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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
On Friday, the news about Nicki's father was not good at all. There was only one thing to do - get her on the first available flight home. Easyjet came up trumps and after some hasty packing we zoomed off to the airport for a departure to Gatwick at 01:10 am local time, arriving at a rather unsociable 02:35 am UK time.
Em's fiancé, Will, was there to meet her and take her back to their flat in London. Without delay, she set off again for the journey to Cheltenham with Em in the car for company. Nicki's Mini was stored in their garage - just as well. Having not driven for five months, it was a bit nerve racking. The decision to motor through the night was partly made to avoid the Bank Holiday traffic, but mostly because time was of the essence. Thankfully Nicki was home safe and sound within a few hours. Needless to say, being reunited with the rest of her family after so long away, in such circumstances, was emotional. I'm holding the fort on the boat and sadly Em and Will have had to cancel their holiday here, which was due to start tomorrow. What makes it doubly hard is that it would have been the first time seeing Em in five months. I'm anxious to get home myself now, once I can get Comino booked into the marina in San Antonio. That's always a challenge. As I mentioned before, we've got ferry tickets to Valencia and flights to Malta coming up soon, so you can see how these are certainly challenging times. Mind you, the only thing that really matters is that Nicki's father pulls through.
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Although we've recently ventured out to idyllic anchorages for a few days here and there, we're mainly staying put in San Antonio now due to the very worrying situation with Nicki's father. Things have taken a turn for the worse much quicker than expected. Daily medical reports from family keep us fully updated, but the news is very stressful. With Em arriving on Monday, and no permanent marina berth, it makes it difficult for us to jump on a plane home, which is, of course, our natural inclination. Life on the ocean waves is not all plain sailing at the moment. However, to brighten things up, we did have a lovely visit aboard Comino from Rhiannon, one of my management team from work days......what are work days I ask myself! She's in Ibiza with a friend on a short party, party, party holiday. Knowing we were here, she wanted to say hello before a visit to an exclusive beach club nearby and then Pasha for a night of clubbing. A few glasses of fizz and a good old catch up made for a really uplifting time. Just what we needed. Nicki particularly enjoyed some girlie company for a change. Today has been a busy day making travel arrangements. Our delivery crew fly in from Malta on the 6th September. Well run through the in's and out's of the boat and do the formal handover on the 7th. We then jump on the fast Catamaran to Valencia on the 8th, having stayed in a hotel overnight. On the 10th we fly from Valencia to Malta, where we'll await (anxiously) Comino's arrival, probably about ten days later. Next job is to find a hotel in Valencia and look up things to do whilst we're there. Here we are back in the marina in San Antonio a few days after James has departed. Comino is clean and tidy again and miraculously no smelly underwear has been left behind. His time with us was, however, very precious and we'll not leave it so long again. A lot of his holiday was spent bombing around in the dinghy, using so much petrol he caused a severe shortage throughout Ibiza, or lounging around on a lilo or making himself cheese, tomato and chorizo baguettes. He must have consumed at least a hundred in seven days. Next week Em and Will arrive, so more fun and frolics will ensue. In the meantime, plans for our re-location to Malta are progressing and after a nerve racking few days waiting, we've finally had confirmation of a berth at Manoel Island Marina. It's right in the heart of bustling Sliema, giving us access to a lively town right on our doorstep. I have kept quiet about one issue that's been troubling us for quite some time. We've been getting constant updates on Nicki's father's health, which is sadly deteriorating. It's very upsetting. It's also the real reason why we want to settle in Malta for a while. We'll have easy access to daily flights, so I can stay behind in a safe marina with friends on hand, while she pops home from time to time to see him. I should also mention that the prospect of sailing Comino into the Blue Lagoon, on the island of Comino (which is why we named her that), is very exciting. It's just a couple hours away from our new berth. We first sailed there on yacht with Jane many moons ago and we made ourselves a promise to go back one day in our own boat. Not long now we hope - get the bubbly in the fridge Jane - a toast to "achieving a big ambition" will be in order. This weekend we're back in the marina (hot showers and posh bogs). Then we plan to set sail around Ibiza again to visit more of the beautiful Calas we didn't call into first time round. There's a big fiesta here on Saturday - loads of fireworks I hear. Our time recently has been spent between the anchorage in San Antonio Bay and the Marina in San Antonio. I guess we just wanted to settle for a bit, relax in the slightly oppressive heat and brace ourselves for the arrival of young James. The calm before the storm as it were - he's not the tidiest of lads. My storm reference has a double meaning, as I'll explain. On Wednesday, the day of his arrival, I tried to book into the marina for three reasons. Firstly, it would be a whole lot easier getting him on-board, rather than having to dinghy across the bay in darkness.....we'd probably suffer from "wet bum" syndrome. Secondly, we had a horrible swelly previous night with virtually no sleep. Tiredness makes us rather irritable - it's the combination of feeling rough and the energy sapping heat. Thirdly, the worst storm of our adventure so far was being forecast for Wednesday night. It's not nice being battered at anchor in fiercely strong winds; poor James would have an absolutely terrible first night. Much to our annoyance, the marina didn't confirm we could have a spot by the two o'clock deadline and we feared the worst. Luckily, at ten past five, we got a call to say there was a place after all. What a relief! We praised our good fortune, quickly upped anchor and whizzed over to the safety of the marina. Getting James from the airport leads to another fascinating story. The day before, I was stood looking out of the back of the boat when two people in Kayaks came paddling by. One of them spoke and I instantly recognised the voice. It was only Tony, one of my long term colleagues from work days, with his son. We knew he had a timeshare on the Island and had joked previously that we might bump into him. And there he was - how weird is that. Anyway, after a quick catch up chat he invited us to join him and his family for dinner at a restaurant that night. It was his sons birthday treat. My word it was very posh.....way beyond our budget. After a truly exquisite gourmet dining experience, we then drove on to one of Ibiza's premier lounge/dining venues for more drinks. The KM5 Club was the very essence of Ibiza cool. Sumptuous decor, hypnotic music, very beautiful (rich) people with prices to make your eyes water, but Tony very generously funded both the meal and the club. Thank you. He also offered to take me to the airport in his hire car the next evening to pick up James, which saved us a lengthy bus ride. Thanks again. To repay his generosity, we took him, Sharon (wife), Luke and Sarah (his kids) out for a day out on the boat. We anchored in the crystal clear water at Cala Tarida. He only went and treated us to very fine seafood lunch in a restaurant overlooking the bay, making the day extra special. Thanks yet again. It was great for James to catch up with Luke as they'd met some years before. After swimming, snorkelling and generally lounging about, we sailed back in the evening to watch a breathtakingly spectacular sunset out at sea, in front of the infamous Cafe' Del Mar. Seeing it from the water was something they hadn't done in all the 26 years they'd been coming to Ibiza on holiday. At least we were able to reciprocate their generosity, in part, with a truly awesome experience. The storm on that Wednesday night was horrendous. Many boats anchored in the bay ripped free, causing chaos. There's no doubt we would have had a terrifying experience had we not managed to get into the marina. Many others tried and failed and that's really my beef. We want to be able to get into a marina as and when we want, whether it's because bad weather is approaching or because friends and relatives are coming to stay. We might even just fancy the luxury of posh showers and toilets for a change. It's simply not acceptable to us to be at the mercy of a daily waiting list because the capacity can't meet demand. It's for this reason that we've been in daily contact with our dear friend Jane in Malta, to make arrangements to get Comino taken over there in September. We know it means missing out on Menorca, Majorca, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, but we're really keen on the idea of spending a couple of years with our many friends in Malta, most of whom have boats. We could brave a few very long passages ourselves, including many nights at sea, but I'm afraid we just can't muster the enthusiasm for weeks of constant travelling. We're not home and dry just yet, but hopefully I'll be able to confirm shortly that a delivery crew are on their way here to sail Comino back to a marina berth in Malta. As you can see, it's all happening. When the delivery crew arrive, we've got to find a way to get ourselves to Malta and await the boats arrival. Phew, feels like all work and no play at the moment - only kidding - it's very exciting really. In the meantime, the reunion with James continues to be wonderful. Lots to do and see over the coming days, then we'll look forward to Em and Will visiting us soon. This episode has been a bit wordy so here's a few pics for good measure. |
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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