Day 17: 30/06/17 Fun and games with masts (not ours!)

Our plan for today was to help a fellow Englishman remove his mast... a cunning plan as we wanted to be as prepared as possible for removing ours. He was supposedly booked for 8am, but as we were eating breakfast, much to AJ's dismay,  we saw the Polish boat leave the pontoon. Wondering what they were up to we popped our heads up on deck and they told us they were motoring round to Christoph to have their mast removed. We decided to abandon boatschool for a while and walk round to watch.

On our way we met the English guy who was not particularly impressed that the Polish guys had jumped the queue and were still hacking away at cables with scissors when alongside the crane. I couldn't decide if I was annoyed at them getting in before us, or impressed at their attitude to getting the job done. In any case we watched their mast being removed, got some pointers, and met Christoph who booked us in for 1:30pm on Tuesday. The kids and I then walked back while Patrick stayed to help the English guy who was by now on his way round.

Reading, French and washing up done I carried on with the curtains while the AJ played with Lego and Esmé made a birthday card. I don't particularly like sewing, aren't particularly good at it, but prefer to give it a go rather than paying somebody to do it. Patrick returned and got on with de-rigging the boat while I seemed to be the one constantly interrupted by the kids.... somewhat frustrating as I wanted to get the curtains done so I could clear the machine and sewing stuff away.... did I mention I hate sewing! On looking back at photos it can't have been all me dealing with the kids as there is photographic evidence of them helping Patrick at least once, as well as the times all 4 of us dealt with the sails.







The highlight of the day may well have been eating home made flatbread and leftover curry from last night. Even Esmé who didn't really like the curry last night enjoyed dipping the bread in! I looked across at the English Guy's boat and saw the mast sticking out the front. I was so glad we had decided to get ours transported as I couldn't imagine trying to come alongside in a lock with that amount of overhang, particularly if we were being blown off.

By late afternoon I had finally finished the curtains and they were up, but the boat was in absolute chaos, the final straw being the kids deciding to swap bunks and turfing all their books of the bookshelves in the process. At this point Patrick announced that the kids needed showers and I finally flipped. I'm not sure if it was his initial intention but he swiftly took both kids off to shower them and left me alone on the boat. Absolute bliss! I even continued the kids work on their bunk swap.

Dinner was a late affair of Thai green chicken curry and noodles, and finally we got the kids to bed, only to hear a big crash from down the pontoon! The English guys mast supports had given way and the mast had crashed down onto the sprayhood and guardrails. Telling the kids to stay in bed we rushed down to see what we could do to help. What ensued was a multi-national effort of brute force and demon knot tying which resulted in the mast being back in position. I went back to the kids while Patrick helped finish up. On his return Patrick said the guy was pretty interested in our mast transport guys details!

So plans for tomorrow is possibly a day trip into the town centre.

Day 16: Polish boat arrives.

We woke this morning to another boat coming alongside. Not unusual you might think but given we believe you are not allowed to travel at night on the Seine as a pleasure boat it was somewhat of a surprise. The boat housed a Polish family which to AJ's delight included a boy not too much older than AJ. There was an older girl but she was really a young adult and unfortunately not a playmate for Esmé.

The order of the day was boat jobs so while the kids and I finished boat school and tackled the carnage that was the kids cabin, Patrick was in charge of the clothes washing (making the most of the free machines). AJ wanted to meet the Polish boy so we said hello and asked if he wanted to play after lunch. His English was pretty non existent but this did not deter AJ and the boy's sister interpreted.

So, clothes put away, and lunch eaten, Michael the Polish boy came over to play lego while I took advantage of the cheap mooring and free electricity to try to make some curtains for the main cabin. Over the course of the afternoon and evening I did approximately half what I had hoped to achieve!

Esmé decided to do some painting, something she had wanted to do for a while but like at home there is always a reason not to.... well today was the day and a beautiful job she made of it too!

After a lovely curry tea inspired by our Irish friends, we put the kids to bed.

Tomorrow we'll be helping a Westerly owner take the mast down on his boat and hopefully get some answers from Christoph the mast man!

Day 15: 28/06/17 Shopping in Rouen

A bit of a lazy morning and a cooked breakfast for to keep Patrick happy, then Patrick set off to find Christoph the mast man while I did school with the kids. Patrick returned bearing the bad news that Christoph was on holiday until Monday... no wonder we had had no reply to our emails! Luckily the Marina office had accepted our "don't know how long we'll be here" and said we could pay once we knew how long which means we can take advantage of cheaper rates for over 5 days. This was the first day I have had real objections to boat school and I'm wondering if this is due to the impending ramp up of school next week.

On the flip side there are some really interesting boats here including what looks like a solar powered one. AJ was really interested in this!

Once jobs had been done we dug out the scooters, bags, trolleys and pac-a-macs and set off for the supermarket having got vague directions from the office. After walking a while we stopped to check where we were only to have the Port Office Lady pull up in her car and offer us a lift. She said there was a bigger supermarket "a quarter" further... did we want to go to this. We said yes and encouraged the kids to look outside and try to remember the way back! Happily for the kids we spotted a playground en route  and decided to have lunch there on the way back.

The supermarket was somewhat traumatic as the kids were a bit tetchy, Patrick hates food shopping and I was desperately trying to work out low cost meals and snacks in a foreign language! Finally we were done and on our way back. Baguette and cheese for lunch, followed by bargain ice creams from the closer supermarket which we stopped to assess on the way back to Laurin.

The afternoon was taken up with putting food away (ever a challenge), an hour or so electronics, and sussing out the washing which is surprisingly free! We also met a guy on a Westerly who says his mast is supposed to be coming down on Friday. He wants some help, so we said we could be around, which will hopefully help us to learn what is to do, and perhaps get us an earlier spot with Christoph?

An early night for the kids, although they are still jabbering away to each other at 9:20pm. At least they seem to chat nicely and allow Patrick and I to relax at this time in the evening.

Day 14: 27/06/17 Hornfleur to Rouen

So today was a day that I had been particularly nervous about. The trip up to Rouen was about 60 miles but all the books say we need to do it in one day as there are no real viable stopping points along the route. The book also says the tide only flows in for 4 hours in every 12! Luckily on further inspection of the Fluviacarte, the tide flows at up to 4 knots and we could carry the tide all the way to Rouen assuming we start at Le Havre LW+1 at Hornfleur. Guide books and Cruising association advice say that Hornfleur is now a viable starting point with 24 hour access so we decided this was preferable to Le Havre as it was a few miles further up the Seine. I have to say I was somewhat concerned about 4 knot tides and had visions of us surfing up to Rouen! Regardless we planned to lock out at 9:30.

In the end the most traumatic experience of the day was exiting Hornfleur lock and Patrick pointing out that the water looked VERY low on the other side. A quick calculation said we would have 1.5m of water the other side.... we need 1.65. A hurried radio call to the lock keeper just gave us a "we do not understand English" and so as the tide was rising the best we could do was dilly dally a bit in the lock and proceed with caution. In the end by the time we left the lock at about 10am, my Navionics app on my phone said the water had risen another 20cm so we should have 1.7m. Still a bit close for comfort but out we went, Patrick thinks we might have touched the bottom, we definitely saw 0.1m on the depth gauge indicating we only had 10cm of water under the keel. The stress levels were so high at this early stage that I called for the emergency chocolate biscuits!

Once out on the Seine our speed started at about 6 knots, it was a somewhat miserable day and the kids hid down below for most of it. Although we have the new Raymarine es7 chartplotter we still prefer the iPad with iNavx for AIS.

By noon we were approaching 10knots, and Patrick was to be heard saying the bends were "a bit interesting".

















In fact the weather was so miserable we ditched the Tuna Pasta Salad I had planned for lunch in favour of 2 of the many tins of Heinz Ravioli we had bulk purchased at Asda when it was on special offer in February!

There was much flotsam about which needed to be avoided, and also any turns to avoid
buoys needed to be executed well in advance. There also appeared to be some strange eddies which would catch you by surprise and send the boat motoring off into a random direction.

On the flip side though, the scenery was rather beautiful and a lovely change from the flat banks of the East Coast Rivers.

There was less rain in the afternoon and we were getting used to travelling at almost double our normal speed. We had been warned about the size of ships going up and down the Seine, and were surprised that we didn't see more. However one in particular coming towards us gave off so much wash that Laurin was slamming over 2m high short waves for almost 10 minutes as they reflected off the banks.

As we passed into the industrial areas of Rouen we called the kids on deck to help us in, and as usual AJ was there in a flash. We tried to raise Rouen Port de Plaisance on the Radio but no response so we motored in slowly. Luckily there were some fellow Cruising Association members, the crew of Growltiger who said to come alongside them and took our lines. After a visit to the port office we settled down to Corned Beef Hash and Beans.... need to go shopping tomorrow!

Day 13: Ouistreham to Hornfleur

Bleary eyed we woke up in time to depart for the 10am lock. At about 9:30 we were pleasantly surprised to find Sarah, Tabitha and the entire (including teenagers) crew of Faoin Speir gathering to say goodbye. Esmé hates goodbyes but I think we eased this somewhat by getting friends to write their email addresses in a special book for her, although she still hid down below while we left. I'm sure we will meet up with these guys again but for now it's fair winds to Faoin Speir, and a wish for clear roads with no height or width restrictions for Sarah and Tabitha.

AJ asked if he could take Laurin out of the lock and for once it was perfect conditions to let him. Patrick let off the bow line while I took care of the stern. Last time AJ manoeuvred the boat anywhere in close quarters he steered and somebody else took care of the throttle. This time he did it completely independently and made a fantastic job of it. Proud parent moment!


The channel out of Ouestreham was pretty lumpy after the previous days wind, however this settled down to just a bit of an unpleasant roll once we turned towards the Seine. Eventually there was enough wind in a suitable direction to sail and Patrick had an enjoyable sail while I dozed down below. It seemed a turning point in our journey as we entered the Seine, and coming into Horn fleur was beautiful.





We went for a walk round the town and to the Yacht Club to pay for our berth, then discounted our idea for a meal out courtesy of Patrick's work (leaving gift) as the children were tetchy and tired. Meals out are now such a rare treat that we want to ensure that we are all going to enjoy them. Instead we treated the kids to a go on the carousel, and then Patrick and AJ went back to Laurin while Esmé and I looked for a Boulangerie. In the end I spotted an old French gentleman carrying a bag with a couple of baguettes in and tried to ask him where he got them. Sadly the shop was miles away and would be shut before we got there (it's Monday! was the explanation). The lovely man insisted on giving us half of one of his baguettes and wouldn't accept any payment!

Arriving back at the boat we found AJ and Patrick watching Harry Potter so decided on a TV dinner of Thai beef curry and noodles. After dinner Esmé was getting a little restless so I took her to the nearby park while AJ finished watching the film. The park was beautiful with intricate walkways and amazing flowers. It also had a paddling pool which despite the somewhat diminished water level Esmé delighted in splashing around in. We also met a French homeschool family but Esmé is still struggling to pick up the confidence to speak any French to actual French people! I got lots of practice though!

Finally back to the boat for showers and bed, then prep for tomorrows passage to Rouen which looks kind of interesting... 4 knot tides!




Beautiful view from the boat this evening!

Day 12: 25/06/17 Juno Beach and another late night!

So a very late morning, followed by a decision to pile in Eileen the campervan with Sarah and Tabitha to go to Juno Beach as the visitor centre there is supposed to be good for kids. AJ and Esmé were mega excited to go for a ride in the campervan... Esmé is convinced she is going to live in one when she grows up so this made her day! On the way Patrick read the last of our D-Day book to the kids and AJ & E told Tabitha all about Pegasus Bridge as we crossed it on our way. We arrived at Juno beach and had a late lunch before heading off to the visitor centre. We saved a bit of money by making adopting Tabitha into our family for the purposes of a family ticket and it we went. AJ was pretty disappointed that we had missed the last English tour of the bunkers and really didn't engage with the centre anywhere near as he had at Pegasus Bridge. This may have been due to the disappointment about the bunker, or the previous late night, but I do wonder if it was more to do with the fact that the D-Day book didn't have any specific stories based on Juno beach, and that meant he found it harder to identify. I must make a point of making sure we try to find these living books in advance of key trips.

There were kids activity books that Tabitha and Esmé completed, but AJ just wasn't interested. In reality though, the centre wasn't anywhere near as child friendly as we had been led to believe. There was a short film at the start and a slightly longer one at the end and these were the only things that really kept the kids engaged, although the map at the start did give rise to a comedy moment where Esmé tripped over the exhibit and somebody piped up that Esmé had just tripped over France!

The video at the end was really quite moving and after exiting the exhibit we went for a short look at one of the bunkers before heading down to the sands to take a walk on the beach. This sparked some discussion about why British and Canadian soldiers chose to volunteer.

We arrived back at the marina planning a quiet early night... we re-joined the Irish contingent and arranged to take food ashore in 1/2 hour and share an early-ish dinner. Clearly the early night wasn't going to happen. Both kids and adults were having too much fun so another night where the kids were up until midnight. Dread to think what the kids will be like tomorrow!

Day 11: 25/06/17 New Friends in Ouistreham

So it was a bit of a party atmosphere! We had been following Sarah and Tabitha's adventures in a campervan for the last year. They are now coming to the end of their one year adventure and contemplating their next challenge and as we were in the same area we decided to meet. We also met the crew of FaoinSpeir who are an Irish family with 13 year old twins who are travelling on their Yorktown 39 which they have fitted out themselves.

The twins occupied AJ and Esme until Sarah and Tabitha arrived, and then after lunch all the kids played together, disappearing on to Faoin Spéir for a movie. It was fantastic catching up with Sarah as we enjoyed a long late lunch for the large part child free. It's amazing how similar and how different our chosen modes of transport and accommodation are, and how many shared values we have as Worldschoolers.

After we had lazed around for a while we decided the kids should do something more active than sitting in front of a screen. We were pleasantly surprised to find them all out in the fresh air enjoying themselves ashore, however more fun was to follow when we pumped up the SUP to add to our inflatable canoe (thanks Bru), and Luke got out their kayaks too.

The adults may have had some fun too! (Standing up will have to wait for another day when the water is a little warmer).

We all came together in the evening for a BBQ with everybody bringing food and drink. There was a party tent at the Marina with live music which we enjoyed whilst cooking our own food less than 20 yards away. What a fantastic night, the older kids took care of AJ and Esmé, and the adults had a great time too.... haven't laughed so much in ages!

As the evening drew in we cleared away and then the kids took up residence on Laurin while the adults went to Faoin Spéir. As I walked past Laurin it looked like a mini disco with Esme's kiddi superstar toy, Ella's disco ball and the colour changing solar light! I think we may have got the kids into bed before midnight but I'm not quite sure. This is what cruising/worldschooling is all about. Best night so far!!!!!

Day 10: 23/06/17 Pegasus Bridge

Today we decided to do a quick tidy up before breakfast to aid motivation... much better! Reading had, as usual, happened snuggled up in bed with a parent each, and then French started after a breakfast of Cereal and croissants. There was much trepidation and varying degrees of acceptance of using French UHT milk instead of the English milk we had finished yesterday. Esmé declared it ok, Patrick too, but AJ had decided it was unacceptable before he even tried it. I had yoghurt instead!

After breakfast it was French lessons again while Patrick stowed the last of the spares under Esmé's bunk.



Jobs done, we packed some lunch and set off for Pegasus Bridge. This was a key target that had to be taken during the D-Day attack to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the Allied soldiers arriving on Sword Beach. We had read stories about the soldiers of the airborne division who were flown in on Gliders to take the bridge from the Germans and the kids were keen to see the bridge in real life. The bridge itself is about 3 miles up the canal towards Caen, and although at one point we planned on taking Laurin up to Caen and stopping at the bridge, we decided against this as the harbourmaster said it wasn't really allowed to moor their. In the end, walking (or scooting in the kids case) allowed them to really reflect on how the commando reinforcements would have felt after a long, lumpy, seasick night at sea, fighting their way across sword beach, and then carrying their heavy kit the 3 miles to the bridge.

We crossed the new bridge and had a picnic waiting for the bridge to open. There was much discussion about how it works and both kids came away with a good understanding of the mechanics of the lifting bridge. Next we went to the Museum where we saw lots of exhibits including a model of one of the gliders, the original bridge, and various pieces of artillery. Spending the previous week reading real life stories of D-Day seemed to have paid off as the kids were really enthusiastic and interested. We were trying to make a film of the day and we have some lovely clips... just needs me to master the video editing software.

After the kids had spent some of their pocket money on souvenirs we crossed the road to visit the site where the first gliders landed. That was some navigation by the glider crew! Over the bridge again to the Pegasus Bridge Café which the pictures showed us had been there during German occupation, and then the long walk back.


All in all a great day, we were really proud of how the kids identified with the exhibits, although getting the balance right between making them aware of our history and the sacrifices made, and upsetting them too much, is a fine line. At the end of the Museum we watched a film (all in French) and AJ was in tears. He said he felt sad for the Soldiers, and also the German ones too!

Looking forward to meeting up with Sarah Crofts and Tabitha of veedubadventures tomorrow. Esmé has been feeling homesick and I hope talking with another young lady who has been living this nomadic life for the last year may help.

Day 9: 22/06/17 Ouistreham school trip

We all woke up late this morning and we had planned a day of just getting organised. Looking at Laurin sat typing this I wonder how many days we really would need to get organised as she still looks like chaos! Kids read to us in bed again which was nice as the last few days we've been in a rush and done this under way. Then a massive brunch and French lessons which didn't go exactly to plan.... but in a good way.

Halfway through our planned French lesson Patrick called to say that the kids we had seen sailing optimists earlier this morning seemed to be heading in our direction. Eager for the kids to at least say "Bonjour" we came up on deck. It looked like a school trip full of kids of similar age to ours had parked themselves at the top of our pontoon. We went up to say hello and I asked the teacher if the kids had some scheduled play time that we could join in. End result was we gate-crashed the school trip and the kids and I spent the next 2 hours at the beach while Patrick got on with some boat jobs.

Kids both English and French were extremely excited to practice their language skills, though AJ was far more confident than Esme on this occasion, running off with the boys and only occasionally coming to ask me how to say a certain phrase. I think the interaction was more biased in favour of AJ teaching the French kids English than the other way round but it was definitely fun. Esmé needed me with her more, and we made friends
with a French girl called Jane. We did a lot of counting shells and Esmé shared looking at some of our dual language books with her. After a while AJ was playing football and then running down towards the sea. He said I smiled at him so he thought he was fine to carry on. What I didn't realise was that he was running through the puddles and then into the sea still in his shoes and socks! He then returned with very wet feet saying he wanted to take them off! All in all a pleasant 2 hours and the kids enjoyed giving away some of our boat cards so that our new French friends could follow our blog.

When we returned to the boat we took the kids straight up to the shower block. Shower tokens are 1.60 Euro's each and we didn't have any so we put the kids in the laundry sinks! 10 minutes later and they were rather more presentable. We had a lovely visit to the harbourmaster who helped us practice our French more, and went back to the boat for some much needed downtime (AKA iPad time). When I read the Worldschooler's Facebook group there are lots of mixed feelings about kids and electronics but at the moment we would be going stir crazy without them. That 1/2 hour of quiet after lunch and just before tea just about keeps me sane. I haven't done 24/7 with the kids since they started preschool other than for holidays.

Whatever anyone thinks, this isn't a 2 year holiday. This is our life for the next 2 years. We still have lots of jobs to do in addition to educating the kids, only all that normal stuff like washing clothes and shopping for food takes much longer when you have to use laundrettes or wash by hand, and don't have a car to cart heavy bags of food home in. By now it was almost 4pm and we still needed to shop. We had found a Lidl that didn't look too far away and wanted to stock up for the next few days, so we got out the granny trolley, scooters, rucksacks and Esmé's scooter bag and off we went. Mission accomplished and celebratory ice creams eaten we made our way back and completed the long task of trying to play tetris with the top loading fridge. Finally had tea at 8pm, kids in bed 9pm, very little downtime for parents. This is exhausting... definitely not a holiday, but definitely worth it.

Over the next few days we are planning visits to Sword beach, Pegasus bridge, and Bayeux. How great an education is that!

Day 8: 21/06/17 Fecamp to Ouistreham (AKA Flygate!)

We were all shattered, needed a rest but wanted to get to Ouistreham. After a lovely chat with a British Unschooling family I backed us out of our berth and AJ took us out of Fecamp. It was to be a long trip. There was a horrible rolling swell and not enough wind to sail.... again!

In addition this various flies decided to hitch a ride as well as the odd butterfly. Esme was terrified. Thank goodness we were miles away from anywhere and anyone otherwise I'm sure we would have been reported to the French equivalent of Social Services.  We thought we had a breakthrough when she resurfaced on deck declaring that she now liked flies....only to be again deafened by the screams as one landed next to her.




Going past Le Havre was pretty busy, although most boats were thankfully at anchor. I felt particularly exhausted and even down below was hotter than usual when I tried to get some sleep on passage.  Thank goodness for the ebay 12V fans I bought off ebay.








Anyhow eventually we were approaching Ouistreham and Sword beach. We've been reading stories about D-Day for ages and we sat on deck trying to imagine how the Allied soldiers felt during the same approach. There's was much rougher, in the dark, and with a much less certain ending. All we had to endure was waiting for the lock, although watching the ferry practice using its lifeboats was a welcome distraction.

Now tied up in Ouistreham where we will stay for a few days.

Day 7: 20/06/17 Dieppe to Fecamp

178 Nautical Miles so far. This feels much faster than we really want to travel but as Patrick reminded me last night, we are travelling fast because this is an expensive part of the trip. Between 25 and 30 Euros per night is not sustainable on our 450 Euro per month moorings budget, once we get into the French inland waterways mooring costs will reduce significantly (except for Paris).

Today we were planning to leave sometime between 10 and 11am but needed some shopping first as we were running low on fresh fruit and veg, as well as bread. AJ had already done his daily reading when we dragged Esmé out of her bunk at about 8am with the promise of boulangerie goodies. We visited the port office to find it didn't open until 9 so onwards to find provisions. A market was being set up in the town but was not yet ready so we found a boulangerie on a back street, bought bread and pain au chocolate and headed to the beach for breakfast. After a quick play on the playground opposite we returned to the market where we paid significantly more than we would have in Tesco's for fruit and veg. The kids and I practiced our French and we returned to the port office laden down with supplies only to find we needed boat papers for the first time on the trip. Back to the boat and Patrick returned with the relevant paperwork leaving the kids and I to stow our purchases.

Esmé nervously took the helm for a short while on the way out of Dieppe after I'd radioed Port Control to ensure the Seven Sisters Ferry wasn't due to leave any time soon. Out of the harbour and turn left for a long motor towards Fecamp. Not a breath of wind meant it was much hotter than yesterday and the haze meant there was little to see either. Esmé went back to bed while AJ did his French lesson. Today he chose to learn how to ask where he could buy sweets. Once he had found this out I suggested that there may be something else he needed to know.... like how to understand any directions given to him! We spent a little longer investigating directions in French before having a break for lunch.

After lunch we continued reading the D-Day book. Todays story was about the floating tanks which attacked Gold Beach. Esmé is significantly less interested in WW2 than AJ and the text is probably a little old for her although she is desperate to have a go at reading it. Her turn will come when we motor up the Seine towards Paris. I have a lovely picture book about Monet and I plan to look at this with them just before we get to Giverny, perhaps we'll take photos and then try to paint them later as I don't think you are allowed to paint when you are in there.

The wind was now increasing slightly so we decided to sail under headsail for the last hour or two as we were getting bored of the engine. Kids had their iPad time below decks to stay out of the sun and Patrick and I took it in turns to sail or snooze.

It was interesting to approach Fecamp from the East. The last time Patrick and I had been here was very soon after we met, on a JOG race from Cowes. Very quickly the harbour was approaching and the wind picking up. Patrick hurriedly deployed fenders and readied lines as I tried to call the marina on the VHF, no reply, but we identified the visitors pontoon from the Almanac. Once inside the harbour the wind increased even more and we did a few circuits of the marina before finally deciding on a berth. We had a wonderful reception as a handful of fellow Englishmen came to take our lines, the kids making us proud as AJ loudly announced that the port bow line wasn't on yet!

Just about to leave for very much needed showers we heard a knock on the boat and popped our heads up to find the crew of Tomahawk from Fambridge! Seem to have lost them again but might find them for a drink later. Anyway early tea and tried for an early night but the kids are still awake and missing friends:-( We've promised to help them email home tomorrow and try to skype over the next few days. Anybody fancy a chat once we get to Ouistreham?

Day 6: 19/06/17 Boulogne to Dieppe

A long day today. 55 miles in glorious sunshine with enough breeze to make it not unpleasant to sit on deck, but not enough breeze to sail. Ray the autopilot did most of the work while we kept watch and in the afternoon, took turns to catch up on sleep.

This was the first time we had really done boatschool on the move. Both kids read to us and then did some French. I became a bit disenchanted with the lessons I downloaded as they were largely based around phrases used in school. What AJ and Esme need is something they can use when they meet kids in the playground so this week, knowing we have a lot of travelling days, I asked them to think of 5 sentences they wished they could use when they were playing with other kids. Todays was to say that we live on a boat and are travelling. They drew a picture and then wrote out the French and English translations.

I also read another couple of chapters from our D-Day book which tells the true stories of individual soldiers on that day. I'm hoping that this will help the D-Day beaches come alive when we get there in a few days time, in any case I am sure that reading to the kids regularly can only be a good thing. I usually read them something of their choice at bedtime, and something that I would like to read after lunch.

In the afternoon AJ was desperate for his daily electronics fix and disappeared below decks to watch a film on my laptop, where-as once I had been off watch for a short nap, Esme wanted me to help her make a lifejacket for her toy rabbit. Out came the sewing kit (thanks Nana), and Rabbit duly got a pink lifejacket.

We arrived at Dieppe at about 6pm and after having a quick tidy up, went for a stroll. I couldn't face cooking so we stopped at a beach side bar for a treat. Ever careful about funds Pat and I shared an antipasti plate and the kids had a chocolate crepe each. The beers were amazing!

It was still very warm and with little chance of the kids sleeping any time soon we took them to the park where AJ at least tried out some of his French, and much to his credit kept trying even when the boy looked somewhat puzzled and ran away. I went over to help him and we managed some sort of conversation between the two boys and us parents.

All in all a good day with a lovely view of a tall ship in the marina. Weather forecast is for light winds in the correct direction for a couple of days then a few days of heavier winds from the west. Because of this we have decided to keep moving for the next 2 days and get to Ouistreham to ride out the windier weather. Really looking forward to staying in one place for a few days!

Day 5: Fathers Day in Boulogne

Patrick had read about a really good aquarium in Boulogne and suggested it might be nice to visit. At €52.40 for the 4 of us it wasn't crazy expensive but significantly eat into our tight budget. But, it's Father's day so we decided to go for it as at least it would mean we were out of the mid day sun, and we could go to the beach later in the day.

Laurin was a bit of a mess, and we are still finding homes for random items that are left from the big move aboard so we made a "Happy half hour" playlist and tried to make an impact on jobs before it got too hot. Jobs done we headed to the Boulangerie to pick up bread for our lunch, then made the short walk to the Aquarium, stopping briefly at a park for the kids to let off steam. The kids had a great time playing with a French family and AJ kept running back to ask me how to say certain things in French so he was at least trying to communicate in French, although he said the boy didn't really answer!

Next on to Nausicaá which is the French national Marine centre by the sounds of it. So much better than the sea life centres I have visited in the UK. There were 21 different areas, many of which represented different areas of the world, with a large focus on conservation and looking after our oceans. In addition to the usual tanks full of brightly coloured fish there was a fisheries vessel simulator, a 4D film, sea-lion show and mangrove area as well as a penguin beach. All very modern and clean. Kids had a good time and hopefully learned some stuff. Esmé was particularly affected by a film of a pacific island being continuously flooded due to global warming. We talked about what it would be like to have your home washed away and we looked at the sand bags they used to try to prevent this. I didn't really set any school work for this visit but hope it will be something we refer back to throughout the trip.

Opening our picnic didn't seem to be the done thing in the aquarium so we had an over priced snack of cold drinks, microwave chips with ingenious packaging, and mini donuts. Then once out of the centre we had our picnic next to the beach and made the long walk to the sea at low water so the kids could swim. Back at a sensible time for showers and to pick up bread for tomorrow before drinks with the crew of Pluto, who brought stories of their time in the Mediterranean as well as wine! All in all a tiring but lovely day. Still extremely hot at 21:45 so need to start taking siestas as the kids are only just starting to settle down. Long day tomorrow as we're heading to Dieppe.