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
Ooo…errr…it's the final countdown before we depart Malta on Wednesday for the long awaited re-union with the kids and other family members, over turkey and mince pies. This past week's preparation to leave the island has been quite hectic one way or another, but one particularly amusing occurrence is worthy of specific mention. Let me explain. For several days we watched with great intrigue whilst a never-ending convoy of big lorries and caravans parked up on a piece of wasteland alongside the marina, just a few yards from our mooring. Then one morning all was revealed. A big top tent rose majestically from the ground, which could only mean one thing……yes, the circus was cumin to town. Nicki made the interesting observation that there might be wild animals wandering around in those lorries and our morning stroll to the nearby showers could now be a matter of life or death. Don't be daft I said….in this day and age a circus comprises only of acrobats and clowns; wild animals are a thing of the past. Then the next day posters promoting the circus started to appear all around us. OMG! So there we were, sat on the boat just a stone's throw away from a vicious man eating tiger waiting to pounce on us at any moment. Scary or what? This menacing prospect was, thankfully, very short lived on account of the fact that I had already arranged to move the boat to a different marina some days before. As we don't intend to spend any time on Comino over the winter months, our present location at Manoel Island is rather expensive. Just round the corner is Ta' Xbiex (pronounced Tash Bish) where the mooring prices are considerably cheaper. Therefore, on Thursday, we slipped our lines and motored all of five hundred yards to a new destination, where Comino will sit out the next three months in a more sheltered spot that costs less money. Sorted! As a little thank you to Jane for all her hospitality over the past few months, we masterminded a special Christmas Day on Saturday……just like the real thing only a few days early. We took over the house; Nicki decorated the table and yours truly did all the cooking. The guest list extended to Anne (her mum) and Jess (her daughter), who all tucked into a magnificent turkey lunch with all the trimmings, not to mention my world famous smoked salmon and caviar starter…….particularly well received I thought. When I say caviar, I really mean lumpfish eggs; good Beluga is a real bugger to find in these parts don't you know! The obligatory secret santa was skilfully administered by Jess, looking quite the part in her hastily assembled santa get up, including a cushion stuffed up her jumper just in case anyone thinks she might be expecting! There we have it - 2013, another year of fantastic adventures, plus some real sadness and it's practically gone. It all started back in Gibraltar and that seems like such a very long time ago. Our journey aboard Comino took us out of the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. Up the coast of Spain and across to Ibiza. Comino was then entrusted to a delivery crew for the voyage from there to Malta, whilst we took the plane from Valencia. Here, we've spent some time on the boat and some time in the comfort of Jane's house….a perfect combination. We only have one way tickets to the UK and no plans at all beyond the festive season. What lies ahead, who knows?
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Sometimes, rather annoyingly, British people seem obsessed with talking about the weather. I'm afraid today though, it's my turn to indulge in a little narrative on the vexed subject of climatic occurrences. Let me explain. For the last week, I've been seriously contemplating selling Comino so I could build a ruddy great big Arc in preparation for what looked like the imminent disappearance of Malta under a massive flood of rainwater. A phrase like "the heavens opened" doesn't even come close to describing the daily deluge we've endured. Then yesterday, out of the blue (pun intended), we had, what I thought would be, a brief respite. A great ball of fire appeared in the clear sky. Yes, lovely sunshine had returned. At last a perfect day to hoist the sails to dry for an hour, whip them off and pack em away for winter. So, in haste, we did all of that by midday and then sat in the cockpit sunbathing for a couple of hours with a glass of chilled white wine…..perfect! It was my understanding that the rain would quickly return and this was probably our last chance to get the sails off before we return home in two weeks. You can imagine my surprise therefore, to wake up this morning to a weather forecast for the next five days that goes like this-: Friday……..Sunny Saturday….Mostly sunny Sunday……Plenty of sunshine Monday……Plenty of sunshine Tuesday…..Mostly sunny Will I go to go to the trouble of putting the sails back on so we can go sailing again. I'm afraid not, that's it for this year. Tomorrow, I'll do an oil change, replace all the filters and Comino will be all prepped up for the long winter ahead. Going back to the dark days of the last week, I mentioned previously that the Crock Pot (slow cooker) had been retrieved from the bowels of the boat. The long awaited lamb shanks in red wine proved to be a big hit with me and my crew. After eight hours of gentle simmering the meat literally fell off the bone. So as ever, come rain or shine, we amuse ourselves with culinary delights in the cosy comfort of the good ship Comino. But not for much longer !!! |
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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