Casting Off - Live the Dream

12^th August Gibraltar

Our last night in Torrevieja was spent being a tourist, Oscar and Paul decided that out of all the rides at the funfair the bumper cars were the safest; four rides later I was surprised that neither of them had whiplash!

The next morning we depart with a good forecast for the next three days. The first 24 hours were great with good winds Pondlife covered some ground. We had loads of dolphins with us, we have never seen so many, brilliant to see then playing at the bow.

On the second night, with Pondlife motoring along, I heard Boof-Boof looked to my starboard side and was sure something was dispelling air. Your mind plays funny tricks on you at night and as I had just read the Navtex warning about a 10 metre dead whale in the Balearics; I tried not to think that the whale alongside us may think that Pondlife was its mother! 

Then the wind just died on us. We decided to push on regardless as we would rather just get to Gib. 48 hours later on the approach, Paul said “lifejackets on, there is fog coming in” Oh my goodness talk about pea soup we couldn’t see a thing!

With Paul at the wheel, I was banished down stairs to keep an eye on the radar...Paul said “what have we got?” It was black; we were surrounded by cargo ships at anchor!

After some very slow manoeuvres and a few [keep your ears closed Oscar] SH12’s, when we came face to face with a ship and then very close to an old cutter rigged yacht. Can you believe it; we turned the corner as if to enter the channel into Gib and Yippee no fog! Thank goodness, I would not have liked the idea of playing cat and mouse in that so, so busy fairway.

We found a spot in the La Linea anchorage and just slept for a day to recoup.

The next day we head back to Queens Quay marina, very reasonable only £18 a night. Small world this cruising lark, who would we bump into but our old neighbour from Almerimar, Free Spirit, with John and Alex onboard.

Paul had found some water under our bed..OOPS [No, not one of us!] The rudder seal that we had renewed before we left the UK was leaking, on closer inspection of Pondlife so was her sail drive seal!

The poor old girl needed some attention, considering that we haven’t really had any maintenance issues with her for the past two years, we felt she deserved a bit of an overhaul.

Gibraltar, with three large marinas was just the place!! Well you would think so...It took Paul a week to find all the bits we would need and he had to hire a crane [double the price of a normal haul out] as they have no facilities here. The lift out was an experience, can’t say that we felt that secure but they obviously knew what they were doing. Three hours later Pondlife was back in the water repaired and ready to go.

 We were in fact rather lucky on the parts front [manufactured in Seville] as Lewmar who make them in the UK were closed for August and then with a three week lead time we wouldn’t have been able to leave here until mid September!

Oscar loves the Barbary Apes that live on the rock, so he and I went to see them; August is a good time as they have just had their babies. You have to watch the cheeky mokeys as they will pinch any packets that they hear rustling, there were a few very distraught children, but very happy apes munching away on crisps and Maltesers!

1^st June 09 - Sami on Cephalonia

With the arrival of my mother we depart from Corfu and head to Platarias, on the mainland of Greece. Sonja and Micheal our German friends had recommended the harbour to us as it has a free water supply. We both had a good sail over and we thought the village was charming.  Paul and Oscar spent the evening playing their guitars on the break water rocks, whilst mum and I watched the most beautiful sunset. Sunsets are a rarity in the Ionian as you tend to sail on the east side of the islands, with high mountain ranges the sun gets blocked out.

From Platarias we head south for about 10 miles to a very pretty harbour – Mourtos. It felt more like Italy than Greece, the redevelopment of the area has been finished in a sympathetic way and looks like it will age gracefully. Unfortunately we didn’t stay long as we had been warned by another cruiser that the port police were horribly officious or should I say over zealous - another boat had been questioned for the most part of a day as they couldn’t prove their last port. As it happened we would have been in the same situation as Paul had thrown our previous receipt away! So we decided to head off to Paxos.

Once again back in Lakka, we do like it here. The sea is turquoise blue and so clear. Oscar and nana spent most days swimming; it is very warm here now although the sea is still a little chilly.

Next stop, I can’t believe it we’re back in Levkas! We were waiting for a parcel to arrive from England so we spent our time doing another big food stock-up and it was very nice to see some familiar faces.

This part of the Ionian is in our opinion the best, it was very nice even a second time round to visit some of our favourite haunts.

Starting with Nidri, then past Skorpios [the Onassis Island] and through the Meganisi channel. We didn’t stop until we reached Savota; this is where we caught fish with our Aussi friends last year. [Well Cam, we didn’t even get a sniff this year!]

Unfortunately this is where Oscar and I contracted worms!! [As you do] Sandra my French friend said garlic was good for getting rid of them, but I didn’t know whether to eat a load or rub it in!?

The next day we made a quick dash to Vasiliki, to the pharmacy. Ver tablets for all of us. Yippee...

Vasiliki is known for being windy, it is very popular with wind surfers and dinghy sailors. The town quay was rather nice, a good place for a sporty holiday.

My most favourite place next, Friscardo on Cephalonia, with its picture postcard water front.  We walked through the pine forest and swam every day.

Mum really wanted to spend some time on Ithaca, so we made our first port of call Kioni, this is where a cat landed on my head in the middle of the night. This time we were prepared all hatches on the jar, although we were kept awake with the pitter – patter of little feet! [Not Oscar’s]

We found a lovely little cove on the left of the harbour, the water was nice and warm and spotless, so again we were able to have our daily dunk. If you need water here you have to pay for it as it is tankered in from the mainland; this is why we try our best to go for a swim and then give ourselves a light rinse off afterwards.

With provisions running low we decided to give Vathi a visit, the Carrefour has a good selection. We didn’t stay long as some friends had recommended an anchorage just outside on the right of the bay.

Skhoinos was a delight, a little bay surrounded by pine forests and with sandy beaches a treat. Pondlife was one of four boats at anchor, we felt we had the place to ourselves. It was really nice being able to swim from the boat to the shore. Oscar would lie on his lilo and paddle to the boat.

With Mum booked to fly from Cephalonia we thought we should head back to the Island and show her  Sami. We walked and walked, mum said she would need a hip replacement by the end! Great to go exploring, right at the very top of Sami we found the ancient remains of a monastery complete with painted walls in deep reds and blues dating back to the 6^th century amazing that they had not completely faded away.

Paul layed down the gauntlet to Oscar, to see how much money he could make from busking, with Paul doubling his earnings! Well in under an hour he had just under 10 Euros!! Dinner is on him!!!

I must say we thought he was very cute and incredibly brave, there is no way I would ever go and stand in front of a whole restaurant and play to them- Os was not phased in the least.