Day 122: 12/10/17 Porquerolles to Agay

AJ woke early so after I had convinced AJ to get his English out of the way Patrick also got up and got ready for off. Patrick and AJ raised the anchor whilst I looked at the rather large boat doing pirouettes in the bay and tried to work out a way to extricate ourselves without getting in its way. Once the ferry had passed it became clear that the large sailing? vessel Med 2 was anchoring and we were safe to motor out.

Once we were out of the bay AJ requested times tables songs and his trusty stick to use as an air guitar... I was feeling very hopeful about homeschool.

 Shortly we saw another large sailing vessel but this time with sails up. It was to be a morning of interesting vessel sightings.

Esmé eventually surfaced and I made porridge for breakfast. We'd got into the habit of having fresh bread for breakfast from the Port Napoleon restaurant so our first meal of the day was seeing some change!

The next strange sighting loomed in the distance. I saw cross trees and suggested it was a minesweeper, Patrick laughed and said a fishing boat. Well it definitely wasn't a fishing boat! In fact I suspect I got a bit too close!

Shortly after we saw a Turkish version, followed by many other warships.... we quickly checked the news to see if there was something happening that we should have known about!

After a light lunch Esmé and I used her birthday plasticine to make a model of the earth. We looked in a book to see all the different layers and used different coloured plasticine to model this. Tomorrow we will cut into it like in the picture!

Into a bay "Agay" which was supposed to have moorings in and a water taxi, but in reality had none. I guess they have been taken out for winter. We motored around surveying the area before dropping our anchor, as we were letting out chain Patrick saw the remains of one of the mooring buoys under the anchor chain so we pulled the anchor up again and motored to the other side of the bay to see if there was more space there. Neither of us were impressed and were talking through our options when we saw some boats leave the original anchorage. We motored over and dropped our hook. A little bit close to a catamaran but not too bad, although a little embarrassing as the evening drew on and all the other boats left. Never mind, we have a manual windless so we weren't close enough to consider re-anchoring.

Both kids tried a swim but bailed out after putting a toe in the water. So we tried a little fishing (resulted in feeding the fish but no bites) and then dinner.

Games followed and we endured AJ's devastation as he didn't do as well as he wanted. Then stargazing before bed!

Day 121: 11th October 2017 Ile de Porquerolles

The harbourmaster last night said that his office would be open from 8am. We really wanted to be off by then but enjoyed the lie in and motored further into the Calanque. As it got narrower and narrower we decided to turn round and on the way out realised that the building site we had passed was in fact the marina office. We eventually moored (our first bows to mooring on Laurin) and then Patrick and the kids went ashore, the gap was too big for me and Patrick didn't fancy carrying me across as he did for the kids. We daren't go any closer as we could see the bottom was very shallow close in. We then waited until 9:30, telephoning and radioing with no response, before deciding to leave regardless and email them with our contact details so we could pay.

We motored out of the Calanque and had breakfast on the run. Esmé taking a turn at the helm so her dad could eat his!

School followed with a diary entry for the kids, needless to say one was far more enthusiastic than the other, and then no pen maths with times table songs, mental arithmetic and making up questions for each other.

Lunch, electronics time, and then a phonecall to Nana as we approached Ile de Porquerolles. We motored into a lovely anchorage and tried out our new Rocna for the first time.

Patrick reluctantly pumped up the dinghy while the kids tidied their cabin and then I took them to the beach while Patrick had some time alone on the boat. I enjoyed a lovely hour or so on the beach watching the kids play. At one point I video called my parents so that they could watch the kids play too which they loved. There were some other kids at the beach, I think German but AJ and Esmé couldn't seem to manage to instigate playing with them, somewhat unusually, but instead watched on as the kids played with some large logs they had found and were using as floats in the water.

As the Germans left AJ and Esmé were delighted to take ownership of the logs and had a great time playing with them. As they tired of swimming we went for a short walk round the back of the sand dunes before heading back to Laurin for dinner. What a lovely day!

Day 120: 10th October 2017 Happy 7th Birthday Esmé

We woke up and quickly got Laurin ready for off. AJ wanted to take us out of the marina berth and as it was pretty still we decided to let him for the first time. I think his face shows a mixture of concentration and pure terror but he managed well!

Once out of the marina it was a little more windy than we had expected but we motored anyway for a while to get the kids confidence up and to get us out of the busy shipping channels.









We were all pretty happy to be out on the water again and despite the wind now dropping we felt the need to put some sails up and have a bit of engine off time for lunch.

After lunch the scenery got much more interesting as we sailed between some islands and the kids enjoyed some time on deck.

We were planning to anchor or pick up a mooring in Calanque d'En Vau but when we arrived, although spectacular to motor into and take a look at, we felt it wasn't as protected as we'd hoped and there seemed very little space to anchor... perhaps when we are more experienced at anchoring in the Med we might attempt something like this but for now we decided to go on to Port Miou where we knew there were definitely mooring balls to pick up.

Port Miou was pretty interesting. We opted to save 7 euros and pick up a mooring ball. Some time later the harbourmaster came and took one of our lines to the rock face for us and brought it back to us so we didn't swing around. 

The kids were desperate to swim so we let them, knowing full well it would be freezing as the water here is fed by a cold spring. Needless to say AJ didn't stay in long and Esmé had second thoughts after dipping just a toe in the water.

In the end both kids found comfortable spots to do a little reading before we had dinner.

All in all a lovely day for Esme's 7th Birthday!

Day 117 to 119: 7th to 9th October 2017. Afloat and ready to go

Saturday

All systems go trying to get the boat ready to be afloat again. Lots of tidying to be done, washing to finish and last minute jobs to complete. Lynita was also busy sorting Dizzy out for the arrival of mother-in-law Pat so I took all 4 kids for an hour or so to play lego in the DMS office. Leora wasn't to interested in the Lego so Esmé and AJ took it in turns to entertain her. Esmé played find the duck with her telling the time cards, and AJ did a fantastic job of reading with Leora.

Dinner was Thai green curry. We haven't had it for a while as we had run out of curry paste, but I managed to find some in the big supermarket on Thursday. Unfortunately I didn't realise it was much stronger than the last one so the curry was very hot despite my best efforts to cool it down. AJ was torn between wanting to eat it, and needing to cool down his burning lips using an ice pop! On the plus side I think it did our colds the world of good!

Sunday

Today was to be Esme's alternative birthday. She decided she would rather celebrate her birthday with her friends and then we could travel on her real birthday so she woke up to a small pile of presents which despite their size and low value she adored! It's funny how our values have changed since being away. We are all far lest materialistic. She spent a lovely morning chilling out with her gifts, reading her new books and playing with glitter glue before I painted her nails for the party. Then at half past three, once the restaurant had closed we made our way over to the play area and set up a bbq. The kids headed off on a treasure hunt and then introduced Leora to pass the parcel before eating pizza and hot dogs.

We all had a lovely time and the kids especially liked the birthday cake which was for all of them as their birthdays are pretty close together.

Monday

An early start to get things cleared and Laurin ready for launch. It was really lovely to see her splash again!

We then had a mad rush to get her ship shape, pay bills, and get shopping. We did however make time for a beer and some chips for lunch as a celebration. The last job was to put our Genoa up before having dinner and then having the Aussies over for goodbye drinks. Really hoping we will get to Ragusa this winter and be able to meet up again. We have all made really good friends and we'll miss them!

Day 113 to 116: 3rd to 6th October 2017 The end (or is it the begining) is in sight!

Tuesday

More boatschool drama but easier to deal with as Patrick has fewer jobs to do now so can offer some support. To be honest the drama is just the same regardless of how many lessons we do per day so I've been trying to squeeze a bit more in early this week so we can do less later in the week when we have a few jobs to do.

In the afternoon we decided to use the office as a playroom and dragged the picnic blanket and the big bag of Lego down to entertain the kids.

I looked after the Aussi kids while Lynita and Justin had lunch at the marina restaurant... their first "alone time" for a while I think! I'm guessing Lynita had quite a good day as we both escaped as soon as kids were in bed to go have a girlie drink at the restaurant. It was so good to have a bit of female company without having to be constantly looking out for kids! We were still chatting as the restaurant closed up so we moved outside and then were joined by two of the Aussi boys who were giving their skipper some space as his girlfriend had just arrived. Not sure how much space had been requested but when we left them at midnight they showed no signs of moving!

Wednesday

We quickly got some maths done before heading into Port Saint Louis, the plan was for Patrick and I to get our hair cut, for us to visit the market and to get a few groceries. Lynita was heading to the market in her car with her kids, we planned to meet up so she could give at least our shopping a lift back. As it was we were a little late setting off as AJ's scooter was playing up so after working out we needed a bigger spanner we decided to head off with just the one scooter between 2 kids. It was a long walk and almost noon before we got there so the first couple of hairdressers we found were closed for lunch. We sauntered round a dwindling market somewhat disheartened before finding a pizza van which we noted for later. I wandered on a little further and found an open hairdresser whilst the kids looked at toys and bumped into the Aussies. We decided to get pizza and meet them at the park where Patrick then looked after all the kids while Lynita and I did a supermarket run. Lynita then took the kids back while Patrick and I braved the French hairdresser. As expected her English was worse than our French but aided by photographs on my phone we managed to emerge looking something like our old selves.

Thursday

Patrick and AJ stayed back to do some jobs while Esmé and I got a lift to the big supermarket at Arles with Lynita and the kids. We had a lovely day and managed to get Esmé some new footwear as her trainers are now too small. Unfortunately I failed to replace my broken trainers, which is somewhat annoying as we often have to walk long distances to get shopping, now I'm down to deck shoes or flip flops. Leora was really funny in the soft toy aisle getting down and putting away the biggest toy horse ever!

Today also saw the end of the work on Laurin with the coppercoat being applied. It needs 72 hours to cure so we have booked the crane for a Monday morning launch.

Friday

Esmé tried out an interesting hairstyle today to keep her hair out of the chocolate spread at breakfast time! More boatschool, jobs and then a lovely invitation to spend the evening on Dizzy. It was soooo windy, apparently gusting up to 50 knots so it was nice to have some company and distraction from the fact that the boats were moving around even on the hard! We had a lovely evening around their enormous table, the highlight being roast potatoes cooked in their oven. Our boat oven wouldn't get nearly hot enough for that, in fact we don't actually use it a it's so rubbish! The kids settled down in front of a laptop, introducing their Australian friends to Paddington Bear, whilst the adults spent time relaxing with a glass or two of wine!


After much discussion about how to celebrate Esme's special day and originally being adamant that she didn't want to travel on her birthday she has now changed her mind. We will have a bbq party for her on Sunday afternoon after the restaurant closes and she will get her presents in the morning. This means she will be with her friends and have lots of fun. On her actual birthday we plan to set sail out of Port Napoleon and head for the Marseille Calanques which look absolutely stunning!

Day 106 to 112: 26th September to 2nd October 2017 More delays but more fun.

Tuesday

After Laurent and his wife gave us  a lift to the ferry port at Propriano (extra car this time for all our luggage) we dragged our mountain of luggage onto the ferry and up to our cabin.

AJ and Esmé were extremely excited and wanted to explore immediately so we had a quick look round and then went back to our cabin for our picnic tea before going back on deck for out departure. It was a beautiful evening and after watching the departure procedure with interest we watched the sunset over Campomoro before heading back down to the cabin.

Once in bed it took forever for Esmé to settle down and so with the alarm set for 6am I didn't actually get that much sleep.

Wednesday

Up early for our picnic breakfast before docking and then a long wait to get off the ferry. We docked at 7:30 and we had booked a taxi for 8:30 thinking this would give us plenty of time. In the end we only just got off the ferry by 8:10 and the taxi gave us a call to say he was 20 minutes away. Something got lost in translation and I thought he would call again when he arrived. In the meantime all foot passengers were shepherded onto a bus and taken to a random bus stop outside the port... we thought we might be heading to a terminal but not so! We then spent the next 45  minutes trying to explain to the taxi driver where we were! Eventually we found each other and he brought us back to Port Napoleon where we dragged our luggage back onto the boat and raided the tin cupboard for brunch!

We perhaps should have smelled a rat at the pictures Lynita had sent us on Monday of the progress on the boat. It didn't really look as though too much had happened but as we were booked on the ferry regardless I didn't pay too much attention.

Over the next few days we were to realise that Laurin would certainly not be in the water for the weekend and in fact our new splash date is the 9th of October! Esmé will not have her birthday in Italy as requested and even her idea of delaying her birthday a few days won't necessarily help. However we have decided to stay an extra day at Port Napoleon and celebrate with the Dizzy crew instead and she is now busy organising how she would like her party to be much to my concern as there is a limit to what I can pull out of the hat here!

Lynita kindly gave me a lift to the supermarket to stock up, looking after the girls at her flat while AJ and Kynan watched a movie on Laurin.

Thursday & Friday

Boatschool started again and we got into a rhythm of trying to do as much on the boat as we could before Lynita arrived with her kids in the afternoon for a play. Boatschool is always a challenge and sometimes I question whether we are doing enough, I think it is the same for most people that home educated. However one thing I am extremely happy about is how much the kids are enjoying reading now. I was really happy to peer down into their cabin after my late night shower to see both kids engrossed in their books!

Saturday

Patrick and Justin looked after the kids while I waged war on finishing unpacking our stuff on Laurin and Lynita cleaned out her flat ready to hand it back to the owner. AJ then realised I was cooking curry for tea so invited the Dizzy crew over. A pleasant evening was had by all.

Sunday

As the restaurant opposite the play area closes at 3:30 on Sundays we planned a bbq over there and invited some young Aussie guys as well as the Dizzy crew. It was really nice to relax and chat while the kids played. Hopefully same again next week! However unfortunately we forgot to shut the boat up before heading over there so were plagued by mosquitos overnight.

Monday

Boatschool again, this time including history lessons again as well as an online touch typing programme we had signed up at an incredible discount through a facebook group. We had just received the logins. I'm quite keen for the kids to learn to type properly while we are away as I think it is a valuable skill. After a rocky start both kids did well but we'll try to do it every day we have good enough internet access. I know it took me about 3 weeks of practicing every day before I became quicker at touch typing than using the two finger method so I'm not expecting quick results.

Progress on Laurin.

At this point at the end of Monday DMS have filled the cracks, put some matting over them, 2 rounds of epoxy filler, and some green epoxy paint like stuff. I think we have 4 coats of white to go on before 4 coats of coppercoat hopefully on Thursday to allow 72 hours curing over the weekend.