mirella. Joe took us on a brilliant tour in his soft top car to the following Piazza’s – Popolo, Trevi, Spagna, Rotonda and Navona. And the following monuments – Colosseum, Arc of Constantine, Circo Massimo, Palatino, The Spanish steps, The Pantheon, St Pietro, The Trevi Fountain and finally Castel Sant Angelo. Then we went back to their house where Mirella had cooked a meal for us all morning. Joe played the piano, then they offered us Joe’s Dad’s apartment to stay in for the night. We went out and had a pizza and then an ice cream and the back to the flat. The next day we had a croissant across the road and walked to the Vatican, but it would have taken 6 hours in the queue to get into the museum. So we skipped that one!!! We went and had lunch and it started hailing but it cleared up and we went to the cathedral. Met some really friendly Americans on the way up to the cupola.
25.04.09 – 28.04.09 --- Lots of places !!
During the rush to get to Sicily we have been to Elba, where Dad had to go diving to get a line off the prop , ha ha ! Punta Ala Marina and Gigilio, a beautiful place where we walked up to the castle. And finally to Anzio, where we hove-to all night outside because it was too rough to get into Ostia.
23.04.09 – FLORENCE (Firenze)
Caught the train to Florence and got on the city sightseeing tour bus. We went to the Leonardo Da Vinci museum of his inventions. It was really fun because you could try out his inventions yourself. We walked around the Cathedral then went to the Academia Galleria and saw ‘David’ by Michelangelo. It was amazing. When we came out it was raining and we went into a little restaurant and I had spaghetti with rabbit sauce. Yummmmmyyyyyy!!!!!
22.04.09 – PISA !!!! (note the slanted writing !!!)
Caught the bus from Livorno to Pisa. Walked to the leaning tower of Pisa and took the inevitable picture! We went into the Baptistry and the echos were amazing. Then we went into the Cathedral, it was absolutely fantastic. There were paintings everywhere you looked of religious things. We got a takeaway pizza on the grass next to the tower. Amber went up the tower because it was too expensive for all of us to go up.
20.04.09 – To ITALIA !
Sailed overnight to Livorno. A huge working and industrial port for big ships and containers.
The following day we went to the cathedral and it was really big and beautiful and so was the Palace. Then we went to the Arabic baths. That night we went to Sigal and Eran’s house for paella which was huge and delicious! I played loads with Raz and stayed overnight at his house! We hired a car and went half way up a mountain then walked to the Castelo d’ Alaro on the very top. We also went to a big market .In the next few days we went to Port Andraitx, Soller, Valedemosa and Deia. Every night I stayed at Raz’s. On Saturday Raz and his Mum took me out cycling for a couple of hours along the Arenal. The next day Mum and Dad surprised me by taking me to see Leigh which was really fun, me and Amber went for a swim in the hotel pool. Paul, Di, the girls, Sigal , Eran and Raz came to Carina for supper.We woke up really early on Amber’s birthday , she opened her presents and I made her pancakes for breakfast. Me, Amber, India and Clemmy tried apple bobbing but when I chucked the bucket of water over Amber’s head unexpectedly it turned into a water fight!! That night we played charades then Carina and Prospero went for an Indian. The next day we sailed to Rapita and anchored for the night. Next morning we set off for Cala Llonga, Prospero came in and we all went for a coffee. Then it was onto Porto Cristo. When we arrived we went for drinks on Prospero.
The next day we set off for Palma in the morning and stopped to anchor off a private island, we went for a walk on the beach then went back to the boat and set off to Palma. It took a whole night of motor sailing. We came into Pier 46 Marina and we had to change berth twice. A boat came in next to us and there was a boy called Raz onboard, they all spoke perfect English and they are Israeli. They invited us to their house for supper the next night. That day we went to the cathedral and walked around the city a bit. The day after that we went into the Palace and we had a sunny lunch!! That night Raz’s dad cooked us a huge paella and we stayed up till one in the morning!!
When we got to the anchorage we went for a walk down the side of the sea, there were really weird rocks, some were volcanic & some sand rocks. On that night we caught an octopus in our crab pot!! We stayed at anchor two nights and then turned into the marina. The next day we hired some bikes and went off to explore the Island. We found the oldest beach bar in the whole of Formentera!! We carried on to a little beach and had some snacks, then started back to the boat. We cycled 40km and 30 km of it was lovely tracks.
A good sail here. Anchored in a small bay for the night and sailed to Ibiza town. Stayed Ibiza town for a couple of days then met two people who wanted to go out sialing for the day so we took them out. Lots of lovely bays. Went to the other side of the island on a bus and looked around. Sailing to Formentera today.
JAVEA / XÁBIA
Second night in Javea, Chris, Sarah, Sam, Amy and Alice all came round for a drink on our boat. It was really fun.
The next night me and Amber stayed the night at their house. Stayed up really late. The next day they all caught a bad attack of skiverlitis and had a day off school !
Stayed the next couple of nights at their house- really fun.
Drove past the whopping great MontGo Mountain– looked like an elephant’s head ! Went to Guadalest and took the dogs for a walk and had a huge picnic by el Castello de Guadalest .
We took them out sailing for the afternoon and showed them how to sail.
Stayed another night and they had another attack of skiverlitis, obviously a very common fever in Spain!!
Off to Ibiza tomorrow.
1.02.09
We motored out of the harbour and set our course and sailed without our motor at an average of 7.5 knots. We went past the Mar Menor then pulled in at Torrevieja to anchor for the night. Set off in the morning for Villajoyosa – we had to motor all the way past benidorm, the biggest package holiday resort in the world i would guess –DO NOT GO THERE !!!. When we got to Villajoyosa it was really horrible weather, once again we set off but this time to Javea. Another fantastic sail. Entrance was beautiful and the berth was really easy to get into.
31.01.09
Went on a two hour walk with Gill, Martin and Leros(their dog). When we got back to the boat it was dark. We are really going to miss you all and the great fun we had when we go.
29.01.09
Teatromano Museum – An interesting museum about a Roman Theatre that kept on being built over without being noticed until 20 years ago.
25.01.09
Arqua Museo – A fantastic interactive museum about Mediterranean marine archaeology. It was really fun and free on Sunday, so guess what day we went!
19.01.09
We woke up 5.0 am, what a great surprise!! More like a miracle for me!! We went in our hire car, me and Amber didn’t know where we were going or what we going to do.... When we got to Granada me and Amber thought we were going tobogganing again. We started heading up to the top of the mountain. When we had parked the car we walked out into the snowy Square and started to walk towards a ski hire shop. I got SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! When we were trying on boots it felt so nice to be back in them.
As soon as we got our ski passes we jumped in the telecabine and out onto the slopes. It was not great visibility and snowing. Really fun though! We had a huge picnic in our hotel room for supper! Mega breakfast and a nice sunny day’s skiing. We packed our bags in the morning and headed up for the last day of skiing. It was snowing and raining all day, me and Dad did 2 more runs than Mum and Amber and in the end we stopped skiing at 3.0. A FANTASTIC holiday.
4.01.09
For the next 10 days Dad had his head stuck in the bilges with Danny from a 186 ft sailing yacht called Burrassca, a £50,000,000 yacht!! I’ve been sailing each weekend and I had to learn some Spanish parts of a boat. Then we met a family called Paul, Di, Clem and India. In the end we found out we had a diesel bug from the fuel in Ceuta.
3.01.09
On Sunday morning I was out on deck in my pj’s watching the sailing school go out. Then the teacher came over to our boat and asked me if I wanted to join in so I said YES!!! So I got my kit on REALLY quickly and went off Opi sailing for the morning. In the afternoon Dad started to try and find out what was wrong with the engine. On Monday Amber and I went sailing and we saw some English people having a BBQ and they invited us, so that was the afternoon sorted! At 7.0 we all went and watched the Three Kings Parade. Me and Amber got HUNDREDS of sweets !!!
2.01.09
In the morning Mum and I slipped in our last ride then we set off to Cartagena in a perfect wind, unlucky, this time we didn’t catch anything. In the morning I woke up and it was flat calm, we were motoring and there were some dolphins at the bow and we took pictures of them. When we started to get near the port the engine was misfiring and just before Cartagena it cut out, but luckily it started again and it kept doing it. It JUST got us there !!
31.12.08
We had roast chicken, potatoes and chocolate mousse for pudding. We had Spanish new year then English new year (which was an hour later) in 2 different bars!!
26.12.08
We went to the pitches with Muriel, Bastain, Lulu and Dominique (all French) and played lots of sports all day!
25.12.08
We woke up and found our stockings on the sofa, we went into Mum and Dad’s cabin and opened our presents! Then we went for a walk down the beach, used our new rollerblades and played Boules! A very different Christmas!
24.12.08
We cooked paella.
4.12.08
When we were back in Almerimar we did school, riding and jobs until Christmas. One weekend we went tobogganing in Puerta de la Ragua, I really really enjoyed it !Today we went to the Sagrada Familia, the unfinished Cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is amazing they are still trying to finish it now. It was huge. After that we went to watch some Flamenco dancing, it was very dramatic & passionate. I really enjoyed it. The next day we went up to Montjuic in the cable car. There was a really nice view of Barcelona. Then we walked to the Olympic Stadium which was huge. The next day we went on the bus to Parc Guell, another of Gaudi’s projects, it was 15 hectares of park land, we saw the famous lizard & Gaudi’s own house. The next day we so nearly missed our train. It took 13 hours to get to Almeria.
We visited the Picasso Museum. I thought his traditional paintings were the best. I didn’t like the Modernist ones quite so much. It was still amazing though. On Saturday we walked past the Cathedral and saw a big protest of CGT. The next day we walked along the seafront again & caught a bus to the Maritime Museum. It was really interesting to see what boats the Spanish used to use. After that we went back to another church to listen to Manuel Gonzalez playing Flamenco music on his Spanish guitar.
We stayed on Mike’s boat, Carelia in Port Vell .When we had put all our bags onboard we went for a walk down on the beach to watch all the surfers. Then we took Mike to a lovely little cafe to have supper .The next day we walked to the Christopher Columbus column, then walked across the wibbly wobbly bridge to a big shopping centre .Mike cooked supper. Yum yum!!! The next morning we walked up La Rambla past the Umbrella house. Then we went to Casa Battlo designed by Gaudi. It was incredible, all designs were based on a whale. All different colours and amazing shapes. Then we took Mike to his favourite restaurant, Tantarantana!!! I had a really nice duck. The next day we went to the Chocolate museum, it was really fun. Then we went into Santa Maria del Mar, a really old church .Then we walked around the Born area.
The next day all we did was started to settle in. Wednesday, did nothing. Thursday, went to dentist then went into school for the afternoon had a great time! Evening at Sally’s house, really fun! Friday jujitsu really fun did kumites all the time. Then went to Christine & Mikes for supper. Saturday got a cold & went riding at mill farm. Sunday jujitsu nationals sudden death for bronze & I won and got bronze! Then went to Caroline Robinson`s house had fish`n`chips!! Monday went to see Buster with Mum & Fliss, had a quick ride, sad when we left. Then went to Smithies house for supper then stayed the night, really fun. Tuesday went into school again then went to footie with Ethan. Wednesday went riding with Christine on the hill, 15 minute gallop!!! Then went to David & Louise for supper. Thursday drove to Warwick really nice seeing everyone including our goats. Friday went for 6 walks. Saturday went beating with Uncle Steve & brought home a duck!! Caroline and Richard had a great party for us in the evening. Sunday, went to the pub with the rest of the family from Warwick. Had a really nice time in Warwick. Drove back to Cheltenham stayed at Andrew and Rose`s house for the night. Monday, flew back to Barcelona.
We started packing early in the morning & at about 11:00 we stuffed our rented car to the roof and set off for Murcia airport. We stopped off at Cartagena for lunch then we carried on for the airport. When we got there the airport was tiny! We checked in & through security in 10 minutes. We got on our plane and in 2 hours we were in Bristol. Andrew & Rose were waiting for us with a picnic of caviar!! Then they took us back to Selkirk Gardens.
For the next few days we did school & jobs. One of the days me and Mum went riding and all they did was give us the horses & told us to go by ourselves. We were galloping with the horses knee deep in water & we got drenched!
This morning we set off quite early for Granada. It took about an hour to get there. We were about an hour early, so we found a track & me and Amber had a go at driving & using the pedals. Amber kept on stalling but I got it first time!! When it was time we set off for the Alhambra. Inside the palace all I can say is amazing, beautiful, stunning & incredible. We kept on saying it’s incredible they built it then, it would still be incredible if they built it today. Then we walked through the palace gardens which were amazing as well. If you like architecture & plants you have to go! A really interesting day.
We left Almerimar at about 10:00 in our puke green Fiat Panda!! We drove through mountain villages. When we got to the top of one of the mountains there was lots of snow. We had a really fun snow ball fight, me & Amber whipped Dad`s butt!! Then we carried on to Orgiva. When we got there it was dark so we went into a little pension for the night.
We hired a car & drove to Almeria & had a look around & on the way back we drove to the only desert in Europe, the Tabernas desert. We saw a sign to where they film the cowboy movies so we went in and walked around the cowboy town set!! They had stables with horses in & the saloon with a bar! Then at the end of the day they had a bar fight, which was really funny & in Spanish!! A fun day out.
When we arrived at the stables, I got on a grey called Seraphina. When we rode onto the beach me & Mum had a long gallop. When Seraphina started to dig in the sand & then lowered herself down then started rolling, I just jumped off in time before she squished me!!! A really fun ride!!!
We slipped our berth in Smir & just as we were out of the harbour we went aground!! Luckily we were only going 2 knots so all we had to do was put her astern. Once we were into deeper waters we hoisted the sails up & put out a tuna rod & a tuna line. It started get quite choppy so we were wondering whether to put into a closer harbour for the night, but it started to get calmer so we decided to carry on all the way. We saw lots of dolphins playing in our bow wave!! At about 10:00 Dad started shouting something to me and Amber, I went up to the cockpit and I looked over the side and saw a tuna. Mum came up and scooped it up in a bucket and half of it was still sticking out!! When we finally got it on board & killed it we weighed it & it was a whopping 10 pounds!! In the morning I woke up at 6:30 and did the rest of the watch with mum. When it was light we could see all the green houses & mountains. When we got into the marina we were on the waiting pontoon for about an hour then we went to our berth on cat alley. The next few days it was really wind so we did jobs, school & walks.
We got on local crazy bus which was completely jam packed!!When we got to Rincon we followed another lady going to Chefchaouen, she led us to a coach station where we got the coach. It took about 1 hour & a half & when we got there it was 4 o’clock, nearly dark and raining. So we asked someone where the medina was & the lady we asked walked us up through the medina & to a little guesthouse! So that was that decision made. We walked around the medina that night & had a meal in a lovely restaurant. Then we went back to the guesthouse & had a lovely long sleep. The next morning we went to see the Moroccan women doing their washing on wash boards outside. Then we walked up the mountain to an old ruin of a mosque. It was an amazing view. We walked back down & caught a taxi back to the boat.
We caught a taxi to go to Rincon & then thinking we would catch another taxi to Chefchaouen- but no!! We sat down in a cafe to have a drink. Then a man came over to us & started to tell us about Rincon in English!! Then he asked us whether we wanted to go to his house and meet his wife and son. So off we went with a man we didn’t even know!! He took us to the market & he bought food, then he took us to see the mosque he prays in. Then he took us to his house, when we got there we had a lovely warm welcome by his wife & we sat down on the rugs. Then Hayat (Yazid`s wife) walked out of the kitchen with a huge dish of couscous, she put it down and we all ate it with our hands!! In the end we stayed about 4 hours!! Then we caught our taxi back to the boat.
We set off about lunch time. We saw the ship that had gone aground on the cliffs off Europa Point, we had a lovely sail but we didn’t see any dolphins. When we got there we came into our berth alongside the quay.
The next few days we did jobs, school & boat washing!!Amber and I went round the marina and asked people if they wanted their boat to be washed, in the end we cleaned two boats and earned ten pounds!!
First the marina guys came down and sad to tighten up our lines because there were going to be 60 mph winds coming our way. In the evening the wind picked right up to 70 miles an hour. Me and Amber went up to Mel and Jayne's car and slept up there for the night. We went to bed at three o'clock though! The ramp to ge to the pontoon had sunk so we could not get back to the boats. Lots of boats had holes in them. At six o'clock, the wind got up to 80 mph. The next day at lunchtime, we went back to the boat and we were sooo lucky that we only had snapped lines and no other damage. There was a boat at the end of our pontoon which looks like Jaws had been at it !
We walked up a road and saw the prices of the toll which were really expensive. So we saw some rocks and went rock climbing for 20 minutes until we had dodged the toll ! ! When we had walked to the top, a tour guide gave me and Amber some food and we fed it to the ape from our hand. We walked back down 647 steps and after that, I went and did Ju Jistsu! And then we went for a party on mel and Jayne's boat ! I was sooo stiff the next day.
GIB
The first couple of days we anchored in La Linea (Spain). Motored into Queensway Quay Marina. We met two really nice people called Mel and Jayne and the people behind us were called France, Frank, Colin, Jeanne and Juliette. They are French. The next week or so we mucked around with them and had parties on eachothers boats. There was also a family that came in who were Norwegian with three children, Silva, Hanah and ?.
We had to motor sail all the way again. When we got there we dropped anchor in the dark. Then the police came and said we had to move to a different place !
The next few days it just rained. Oh,and I forgot ! I have got a new MP4 player and in the morning I dropped it the toilet when a ship made some wake, I was listening to it at the time !! We took it apart and dried it out, miraculously it still works !
We caught a bus to the Moroccan border then caught a taxi to Tetouan. We had to eat our lunch in a car park so people couldn’t see us because they were on Ramadan !!! We walked around for a couple of hours and then someone told us that the King was just about to come down this road !
So we sat down on a window shelf and waited for an hour. When he came past he was standing out of the top of the car. Then we caught the taxi back to the border and got the bus back. Then we went to a little local's tapas bar.
Riding with a sight of two continents !!! When we got there they had huts you could stay in. They had pygmy goats, rabbits, ferrets, ducks, dogs, and horses !!! I got on a lovely 14.2h called Naseda, Mum got on a 15h called Quogi and Amber rode a 14.2h called Abaléra. We had a lovely hack up a mountain and when we got up we had a site of Ceuta and Morocco. When we got back to the yard I got on Abaléra and did some jumping, it was brilliant !!.
OFICIALLY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA!!!!!!!
We had to motor sail all the way to Ceuta. When we got there there was big confusion because it was a med mooring!! The man next to us called Hank sold his outboard motor to us.the next day we went to a huge swimming pool with salt water and islands.
Very calm sail then out of the blue came 30 knots of wind!
We flew past where the Battle of Trafalgar had happened.
We came into a fishing harbour in Tangier and we had to raft up to a boat called Dream Catcher.
Next day we had a really fascinating tour from Mustafa. We had a quick camel ride!
That evening we went back to the best restaurant in Tangier, yummee !
the 1/3 day we stayed on the boat and did school and jobs .
We went in the dinghy to Cadiz, it took an hour! Cadiz is lovely city, we walked the purple route. The cathedral was beautiful but falling down.
Lots of pretty little streets. We went to a spanish style fish and chip shop, it took 1/2 hour to catch the waiter, it was that busy !!
the dinghy was where we left it!
We had a lovely swim then we set off for the bullring.
We dragged the dinghy all the way up the beach then we set about walking to the bullring.
We got some seats and the bull came out . The torreadors taunted the bull and then they stuck spears in , then the action started. The matador came out and his clothes got ripped up by the bull!!
The next fight he had a clean kill .
When we got back to the dinghy the outboard had been stolen. A long row back.
6.9.08
Out of the marina and pulled the sails up to Cadiz . Nice sail . Cadiz Marina was full so we had to anchor in Santa Maria Bay.
We raced to the bullring in the dinghy to find the fight was the next day !!
We bought some tickets anyway, got back to the boat and had a swim in the dark.
5.9.08
We caught a bus from Chipiona to Seville.
In the city we went in a huge cathedral and then got into a lovely horse and carriage .
I made sure Pepe was well looked after. We saw lots of beautiful buildings . The driver let me drive for 1/4 hour !!
Then we returned to Chipiona to find a little bodega where everything was €1 !!
4.9.08
We motored with the main to Chipiona in Spain . Half way there we had at least 100 dolphins swimming round our boat, it was amazing.
Berthed in Chipiona , chillout time... Washing!
We walked round the town, lovely small place.
3.9.08.
We moved up river to anchor only after we had truly gone aground !! We went ashore in the dinghy to old Faro, great lunch and saw the town from the cathedral tower and take in a bit of the atmosphere. We only just got out under the bridge in the dinghy as the tide had come right up , we had to all lie down !!
We cooked our mackerel - delicious !!!!
29.8.08
We caught 20 mackeral and kept 12. Hot weather so naked sunbathing ! When we got to Vilamoura we went to the beach for 4 hours ! Then set off to Faro. Nice sail 7.5 knots. When we arrived there was 4 knots of tide against us ! We dropped our anchor and settled down for the night.
25.8.08
Sailed to Lagos today. Sailed through the day and through the night, anchored when we got there. Very roly so have gone into the marina. It is a really nice place. Met Steph, Sylas and Amos on Oomu ! Second day, Mum and i caught a taxi to Quinta de Paradiso for a hack. I was soooooooooooooooo excited ! They only had horses because all of the ponies were at a show. So i had the choice of a 15.2 h called Maggie or a 16.2 h called Ruby. And I picked Ruby. We went off on dust tracks with small bushes and a BIG bonus - no cars ! We cantered most of the time. When we got back to the yard, we were covered in dust, we helped on the yard for a bit and then went back. THE BEST HACK OF MY LIFE !!
21.8.08
A very fast sail, 8.2 knots with just our genoa it took half an hour. We moored on a pontoon and went swimming. The next day we caught the metro to Lisbon. We went to the Castelo De St Jorge which was really interesting. We saw lots of beautiful buildings. Then we got a 360 view of Lisbon. The next day we sailed under the Ponte D'Abril 25th and had a great view of Lisbon. We anchored in a little bay called Seixal and ate our mackeral.
19.8.08
We had 1 day in Cascais which was sunny and 1 day in Sintra. We caught the bus to Sintra. We walked down a road with lots of sculptures. We carried on walking towards these funnels which were actually kitchen chimneys ! We went inside the palace which was amazing ! Then we walked to the Quinta De Regaleira where we went to the Initiation well which was fantastic. Then we went back to the boat on the bus.
To Cascais.
Slipped the lines.
Hoisted the sails.
Altered course to destination !
We had to motor sail again. Went to sleep, woke up and we anchored in Peniche to have breakfast, then carried on to Cascais. When we got there , there was 45 knots of wind which made it pretty hard to anchor !
17.8.08
To Porto ! Quite early, we set off for the metro. When we arrived we walked into the square and caught a bus called City Sight - seeing and had a tour. After that we walked into the old part, where there were holes in the roofs and smashed windows ! Headed over the bridge to Villa Nova De Gaia where we went to the Calem Port Cellars. We had a tour and a taste ! We waited by the river for the sun to go down.
We had a calm sail to Povoa De Varzim. We moored next to an English boat, with two girls called Sophie and Lucy. We went to watch the festival parade which was amazing. We had a walk about the old town. Next day we did school and jobs.
We set sail for Viana De Castelo, Portugal ! The second day we walked up 620 steps to see the temple of Santa Luzia ( and I got 2 icecreams for that ! )
This morning we went onboard the Pinta, one of Christopher Columbus' ships. Then we sailed to Islas Cies where some lovely Portuguese people moored next to us. Then the wind and the fog came. the next morning we headed back to Bayona but the engine died on us again. We had to emergency anchor as we nearly went on the rocks. We were towed into the marina again. Dad found the problem was a faulty fuel gauge and that we were empty !!
Bayona
We had to sail in because our engine had broken. We anchored and settled down. The next few days all we did was put out the fishsing lines, sunbathe and fix the engine! Aftre a couple of days we went into the marina and we had to be towed in by a rib. We rang an engineer and when he came he brought a man called Alfredo to translate. Fixed the engine and made the crab pot. We walked up to the castle and walked the outside of it. Met Philip and Francis a Canadian couple. The next morning we caught a bus to Santiago De Compostelo. When we arrived we went to the cathedral, it was incredible. When we had walked around Santiago for a while we went back and caught the bus. Great day out.
We siad our goodbyes to Iceni and headed off in a lovely breezy day. We put up the cruising chute and there wasn't even enough wind for it. so we pulled it down and used the sails we could. When we got there we went to a lovely anchorage in a beachy cove and we went swimming and rowed to the beach in the rib. We had to fill up with water so at some point we had to go into the marina.
We set off at 8.15 for Camaret. It was great sailing weather and we were out on deck and sunbathing when we decided to carry on across the Bay of Biscay to Ria De Cedeira. It was really hot the first two days and we slept very well but on the last night the wind got up to force 9 which is 47 knots ! When we got there, there were lots of pine trees and we could smell them from the sea ! The first thing Amber said was " I thought Spain was beachy ! " When we got into the harbour we saw three or four beaches and Amber said
" oooooohhhhhhhh, there are the beaches ! "
We woke up to thick fog. We were having lunch when we saw an English boat then we realised it was a warrior 40. Mum said how weird it would be if it was the Dallas's on Iceni Warrior. And you wouldn't never guess who it was... we waved but they didn't notice us at first , but then suddenly they twigged !! The next 3 days we spenyt playing with Hannah and Fraser and going ringo-ing and wakeboarding. It was really fun. Tomorrow we will be going to La Coruna.
A short and peaceful sail to Aber Benoit. When we got there we picked up a mooring and dragged it and we had to cut the line because it got stuck ! We dragged it back into its position and set off for another one. When we finally got on the mooring we sat down for a peaceful glass of wine. A beautiful place.
We had a good start to the journey then 2 panics came up, ifrts we thought we had lost 2 main batten cars. Then Dad mended them. Mr Fix it!! Then Dad went down below to plot a position and when he came back up he said 'We are sinking' . Ok maybe i am being a bit dramatic and what he actually said was 'Our bilge is full of water!!' Then we found out it was fresh water from our tank, we emptied the bilge and carried on sailing. When we got there we celebrated by cleaning the bilges !! The next couple of days we spent cleaning.
As soon as we got out of the harbour, the waves were steep and roly poly. When we had been going for a couple of hours we reached the Alderney race which was bloomin' rough. When we got to St Peter Port we moored up next to a 1920 Swedish rescue boat. We slept all night long until about 9.30am and we finally arose from our beauty sleeps (altho i don' think it did Dad much good !!) The next day we came out of the water on a huge trolley, and that was scary! When we were up on the hard we 'only' had to do the keel cooler, patch up the antifoul and the seacock. We went back inot the water that day and then were put back in the water and then hauled out again as we hadn't finished our jobs. We went back in three days later and woke up and left for L'Aber Wrac'h.
We left in the late afternoon to get to Alderney. On the way it was really nice sailing but we only saw one yacht ! When we got there it took us three or four times to get on the mooring. That night we went out into town and had a look around and there was this really nice American lady called Krys who we talked to for ages. Independance Day ! Then we went back to the boat for a restless rocking night. The next few days we had to spend in Alderney as it was really rough and windy. The waves were coming 30ft over the harbour wall next to us!
This morning we hired a citron citroen, yuck ! We drove to Barfluer , had some breakfast and then headed off for St Vaast, where we had a crepe and bought a fishing rod ! Then we went on to Crisbeqc battery which was really interesting. Then we drove past all of the beaches, Omhama, Gold, Juno, Sword and Utah. Gold was the most interesting because it had alot of the floating harbour still there. It was scary to see how many people died on those 5 beaches ! After that we headed home but we stoppped at Bayeux to have a look around. A lovely town with a huge cathedral / church, not sure !! Then we went back to Cherbourg and had a wacky in a wacky restaraunt and i had a 5 oz steak which was really yummy. When we got back to the boat we fell asleep straight away. A great day out.
The Channel Crossing
In the morning of the 30th June we woke up at about 6:20, we slipped our lines and put up our sails, as we left Yarmouth we went passed the neddles and we could see the lighthouse for at least 4 hours. After we couldn't see the Isle of Wight i had a sleep for about 2 hours and when i woke up i could see lots of big ships in the shipping lanes. I went and sat on the bow and the fast cat came past and made a huge wake and when we went over it i was still sitting on the bow and we did a nose dive and i got dunked in the sea. The next thing I knew we could see the French coast, Yiiipppeee!!!When we got into the harbour we were escorted in by a huge dolphin playing hide and seek with us under the boat. When we got in the marina we VHF ed the marina office and we asked him " Which berth shall we go in ?" he said "P." we asked what number on p ,he answered back "I don't know de place!" When we had got on a berth mum cooked some pasta and we had a bottle of champers with it!!
In total it took about 14 hours!!
31.5.08 - 1.6.08- Our first day out of the marina woohoo!!
At the weekend we went for a sail. The end.
Actually it was much more fun that that!! We cut the ropes and we were off!!! And they're out of the marina, now out of the harbour, and they put their mainsail and genoa up and they were sailing !!! We turned off the engine, and. .... no wind! We headed over to the Isle of Wight but there was not enough time to sail there so we turned back to Itchenor where we stayed on a mooring for the night. In the morning i woke at half nine and when i got out of bed and onto deck i couldn't step on dry land!! There were Mirror dinghies sailing into us, round us and under us -well nearly! At about 12 ish we came of the mooring and set sail again. We got up the sails put the fishing lines out and we were off, once again. It was a bit windier than yesterday but we only got up to 4 knots. We caught 14 mackerel. And some of them were pretty big! We barely had to steer her. She was so steady. Me and dad started to gut the fish but we kept catching more and more and more!!! and when we started coming in we ran aground and we couldn't`t get out for about 20 minutes and at last we got out when we got back to the marina we BBQ' d the mackerel and they were deliicciioossss!!!! A great weekend sailing!!
over and out !!!
6.04.08 - SEA SURVIVAL COURSE
Today we went to a sea survival center in Southampton. When we went in there were only tall men! And once again, i am the smallest and the youngest!!!! At first, Steve, our instructor, introduced himself to everyone. And all of the people that were on the course, had to introduce themselves and tell everyone why they were on the course. After a while we started to look at a slide show about how to survive in the sea. And then we watched a couple of videos about what could happen if you do have to get in a life raft or your boat sinks. UMMMMM......... At about half eleven we set off to go to the pool. When we got there , we all had to get changed into about 5 layers of clothing and wet weather gear!! We also had to put on a life jacket!!! We all jumped in the pool and tried to get in the life raft. After we had jumped in, we got out again and had to jump of a tall platform into the pool! At the end we had a big blackout and the ceiling was spraying out cold water from hoses. And i mean REALLY cold! There was also a man at the side spraying a hose! It was a really really fun day out.!!!!
Riding in Kaya Koy from Fethiye
wakeboarding !!!!!!!!!!!
