OUR BLOG
"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
The past couple of weeks have been spent doing very little other than enjoying life in the slow lane. The weather has been rather changeable with short spells of blustery wind and even occasional rain showers, but sunshine has never really been absent for more than a few hours. Needless to say, both of us are brown as berries already.
Some aspects of domestic life have been ever so slightly frustrating of late - the mens showers have been cold for nearly two weeks whilst a vital plumbing part makes it way at a snails pace form Barcelona. As the marina manager said "it would be quicker to get it from Australia". Apparently this is typical of how things work in Spain! It got interesting when the men started using the womens showers (me included) much to their initial annoyance, until they realised the alternative was very smelly partners living in close quarters in the confined space of a boat. Common sense prevailed - both sexes remain squeaky clean with most peoples modesty still intact. In Gibraltar, the supermarket Morrisons have enjoyed a monopoly on providing British foodstuffs for many years. Spanish people flock over the border in their thousands every day to buy brands and products that we take for granted. Obviously, the local Gibraltarians shop there too so the tills are ringing non stop. However, free market competition has arrived in the shape of Eroski, a new Spanish chain with a twist. They supply products from Waitrose, but even more interesting is the location. The shop is situated less than a hundred yards inside Gibraltar, literally a stones throw away from the border. This makes it perfect for us as we sit a stones throw away from the border on the Spanish side. Door to door takes us about ten minutes, even taking into account we have to go through passport control. And what happens when fierce competion like this takes place - yes you've guessed it - the prices come down. In order to stop us, and the Spanish masses, travelling another mile down the road to Morrisons, some products are ludicrously cheap. Now what do you think they have made their top challenger item. RIOJA !!! It's an unbelivable bargain at just £1 a bottle. My mate Ray (a lifetime fan of this red liquid nectar) will be apoplectic at the injustice of it all. Next week is going to be a busy one. We get lifted out of the water on Monday to do the anti foul painting, which, with all the other jobs required, means we'll be parked in the boatyard until Thursday. We've booked into a local hotel for three nights and although the days will be tough going, they've got a swimming pool to relax in come the evenings. So, all of this means that the following week we'll slip our lines from La Linea to sail round the bottom of Gibraltar and cross the line into the Med. Estapona will be the first port of call, although we are toying with the idea of heading over to Morocco first for a few weeks instead. Watch this space!!!
1 Comment
Jackie Harvey
3/5/2013 09:53:02 am
Glad to hear all is going so well and that you are about to be able to clean your bottom! Hope all goes according to plan with that. Wow I like the sound of your local shop, I could easily change from a rose/white wine drinker to red at those prices! At long long last we are having some decent weather here at home, just hoping the sunshine holds out for the Bank Holiday weekend for us all! Lots of Love Jackie X
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A FEW PICS OF COMINO Click a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through. COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
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