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"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
This week was a big-un. And I mean BIG.
I announced to my company that my departure from gainful employment would be happening in three months time. Having managed to secure voluntary redundancy, after 34 years bloody hard work (but loved almost every minute of it), I was finally going to do something that had been in the planning phase for a long time. Nicki resigned from her post as well and we went public with family and friends with the news that flights were booked for our departure from the UK on 14th May. We would shortly be heading off to "live the dream". Yes, our dream to live on Comino for about six months of the year was finally going to happen. The plan is not to have a fixed plan, other than to live on the boat for as long as we want, in the knowledge that we'll never be that far from airports allowing us to come home for short breaks or longer spells depending on our mood. WOW.... can someone please pinch me....I can hardly believe I'm saying all of this. Time to go shopping for flamboyant swim shorts and funky flip flops. I'll also pick up a pair of scissors to take to my suits and ties! The thought of not having to wear shoes anymore is very exciting indeed ! At this stage our thinking is to sail around the Algarve for a bit, then slowly hop down the Spanish coast towards Gibraltar and then decide at what point we go through the Straights into the Med. After that....who knows....our route will be largely determined by wind and weather, but I do have Spanish, French, Italian, Maltese and Greek courtesy flags on-board.
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We arrived back from Albufeira on 3rd Jan. I've since been in hospital having what I hope will be the last bit of surgery on my left hand.
So, how was it in Portugal? Let's start with the 5am dash across the car park at Bristol Airport on 30th Dec in sub zero temperatures and a biting wind. Once inside the terminal we thawed out thinking of the warmer weather ahead. Stepping off the plane a few hours later in Faro, we most certainly weren't disappointed. What a contrast in temperatures. Then, after the thirty minute transfer, I was in shorts and T-shirt within minutes of stepping aboard Comino. And that's how it stayed during the daytime for the duration of the trip. This brings me to New Years Eve and the monster party on the beach. We kicked off in a Chinese restaurant with a magnificent buffet meal and then headed for the big stage. Having said we would stay back from the mosh pit, we ended up right in the thick of it. AUREA, a well known pop star in Portugal, came on and delivered a great show with her highly polished band. At midnight the air filled with a shower of bubbly as thousands of corks popped all around us. We got absolutely drenched, but loved every minute of it. Fireworks exploded above our heads to a chorus of ooh's and aah's and I thought to myself, this was a proper way to see in the New Year. Nicki and I took a "nip" from my hip flask and hugged along with thirty thousand other partygoers. The atmosphere was electric and as we wandered back through the packed old town the clubs and bars were revving up for a long and noisy night ahead. We strolled to the marina and opened a bottle of bubbly aboard Comino to toast what we hope will be a very interesting 2012. Watch this space - big news is about to be revealed soon! |
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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