Days 137, 138, 139: 29, 30,31 October 2017 Gaeta

Sunday

Another early start, a little bit rocky and rolly but not too bad. After several failed attempts at communicating with Gaeta I finally hit gold when I noticed a Facebook post from somebody currently in Gaeta. Within 15 minutes we had a berth secured!

On arrival we radioed the port control who immediately told us we were "in danger". "Go to your right". It was getting a bit shallow but us East Coast Sailors don't panic easily, even with only 1.5m under the keel but we gratefully followed the broadcast instructions until we were safely in the harbour. I needed a couple of goes to go stern to on the pontoon but eventually we were tied up.

Once settled we went looking for the office  and failed miserably so went looking for cruising association boats instead. We didn't have to look far before we saw Val's boat and went to say hello, enjoyed a drink and a chat, and decided tomorrow would be soon enough to go to the office!

Monday

AJ really didn't feel well so he stayed in bed most of the day, with Esmé doing a little boat school before coming shopping with me to get some food for the day. Gaeta is a lovely town with some really narrow alleyways where you can find very small stalls selling fruit, vegetables and meats. Christmas decorations were being erected and Esmé especially liked the woolly mammoth.

This was the second Monday of the live aboard kids culinary challenge where they needed to make a meal for under 10 Euros. As AJ wasn't feeling well Esmé did all the shopping and volunteered to make desert which took up more than 50% of the budget!

We got some laundry and cleaning done and both kids spent time watching Pompeii documentaries on the iPad ready for our field trip next week before Esmé started on her creation.

Tuesday

The wind had picked up and we had been rocking and rolling all night. The mooring lines had been snatching and I had struggled to sleep. When we woke Patrick found the marina guys doing something with our lines which to our horror were all frayed and would now need replacing!

We used the marina's lines temporarily and I marched the whole family over the road, complete with some school work to find a café. The constant rolling of the boat was getting to me! We spent some of our precious budget on hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast while doing a little school work.

On our return to the boat Val dropped round asking if I wanted to go shopping with her so I dragged out the shopping trolley and went. Val showed me all the good places to go shopping and we finally parted company in the Conad where I was trying to stock up for our upcoming passages. It was lovely to have somebody to chat to again. I also arranged to drop some sweets round later so the kids could come trick or treating!

After a lazy lunch, a trip to the chandlery to buy new mooring lines, and some planning time for Patrick and I, the kids got dressed up for Halloween. After visiting Val and a couple of other boats we went into town and also got some booty from some of the shops by carefully watching where the Italian kids were going.

I showed Patrick the butchers shop with great vats of wine in the window and decided to try some. The vendor went out back, got an empty 1.5 litre water bottle which he filled with merlot and charged me Euro 2.90. We then got take a way pizza and rushed back to the boat to enjoy our purchases!

 

Day 136: 28/10/2017 Anzio

A somewhat lazy start as we only had 25 miles to go, and then the opportunity to actually SAIL!!!

Laurin was sailing well, Patrick was happy, I was happy, kids were happy down below enjoying no boat school and then we heard the dreaded words over the radio. GALE WARNING. As the wind was building we quickly took the main down, continuing perfectly well under headsail and mizzen, and then spent the next half hour consulting various weather forecasts until we eventually found the Italian shipping forecast online and worked out that the gale warning was not for our area. Within an hour the wind speed dropped and we were wallowing in the slop enough to make us start the engine.

As we approached Anzio we radioed the port on channel 16 as requested to be asked our position. After repeating that we were in the entrance a couple of times we were met with a response of " you are in a dangerous position, turn to your right 90 Degrees". We continued to follow his instructions until we were safely in the harbour and then radioed the marina people on channel 74 who came out to help us berth next to a huge American Cat. We very quickly piled off the boat to go for a walk. Anzio was a bustling harbour and we were right in the centre of it.

The kids were delighted to find bungee trampolines which we agreed to subsidise as they very clearly needed to let off some steam.

 As we finally returned to our boat after fending off several street vendors trying to sell us various wares, we were met by a friendly Italian gentleman asking where we came from. We told him we were British and he said the owner of the restaurant was from Yorkshire and we should come and meet her. He was quite insistent so we dutifully followed, meeting Maureen, a lovely lady from Doncaster who had been in Rome for 20 or 30 years before moving to Anzio. She was really interested in our travels and asked lots of questions about Laurin so we invited her aboard for a look round, warning her in advance of the carnage down below. We got chatting and she very kindly invited us to dinner at her restaurant as her guests.

La Sirenetta was a delightful restaurant and we had amazing food and service. Eventually the Italian guy who had encouraged us in to meet Maureen insisted she ate too, brought her food and encouraged her to eat with us. We had a lovely evening with the excellent company of a very kind lady. Pasta was followed by fried fish, and chips for the kids, and then amazing deserts, a real treat!

Back to the boat where we are in a very public location, the first time we have ever put hatch boards in for privacy but we don't mind this once in a while if it means we can be right in the centre of the hustle and bustle of a busy harbour. A lovely day!

Day 135: 27/10/17 An unexpected visit to Porto di Roma

The alarm was set for 5am and we were off by 5:30am so we could get to our destination of Nettuno before dark even if we only averaged 5 knots. It was a fairly miserable morning and by 10:30 it became clear that the forecast of relatively light NW winds was not happening.

The wind was firmly from the south and stronger than forecast. As the wind was supposed to increase over the day and our speed was down to 4.5 knots due to punching into wind and chop we started to question if continuing to our proposed destination was a wise plan. Both Nettuno and Anzio, another alternative were reported to be tricky to enter in strong onshore winds and with so much uncertainty we decided to head into Porto Di Roma instead.

I always have mixed feelings about these tricky decisions when sailing. Second guessing whether you are being too cautious or making the correct safe call, we just make the best decision we can based on the information we have. I felt a little better about the decision after entering Porto Di Roma as even without the wind building any further the entrance was far from easy. We were given help to moor up and then went to pay at the office. 

The marina is huge with a large amount of shops, restaurants and a kebab shop which was recommended to us by another sailing family. There were also a large amount of tents, most of which were shut up but one of which was selling cheese! One particular restaurant looked absolutely lovely and had a lunchtime deal on so we decided to treat ourselves. Back to the boat for a tidy up and a hair brush and then out for a rare meal out.

We ordered Spaghetti in tomato sauce for the kids to share, and then Patrick and I ordered spaghetti with mussels, and a plate of calamari and fried prawns which we shared (AJ also enjoyed munching his way into this too!) It was an amazing meal, our best yet, and one of our cheapest at 35 Euros including a couple of glasses of wine!

Back to the boat for a siesta and to take advantage of the good, free wifi. We were just contemplating what we wanted for tea when we heard music from the marina so we went for a walk to investigate. There was a mini festival on, however after eventually finding an English speaker we found out that tonight was comedy night, perhaps not the best entertainment when you don't speak the language, however there was also some music. We mulled around for a while, enjoying the atmosphere, looking at the artwork in one of the tents and contemplating if we could justify spending more money on buying a snack rather than preparing something on the boat.

Eventually we came to the conclusion that the last time either of us had had a kebab was at university. Patrick would only ever eat one while drunk and I if it had been recommended by somebody sober. Given that this kebab shop looked clean, had come with a recommendation, and was cheap, we decided to introduce the kids to kebabs. We just got one to share, and some chicken nuggets as a safe bet if they didn't like the kebab. As predicted AJ enjoyed the kebab and Esmé refused to touch it!

All in all a pleasant evening finished off by catching up on some Worldtowning videos as we only ever watch these when we have good marina wifi, or at the end of the month if we have some data left on our plan!

Day 134: 26th October 2017 Marina di Grosseto to Riva di Traiano

 A 4:30am alarm call as we had about 60 miles to go today and didn't want to risk getting there after 6pm. It was pretty cold so hats and coats were order of the day. We both stayed up long enough to feel comfortable that we knew what was going on with the navigation and then Patrick went for a snooze in the main cabin. It was a bit rocky and rolly so when he popped his head up 3/4 of an hour later I told him to go back down and get more sleep. I wasn't sure if I might get seasick and if so, it would be better that Patrick was well rested.  As the sky turned orange in the east, 2 kids popped their heads up, both enjoying the sunrise although AJ didn't last long.



It was a bit of a boring day, with the exception of me being woken from my morning snooze by Patrick saying the coastguard was radioing us! After a little lost in translation it seemed the coastguard was asking us to report the position of any pollution we found in the water.

Much later we saw a line of some scum so photographed it and tried to report it.  The local coastguard seemed most bemused at our report, not sure what was going on there but we did our bit!

We were helped into our berth by a lovely ormeggiatorli who seemed to understand that older boats don't necessarily go backwards in exactly the direction requested. As soon as he saw our plight he jumped in his rib and helped us into our berth. This place is like walking through a boat show with at least 20 or so shops dedicated to various marine trades as well as numerous cafés, restaurants and clothes shops plus a dentist and a car dealer! There was also a small kids playground which meant the kids could run around for a while before heading back for dinner and bed.

Days 133,134,135: 23,24,25th October 2017. Marina di Grosseto

Monday

A bit of a lazy day as the storm last night kept me awake until gone midnight. We've settled down into a routine of trying to do 4 sessions of learning in a morning for each child. One English, one Maths, and 2 that the kids choose. Today they were interested in electronics!

 Once school was out of the way we went for a walk to a small play area that Patrick had found yesterday.Once school was out of the way we went for a walk to a small play area that Patrick had found yesterday.

The place is pretty much deserted out of season with beach bars, restaurants and coffee shops all shut. I can't decide whether it's depressing or peaceful. One thing that is for sure is that the one grocery shop is extortionately expensive except for wine which is sold by the refillable plastic bottle!

The kids have signed up to a Med liveaboard kids challenge to buy groceries and make tea for under 10 Euros which is quite a challenge when the only shop has extremely inflated prices. In the end we were treated to hot dogs followed by fruit salad and yoghurt. It made a change from me cooking and I'm sure the kids enjoyed the experience... I think it will turn into a weekly activity.

Tuesday

A full on jobs day today, starting with hand washing. We had debated for days about whether to sail today but although the forecast for here was good, there were some strong winds forecast for our Civitavecchia so we decided to stay put. The weather was beautiful and we were second guessing our decision, however just because the weather turned out beautiful doesn't mean it was a wrong decision. We made the correct decision with the information we had at the time. 

Once school was done, lunch had been eaten, and we had had our relaxing time, I soon became bored and got out my speedy stitcher to repair our man overboard sling. The straps to hold it to the pushpit had become uv damaged and disintegrated, and the end of the rope outside the bag was also suspect. We had bought a replacement throw line but I like this system better so I set about a repair. Luckily the straps aren't critical to it saving lives, just hold it in place while it is waiting to do its job. I dug out my bag of old bag straps and webbing and found some suitable bits and pieces which I used to replace the old straps. I then cut the UV damaged end of the rope off and re-tied it to the bag. An hour and a half later and it was finished. Not very pretty but functional none the less.

Esmé also got her sewing out and did brilliantly.

Dinner followed by a lovely sunset.

Wednesday

More hand washing, school and other jobs. AJ had a bit of a paddy about some maths he was finding hard so  we took a break and then returned to it using lego and pretty tape before going back to the workbook. So glad we persevered!

 After lunch we had showers and I plotted our course for the next few days and booked some marinas. Lots of tidying up, putting clothes away, and then motoring over to the fuel berth where we managed to fill our tank for the first time in months. Other hose nozzles have been too big for our filler so we have had to cautiously use a funnel which doesn't allow us to fill right to the top.

Next I went to the crazy expensive shop to buy minimum supplies for the next few days, then leftover curry for tea, eaten in the cockpit while watching the most beautiful sunset yet.

 

Day 132: 22nd October 2017 Here comes the wind!

We had a lovely lie in followed by pancakes for breakfast. Then on to boatschool which wasn't without its dramas as we had had 3 days off. My plan for Patrick to do the laundry while I did school with the kids was thwarted by the Italians putting the washing machine in the ladies toilets and after 3 attempts to get the correct coinage or tokens for the machine whilst no progress was being made with boatschool I gave it up as a bad job. There wasn't a dryer anyway so we'll find a laundrette tomorrow.

Once I had had a meltdown the kids were more conducive to producing some writing, even if it was in the form of a letter to Santa Claus, and calm ensued once more. Esmé started a mini science project measuring how quickly water beads grew, and AJ tried to converse with the French boy who had arrived on the boat next door but one.

After lunch we watched some videos on Go Zen,  a new website I have subscribed to which targets anxiety and gives children tools to deal with it. We're yet to see how effective it is but both kids enjoyed watching the videos.

We knew the French guys were heading to the beach at some point in the afternoon so we decided to take a walk that way too. AJ played in the waves while Esmé collected driftwood and shells as well as making sand angels.

After what seemed like an age, AJ came out of the water and got changed, only to find 15 minutes later that the French guys had arrived and so he wanted to swim again. Another pair of shorts soaked, and this time Esmé joined him.

Patrick rushed ahead back to the boat to get shower stuff ready and I walked back with the kids. Luckily the showers are nice and hot at the marina as the kids were starting to get cold!

As Patrick showered the kids I got a curry on the go as the wind started to build. As I went for my shower we got the red sun phenomenon that we had seen our UK friends post about earlier in the week. It was a beautiful sight but a sign of stronger winds to come.

Curry, followed by rice pudding, and hopefully an early night to finish off the day!