Diary for Christina's Life - Living it!


Poole to Paris to Port Napoleon

2010-08-15 to 2010-11-01

78days, 1029 miles, 3 rivers, 4 canals, numerous locks of all shapes and sizes, up and down.


We've stopped at countless banksides, villages, towns and cities, not always open though - France seems to close Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and when we seemed to visit thrusday, friday too. Everything closes every day between 12 and 2, including some restaurants!! and any excuse for a public holiday! We've been in so many churches, cathedrals and basilicas, we've visited museums, gardens and vineyards, oh and not forgetting the markets, table top sales and 2euro stores!! We've encountered french protestors in so many town's and cities and even appeared on french TV!! We've experienced local festivals, rock bands, bull runs and every other excuse for a party!


We've met so many interesting people, young and old, from every nationality - we've dined on their boat's and ours and in the most interesting restaurants, brasseries and bistros. With the more adventerous we've drank and danced through the night with the less adventerous we've just drank!


We've tasted in vast quantity every wine from each region and a few others! - Philip has consumed barrels of his favourite beer (Leffe) and every other local one too! French cuisine has surpassed it's reputation, buttery croissants, pain au raisin, delicous pastries in abundance and that was just for breakfast! Lunch and dinner - wild boar, rabbit, steak in every form, fish and shellfish, fantastic moules, frogs legs, escargots and even andouliette (innards) and some we're still not sure of!! All beautifully presented with the most fantastic salads and vegetables finishing off with the tantaslising fromages - we've tried them all, oh and the chocolate mousse too!


The french people (bar 1 - our theif!) have been generous and hospitable hosts, from friendly lock keepers to strangers driving us to supermarkets and others offering assistance to repair punctures!


Bikini days (Chris not Philip) to the moody and misty, to the wild winds of both the Sirroco and the Mistral, both scary but exhilirating to lashing rain with thunder and the most amazing lightening shows - we've had it all!


A different vista round every bend, beavers and coypus, Kingfishers, Heron's of every colour, Flamingos, Charoleux cows, Carmargue horses and wild bulls! Banksides have ranged from cliffs to forest, Willow trees to Maple, Chateau's, Castles and bridges galore.


It's been the most wonderful experience we've had a ball ...

and Amy... a rest before next Spring ..... Barcelona and the Balerics......and how long for and where else....???? Who knows!!


We’re afloat … Blood, Sweat and No Tears (but sore fingers!!)

2011-04-20 to 2011-04-29

After a journey from Bournemouth to Caen, via Portsmouth – a 670 mile, 12 hour drive to the South of France, we arrived at Port Napoleon last Wednesday night and have spent the last week doing what we would normally do in 2 -3 months – Seven 12 hour days – the first 2 days rubbing, scrubbing, antifouling and the last 5 cleaning and sorting through 3 pages of A4 ‘Jobs to Do’ plus of course sampling the French wine and cuisine each night!

Saturday came, the moment of re-launch, we were excited, apprehensive if not ‘bloody’ terrified – would Amy float, would there be any leaks, have the batteries held up, would the engine start, would we be able to motor out of the basin to have her re-masted ……Answer; Yes Yes Yes Yes and No!! She floated beautifully, no leaks, battery was good and the engine started on the first push of the button (Philip was so chuffed as he’d serviced it last November!!!!) but NO we couldn’t reverse out of the basin in fact we couldn’t move backwards or forwards – the throttle/gear unit had seized – PANIC – this was Easter Saturday!!!! - After a while a friendly French mechanic was found and managed to ram her into gear (having told us we need a new one!!!!) but no worries now, we were moving so it was off round to have the mast re-fitted. More PANIC we have to fit it ourselves (Laurel & Hardy remember!!!) all they did was man the crane but after another fraught hour we were done….we think ….. Only one broken cable!!!! It was then round to the pontoon – ooh we have to squeeze into a small spot between these multi-million pound boats and there’s us on little Amy!!! No worries we’re in, tied up and glad we’re booked into on-shore accommodation – our bed is covered in mess (see the pic)!!

Now all we had to do was fit the boom, sails and do all the jobs on the A4 sheets which included lot’s more cleaning and that’s before we could go sailing!! The engineers sorted the VHF cable and the new gear/throttle …. 700 Euros all done … that hit the weekly budget!!! All fittings went on well, cleaning done, no finger pads left though – reckon I could rob a bank and they wouldn’t catch me!!

What a week – shattered but so elated that all is done and we’ve just heard that Jodie has secured her place on 'The Tour' of her 3rd year Degree course - well done babe.  We've also met so many lovely people too – In addition to the staff who have been so helpful, and the wonderful trades people, firstly we met ‘Bob the Dentist’ from Lymington of all places – a great couple of dinners with him, 5 guys en-route from Villamoura to Croatia – a trip cut short so we got the contents of their freezer – enough food for 2 weeks!!!! Drinks onboard with Mike and Jeannette from Glasgow and several good nights with a pot pouri of professional skippers and mates, Oh what a motley crew … ooh but good nights had by all!!!

Today we’re ready at last for our shake down sail – will the wind be kind to us, we’re so keen anything under a force 6 will do!! We ventured out into the Med for a couple of hours – Yippee the leak is sorted … no more bailing for Philip … we hope!!! The sails went ‘up and out’ as smooth as silk and then came ‘down and in’ the same. Back to port for a celebration tipple and get this first chapter to you – ooh we’re ready for the off, let’s hope the storm due tonight/tomorrow doesn’t come in – we’ve been so lucky this week with wall to wall sunshine with only a little rain with maybe a bit of thunder thrown in too … when we’ve been in bed, so hopefully tomorrow we can get on our way – off westward towards Bezier via a couple of ports & anchorages along the coast of Provence.

Be in touch again soon (depending on Wifi)
xxx


Sunshine & Sangria ..(and Seasickness !)

2011-04-30 to 2011-05-09

Well what a week - We set off from Port Napoleon a week ago, left the car there to be picked up later and sailed around to Port Carmargue one of the largest marinas in the world with over 4,000 berths. We had a wonderful 3k stroll, paddling in the surf along the coast to Grau du Roi for Moules & frites and our 1st (of many) glasses of Sangria in the bar we visited last November, then another 4k back to the boat in glorious sunshine. Next it was onto Pavalas les Flots – a very interesting mooring in between two posts that needed lassoing by Philip!! It was a colourful seaside town with red balconies and green shutters. The town was split by the river Lez and linked with a chair lift – “no thanks” said Philip, he wouldn’t entertain the idea of going on that especially in the wind & rain (not that he would anyway!!). Then into Sete, a busy working harbour, the regions main fishing port and export of wine, over 600 million litres per year with a great fish market and the restaurants were even better! Our diet has been a mixture of fabulous restaurants and Chris`s wonderful on-board cooking thanks to the generous gift of frozen meats, vegetables and fruit from the guys in Port Napoleon. There was so much meat the fish did do well though, our little fridge and cool box was no match for their fridge freezer!

While in Sete we had the challenge of logistics and passage planning for our return to Bournemouth, Tuesday 10th May, driving from the south coast of France to Cherbourg….to return the car home and go to a wedding in Swansea. The car was in Port Napoleon, we’re now 80miles (200k by road) west along the coast, so we hired a car – oh what an experience – Philip’s road navigation of the French roads is no better than his marine navigation & passage planning …we got lost three times, on one occasion we even ended up at the airport we’ll be flying back into in 10 days time!!! We drove through 1000’s of acres of vineyards and past some beautiful poppy fields. Eventually we found this amazing marina – where we are now at Cap D’Agde, a purpose built holiday centre with a safe & secure marina to leave Amy, a bit of a cross between St Tropez and Torquay…with a naturist resort for over 20,000 sun-lovers, obviously Philip would’ve got his binoculars out but no chance on the trip in – what is it about the forecast? - a mixture of fiction & fantasy, strong winds forecast and no wind appears or in a different direction and none of them seem to take into account the local mistrals, we have encountered two while coastal hopping around to Cap D’Agde, Amy has done us proud coping with winds of 30knots gusting to 40 - with Chris at the helm we surfed the biggest waves we had ever seen, she was in her element while Philip had a touch of the `Mal de Mer`!!!

Generally the weather has been great - Hot, Hot, Hot - thank goodness for the bimini, apart from the odd thunderstorm, apparently they are quite common in the Golf Du Lion at this time of the year and we’re sitting here now in the glorious evening sunshine writing this to you.

All our love from the south of France xxx

p.s Thanks to you all for your lovely messages and emails – we will respond when wifi is better but it’s so lovely to hear from you.


Ready for the off - after a quiet week at home….. not!!!

2011-05-10 to 2011-05-22

Can’t believe it was well over a week ago we set off on an 800 mile drive through the night from Cap D’Agde to Cherbourg – arriving 5 hours early (Philip’s journey planning again!!!) Then home on the ferry to Poole for a quiet week….. not!!!

We arrived home Tuesday evening, round to Chris’s Mum & Dad to be greeted with a glass of wine and for Chris, a request to play golf the following morning in the Stoneham Cup match – after a lovely dinner it was home to bed - after 36hrs with no sleep it was needed but the next day, no worries, the golf went well, she won and so did the team too – ooh didn’t we do well!! We both played Thursday and Philip won as well!! Friday it was off to South Wales for a wonderful Welsh family wedding – congratulations to both Chris & Suzi and so lovely to meet up with all the family too. Back to Bournemouth on Saturday to get ready for our Bon-Voyage ‘Sangria & Sunshine’ Garden ‘do’ on Sunday, we provided the Sangria but although the sunshine was a little lacking the company was fantastic and croquet on the lawn too - again another great day with friends and family – so lovely to see you all. Golf for Philip on Monday and surprise surprise he won again … while Chris was clearing up after the ‘do’!! Tuesday was spent shopping, cleaning and packing then Wednesday morning an early start to Bristol for our flight back down to Cap D’Agde…..

We arrived to scorching sun-shine, Amy was great so we just had to sit and enjoy the afternoon and evening with a little light refreshment!!
It’s now Sunday and we’ve been in no rush to leave – the weather has continued to be hot. Friday we caught the Bus to Agde – disappointing town but a fabulous 6 miles walk back along the coast via Grau D’Agde, most of it walking along in the Med surf – a beach very similar to Sandbanks for those of you that know it but with a few rocks in the sea – Philip decided at one point it was shallow enough to get through ….. not (see the picture!) but we did have a lovely stop halfway to ‘whet the whistle’!! Then this weekend there has been an amazing wine festival along the quayside, 80 different stalls with wine tasting!!!!!

We did decide to leave this morning and get on our way – alarm on for 7, all ready and down to pay our dues by 8 – we poked our nose out into the outer harbour … a bit choppy but sails up and off we go for a 25mile sail to Guissan. About 5 miles out the wind changed – can’t believe it’s on our nose again and the waves are getting bigger and bigger and coming straight at us – looks like our 5 hour sail is going to be an 8 hour slog ….. Oh well back onto our pontoon and the wine festival …. Demain, Demain (tomorrow, tomorrow) I hear Philip saying …. his French is improving!!

So hopefully tomorrow we’re off …. Where to?? Who knows?? We’ll let you know when we get there.

Love to all of you and thank you so much for reading this.
Stay in touch – we so love hearing from you
xxx


Wild Winds and Wet in the Med at last!

2011-05-23 to 2011-06-02

Well we did eventually leave Cap d’Agde 10 days ago with some fantastic sailing towards snow capped mountains on the horizon…. Surreal! We stopped at Gruissan for 2 nights, a quayside mooring with a fabulous old town and wonderful beach nearby and Port Leucate for 1 night, a disappointing and miserable place where we couldn’t wait to leave and then we arrived here, only 50 miles along the coast from Agde at Canet-en-Roussillon, in contrast to Leucate, what a lovely welcome, a great harbour with an even more fabulous beach (see the pictures) and we’ve been here for the last week, the first four days because we wanted to stay and enjoy the beach, the festival with music on the quayside and the town. The last three days because we have been locked in by the `tramontane` a local wind that blows at 60mph!

We’ve experienced sizzling sunshine …112 degrees on the thermometer reading!! complete calm with no wind but great for sunbathing and even a spot of fishing, albeit not successful and then for the last couple of days 95km/hr (gale force 10) winds, thunder, lightening and rain too… It’s been wild!!!

We’ve enjoyed calamari & frites in a French `chippie`, had some superb seafood and salads in little quayside restaurants but more often than not fantastic meals on board of pork, chicken, steak and even spag bol. We’ve drunk wine in a fabulous fisherman’s bar on the quayside with a group from the French RNLI celebrating the arrival of their new boat, great fun. Another day the afternoon spent in a beach bar with Ronald & Barbara, a couple en route from Belgium to Denia and drinks on board with Ron & Annette who are taking their boat from Croatia to Torrevieja.

We’ve walked & walked so much, up hills to visit ruined castles, along beaches in the surf, around the cobbled streets of quaint towns, we’ve swum in the sea, the first time it was freezing and took Philip two attempts before he dived under. The second time here in Canet was fantastic, great waves breaking and without another soul on the beach, such fun, perhaps the wine consumed in the beach bar had something to do with it! (more pictures!!)

Today, the wind still blowing, we decided to catch the bus to Perpignan – another walking marathon around a medieval town and up hills to the King’s Palace. Fantastic views across into Spain and down into the Med. We arrived back to Canet to a few glasses of wine in our beach bar and the fisherman’s bar too to say au revoir before we head off tomorrow ….. the weather is due to improve!!!

Where will we be when we send you the next blog….. don’t know, depending on wwifi, we’ll let you know when we get there!!!

All our love
Chris & Philip
Xxxx

p.s. Well done Gabs on passing your driving test….. fantastic news!!


We've arrived in Spain!!

2011-06-05

Ola we're here in Spain and celebrating so we'll send a longer blog soon with all the news!!!


Wow what a three weeks since we last blogged - From France into Spain, Bournemouth and Back

2011-06-06 to 2011-06-25

We eventually left Canet en Rousillon, stopping off at Banyuls as our last stop in France and then feeling so chuffed as we crossed the border we lowered the French courtesy flag to raise the Spanish one, we’d made it in Amy to Spain, surrounded by clouds on all sides but the sun shining straight down on us from above… but the storms were never far away!!

We had 5 days before we had to be close to Girona airport for Chris’s dad’s open heart surgery date – a quad bi-pass no less. Our first stop in Spain was on a mooring buoy at Cadaques – Oh wow, what a white washed heaven, no wonder it was Salvor Dali`s favourite place. The houses were picture postcard, stark white with the most glorious red & purple flowing over them. A real bohemian feel with hippies of all ages, in all sorts of attire, wandering around with the aroma of whacky baccy mixed with the scent of the flowers and the bars!

Heading off the next day en-route for Roses via the small bays – amazing, only a few miles down the coast from France and so different, the rugged coastline with steep cliffs, fantastic rock faces, caves and clear blue sea with fish too - still can’t catch any though!! Ooh and fins sticking up – are they dolphins?? No we found out later they were sunfish – huge and fascinating. Eventually after a wonderful afternoon in a small bay, snorkelling and swimming – plus diving for a lost flipper!!, the wind picked up, we’re off to the safe port of Roses. We stayed for 3 days – weather on the turn, high winds and storms due. Found a fantastic Argentinean bar/restaurant and a wonderful old town of cobbled streets and a great beach too.

Thurs 9th June, the day of my dad’s operation and needing to be as close to Girona airport as possible, we arrived here at L’Estartit and have been here on and off for 2weeks. Dad had 5 arteries replaced and after the initial worry and feeling relieved he was doing well a flight was booked back to Bournemouth for Sunday 19th June as a surprise for Father’s Day – he was due out of hospital by then and up for visitors.

We spent the next few days sailing close by in case I needed to get back quickly, Cala de sa Reira, Cala de Tuna and round the Isles de Medes. We had loads of fun anchoring (embarrassing actually!!), mooring (Philip lost both boat hooks/poles at one stage and I had to swim to recover them!!), lots of sunbathing (all over tan for Philip – be grateful - no photos!!) and fantastic snorkelling – 1000’s of fish and even saw a rock fish too. Regular calls home to check on Dad’s progress, considering what he’d been through and after a couple of scares he was doing well, but then another call, Jodie was in hospital with kidney stones – panic, so back to L’Estartit and another flight booked for the next day and it was home for 6 days, leaving Philip here to fend for himself!

I arrived back to Bournemouth in sheeting rain and it was so cold – what’s this all about having heating on in June!! But oh it was so great to see everyone, especially to see my dad looking so much better than expected and considering, recovering well albeit very slowly – dad you need to rest!! It was lovely to give my mum a well deserved cuddle and spending some real quality time with Jodie too. Philip’s week, well in his words: “Ooh lot’s of sunbathing (a much deeper all-over tan!!), swimming, scuba diving and really missing Chris so much, it seemed so much longer than a week!!” I did laugh so much when he told me he had to be squeezed into a XXL wet-suit, they didn’t have a bigger one!!!!

Back to Girona on Wednesday, so wonderful to be together again – we treated ourselves to an overnight stay in a hotel, a wander round the capital of Catalan and then arrived back to Amy yesterday to an amazing bonfire and firework festival along the beach – all 7k of it, it was madness, parents and children just lighting firecrackers and setting off fireworks wherever they fancied – it lit up the sky to the early hours – a real family celebration…. So we just had to join in!!!

We’re now ready to continue our trip south ….. in the ‘slow’ Mediterranean way…

Dad, get better soon, Mum, look after yourself too, we’re thinking of you both xxx


Bubbles in Barcelona

2011-06-26 to 2011-07-05

WOW we are celebrating with a bottle of Bubbles on our arrival in Barcelona - we’ve made it – another milestone for us. Ten days ago we left L`Estartit and have sailed or motored (when needed) 113 miles down & up the Spanish coastline. We passed Tossa and Lloret de Mar three times – going south twice and back up north once because the coastline was so wonderful!! We’ve walked and walked round so many towns and even through botanic gardens full of cacti, we’ve chilled and sunbathed in fabulous bays, enjoyed diving off the boat into crystal clear waters, swimming in beautiful aqua seas and amazing snorkelling seeing so many types of fish and even octopus too. There’s been blazing sunshine but also thunder & lightening storms, heavy rain and really strong winds - causing havoc - a sunken sunshade (ok it was an a ‘Stella’ umbrella!!) 6 metres to the bottom, upside down, which Chris managed to hook and bring back to the surface and also our main halyard (rope from the top of the mast for those non sailors amongst you!) tied with a bit of sting and a water bottle (trying to use it as a weight!!) wrapped round and round – it looked like knitting round the mast - Chris up to sort it!! We’ve anchored overnight in rocky coves and popped into marinas when the winds got too strong and when the sea was too rocky, but here we are at last in Barcelona, right in the heart of the city, so fantastic – looking forward to a few days sightseeing!!

Hope you are all well – Thank you so much for reading our blogs, we really do love hearing your news and so sorry if we haven’t responded to you but we’re having problem sending out email although no problems receiving – hope to sort it soon.
Keep well, all our love
Chris & Philip xx


Fun with friends from Barcelona to Valencia

2011-07-08 to 2011-07-26

We can’t believe where the last 3 weeks have gone since we last blogged, could blame it on the lack of Wifi but actually it’s been because we’ve been so busy enjoying ourselves having such a wonderful time!!

A week in Barcelona, a week in Valencia and a few stops in-between.

The sailing has been varied and exciting, seas that have change colours so many times from aqua marine to purple to black. We’ve had calm days with no wind, we’ve encountered huge, huge waves swamping Amy – one minute battling the wind and waves on the nose and the next minute riding the crest of the wave – surfing at 7 knots … so exciting, especially when Chris saw her first Dolphin or was is a grey whale – it was so so big and too quick to get a picture. Every day has been hot with sizzling sunshine and sometimes thundery rain. At Carlos Repita we were in the middle of an electric storm, surrounded by horizontal lightening … an amazing show. We even had a collision 6 miles outside Valencia – we were suddenly stopped by hitting something just under the water and lost all propulsion, after being towed onto the pontoon, Chris dived down to find a man’s jacket wrapped round the prop – just hope it wasn’t a body we’d hit, the marina staff took it very seriously but we’ve heard no more. Just as well she didn’t know there were jelly fish in the water when she went in ….. huge huge ones (see the photo’s)

We’ve walked, walked and walked some more (ooh such sore feet). We’ve cycled, taken bus rides, even up in a cable car in Barcelona (don’t forget Philip is very scared of heights so a real challenge). We’ve seen castles, monuments, statues and more churches & cathedrals than the Pope! Entertainment has been fantastic too – all sorts of music; we found an amazing late night blues festival in the back streets of Tarragona (we just had to join in the dancing!!), marching bands, street musicians and our own personal jazz cornet player on a neighbouring yacht in Barcelona – practising every night… he was good, we thought it was a CD. We’ve seen some of the most fantastic fireworks, a parade with flower adorned floats with 1000’s and 1000’s of marigolds being thrown. We seen unbelievable live statues, acrobatic street dancing with kick boxing, flamenco dancing and public dancing where local people of all ages just join hands in the middle of a plaza, square or promenade and start doing something that’s in-between line dancing and Morris dancing – fascination to start with but very boring with the same tune played over and over for several hours!! We’ve eaten on board Amy and several other boats, bars, restaurants, picnicked in gardens, castles and even on bus tops!! 

It’s also been a couple of weeks of meeting new and old friends, Steve & Sarah in Carlos de la Repita, on their way back north, we shared great moorings and information all afternoon and then they said they fancied a beer, ended up on our boat and stayed until 2 am - great fun. Then still in Repita we met Pete & Anne going south in their 36` motor cruiser `Clean Sweep` we partied for four days (felt longer than that!!) oh so many laughs and for so long too! Our first night was a quick pre dinner drink at 7pm that finished at 4am!! We dined on both boats and out too, with copious amounts of wine and cold beers and we even had a spin out on their wonderful fast boat – they’d also had a problem coming into Valencia on the same day and Chris had also dived down to check under their boat too! They left Valencia on Saturday and on Sunday Mike and Carly arrived, our party buddies from last years canal experience so we had to celebrate in the usual fashion…. 3 more late nights!!

Today we moved marinas, our auto-pilot gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago and we dropped her in to be mended in Valencia when we arrived last week – so hoping she’s all fixed by tomorrow so we can continue on our way South, heading for Denia for a couple of days to meet up with Martyn & Jane from home and then on to Calpe to meet back up with Pete and Anne!!!


12 months today - 1668 miles and we’ve arrived in Torrevieja!

2011-07-27 to 2011-08-15

Can’t quite believe it….a year ago today we set sail from Poole harbour on our Med adventure – 1029 miles last year through the French canals and 639 miles so far this year and here we are in Torrevieja – another milestone for us because of the numerous holidays we’ve had here in Gary’s (Chris’s Brother) Villa … it’s been an amazing 12 months!!

The last 3 weeks since our last blog has seen us from Valencia to Denia on an exhilarating 6 hours sail doing 6 – 7 knots (that’s nearly double speed for Amy!!) to find an amazing marina with a swimming pool in a cocktail bar – ooh so decadent. We had Martyn & Jane from home come to stay which was lovely to see them both and again met up with Mike and Carly…. Socialising in the usual fashion!!

From Denia it was on to Calpe to join up with Pete and Anne on ‘Clean Sweep’.  Another few days of self indulgence and extravagance.  Fun filled and laughter days out in their hire car on a magical mystery tour (Philip was navigating!!) and spending time with their friends and family in a villa nearby – a great BBQ and swimming in the pool too. A problem with ‘Clean Sweep’s’ engine saw Philip as engineers mate for a couple of days, this extended our stay but hey what a hardship!!!

Engine all sorted it was off to Alicante – more time with Pete & Anne, eating, drinking and climbing the castle on the hill in the mid-day sun!! It was then aurevoir to Pete & Anne who were heading off further South and for us another extended stay in Alicante after our water tank burst as we were about to set off – no worries, back onto the pontoon knowing it could be mended but not until mañana - typically Spanish!! We enjoyed the additional day wandering the city … a well needed haircut for Chris and for Philip a real highlight of the trip so far …. He finally won a game of scrabble … series so far 1-1!!

From Alicante it was off to Santa Pola – a short hop down the coast to check it out in readiness for the arrival of Jodie and Penny who are due next week …. Soooo excited!! and then the last few days have been spent here in Torrevieja – again in readiness for the arrival of Debs, Dave, Liz and families (Chris’s sister and sister in law) who will be staying at the villa for a couple of weeks. We dropped the hook on the first night outside the marina – really looking forward to anchoring again and swimming off the boat but OMG jellyfish, jellyfish and even more jellyfish …. It didn’t seem to bother the locals so eventually we took the plunge ….. but not for long!!   It was an interesting night being entertained by many of the bars on the seafront and then in the morning approached by a threatening black rib … the Police – apparently we were not allowed to anchor overnight!! Oh well into the marina we went and it was lovely to have a shower and again found an amazing relaxing bar with 4-poster beds instead of tables & chairs …. Oh this is the life!!!


Fabulous Family Fortnight

2011-08-15 to 2011-08-25

The last 2 weeks have been spent up and down the same bit of 35 mile coastline between Alicante and Cabo Roig (just south of Torrevieja) twice – the first time down was to meet up with Deb’s, Dave, Liz & families (Chris’s Sister and Sister-in-law) at their villa between Torrevieja and Cabo Roig but while on the way through sussing out the marinas and of course the nightlife available for Jodie’s & Penny’s arrival in the 2nd week.

The first trip down was in beautiful calm seas and bright, hot sunshine – we’re so hoping it will be the same when we have the girls with us next week … (without the jellyfish farms (see photo’s!!) …we won’t tell them). We arrived at Playa Flamenca beach to a waving crowd in the sea - we were so excited to see the family there …. sails down and anchor about to be dropped when we realised it wasn’t the family at all - it was just a random group waving at the British flag!!! We caught up with the family at the villa that afternoon and over the next couple days, we had a great time eating, drinking and playing water volley ball.

Wednesday saw us back up to Alicante – great sail and all day Thursday spent washing and cleaning to get the boat ready for the girl’s arrival on Friday. Oh how excited was Chris to see her babe. We caught the bus to the airport, played hide and seek in the arrivals lounge then huge cuddles all round. Back to Amy and in for their first day which was long and packed, swim in the sea, sunbathe, shopping, dinner (fantastic steaks) then it was into Coyote Ugly bar for a spot of pole dancing and then into the night club quarter, Chris & I lasted until 2.00am, the girls got back to the boat at 5.30ish!

We set off the next day, sailing for Santa Pola …. Whoops the sea wasn’t so calm as last week and the poor girls were so seasick … was it the waves or the night’s excesses?? But hey at least the sun was shining …. Oh dear sun burnt too!! Anchored up and in for a dip (no jellyfish yeeha!!) before a quiet night in the marina …. recovering!! The 2nd day the wind was even stronger so the girls caught the bus to Torrevieja and we met them there later in the afternoon (probably just as well … they’d never have sailed again!!) Another evening out for dinner and great fun with cocktails in the ‘Bed Bar’.

The next day was calmer and we’re only going 5 miles … no seasickness … just!!! We’d arrived in Cabo Roig before lunch and set off on the first of many 40 minute coastal walks to the villa – stopping on the way for drinks, lunch and even a fishy pedicure – 75 little fishes nibbling the dead skin - hilarious. At the villa with the family we had such great fun with water aerobics – Philip lead for a while too!! We played lot’s of water volley ball and pool gymnastics with synchronised swimming and human pyramids. We enjoyed our nights out close to the marina, from the rowdy tourist ‘Brit Strip’ to their last night in the hill top restaurant overlooking the bay…fantastic. The girl’s last day was spent on the beach and in the sea on a Pedalo … oh so much fun, with a slide for children – we all had a go, even Philip managed to climb up and slide down!! The girls squeezed in as much tanning time as they could, a quick tapas lunch then a tearful goodbye - was it only 6 days - we crammed so much in!!


Engine meltdown delays trip ...

2011-08-26 to 2011-09-04

An engine meltdown has stopped travel for the last week – how lucky we were Amy didn’t go up in flames with us on her. We’re still sitting here in Cabo Roig a week on and the feelings of panic have subsided to be replaced with gratitude and relief (oh and apprehension … this looks like it’s going to be expensive!!). Loftus luck has struck again as we’re still here to share this update to you all …..

6am last Saturday we were ready to set sail having said our goodbyes to family and friends on Friday - a great night out with Neil & Denise on his 40th birthday. Winds a bit strong but ok, seas with a rock but in the right direction … yep we’re off but Chris smelt burning … I couldn’t smell anything and decided it was ok to leave but Amy wouldn’t start …. Thankfully!!! I opened up the engine and found sparking & flashing, lighting up the engine compartment, a quick shut down and we found all the electrical wires melted into one smouldering mass. How lucky were we, it could have been so much worse, 5 minutes later we would have been out at sea!!

The week, on the whole though, has been an enjoyable one considering …We’ve met so many lovely people which we wouldn’t have done if we’d set sail – We spent time teaching knots to Alfie & Katie on the pontoon, we hired a car from Neil & Denise for a few days which made life a lot easier and enjoyed our 4th Wedding anniversary last Wednesday – not quite where we’d envisioned spending it but hey it was wonderful anyway with a day out in the car, dinner and a romantic walk along the beach at midnight and even saw a flight of 50 flamingos … an amazing sight. We’ve spent the week with no power or water on board and also waiting, waiting and waiting for engineers, parts and it’s still not fixed!! It was, we thought all done last Thursday … after the engineers had been on Amy Monday, Wednesday & Thursday - new parts fitted, bill paid we were ready to leave but no …. we’ve still no power to the instruments and more parts needed … the weekend is here again and so are we ….

Oh well, no complaints, the weather’s back to hot and sunny (we've had some serious storms too; wet and wild so could not have sailed anyway!!) The wine and beer is still chilled and we’re still smiling!!


On our way again!!

2011-09-07

Yippee engine's all sorted and we're on our way again ... As we're not going to be able to spend the time we would've liked in the Balearics this year we've decided we're off to Morocco!!


Exciting, Exhilarating, Exhausting and an Expensive Week!!

2011-09-07 to 2011-09-16

How we can have so much fun & frustration in one week defies logic!!

As you all know from the last blog we left Cabo Roig just over a week ago with the engine all fixed and heading for Gibraltar …. The plan was to travel about 40 to 60 miles a day – that’s 10 to 12 hours sailing for us on Amy so early 5am starts within the week we should be there….. not!!

We first travelled to Cartegena…. A lovely 35 mile trip and so exciting too - Chris caught the first fish that was big enough to eat …. Was it a giant mackerel?? We arrived at 10pm after an amazing sunset.  Next morning up for 4am oh dear, oh dear, the engine’s not starting … eventually our African engineer Alex from Cabo Roig arrives to fix the problem … ooh not the same problem he says!!!  By lunchtime we’re off again – another great sail and another fish … this time a beautiful green one … not sure if he’s edible so he goes back. We stopped overnight on anchor at Aguilas, swim and fish dinner – ooh how delicious, texture of chicken and certainly didn’t taste of mackerel … oh so lovely to be back en-route again. Next morning 4am start we head for San Jose – 45 miles up the coast – 1000’s of wonderful stars reflecting in the water, 2 shooting stars and phosperous fish lighting up the water too.  By 7.30 we have the most amazing sunrise, so beautiful and within the hour 3 dolphins too … Chris was so excited. We arrived into San Jose by 3.30pm to fill with fuel and told we could not stay …. No space, nada. The wind is now blowing a hooley and it’s another 25 miles to the next port …. Philip’s persuasive skills come in handy – they’ve agreed we can stay alongside the fuel pontoon as long as we’re left first thing …. Whoops 5am next morning the engine doesn’t start again … we can’t believe this and we’re not popular! We’re now too far for our engineers to come out …. Nothing to do with them they say!! It’s now Saturday and nobody speaks a word of English – oh dear oh dear oh dear … we’re here for the duration at a very expensive marina of 38euros a night but hey an Engineer will be available on Monday!! Nothing for it, sun’s shining, it’s a quaint, picturesque town let’s just enjoy – which we did – great fun fishing with two Antonios (father & son) from the fuel office – loads of fish too and found out the fish we’d caught and eaten was actually a Bonito, a small tuna. We enjoyed the afternoon out on the dingy and by Sunday night our saviour came in the form of Jesus – an engineer by day and diving instructor at weekends – young, fit and with a long ponytail!!! He got Amy working – another 60 euros but it's still a puzzle why we're having these problems, however all should be ok now so it’s off again – hoping against hope all’s now good. We had another amazing sail, no need for the engine today – 7 ½ knots surfing the waves, 100’s of flying fish and even 40 dolphins swam with us for 10 minutes (see video) so so exhilarating and then we arrived at Almerimar and our problems really started….. huge waves, high winds and oh dear - no engine again …. Panic …. Not!!! We try to tack into the marina but no good, wind is on our nose and we kept being blown close to the rocks so as a last resort Philip had to get on the radio …. Help! It came and we’re towed in … huge relief we’re safe but a bill of 158 euros for the 15min rescue and another engineer requested – mañana!!

That was Monday and we’re now Thursday – Frank our German engineer spent the whole day yesterday diagnosing and fixing the problem – the engine had been wired up wrong in Cabo Roig!!! We’re now feeling confident all is good but as we’re so far behind time, our friends Pete & Anne on Clean Sweep, who we were due to meet up with in Gibraltar are on their way back here, so here we stay until they arrive later today or tomorrow and then we’ll be off on our way to Morocco ….. we hope 5th time lucky!!!


Gibraltar…British Pubs, British Food, British People and British Weather!!

2011-09-17 to 2011-10-01

After a great weekend with Pete & Ann (Clean Sweep), nearly two weeks ago, when they returned to Almerimar, celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary in the usual fashion and a great couple of days & evenings with them - Chris won a free `haircut & blow dry` in a bar tombola which was done on the Monday and looked fantastic, we eventually set off heading for Gibraltar via Del Este and Fuengerola. At last we’re on our way again keeping fingers crossed the engine was now all sorted. We set off with high winds on the nose and 2m waves – were we doing the right thing but yes, the weather improved, early starts with magnificent sunrises and again 100’s of dolphins on the second day in calmer waters, the sea like blue silk under the brilliant blue sky. Chris caught her second bonito (tuna) which broke her reel, expensive but delicious dinner that night!

On the third day, after a long hard sail, we approached Gibraltar, the `Rock` emerging from the mist - what a fantastic sight to see. We rounded Europa point, out of the Gibraltar Straits it was hairy with 100’s of huge boats everywhere, high winds on the nose and huge seas too … even more so when white smoke started pouring out of the exhaust and the engine popping, losing power… will we make it to the safety of the harbour??? We finally chugged into the marina; onto the last berth available … relieved and exhausted we pulled up next door to another yacht with a couple from Bournemouth, Stewart & Steff on Matador!! We were also only 150 metres from the airport runway, really bizarre and very noisy too!!

We’ve now been in Gibraltar over a week – just like being at home, Philip watching the rugby world cup in local British pubs, eating British food, using British money and even found Morrison’s & Marks & Spencer’s. The marina has been tidal, we’d forgotten what that was like – it’s been fun at low tide getting on and off Amy and of course the British weather, wet and windy, cold and damp and the cloud just hanging over the rock continuously – typical when the rest of Europe has been basking in hot sunshine!!

The first few days were spent sorting the engine again … a new problem with water & bugs in the fuel but we were able to sort it ourselves with a full fuel tank drain – Chris like a contortionist squeezing inside the locker to get to the fuel tank and Philip pumping like mad to get it all out … it helped when he remembered to turn the lever to open!!!
The rest of the week we’ve been locked in by the weather, a continuous strong easterly wind called the Levente. We’ve made the most of it though, sightseeing the `Rock` with a fabulous guide called Freddy, seeing the apes with so many babies, the amazing tunnels & caves and the museums too, which have been fascinating. We’ve seen so many different types of boats from humongous super yachts with helicopters, yachts and powerboats sitting on their decks to even older and smaller boats than Amy. We’ve met so many interesting people from every nationality, so many living ‘the dream’ like us – most having had the same fuel problem too and quite a few off to the Canaries before heading to the Caribbean …. should we go as well??

Decisions, decisions but no, we’re nearly ready to come home for this year … flight’s booked for 17th October ... the engine now seems all ok and hoping the wind will drop to a manageable `force 5` tomorrow, we will set off for Morocco before heading back east to Almerimar to finish this years adventure but hey who know what next year might bring!!!


Escape to Morocco

2011-10-02 to 2011-10-04

At last after 10 days the wind has dropped enough for us to leave the lingering clouds of Gibraltar behind us, we were so excited to be sailing Amy from the most southern point of Europe across to the north African continent, en-route for Ceuta, a colony of Spain bordering Morocco.

Within minutes of leaving we saw a whale in Gibraltar bay, his huge tail disappearing beneath the waves just metres from us, such an exciting sight. We then crossed the `Straits`, 100`s of enormous ships and even more dolphins, sailing in big seas and strong winds – hairy. Within an hour or so the hills of Ceuta started to appear out of the mist, more big ships to avoid and then into the harbour, so exciting. Ceuta – the reputed home of Hercules, was a really cosmopolitan city, not as we imagined it. We walked and walked and then stopped for a fabulous steak dinner, 1.2kg between us, needless to say a `doggy bag` was in order.

Then it was on to Morocco - our ultimate destination this year! But we woke to fog and the wind was due to be blowing in the wrong direction to sail so we decided to stay in Ceuta and cross the border by foot and go to visit Tetouan – Oh and we wouldn’t have missed it for anything – what an amazing experience. At 10am we caught the bus to the border, where we were met by hundreds of people milling about, all with carts or barrow loads of bags and bags – not sure what was in them but a fascinating sight. Through to border control we were met by two men dressed in kaftans and baseball caps – they sorted our passports for the control – we’d just employed our guide without knowing it! On the other side of the border the fog was still thick – quite eerie and suddenly in front of us there were acres of old Mercedes taxis all touting for business. Our guide Norri ushered us into one and told us that Moroccan time was 2 hours behind - so surreal, 11am became 9am and we’d only walked 100 yards!!


We were driven into the centre of Tetouan and then walked into the medina – into another world, it was fascinating, tiny cobbled alleyways with dirty water running down the middle of them – fish stalls on grubby old slats, live chickens running about, old women sitting with their vegetable produce on the ground, old men sitting around chatting, cats everywhere and just so many people squashed into such tiny spaces. Every nook and cranny of both the Arab and Jewish quarters were crammed full of workshops, everyone making or repairing something from shoes to metalwork, exquisite embroidered dresses, stonemasons and in front of the workshops it was just one huge flea market with stalls selling anything and everything – most of which looked like it had come out of the arc! We were taken to the see the Turkish baths, the fires beneath them and the wood piles that fed them and then onto the tannery where the hides were being washed or soaked in water running straight off the mountain. Of course we were also exposed to the houses of the herbs & spices and the carpet salesman – beautiful buildings and interesting sales pitches but got away light although Chris did have a great neck massage in the spice house! We refused to join the Americans & Japanese in the obvious tourist restaurant and got Norri to take us to a typical Moroccan café for lunch, seemed like a good idea at the time, it was really basic & very cheap, no real ill effects …. until the taxi ride back to the border … ooh feeling a little green and also joined in the taxi by another 2 passengers squashed onto the front seat while we had all the space in the back … weird!

Crossing the border on foot into Morocco was fascinating and only surpassed by the return into Ceuta, 1000`s of people with their bundles & bags, like hordes of refugees, the long queues; one for men and one for women and Europeans! All queuing in the blazing sunshine creating any bit of shade they could while they waited to be let into “Spain”. We joined the end of the queue but it wasn’t long before the police brought us forward to the front … such discrimination against the Moroccans but we didn’t complain and didn’t look behind!!

What a fantastic time in Morocco, such a shame we couldn’t stay longer but time’s running short and the med winds are not looking good for our return … it’s time to get going back on our way again.


Fantastic Final Fling …. Heading Home!

2011-10-05 to 2011-10-17

We weren’t wrong about the med winds not being in our favour – such a shame we couldn’t have carried on down the Moroccan coast but as we still had an easterly wind blowing we decided to cross the 40 miles north to mainland Spain heading for Benalmadena, but whoops who forgot we were in tidal waters again??!! So, battling wind and tide, with of course lot’s more amazing dolphins, exciting flying fish and all types of boats and ships travelling with us we eventually made it to Marbella, 20 miles down the coast from where we were headed – Oh well best layed plans and all that, but how lovely Marbella was. We arrived with the setting sun, lot’s of cobbled streets and alleyways, beautiful shops and plaza’s full of orange trees and at only 8 euros per night we should’ve stayed more than one but Philip was keen to get Amy back to Almerimar before the weather turned (or was it the World cup rugby calling!!) so after a late dinner and a very early start we carried on east another 40 miles.

We had the most wonderful sunrise with the sun, a golden ball nestling on the horizon and the sea so calm it was like glass – so so beautiful. No wind at all today and the sea so calm – where was that forecasted south-westerly wind?? More motor sailing needed to do the distance, heading for Valez but we arrived by 4pm so decided to continue on and see how far we would get. Another interesting fishing day too – whoops, twice the fish and the tackle were gone …. Once a seagull dived down and cut my line and the 2nd time it was a big catch, we did find out later there are lots of fishes with big teeth so a wire traces are needed to land them - Ooh not happy … this fishing lark is getting expensive, however within an hour dinner was landed – 2 good size, beautiful green and yellow fish – not sure if they were horse mackerel or Llampua but hey whatever they were they tasted delicious!

We stopped overnight on anchorage – oh what a treat after so many marinas. It was beautiful, although to start with very noisy where a hill fire was raging and helicopters and planes were circling, dropping gallons and gallons of water – fascinating to see. We enjoyed a lovely swim and snorkel just before sundown and of course our fresh fish dinner.

The next morning was our last sail of the year – heading the 50miles to Almerimar and again how beautiful it was – hot hot sunshine, not a cloud in the sky – still no wind but we couldn’t complain and the sea so calm, like glass - we could see the dolphins so clearly swimming alongside and diving around us – just magical.

We’ve now been in Almerimar a week; getting Amy all cleaned and sorted to leave for the next few months. Sails off and round to the sail makers for titivating, engine all serviced by Philip, washing done and Amy all clean and shipshape. We’ve had a week of partying too – met so many lovely people – visited lot’s of great bars & restaurants – listened to amazing live music, a good time had by all and now, well just the weekend left and we’ll be home on Monday night – so excited to see you all, looking forward to our big bed, a bath, a game of golf, ooh and my own washing machine too!!


Escape from Almerimar

2012-06-09 to 2012-06-24

After 2 great weeks here in Almerimar we’re actually setting sail tomorrow to start our 2012 Med Adventure although the last 2 weeks haven’t been exactly quiet… we’ve worked hard, had great fun and have had our fair share of drama too!!

Jodie was with us for the first week, we stayed in a great apartment and scrubbed, cleaned, painted, packed and unpacked and that was just to get Amy back in the water but did get a great sail in around the bay before Jodie flew home.

Surprise surprise we’ve partied hard too with so many wonderful people, old and new friends alike – We met a mad Welshman that took us all up into the mountains for a wonderful day out - amazing views, hot water springs and even saw Ostriches. We’ve drunk an inordinate amount ….not all alcoholic though and we’ve blown the diet too - eaten so much from free tapas to Chinese and even a delicious dinner party on board. We’ve been to karaoke, listened to lots of live music, jived the night’s away, watched football, rugby and last night joined 1000’s of Spanish families to celebrate the San Juan festival with bonfires, bbq and booze on the beach with a quick dip in the sea at midnight supposedly to wash away our sins!!

Chris has been honing her fishing skills with her first few catches of the season – a lucky trigger fish – lucky because she threw him back –also luck was with a six year old little girl who fell off the pontoon, Chris was heroine of the hour when she dived into the marina to save her – She’s now become her best friend and surrogate aunty!

So now it’s off to say goodbye to all – whoops a bar crawl coming on one thinks (just as well we’re leaving we couldn’t keep this up much longer!) but hey we’re up at 5.00am tomorrow to set sail en-route for Ibiza – we’ve got just short of 3 weeks to do the 350ish miles to get there before our flight home on Friday 13th July for just a week to see Jodie in her show in Wimbledon and then who knows where the wind will take us!


Almerimar to Calpe

2012-06-25 to 2012-07-02

What a week – can’t believe it’s only 7 days since we last blogged – a bit of an electrical problem halted the escape from Almerimar for 2 days – eventually after waiting and waiting for electricians and several leaving parties later we got away Wednesday afternoon with the ‘Ankara Bar’ clan waving us off which was so lovely - the plan was of sailing through the night to get round the Cabo de Gata and find a good anchorage before continuing on up the coast to Mar Menor, Alicante and onto Calpe before heading over to Ibiza.

Sailing was good and anchorages poor so we continued through the night and on into the next day – a bit of wind and then none and then it was on the nose, the cruising chute (big sail at the front of the boat!) was flown up and then taken back down – the engine was on and then it was off, several times - we had forgotten what Med sailing was like!! The sun was shining; the views wonderful and then came the dolphins (see the video attached), flying fish and the basking sun fish just so amazing.

We decided to anchor outside Cartagena on the 2nd night but the sea was crashing on the rocks and the wind had turned in our favour so we decided to carry on – this was a new experience as neither of us has ever sailed for this long before – our longest voyage was across the channel when we started this adventure, but no worries, lots of short naps we were doing well that was until a shout from Philip while Chris was dozing – there’s lights in the distance and not sure what they are coming from – we can hear engines and we’re in the shipping lanes – Philip can see white and red lights but Chris can see green too – oh dear oh dear it’s heading straight for us – a quick turn towards land with a torch shining on the sail we get a flash from the largest tanker we’ve ever seen and the wash hits us - whoa that was a really close call!! Deep breath we carry on close to the shore – the tankers can’t get us here!!

The sun rises on our 3rd day – the fishing line is over the side trying to catch tonight’s dinner but not a bite while 1000’s of fishes are swimming by taunting us – by 6pm we arrive and drop the anchor in Benidorm, we are feeling so exhilarated albeit a little weary – it was straight in for a wonderful swim, a hot shower off the back of the boat and then we relaxed after our non-stop 186 miles, 2 nights, a 50 hours sail. We were in for an interesting night of swelly seas but hey so tired nothing’s going to stop us sleeping tonight.

The following afternoon we arrived in Calpe to be met by Pete and Anne, our friends off Clean Sweep from last year – they’d just completed on their villa in the town and so we were invited to stay for a couple of nights – A wonderful time had by all even though no furniture had arrived so we were sleeping on a blow up mattress that went down over night!!

Then last night of course Spain won the Euro Cup – oh what a night – we’re not really footy fans but you couldn’t help getting caught up in the party atmosphere (more video!) The noise was incredible with firecrackers, car horns, whistles and singing – just amazing to be part of.

Today we’re off again on another 70mile journey across to Ibiza – we’ll be back in touch soon xx


Ibiza Rocks!

2012-07-02 to 2012-07-31

We can’t believe it’s over a month since we sailed into San Antonio Bay, Ibiza – a wonderful night crossing from Calpe, at 1am and 20 miles out there was the most amazing firework display, Elton John’s finale – unfortunately we missed him singing live but arrived into the bay at 6am passing what we now understand to be his amazing super yacht and with music still playing on the beach, club revellers still partying and by 7.30am our friends Carly & Mike on OzzyII welcoming us alongside their mooring with tea and croissant – we’ve made it to The Balearics!!

Since arriving we’ve enjoyed a great month of swimming, snorkelling and sailing and seeing the most fantastic sunrises, sunsets and moon lit skies (loads of photo!) We’ve also spent time anchored for free in the safety of San Antonio bay listening to lots of live music coming from ashore, blended with the booming clubbing beat which we seemed to have got used to as background noise. We’ve at last got quite proficient in the dinghy going ashore, not only to stock up but to enjoy the entertainment; from watching the Olympics in Brit pubs to eating food from authentic Mexican and traditional Spanish restaurants to just sitting in the wild and whacky and very loud Brit bars of the West End where some of the fashions are to be believed but Philip thoroughly enjoying the sights – just fab people watching!!! We’ve also met so many lovely people too; friends and colleagues of Carly and Mike’s have made us so welcome inviting us to bbq’s and family parties. It’s not all been eating & drinking though, we’ve walked, walked and walked taking in so many amazing views of cliffs & calas, bays & beaches – we’ve walked round & round the town too with so many other sights, sounds and smells ….mmm not all of what we’re used to but hey this is the party island of the world so we’re told!!

We also enjoyed a fabulous week at home in the middle of the month too - seeing Jodie appear in Everything in Colour in Wimbledon was awesome, catching up with Pete & Anne in Buckinghamshire, all the family at an all-night music festival (well very late anyway), mum and dad’s for Sunday lunch, 29 holes of golf, a trip to Poole to meet our new Great-nephew Joshua James and a full days gardening, we were ready to get back to Amy for a rest!!

We’ve now got until end of October to enjoy Ibiza and Formentera by sea and by land and hopefully more stories to tell and photos to share in our next blog next month!

By the way to any Skypers out there please add us to your list. Our skype name is; chrisnphilip.loftus - be great to catch up sometime xx


Where did August go??

2012-08-01 to 2012-08-31

Wow another month has just flown by and what a month August has been – more eating, drinking, partying of course with island festivals and fireworks, mixed in with more sailing, snorkelling, sightseeing, markets and visitors too.

Jodie came to stay for a week at the beginning of the month which was wonderful – and with her she brought the new addition to our ever extending yacht, an inflatable kayak - we still can’t row in unison but oh what fun trying – it also doubled up as just the best sunbed on the water, tied onto the back of Amy!! The days were spent enjoying the sunshine, sailing and sunbathing and Chris caught the most amazing and ugly winged Flying Gurnard – it’s wings as long as it’s body and it made such an awful grunting noise it's known to the locals as the ‘Grunting Fish’ quite scary so it was thrown back for another day!! The evenings were spent enjoying dining on board as well as ashore, seeing the sights in the West End, singing in Karaoke bars, enjoying Mojitos on Amy outside Mambos made by the swimming Mojito Man while watching the sun going down and then on her last night Jodie enjoyied a trip, with Carly, to be body painted before seeing Tinie Tempah singing live in Ibiza Rocks – a great time had by all!!

Chris then travelled back home with Jodie for a long weekend, a trip to the dentist to mend her broken tooth and to help Jodie move into London.Before she knew it she was back and we were off to explore the anchorages in the south of Ibiza which were wonderful, stunning rock formations especially of the mystical Isle of Vedra, beautiful bays and then we headed for Formentera and found paradise ….. a busy paradise mind but still exquisite – aquamarine milky seas, sand dunes, 1000’s of fish and 100’s of super yachts too!!! It felt we had arrived in the Caribbean – spectacular. A trip ashore and bus ride to the furthest end of the island and the hippy market gave us the taste of the calm, chilled out atmosphere of the island – we were looking forward to experiencing more but unfortunately with high winds and storm due and very little anchoring protection it was a quick exit back to Ibiza and the safety of our mooring buoy in San Antonio but we’ll be back!!

The month of August ended with our 5th Wedding Anniversary and to celebrate we hired a Quad bike and toured round the whole 68km of Ibiza from the highest point in the middle to the coastal paths leading to wonderful towns and beautiful bays – we travelled off road on the bumpy goat tracks which were so much fun. Our anniversary and August was finished off with a wonderful late night tapas dinner with Carly & Mike in a hidden away Spanish restaurant.

September looks like it`s going to be a another busy fun month, we are flying off early to Portugal for a few days to a wedding and on our return we’ve two birthday bashes, possibly more guests coming to stay and also hope to circumnavigate Ibiza Isle ending back up in Formentera to continue where we left off so hope more stories to tell next month xx