A nightmare before Christmas

Its Christmas on our boat and we have been getting into the Christmassie mood, last night we danced away to pop Xmas songs until bed time.





The lights are flashing prettily up the mast and over the boat. All our goodies have been bought and we were ready, everything we needed to make chocolate sweets and nut roast, and cook our beef etc etc.






Getting the lights up the mast





 All well until 11.30 pm the night before Christmas eve Lorenzo woke up calling me, I went into the back cabin to find him naked on the floor with the whole bed covered in sick.....Yes loads of it pasta and chocolate was his last meal so you can imagine!!!
  We got him warmed, covered and laid down in the saloon while we cleared up and moved poor sleepy Arthur over who, amazingly escaped the sick patch but hes a dead weight and refused to wake up so Dave was called to help move him over, as I pulled the dirty sheets from underneath him.
  Fat Sam Lolly s toy got dropped into the water while I tried to shake out the lumpy sick sheets, so here I am in the dark in my P,J's with a small fishing net in hand trying to hook it out in the dark while Lorenzo is being sick all over the saloon. So now we have bed sheet, and mattress, blankets and saloon seats all in need of cleaning with hardly any water.
luckily we knew there was a laundrette near by!!
   Now the whole boat is in disarray. The hardest part was the fact that we had just done all our washing and Dave had just got over his sick tummy and diarrhea, were we all going to go down with it, I swallowed a bit of garlic to help prevent it, but getting the boys to do the same wasn't going to happen. I put a small tiny bit in a glass of water and then got them to drink it, they didn't even know it was there.
  I sat up with Lorenzo all night he was sick every hour until 6am, but getting better ever since. But now the wind has picked up and we are bobbing about.    Dave moved us around the other side of pontoon where the wind wasn't pushing and crashing on to the pontoon.


  By the evening the boat was thrashing about like a wild beast, the wind howling and the waves splashing and spraying through the wooden pontoon, i started to hang on tight and get very nervous as our 12 ton boat yanked hard on the ropes pulling at the wooden pontoon. I wondered if we were going to get pulled apart.
 Gale force winds so Dave eased off the mooring lines so the boat would be kept off the pontoon and sit with her stern into the wind which was much more comfy as the bow lines were snatching and I thought the deck cleats would pull out! I had 2 bow lines, 2 stern lines and for an aft springs were both doubled as well! 



Dave put a breast line on from one of the sheet winches so he could get close enough to the pontoon to get ashore and collect the Christmas presents which were in the car. He got very wet! It went on all through the night. We didn't get much sleep, poor Dave slept with his boots on so to be ready for any problems. This was the second night without much sleep for me. And it was still dark when i finally fell into a deep sleep to be woken by Arthur saying Santa had come. Oh my god my eye were glued together and gravity had got heavier!!!!

The calm after the storm Christmas day was unbelievably calm warm sunny beautiful day, We heard the storm was coming back tomorrow so we moved the boat early to a sheltered small marina Bouzigues, ( don't ask me to pronounce that)!!

I drove the car round and watched Lady Bear silhouetted coming through the hazy sunny morning along the now calm water. 
Tucked in safe in the marina,
Dave got the beef on for dinner and we went to play with Arthur's new helicopter and gun and Lorenzo's new tag along bike.






 Played games back on the boat. Dinner was amazing tasty with nut roast, beef, roast potatoes cabbage and carrots.



 Movie of Men In Black while Lorenzo listen to his new french song CD.   Perfect end to a perfect Day! Merry Christmas everyone and heres to a Great New Year to all!!!

Summer of the Bears

Our second trip this year
We started up the coast from Rome towards the island of Giglio where the big cruiser if any of you remember the Costa Concordia that crashed into the rocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster


 We anchored and then took the dingy around the bay to the town where the Concordia lies. Spent sometime on shore in the pretty fishing town of Giglio.
Sailing passed the island Giglio


A beautiful island, coming back from the town we got as close to the shipwreck as we could with the dingy to visit and get a closer look at the Concordia ship  
We visited Elba, Corsica and Sardinia. There were ups and downs as always with sailing. The winds the wrong direction or nothing at all. But we managed some great sailing days. I started the trip with a tummy bug and felt useless for 24 hours. We only spent 3 nights in total of the 5 weeks in marinas. The first being on main land .......... Italy just by Elba, where we had one night in a marina to get water and electric and big shopping. The rest of the week we spent anchored outside in the bay. This was a great spot as we had beach, shopping, internet and the marina close by with free ice making machine. This is where we turned into night ice pirates for our RUM!! Sneaking into the marina in the dark to bring back buckets of ice. he he!!
We met a great French couple here with kids 11yr boy and 5yrs girl. They came to our boat a few times for dinner and we went to there holiday apartment for an evening, the kids enjoyed the beach together.
Our Spanish helper Montse left us here, her heart was left in Spain and she didn't enjoy the fact that internet on a boat including water is a luxury. 

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  The wind was strong and the waves were rolling as we sailed out into the blue again towards Corsica. We made good time as the wind was perfect.
   Bastia, Corsica, our hi light. Second marina two nights here as it was so good.....see photos.
   The American couple left us here and we continued down the Corsican coast. The longest stretch of golden beach I have ever see, with pine forests and hi blue mountains in the distance. Beautiful!!! see photos.
   We reached Sardinia lots of rocky islands. Very expensive they almost want to charge you for anchoring there.
   We had another night of rescuing someones boat in a really big thunder storm Once again people go off and leave for a long evening out,  while the weather changes.
   The boat nearly collides into a large ferry, Dave got it back to the anchorage and all seems fine we go to bed to be woken by the boat owners who want more help as their engine won't start as they have floaty toys off the back and the rope got caught in propeller.
We weighed anchor and pulled them off the rocks. The wind was howling it was dark and the tow rope was dragging on our out board engine and dingy. I tried hard to prevent this as Dave pulls and pulls their big boat. We eventually managed to get them clear of the rocks when two coastgaurd boats came along to help out. I untied them and we were free again, but its too late our tender had capsized. The howling wind blew hard around our ears as I tried to  rescue our deck cushions, I watched them blow off into the dark one by one. Nothing I could do......!
   Enough of Sardinia! We went back to Corsica and Bonifacio. Amazing place crazy busy though....see photos.
   We found the most blue, clearest water and great beach where Artie learnt to jump in the water.   Artie is great at swimming now. Plus hes been learning to juggle.
Dave spent a whole day mending the out board motor so we could go shopping. Spent the last few days on another great beach with a great little park and round about that Lolly loved.
  We set sail back to Rome.
30 hours night passage. Dolphins swam around the boat. We watched the stars rise and the plough moving around the sky. Saw the moon set and change from orange to blood red.
    Got to Rome late afternoon for some sleep. 
At the marina in Rome we fed swans in the moon light with bats flying around our heads. Nice end to our trip.



              

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Meeting friends

Marina where we became ICE PIRATES!!

New friends from Brittany



Captainess Maddy


We met an American couple Stephine and Ed, who came sailing with us from here to Elba and Corsica for a week. They were great fun and helpful.
Elba was expensive so we anchored outside the big main  town which is very pretty , there was a CO-OP can you believe it













Yes that's me! Swimming to the beach













We had an adventure one night here. The winds picked up ( Elba is very windy, so is Dave's bottom).
   It was dark and windy only the lights of the town to light the night when our neighbouring anchored boats started blasting there horns. We looked out to see a big catamaran careering through the anchorage. So there went Dave and Ed off like a shot into the dark to rescue the boat, no one was on it. In the dark they managed to find the lights how to turn the engine on and find the windless for the anchor.
   Two hours later they still couldn't get the anchor to set. The owner came back after they're long evening out having dinner and getting drunk and very ungrateful which didn't leave Dave in a good mood. Ed said he had a good time though!





WHo goes Bear!!








Bastia


















Train journey from Bastia to Corti




Corti


On our own again sailing down the amazing coast of Corsica




Lorenzo doing some stretches



Game of football anyone










collection of stowaways

Attacking pirate toys

Sponge Bob to the rescue!!


On Land!!
Treasures


Morning coffee

Sunset swim


Learning to juggle

Good catch Arty




Bonifacio




                      Entrance to Bonifacio

Small island with the bluest waters


                         ille de Cavallo








Across the bay from Porto Vecchico

Found a great park




                          Show time

          Dave with his hand up a birds bum!


We watch all the crazy water skiers and boats






Good bye Corsica


Back at Tecnomar marina Rome. Swans come out in the moon light, a great end to our sail back from Corsica.