Day 149: 10th November 2017 An unexpected stay in Camerota

We woke early as planned, but to the sound of thunder and the drumming of rain on the deck which was definitely not planned. After a look at the updated forecast we decided sailing in a thunderstorm was not fun so we would stay put for a day. However we were now left with a problem in that we had told the fuel guy we would be off his pontoon by 6am! Patrick took a walk and found a night watchman in the marina office who said he would come and help us at about 7:30. Another 1/2 hour and we heard a fishing boat approaching and on sticking our heads out we saw they wanted to come alongside the fuel pontoon!

Very quickly the night watchman appeared with his umbrella and indicated he would help us move. Waterproofs on we motored across the harbour and contemplated another med mooring experience when we were met by a flurry of Italian and arms waving madly that we should just come alongside (so he could get out of the rain ASAP). This done he insisted on holding our boat documents hostage until the day guy arrived, which was a little uncomfortable but we had no choice. A little later Patrick retrieved them having paid 30 Euros for one night which was 5 Euros less than we had been quoted for the previous night before we stayed on the fuel pontoon.

As we were up early, boatschool happened very quickly, with the kids choosing to read more Harry Potter in the time they were working independently of me. After Maths and English we went for walk to the shop to top up our supplies. It was a 15 minute walk up a very steep hill with lots of complaints from Esmé. On our return AJ did his online GoZen programme and Esmé her Nessy online learning before I made lunch. At this point Esmé said she didn't feel good, didn't want to eat and spent the afternoon collapsed in front of a movie. AJ read more Harry Potter while I made soup for tomorrows passage and caught up on some paperwork.

I was just about to start contemplate cooking dinner when Patrick called me on deck to say there was a yacht aground in the entrance to the harbour. There is a silted up area on the way in that is marked by small red buoys, and a yacht had managed to get in there and was pounding on the ground. Very quickly there was a small fishing boat and the marina rib out trying to help but in the end it took a long time and a much bigger fishing boat to pull her off. It was heart breaking to watch and there was realistically nothing we could do to help. We could see her pivoting on her keel as boats tried to push and pull her off and rope after rope broke under the strain.

As if the job wasn't hard enough, the heavens then opened and there was full on thunder and lightening. 

All the land based spectators rushed for their cars, but the fishing boats battled on and eventually the yacht was free, and the sound of engine horns hooting echoed around the harbour in celebration. Unfortunately however, she had lost her throttle lever when one rope parted so had to be towed into the berth opposite us. We welcomed them in with offers of help, luckily there wasn't any water ingress although if it were me I would be lifting the boat for a look underneath. 

With all the drama over, and Esmé now asleep after having been dosed up with Calpol, I cooked dinner and we are now enjoying a quiet evening reading more Harry Potter with AJ.

Also today we had the great news that our friend Roger will be flying out on Monday to help us with our journey to Ragusa. It will be so lovely to see him and to have some more company!