Days 94 & 95: 14th and 15th September 2017

Thursday

I woke early to hear AJ padding around upstairs so went to join him as he said he wanted to watch the sun rise with me. It was lovely to snuggle up on the sofa and watch the sky change colour. The house has a stunning view which we feel privileged to experience.

After breakfast we got on with school. I decided to take a different approach and do French and History first and then follow with Maths and English which often provoke argument from at least one child. The other advantage of this is that the French and History are things we do as a family together, so if we start these first there is no waiting for the other child to finish maths or whatever before we start. Todays French was about families and the kids engaged well with it. I've gone back to using Twinkl Planit lessons which provide a powerpoint as well as activities and worksheets. Next we started our "Story of the World" audio book and activity book. It is a series of 4 books which tell the story of the world from early nomads to something significantly more recent. The activity book is great as it gives a list of questions for each part of the recording to check for understanding as well as some activity sheets which we photocopy as well as lots of other suggestions to extend learning. Todays section was an introductory one learning what history actually is. It talked a lot about our own history and talking to parents and grandparents about their life. We extended this by making our own family tree on post it notes stuck to the floor. The kids found it really interesting, not only from a history point of view but by understanding the relationships between the different members of our family.

We spent the afternoon at the beach and then ended the day with spag bol, or something approximating spag bol as there is very little in the store cupboard here and I forgot to buy stock cubes or anything to flavour it with. Ended up finding some "couscous spice" which appeared to have some mix of Moroccan spices in which I added to the mix. It didn't much taste like Bolognese but it was quite pleasant! We spent much of the evening playing telephone tennis with Matthew from DMS. He left us a message about the surveyors visit to Laurin but unfortunately the reception wasn't too good so we would have to wait for tomorrow for a better update.

Friday

Keen to get in touch with Matthew we got breakfast out of the way and started trying to get in touch in between school work. We finally managed to catch him at about 11am and things are looking like we might be back in the water before the end of the month which is fantastic news but still leaves us with the question of if this is early enough for us to get to Sicily for winter.

We again went to the beach and then on our return Esmé played with her new friend from the house across the car park. We had a lovely meal of "Volcanoes" (thanks Lynita!).

Lastly we continued our engine building project: Pistons into engine block and started to assemble the valves.

Day 90 to 93: 10th to 13th September 2017 Corsica!

Sunday 10th

We assumed we'd be going to Corsica pretty soon so started to get all our stuff into the DMS office so I could pack and Patrick could start to get the boat ready for a winter. As we don't know how long the repair will take we needed to take all we need for the winter as we may not return to Laurin until spring. This meant that as well as clothes for slightly colder weather we also needed to take the basics of schooling materials with us, although having good internet in Corsica meant that we didn't need to take quite so many books. Not sure what we will do for the whole winter but Corsica gives us some breathing space to make plans.


Monday 11th.

A phone call to the insurance confirmed that they didn't need us to stay for the surveyor's visit on Thursday so we were all systems go for Corsica ASAP. We contacted brother-in-law Rory to see if he could get us on a flight for Tuesday morning. By now I was absolutely exhausted and sneaked off to have a quiet drink of Coke Zero at the bar! Those of you that know me well also know I was addicted to Coke/Pepsi and that I have hardly drank any at all since January but I don't drink tea or coffee and was in dire need of caffeine!

As I was on my way back Patrick appeared to tell me that we were all go for the 9:15am flight.

Thankfully Lynita dropped by just after lunch and offered to take both kids back to her place and entertain them until we went over for dinner later. We now needed to finish packing and complete our last boat job of emptying the holding tank. The holding tank is where our toilet waste goes to be held until we can either dump it out at sea or get it pumped out. Normally before lifting out of the water we would empty this and clean it out, but as we planned on only being out of the water for one day we didn't bother. Now we had to deal with it!!!! Luckily DMS had a big container we could borrow so Patrick donned his protective sunglasses and big gloves to do the cleaning out job.

By 5:30 we were almost packed, the holding tank was done and Matthew had sanded back the hull around the cracks a little more. We took a look but in reality nothing can be done until the surveyor has looked at it. Matthew has booked the travel hoist for Thursday as he also wants to look under the keel.

After well needed showers Lynita turned up to give us a lift to her flat and we relaxed for a pleasant meal of "Volcanos". AJ loved Lynita's bean sauce and I think the meal will be adopted by the Gregory clan. It was a strange goodbye meal as hopefully we should catch up again soon, but it maybe next year in Greece, or even never, although I seriously doubt that. I felt a little guilty as we were getting out of there as we found it too hard to live ashore with the kids, but Lynita is left at Port Napoleon with 2 kids smaller than ours. I know they have an apartment rather than living on the hard like us but Port St Louis is a pretty boring place for kids and this makes life hard work!

Tuesday 12th

After a late night finishing packing, and a 5am alarm call, it was going to be a long day. We were relieved when the taxi arrived on time and there were no delays on the way to the airport.

The kids were very excited about their first flight and were delighted to find a free table football table in departures. After a while it was announced that our 9:15 flight was delayed until 11am. I quickly messaged Laurent who was supposed to be picking us up and he called back, requesting that we call him when we were leaving. We were then told to go the bar and get free drinks with our boarding cards because of the delay. No sooner had I returned, our flight was called and we were leaving at about 10am. I rang Laurent back and we were off.

The plane was tiny and had propellers! This was to be our kids first flight! With hindsight I think what the pilot probably said in French was that the delay was due to high winds and we were going to have a really rough ride, however I didn't really catch this when he said it which is perhaps just as well.

AJ really hates anything new but seemed to be ok about flying. He held my hand during take off but soon settled down. The flight was very short and then we were on the descent which was where it got a bit hairy.... actually a lot hairy, in fact it was the scariest flight I have every been on. I was actually terrified whilst all the time trying to appear calm for AJ who seemed to be taking it all in his stride. Patrick's comment that he thought he was an ex air force pilot was not as reassuring as I think he meant it to be. I was really glad when we landed!

Out into the tiny airport to find Laurent. I knew we had a lot of luggage and despite his comment of "I don't have a truck!" he took it all in his stride. We had a minor disagreement on the best way to fit us all in, he wanted Esmé on my lap but Patrick and I re-arranged things so that at least we all had seatbelts on, however Patrick was left crouching under the rear parcel shelf with an enormous bag on his lap!

If I had thought that the flight was scary, that was nothing compared to the ride to Campomoro. Laurent kept cursing other drivers either calling them "escargot" or saying they drive too fast and that he didn't drive like that any more... he drives safely now, at the same time as tailgating the car in front and then overtaking on a 30kph limit road with no barriers to stop us going down a cliff!

Eventually 90 minutes later we arrive at Jenny and Rory's place. It is beautiful and big. The kids have their own big bedrooms with a terrace outside (with table tennis) and we have a lovely Moroccan themed one with an ensuite and dressing room. Upstairs is a large open plan living area with a large terrace. Funnily enough though, there are no baths so we'll have to wait until Christmas for that luxury!

As there was no food in the house we went out for a pizza lunch and then got bread, butter and jam for tea at the local shop. Kids went for a swim in the sea followed by a game of football with the neighbours kids. All in all a good day and we are extremely thankful for family!

Wednesday 13th

So the first job today was to take the car to Propriano to go food shopping. The kids were so excited to go in the convertible car but unfortunately we couldn't figure out how to get the top down! I refused to drive so Patrick braved the scary roads trying to ignore the screams from AJ in the back saying he was on the wrong side of the road. When we eventually found the Casino supermarket our nerves were fried and I still had a weeks shopping to do. What seemed like about 8 hours later we emerged with a boot full of shopping and braved the return journey... still no open top!

School this afternoon was challenging, neither kid was particularly in the mood but we persevered and I enjoyed that Patrick was free to share the load. Then another swim and an early tea before starting to build the model engine that my good friend Leonie bought me one Christmas. We thought it would be a good family winter project and here is as good a place as any to build it!

Days 84 to 89: 4th to 9th September NOT GOOD NEWS!!!

Sorry for the much delayed blog post, it has been a long and stressful week but we are now starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, although our plans have been changed somewhat.

Monday 4^th September

The usual school in the morning followed by an earlyish lunch as the plan was to take the kids into Port St Louis du Rhone on their scooters, spend some time with our Australiand friends, Lynita, Kynan and Leora, then for me to go shopping while they played some more.

Unfortunately unlike previous days, it was blistering hot in the afternoon but as Lynita was having problems with internet and phone access we had to meet at the arranged time. It was a tricky scoot along the side of the Port Napoleon road until we got to the main road where there was a good cycle path. It was here that I realised I had forgotten my purse. I phoned Patrick who started walking towards us with said purse while we scooted back along the dodgy road. When we set off again it was now twenty to two and we were unlikely to make our estimated time of between one and two pm, but on we went. Eventually the lock came into sight at about five past two but we still had to go round the outside of the marina. Finally we were there and enjoyed the shade of the apartment that Lynita had rented. After a brief stop and a drink I went and shopped as quickly as I could before dragging the granny trolley, rucksac and other bags back to the apartment.  We then put most of the shopping in Lynita’s car and took the kids to the park where it was my time to watch all 4 kids while Lynita ran some errands. Finally Lynita turned up in the car having picked up the last of the shopping and we crammed all 4 kids in whilst I was left scooting back.

Lynita obviously took pity on me as she threw my kids out at the marina gates and I was really pleased to see her come to collect me too as scooting is a little tiring after a while in the baking heat.

Next it was my turn to repay the favour.  All 4 kids on Laurin while we put shopping away and prepared dinner for the two families while Lynita had a well-earned break using the marina wifi at the bar and checking up on what progress her husband and father in law had made on their boat.

We all had a somewhat chaotic but pleasant meal together before the mosquitos started to attack us and it was time for the little ones to depart. All in all a lovely day.

Tuesday 5^th September  The worst day so far!

The planned lift out for 9am went well and we were out of the water and in a cradle by DMS Marine by 9:15. I set off with the kids to do boatschool over by the playground and Patrick stayed behind to wait for the  DMS guys to arrive. As I was doing the usual trying to keep calm with AJ, as he was getting more and more anxious trying to understand rounding numbers, Patrick appeared with a glum face. He said we had a problem. I quickly finished off with AJ and sent him off to play while Patrick told me we had a crack in the hull and that DMS suggested contacting our insurance company. On further inspection we have 4 cracks on the center line of the hull, one on the skeg, one on the prop shaft casing, one just behind the keel and one just in front.

We called the insurers who said they would arrange a surveyor. Meanwhile we filled in a claims form and took several photos before sending them off ASAP.  If it is just damage to the coppercoat and gelcoat then we could be on our way by the end of next week. If it is structural then the costs increase significantly and I don’t think we will be in the water before spring! As well as the long term logistical and financial concerns, we also have to consider the short term. Sleeping on board while Laurin was ashore was something I was mildly comfortable tolerating for one or two nights but beyond that I’m not sure. Luckily Patrick’s sister has a place on Corsica which she had in the past said we could use so we sent off an email to see if this could be our medium term plan. To be fair, the kids only did a little school today and spent the rest of the day in front of electronic devices. Needs must!

Towards the end of the day we found out the name of the surveyor and that he wanted to visit on Thursday afternoon.

A very depressed Laurin Crew hitting the sack tonight!

Wednesday 6^th September

So, up in the morning and on with boatschool, this time heading to the restaurant.  I had seen they did a 4.50Euro deal for a hot drink, orange juice and pain au chocolate so after ordering a hot chocolate we went to one of their outside tables to share our purchases and start school. After a while Patrick came along and said that DMS had an office they didn’t use so they had given us the key so we could use it for school. These guys are really kind and helpful.

 I also got a text from Lynita asking if we wanted her to take the kids for a scooter ride in the afternoon. I decided to be a little cheeky and ask if she could take them early afternoon so that Patrick and I could share a late anniversary meal at the restaurant and have a bit of child free time to think and talk. She responded by saying she would take them back to hers for lunch and keep them as long as possible. What a fantastic lady! Patrick and I had a lovely lunch and then I managed to get some washing done before the kids were returned and I made dinner.

We’ve slipped into a habit of having dinner then taking the kids to play on the new playground then toilets and back to the boat for bed. As we are ashore we can no longer use the toilet on the boat so if we need to go to the loo in the night it’s a choice of down the ladder and a 100m walk to the restaurant, or a bucket strategically placed in the cockpit!

Thursday 7^th September

More boatschool then tidying the boat before the surveyor arrived and the kids were given electronics to keep them quiet and out of the way. The surveyor was really nice although his English wasn’t really up to talking about technical details of the boat. Luckily Matthew from DMS speaks excellent French and was around to interpret for us. The upshot was that the surveyor wanted the coppercoat and gelcoat to be sandblasted back along the whole length of the hull for 15cm either side of the centre line and then he would return the following Thursday to look as he couldn’t tell anything from just looking at the cracks. We phoned the insurance company while he was here and they agreed to cover the costs of this investigation.  We also spoke to our good friend Paul Williams for a bit of moral support and advice.

Friday 8^th September.

As we had a lot to do, we decided to do boatschool  in the afternoon.  In the morning I spent some time digging out old surveys as well as emailing Contest Yachts as well as Dick Zaal, the designer of our boat, trying to figure out how the hull was made so we could get some idea of what was going on. Both responded pretty quickly and Dick pointed us to a blog he had done on the hull construction.  

I passed this information on to Matthew and the surveyor along with the old surveys and we began to feel a little more optimistic, although we are really going stir crazy living on the hard. Now we are in the hands of the surveyor and there is not much more we can do. We now needed to focus on making some alternative living arrangements as although I’m sure some people do, we don’t find living aboard while Laurin is ashore a viable long term proposition. Luckily we have heard back from Jen and we are able to use her place in Corsica, and the icing on the cake is that they have some spare air miles so can get us flights over there when we are ready.

After much discussion about whether we should wait until after the next surveyor visit to head out to Corsica, or go ASAP, we took advice from Matthew and from our good friend Paul Williams and decided to leave as soon as we could be ready. We have decided to prepare Laurin for a winter ashore so we don’t have to return to do this if the work is complex and takes a long time.

Saturday 9^th September

We decided that we should probably check with the insurers that they are happy for us to be away from Laurin over the next couple of weeks and unfortunately they are now not open until Monday. In the meantime we took down the headsail and started to look at what luggage we have on board.

The answer is not enough. We only brought small soft holdalls as we wouldn’t need much to take back to Mum and Dad’s at Christmas as we left clothes etc there. Now we need to take clothes as well as school supplies to Corsica. Luckily Lynita had some suitcases she had bought in a charity shop for the journey here and was about to ditch them when they move aboard so we can have those so this afternoon we went for a long scoot into town to meet with the Australians, pick up a bit of shopping and get a lift back with the suitcases.

Kids are getting really tetchy now. We have been in a pretty boring marina for nearly 2 weeks and things are still a little uncertain although they are both excited about going to Auntie Jenny’s place and experiencing their first flight. They were particularly excited hearing us talk with Uncle Rory on the phone and hearing that the house is 30 seconds away from the beach and they are even excited about the prospect of a bath…. The first since leaving Nana and Grandad’s house at the beginning of June!

Day 83: 3rd September 2017 More jobs and a little fun in Port Naploleon

Today started with a long jobs list but as I had arranged to meet with the Australians at 1pm we got cracking quickly. Patrick finished off the rigging while I did a load of washing and then started sewing the strops for our lazy jacks. Patrick then fitted the danbuoy while I finished off wiring in the new bilge pump float switch.

That done we had a quick lunch, waited for the Aussies to arrive, and then all headed to the mini beach at the other side of the marina again. This time the kids took their snorkelling gear and Esmé in particular entertained us all trying to walk forward in her flippers.

Once they had got cold, got changed and warmed up, all the kids spent ages making canals in the sand and we were soon joined by the Danes and so Eskar joined in too!

Back to the boat for an early tea and then the Danish kids came over so that we could teach them how to play Catan Junior. I'm not really sure they understood but Eskar won anyway much to AJ's disgust.
The Danes are moving on tomorrow and we'll miss them, although I am sure Patrick is jealous that they are going sailing tomorrow.

Guy next door said he wished he'd known about our seacock as he would have fixed it for us before now, he's leaving Tuesday!  So plan for tomorrow is to check with DMS marine and if they can't confirm their availability for Tuesday we'll try to get the boat lifted tomorrow so that Guy can help us.

We had a pleasant evening once the kids were in bed, planning the next part of our cruise. We're contemplating going further up the French coast and into Italy before crossing to Corsica, with the option of continuing round the Italian Riviera if we don't get a good weather window for crossing to Corsica.

Day 81 & 82: 1st and 2nd of September Jobs jobs jobs, and a little bit of fun.

Yesterday we decided to have a bit of fun as we'd been working hard to get the masts sorted and up, so we pumped up the dinghy and attached the outboard which needed a test run anyway. We were really lucky that the family next to us on the pontoon are getting ready to ship their boat back to England on the back of a lorry so gave us lots of stuff including about 10litres of petrol. Once the kids had pumped the dinghy up Patrick too Eskar, AJ and Esmé out for a spin while I finished off some hand washing.

We then got a visit from an Australian family I had met on Facebook. They too are planning to winter in Ragusa on Sicily but the Dad and Grandad are busy working on the boat they have just bought ashore at Port Napoleon, and the Mum and kids have just arrived to join them. We packed some snacks and a picnic tarp and headed in the dinghy over to the tiny patch of sand over the other side of the marina. Here the kids played in the sand and swam for a good hour or so before AJ announced that he was freezing and we came back to the boat.

We had lunch then after another round of washing I took the kids to the beach again so that Patrick could get some more jobs done. The family next door were selling a gangplank which Patrick had his eye on. Whilst I could see it was a good deal, and probably a great deal more suitable than our scrounged school bench top, I wanted him to make sure it would fit our boat and he could store it.

Back for an evening meal and then we had a pleasant evening next door where they showed us the places they had stopped on the way north up the west coast of Italy. They gave us plenty of ideas for thought as well as some mosquito repellent and lots of other bits and pieces as well as a nice glass or 2 of whiskey!

Today was more jobs. Replaced the water pump, 2 loads of hand washing which dried really quickly in the warm wind, split pins in all the rigging, started replacement of the bilge pump float switch and a play at the newly completed playground at the marina with the Australians.

We also collected a parcel from Nana from the marina office. This brought much joy as she used to send a little package each week at home but obviously can't really do this when we are constantly on the move.

Day 79 & 80: 30th and 31st August 2017 Happy 10th Wedding Anniversery - Masts up!

The crane boss wanted to lift our masts on Thursday, along with the Danes so we got up early on Wednesday and started work prepping the masts. We had got the wrapping off the night before, but still needed to refit the running rigging and also have a look at our masthead lights as the connector had been crushed somewhat. Patrick and I worked hard while the kids zoomed round on their scooters or played on iPads.

As we had got up early we had got the bulk of the work done by lunchtime so we did a little school with the kids while it was hot before finishing up in the early evening. Although the kids weren't too enthusiastic about school, they were interested in splitting open a walnut and examining it under the microscope which was quite fun.

The next day was our 10th Wedding anniversary. I had hoped to renew our vows on a white sandy beach but instead we were stressing about the masts going up. As in Rouen you just pay for the crane and then have to do the rigging yourselves and we were far more concerned about putting them up than when we took them down. We had a lovely breakfast before doing the final preparations with the masts.

We managed to borrow a 12V battery off DMS Engineering so we could check the nav light was working, cleaned the spreaders and took the windex off as per the crane drivers request, then at lunchtime we motored over the crane with the Danes. First job was to move the masts onto mobile stands which was a bit nerve wracking working with the French and a substantial language barrier. Then up with the masts.

Once the masts were in place, Patrick got to go up on the cherry picker to fit the triatic line between the main and mizzen mast as well as replace the windex.

So, we are back to being a sailing boat again!

I started cooking the family favourite curry and AJ asked if we could invite the Danes so we had a pleasant evening, kids down below and adults up top enjoying the last bottle of champagne from our wedding 10 years ago!

Day 77 &78; 28th and 29th August 2017.... We're in the Med!

After deciding to leave Arles in the morning and get groceries in Port St Louis du Rhone we dropped our lines and motored along a hazy Rhone.

Patrick dug out the French Mediterranean pilot book and informed me that the bridge at the lock into Port St Louis only opens at certain times, and that if we didn't make the 11:50 opening we would have to wait another 4 hours until 4pm for it to open. A quick calculation told us that it was going to be VERY tight. In the end we made it with 5 minutes to spare, which was quite good timing as the Danes later told us they had to wait for 2 hours and there was nowhere to moor to wait.

So, we were in the Mediterranean, well almost.

We decided to stop in Port St Louis for a night and pick up shopping before heading round to Port Napoleon. The kids were happy to see the Danes again and we also met up with the guys on the McGregor we had seen earlier in our trip. I did an initial shop to top up on dry stores while Patrick hid from the heat with the kids. Later the kids went swimming while Patrick helped sort the sails out on the McGregor.



There was another Danish boat there who received a delivery of new anchor chain... ever the opportunists we managed to procure his old 2m + 3.5m lengths of chain for our kedge in return for 2 cold beers. Result!

Next morning we picked up a couple of canisters of diesel as well as more groceries and then motored off towards Port Napoleon. This took out into the Mediterranean before heading back in, only an hour but we could definitely appreciate the swell of the ocean.

The channel seemed quite narrow on the way in and was well buoyed by markers as well as what we thought were withies but on closer inspection turned out to be fishing rods!

On arrival the kids and I set to work making lunch while Patrick went to have a look round up top. He found DMS engineering firm who said they could sort our seacock out next week... should cost about 200 Euro labour plus the lift out and materials. This seemed quite a good price for peace of mind!

After lunch we all went up top to the Captainere, booked ourselves in and learned we just need to give a couple of days notice for mast up and lift outs. The lady also told us where to find our masts so off we went to check them. Once we had found them we declared it too hot to work so went back to the boat where I waged war on the kids cabin while Patrick started to get the boat ready to receive her masts again.

After an early tea we all went up top to unwrap the masts. It had cooled off a little and most tradesmen had gone home so we allowed the kids to bring scooters which they zoomed around on whilst Patrick and I worked. After an hour or so we had done pretty much all we could. The only bit of damage appears to the connector for the tricolour at the top of the mast. I think I have a spare so that's another job for tomorrow.

When we called the kids I'm not sure what Esmé had been doing but she was absolutely filthy so after dumping the scooters on Laurin and picking up wash kits we went to sample the lovely showers up top.




On the way back Esmé looked at the moon and asked if Nana could see the same moon.... I think she's a little homesick at the moment and both kids have been playing up, perhaps due to the transition between canals and sea! (I assured her that Nana could see the same moon and that we would send Nana a picture of it just to make sure!)



It's a bit of a strange place here, very definitely a working boatyard with a larger variety of crafts, but not too much for the kids to do (there is half built playground but this won't be finished before we leave). I'm sure we will find fun for the kids though, we've the dinghy to pump up and an outboard to check over as well as our other inflatables to play on. Also we learned today that another boat family are on their way down to visit their Dad who is working on their new boat here. They should arrive late tomorrow so think we've got a play date on Thursday.



So, off to bed for another sticky night with the hatches closed trying to avoid the mosquitos!