Day 81 & 82: 1st and 2nd of September Jobs jobs jobs, and a little bit of fun.

Yesterday we decided to have a bit of fun as we'd been working hard to get the masts sorted and up, so we pumped up the dinghy and attached the outboard which needed a test run anyway. We were really lucky that the family next to us on the pontoon are getting ready to ship their boat back to England on the back of a lorry so gave us lots of stuff including about 10litres of petrol. Once the kids had pumped the dinghy up Patrick too Eskar, AJ and Esmé out for a spin while I finished off some hand washing.

We then got a visit from an Australian family I had met on Facebook. They too are planning to winter in Ragusa on Sicily but the Dad and Grandad are busy working on the boat they have just bought ashore at Port Napoleon, and the Mum and kids have just arrived to join them. We packed some snacks and a picnic tarp and headed in the dinghy over to the tiny patch of sand over the other side of the marina. Here the kids played in the sand and swam for a good hour or so before AJ announced that he was freezing and we came back to the boat.

We had lunch then after another round of washing I took the kids to the beach again so that Patrick could get some more jobs done. The family next door were selling a gangplank which Patrick had his eye on. Whilst I could see it was a good deal, and probably a great deal more suitable than our scrounged school bench top, I wanted him to make sure it would fit our boat and he could store it.

Back for an evening meal and then we had a pleasant evening next door where they showed us the places they had stopped on the way north up the west coast of Italy. They gave us plenty of ideas for thought as well as some mosquito repellent and lots of other bits and pieces as well as a nice glass or 2 of whiskey!

Today was more jobs. Replaced the water pump, 2 loads of hand washing which dried really quickly in the warm wind, split pins in all the rigging, started replacement of the bilge pump float switch and a play at the newly completed playground at the marina with the Australians.

We also collected a parcel from Nana from the marina office. This brought much joy as she used to send a little package each week at home but obviously can't really do this when we are constantly on the move.