Days 130 & 131: 20th and 21st October 2017 San Vincenzi and San Rocco

Friday

Having had a broken nights sleep we were all tired and with a prospect of a 50 mile journey plus a rather bumpy start we declared it a no school day, accepting that we would do school on Sunday instead when we were alongside. So, lines dropped and out of Marina di Pisa I realised that with all the discussion about if Giglio was a good port for tomorrow, we hadn't actually booked todays marina. I looked up the number of Marina di Salivoli and gave them a call.... they were FULL!!! Hmmm, ok, let's try the marina on Elba, so I gave them a call and they were also full, but we could be on the waiting list and they would call back in an hour. By now we were starting to think we'd be going back to Pisa! Searching other options along the coast we came across Marina Di San Vincenzo which wasn't really far enough but at least was better than going back to Pisa. They had space but we didn't book just yet in case Elba came back with a good offer. We then saw Marina Di Rocco which could be good for Saturday night and possibly holing up for the bad weather to follow. It had a great review and looked cheap! I gave them a call and they had space for Saturday and as long as we  wanted... at 17 Euros a night so we booked for Saturday and then called back San Vincenzo to book. We had a plan! Lesson learned... don't set off without booking the next place!

It was a cold morning, so much so that Patrick donned the special hat given to him on his last significant birthday!

Also in the morning we spotted a tug testing it's fire cannon. The kids really loved watching it.

We were all pretty tired when we arrived at San Vincenzi but loved a trip on the marina golf cart to get to the office. We then went for a short walk and found a small playground where the kids found some Italian playmates.

On the way back to the boat we passed some water sprinklers that the kids obviously were drawn to like a magnet. They had great fun but unfortunately Esme's eczema started to hurt so we hurried back to Laurin for a shower.

Saturday

Another early start and this time the swell and wind waves were definitely a bit lumpier, however until we rounded the first headland the wind direction and strength allowed us to have a somewhat rare sail, cue one very happy Patrick!

None of us really felt like making a proper breakfast so out came the snack tub much to Esme's delight.

Given the lack of school the kids eventually started to get bored so we got out the play doh and some pipe cleaners as well as some other craft stuff and let the kids run wild. Esmé made a hermit crab using one of the shells from her collection.

AJ suddenly appeared on deck saying he felt a little queasy. He was also scared of the waves as we rounded the headland. Out came the ginger biscuits, lifejacket on and clipped him to the binnacle hand rail. I then encouraged him to stand on the seat and ride the waves like a surfer. Esmé joined in too, and with Patrick encouraging them to enjoy the waves, spirits started to rise. We put some music on but are missing our speaker as what we really like with big waves is LOUD music!

As we rounded the headland we had to keep a lookout for the Elba Ferries. I hate dodging large ships and used to always default to Patrick as he has much better special awareness when it comes to judging if something is going to be an issue. This is even harder when the big boat is coming out of a harbour so is likely to change course. Now we have AIS things are much calmer on board, as well as safer. If I am not 100% happy with a situation, instead of defaulting to Patrick I can look up the name of the ship and call them on the radio to check that they have seen us. In this case we were the stand on vessel so the Ferry Moby Kiss confirmed that he had seen us and would go astern of us.

Eventually the waves died down and we approached Marina di San Rocco.

After several tries to contact them on the radio they eventually responded when Patrick gave them a call. Once inside the harbour they assisted us into our berth and we had a small tidy up before chilling out. Esmé found a friend and they played for well over an hour without any common language at all!

Days 128 and 129: 18th and 19th October 2017 Pisa

Wednesday

An early start as Patrick and I were awake anyway. Patrick pulled up the anchor to discover it covered in black sticky mud. Probably perfect for keeping us safe but terrible to clean up, in fact he was cleaning it for a good 15 minutes after I motored us out of the bay.

As we continued we saw several Italian warships as well as a ferry on its way to the mainland from Corsica. Patrick joked that the Italians even do ferries with style!

School again went pretty well, short bursts are really the way forward and the kids continued building Italian landmarks in Minecraft when they weren't working with me. For one of his sessions AJ wanted to look at inventions and we spent some time looking at books showing various inventions over time. He was particularly interested in the octants and sextants so we got my sextant out and I started to show both kids how to use it.

When we got in to Marina Di Pisa we had lunch after which I read a section out of "The Barefoot Navigator" to them which details how navigation has changed over time. It was a little old for them but as lunchtime reading is my choice of book they both persevered with listening.

We then went to the office to pay and dragged the granny trolley into town to stock up on groceries. There was also a tiny chandlers where Patrick managed to replace our broken mainsheet block at a remarkably cheap price.

On our return we chilled out for a while. I think all home schooling parents at some time or other worry if they are doing enough. I certainly do, particularly as the plan is for the kids to return to school in two years time. However one huge win as far as boat school is concerned is that the kids read so much more than they ever did at home. The read in the mornings, sometimes in their breaks from school work, to calm down, to kill time, and also late at night when if they were going to school the next day I would be insisting on lights out. Here they are intently reading their chosen books. Esmé is right on the cusp of wanting to read Harry Potter. Like AJ did she is reading an annual with lots of pictures in (and unlike AJ dressing herself as Hermione Granger to do so). I'm sure it won't be long before she is tackling the real thing!

At Patrick's suggestion we took a pre dinner walk to look at the posh motor yachts across the marina and took the opportunity to talk to AJ about the kinds of jobs on board one. I think he quite fancies the life of working on a superyacht!

 We then watched the sunset before heading back to the boat for dinner!

Thursday

We had a bit of a lazy morning as we weren't sailing today. We were planning on a visit to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and as much research on Worldschoolers Facebook page had brought up nothing else significant to see in Pisa we weren't in any rush. We made a packed lunch and got on a bus at about 11am, surprised to find that kids were free and adults only 2 Euros each. We judged the correct place to get off without worrying too much about how to get the correct bus and started the 20 minute walk to the tower. We enjoyed an hour mulling around the tower, eating our sandwiches and allowing the kids to spend some of their money on tourist "tat" much to Patrick's disgust.

Walking back a different way we stopped for Gelato and sat outside the lovely shop to eat and people watch.

 

We were back in Marina di Pisa by about 3pm so stopped by the Chandlery again to get spare lifejacket lights and a new light for our horseshoe buoy as we anticipate a little night sailing soon. The place was like a tiny "Dauntless" for those that know the famous Canvey Chandlery, with prices to match. One LED horseshoe buoy and 2 automatic lifejacket lights plus a 2m length of pink rope for Esmé to use for skipping came to 50 Euros. Bargain!

Back to the boat for a steak dinner after much deliberation on our next move. There is bad weather due late Sunday, continuing for a few days. We want to make good progress south but don't want to be stuck storm bound somewhere uncomfortable. Anyway we called the cruising association HLR who said that Giglio Port would be ok, the only problem is the 50 Euro per night charge, although apparently the town quay is free! Still some deciding to do but that can wait another day.

Day 127: 17/10/17 Chiavara to Le Grazie

A cold early start as we wanted to call in at Lavagna to get diesel. Strangely, despite the forecast of no wind, there was quite a breeze this morning, probably almost a reverse sea breeze as the land was so much colder than the sea. In any case this made getting onto the fuel pontoon at Lavagne a little tricky but nothing we couldn't handle. There was no sign of life at the fuel kiosk as we tied up but then we spotted a guy with a clipboard ambling along the pontoon. I suggested Patrick went to ask him and there followed a comedy moment with Patrick sprinting along after the guy, trying to attract his attention with his non existent Italian. After his 100m dash he returned to say that the fuel guy was at the other end of the marina, as they were just taking a fuel delivery. He would be round in 10 minutes..... I guessed this may take some time so made us some scrambled eggs for breakfast and I was proved right, as the guy eventually appeared some 45 minutes later. Fuel was an eye watering Euro 1.53 but we really wanted to top the tank up so paid the inflated price.



We got on with boatschool, again in short bursts but today the kids hearts were really not in it. We struggled on though and both completed "enough".









Onwards towards the Cinque Terres National Park which was absolutely stunning. I am perfectly aware that kids don't generally appreciate scenery so was ok with them chilling out down below,  occasionally popping their heads up when I told them of a new village to look at. AJ's call to Esmé "quick, take a look... this is amazing!" was quite enough of an endorsement of our minor detour for me.

Despite the late season, there were still plenty of day tripper boats which caused a wash induced chaos with the remains of our lunch.... peanuts and cheese slices flew everywhere and it was quickly all hands on deck to tidy up.

It was then just a short motor to Porto Venere where we planned to anchor. Unfortunately although it looked a lovely place, there didn't appear to be anywhere particularly suitable to anchor so we carried on to Le Grazie.

Porto Venere

Once anchored in Le Grazie we decided to roast Esme's (San Remo Market) chestnuts in the frying pan and let the kids taste them for the first time. Esmé couldn't wait to try to shell them despite the heat so decided rubber gloves were the way forward.

We then used up the borlotti beans she had requested at the same time by making cowboy beans to go with our last sausages and fried potatoes. A lovely meal eaten on deck in beautiful surroundings, which was only improved by the sighting of a lone dolphin. A perfect end to a lovely day.

I am now sat on deck writing this in the dark, enjoying the peace, but noticing the kids light still on in their cabin. I look down to see that both are still engrossed in their books. A big positive for living on a boat...... and now they have joined me for cuddles before sleep, saying that they are really glad to be on our big adventure. It's been a long time since I asked them how they felt about the big adventure, every since before we set off they have always answered that they are 50/50 on whether they would prefer to adventure or stay home with friends. Today for the first time they both said they were "zero" in favour of being at home... Esmé said she was "infinity" in favour of the big adventure!

Day 126: 16/10/17 Savona to Chiavara

Early wake up to get some hand washing done before Patrick fills up the water tanks.... well at least we had warm water as we'd had electrics overnight. Next up to the marina office to pay, book bridge opening and ask about getting diesel. Diesel on the pontoon isn't working! But there is a petrol station 5 minutes walk away the port lady says... it's illegal but.... So we decide to book a later bridge and Patrick does 4 x 12litre diesel runs.

Drag kids on deck in lifejackets but still wearing PJ's to wave at Nana and Grandad on webcam that focusses on bridge, only to find out later it froze and they missed us:-) Then spent the next 1/2 hour wringing out clothes and hanging on the guard rails... didn't do it before as underwear hanging on every available space on the boat is not a good luck going out of a lovely town centre marina!



Next task was to give the kids a long overdue overview of where we had been and where we were going next as they seemed rather confused and AJ in particular thought we weren't doing school today... a little misguided much to his disappointment.

As the morning went on I stuck to my new approach to learning of working with each child in short bursts and then letting them do educational stuff on the iPad. I think their minecraft worlds now include the coliseum as well as the  leaning tower of Pisa. AJ has gone all health and safety on us and fully considered spectator safety in his! Esmé chose this morning to announce she wanted to dress as Hermione from Harry Potter and so the dressing up pouch got its first airing. Once school had been done in a black cloak, the attire of the day was of a more nautical theme and even Dad was forced to join in!

As we approached Chiavari we called in on the radio as requested and were guided in by radio and by guys on the pontoons. Another stern to mooring success, this time rather more tricky but I was quite pleased with my effort!

Off to the beach with the kids who again were the only ones in the water.

Both kids enjoyed collecting stones and Esmé was particularly interested in Patricks explanation that one particular find was in fact lignite, wood on the way to becoming coal.

AJ started to draw "Japanese pictures" in the sand and we discussed that this could form part of his learning tomorrow.

And Esmé spent ages creating some art in the sand.

Back onto the boat for showers in the cockpit, a brief tidy up and then electronics for AJ and rock investigations for Esmé and Patrick before tasting the new, flavoured pasta from San Remo for tea.

 

Day 125: 15th October 2017 San Remo to Savona

We made an early pre dawn start out of San Remo to ensure we got to Savona in good time. Although there was quite a lot of light from the town our exit was made a little tricky by the unlit buoys laid for the rowing races yesterday. Once safely out of the harbour we set our course and enjoyed the sunrise.

There were a LOT of fishing boats out, big, small, and the crazy pedalo kayak fishing craft!

Well into the morning I was called on deck by Patrick saying he had gone over one of their fishing lines and got it stuck. He had put the engine into neutral but I immediately turned it off to be sure. As the Italians reeled their line in their tiny sports boat came towards us. Looking over the back I could see a lure and their line going under our stern. I hooked the line and the Italians looked very pleased not to have lost their lure, however the line after the lure with a hook on was still caught underneath Laurin. We used the usual sign language to communicate and asked them to look under our boat to see if they could tell if it was round the prop or the rudder, then all at once they had the hook in their hand and we were free. They went on to tell us that the fishermen often trail 100m lines behind their boats!

After a lovely lunch I phoned my mum while the others had their electronics time, when all of a sudden I saw dolphins. Mum's phone call was quickly abandoned as I yelled for them to come on deck. We spent a blissful few minutes watching them come closer and eventually swim under our bow. Amazing! Just wish they had stayed a little longer but it put a smile on all our faces!

Coming into Savona was a little interesting as we had to pass 3 cruise boats before waiting for the bridge to open. The cruise ships were the Concordia line and it really brought it home to us the devastating loss of life when the Costa Concordia sank off Giglio. I can't imagine how the captain of  a boat that big could make such a monumental error!

After trying several times on Chanel 9 we eventually phoned up to let the marina know we had arrived. They seemed to have no record of us booking by phone yesterday but found us a space anyway. This was our first stern to mooring and luckily we were given an easy one on the end of a pontoon. I took my time and I could sense the harbourmaster wondering what this crazy English Lady was doing but when I parked Laurin perfectly Patrick said he looked impressed! We then gave our new to us passerelle it's first outing.

Savona was lovely and had a thriving market on so we went for a walk before dinner. First stop was a supermarket to buy ice creams. The kids were interested to find octopus in the freezer too!

After a wander I made tea, and then we took the kids to a small playground before a very much needed shower!