Started with kids being really tetchy so to avoid an argument I dragged them to the beach for a walk before breakfast..... Esmé with no shoes as I couldn't find her sandals and couldn't be bothered to find socks. Unfortunately it was quite cold so I had to lend her my flip flops which was quite amusing but she soon got fed up with them and went barefoot again. Nothing like a beach walk in a lovely place to get rid of a bad temper!
School went reasonably well as I had promised Esmé we could have her made up recipe of pancakes and lots of things chocolate for lunch if there were no paddies during lessons. AJ made it all the way through the morning without losing the plot and Esmé almost got there so we had a very unhealthy and chocolatey lunch. In the afternoon we went for a drive to check out a horse riding place. We thought it was about time the kids had a treat and they had really enjoyed the little pony rides in Lyon. I had phoned this place as it advertised horse riding on the beach which I thought would be a lovely memory of Corsica, however the lady on the phone seemed to be saying that the kids were a bit small for this but to come along and have a chat. Once we got there (after multiple satnav fails by me) she was very accommodating and said that we could take the kids and ponies to the beach for an hour if we as parents led the horses... but we would be on our own. The other option was an hours lesson. AJ didn't really mind either way and Esmé wanted the lesson so we were glad to be off the hook and be able to hand over the responsibility of horse and child minding to somebody else. Kids first horse riding lesson booked for Saturday morning! Next we called in at a different beach on the way back as we had seen some Hobie Cats from the cliff road. The guy there was happy to hire us one and for Patrick and I to take the kids out. The waves were pretty rough and we had no change of clothes so we decided to come back another day.
Back home for the usual evening meal, cards, engine building and bed.
Also today we got the quotes for the work on Laurin and emailed these over to the insurers. We also chatted to them about instructing DMS to carry out the work before having any agreement with them as we were keen to get the work done ASAP. They said that this was fine as long as we understood it was at our risk but they would cover the initial investigation costs regardless. We called Matthew at DMS marine and to our dismay he said he couldn't start work for another week!!!!!! I regretfully asked if he could recommend anybody else to do the work as we really couldn't afford to wait that long if we could help it and he said he would ask his brother. Within an hour we got a phonecall from his Dad saying that he could do the work and would work all weekend to get us in the water by the end of next week if we could send him an email saying that we would cover all the costs of the initial investigation and the further work to be done. Result!
Thursday
As soon as the insurers were open we called to let them know what we were doing and get it in writing that they were covering the initial investigation. They told us to get DMS to invoice them directly for the initial investigation and they could be paid within a day. We then instructed DMS to get going on our repair, and then booked the Tuesday overnight ferry from Propriano to Marseille which was significantly cheaper than flying.
School went well again with the kids really engaging in the "Story of the world" lesson on Hieroglyphics.
This afternoon we took one of the paddleboards from the house to the beach and AJ again showed us how good he is at this.
I took the opportunity of shallow water to actually stand up on it rather than chicken out and kneel the whole time. I'm sure I provided entertainment for the lunchtime diners at the beachside restaurant, particularly the comedy moment when as approaching the beach I was hit by a wave (ok slight ripple) and found myself running backwards off the board with a big splash! Luckily this part was not caught on camera.
Back for a dinner and a lovely video call to grandparents.
We also received an email from the insurers stating that they wouldn't pay out for the further work on Laurin as the cracks were deemed by the surveyor to be "not the result of an accidental event but are a matter of the mode of construction of the boat and of her age.” This was pretty much what we were expecting although ever hopeful for a miracle pay out. We are actually very grateful that they have covered the cost of the surveyor as well as the initial investigation costs as this has given us confidence in the repair plan as well as reducing the total bill for us as we would have had to pay for the investigation in order to start the repair anyway.
So hopefully all systems go again. I think we can now focus on enjoying our remaining time in Corsica.
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