Wednesday
Up at a reasonable time and Esmé announced she wanted to build a "pram" for her toys using wood she had found on the beach! Not wanting to curb her enthusiasm I encouraged her to draw and label her design before packing her off with Dad to check out what tools she'd need. On their return Patrick was feeling a little hot so I took her back to the beach with saw, hammer, nails and rabbit! She pottered around for about an hour sawing and banging (eventually with help from me) until we eventually decided to take her work so far and finish it at a later date. It was 11:15 and we were aiming to be off by 12.
We still had to return Wilf's hat so Esmé and I rowed to the beach and, failing to find Wilf and family, handed it to one of the beach staff. Back to the boat and we were ready for off. We didn't finalise our choice of destination as we really wanted to sail so motored out of our anchorage to check the wind direction before deciding for Lakka on Paxos. Finally we were sailing... by rights Patrick should have been smiling way more than this as he is really starting to get annoyed at all the motoring we seem to do!
We had a lovely sail, only marred slightly by the fact that neither child particularly wanted to be on deck, arriving at Lakka about 5:30. Unfortunately things then went downhill as we tried to moor with a long line ashore again and got somewhat complacent. I'm still not sure the best procedure for this when the wind is coming from the shore. We dropped the anchor in 2m of water and then I tried to hold our position while Patrick rowed ashore with a long line. We got blown about a lot and in my efforts to avoid the lovely wooden boat next to us I ran over the long line that Esmé was paying out. I heard the prop change noise and quickly put her into neutral but Esmé couldn't pull her end of the line free and as I shouted to Patrick he realised that the other end of his line was cut and not attached to Laurin. Well, at least the rope cutter worked! Patrick then moved a little quicker and we got the frayed end of the long line tied on to Laurin before AJ and Patrick dived in to investigate what was going on underneath the hull. Luckily it took only a couple of minutes to free the other end of the line. We started the engine again to check we had forward and reverse and were pretty happy until I ramped up the revs to dig the anchor in only to realise our rev counter was reading incorrectly. Tried the usual switch it off and back on again and we still had the same problem. Patrick scrambled to phone Beta before the end of the UK working day and got some protracted instructions as to how to fix it, despite them being mystified at why this should have happened. They also advised us to check the alternator, however by now we were just glad to be safely tied up and decided to leave all further work until the next day.
I was an emotional wreck and Patrick just wanted to eat and hit the sack. I didn't feel like cooking so, after Mum having a meltdown and going on strike, it was decided we would eat ashore! Off in the dinghy with AJ driving we headed for Mandi's which was the Trip Advisor top rated "cheap eats" place in Lakka. We had a lovely meal which lifted all our spirits, Esmé particularly pleased with the dog that adopted us during our meal. Esmé was very brave and tried the calamari even though it looked decidedly different from the processed stuff she enjoyed in Ragusa!
After dinner we went for a stroll into town, observing the metal plates on the front of the Neilson Boats which had definitely earned their keep before checking out the grocery shops and getting desert in the form of sweets for the kids and an ice cream to share for Patrick and I before we headed back to Laurin in the fading light.
Thursday
A lazy morning with Omlette for breakfast courtesy of AJ. Then a quick attempt at school before heading ashore, this time with Esmé driving the "Family Car". We used several shops to piece together enough groceries for the next 4 days before heading back to Laurin for lunch.
After lunch we all had some chill out time (some of us even had a nap) before pumping the paddleboard off and heading to the beach in search of kids. A bigger boat would allow us to keep the paddleboard pumped up which would be far more convenient than stowing it every time we change location. However we made our choice of adventuring in a small boat for many good reasons, I just need to remember that pumping the board up is a much nicer work out with a much better view than I would have back home. Nevertheless it still remains that once I have pumped up the board I need to give my arms chance to recover before I paddle the dam thing!
The kids and I then headed for the beach, leaving Patrick to have a little peace and quiet. Once there we spotted some English kids and AJ and E used the paddleboard as a way of making new friends whilst I relaxed on the beach. In the end Esmé didn't use the board much but chose to practice swimming now she has shunned the use of the buoyancy aid for this purpose. She's going to swim like a fish by the time we return to normal life!
The family were staying at a Villa overlooking our boat, and the kids were having such a great time we agreed to meet them on the beach tomorrow morning before our planned departure in the afternoon if the kids finish school quickly.
Finally back to the boat for a lovely tea in the cockpit, a little time for the food to settle then the kids had one last swim before bed! There's a bit more wind and swell than there has been so we let out an extra 5m of chain, however this now means I can hear waves crashing on the rocks behind us which is somewhat disconcerting. Thank goodness for my "Anchor" app on my phone!
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