It was fun and sweet innocence, with so many comical comments, 'from the mouths of babes'. I think Tristan has two competitors for talking.
It was also a milestone in Lily's life as she lost her first tooth, fortunately the tooth fairy remembered to visit.
Sports day was fun, a little different, but it bought back loads of memories and it doesn't feel like 25 years ago that I stood in the field of Archbishop Benson school watching my girls.
The weather this year wasn't brilliant so the cherries on the tree in Lucy's garden were late. We had pigeon patrol and spent hours keeping big fat pigeons off the cherries as they ripened. Then it was all hands on deck to pick, stone and jam the cherries.
I really enjoyed seeing Lucy and Julia but we all missed Amy.
Meanwhile back on the boat. Tristan spent time up the Guardiana river and anchored off Culatra. He put varnish on which was essential as temperatures were soaring above 35 degrees Celsius. Not good for a wooden boat.
As soon as I returned I made a canvas covers to protect the varnish on the gas box, but still need more time sewing. We anchored off Culatra and caught up with friends before sailing to Feruguda to catch up with another friend.
We arrived at Feruguda in the dark. It was supposedly an easy harbour to enter. The shore lights were bedazzling and there were far too many red and green lights advertising the beers making it difficult to identify the port and starboard lights. Once we were in the harbour it was easy to anchor but there were still a few yachts without an anchor light on.
Feruguda was noisy and we suffered sleep deprivation from the nightclubs in Portimao which went on till 5 am.
We were able to buy water (albeit a little green) and fuel from the fuel dock in Portimao marina and use their washing machines. Camping gas was available at the marina only a couple of euros more expensive than hiking miles to exchange the bottles. Worth every penny.
Two days were spent watching the F1H2O Grand Prix racing which certainly got the adrenaline going.
I can see the addictive attraction to speed, and the smell of burnt fuel. It reminded me of Long Eaton Speedway and Donnington race track.
We went for a sail on Tristans birthday with the intention of anchoring off Sagres but with 25 knots on the nose, gusting 35+ we raced past Lagos. The strain on the gear was unsettling so we turned around and beat a hasty retreat, preferring downwind sailing. It took no time to retrace our course and we reanchored off Feruguda.
We tried again the next day and made a dash for Porto Santo, a 4 day passage. This was a baptism of fire, we made it in 3 days but had gusts of 35 knots and lots of water across the deck and a very wet cockpit. Meriva bucked and rolled and it wasn't the most pleasant of trips. Even scopoderm patches didn't work. We certainly found out where she was leaking through her cabin tops. Whilst we were in Vila Real during the winter we restocked on towels, €1.50 for a bath sized towel. Just about every one was used on passage but we managed to stem the saltwater intrusion.
More work, but the main priority is another Lee cloth. Tristan was flung out of the berth and landed on me, well that was his excuse. It was rough....he's not moved easily.
We arrived at the marina Porto Santo only to find out that there was no room but we could anchor for a small fee. I object to paying to anchor but it did at least give us water, showers and a place to tie up the dinghy. A big improvement on some of the anchorages we've visited this year. The marina had changed its tariff in July/August this year as people were sailing up from Madiera. They charge a daily rate, but a monthly rate out of peak season was cheaper than six days on daily rate, if there was space. Checking in was a pleasure, everyone was very friendly.
The wind howls in this anchorage, gusting 25 to 30 knots as the air drops off the hillside, then it stops and goes quiet. Meriva swings around and there isn't a lot of space as the ferry from Madiera docks here. We had the option of a mooring buoy but there didn't seem much room for 16 tonnes of wood and Meriva behaves differently to most boats. The holding was very good and there were no nightclubs pumping out 'music' so we slept. One improvement we've made is extra alarms on both the bilge and GPS for anchoring. For a wooden boat the temperatures are better here, a constant 22 degrees Celsius and dew on the decks in the morning.
It's a 20 minute level walk along the road or beach into the main town, Cidade Vila Baleira where there is a very well stocked Pingo Doce, lavanderia and ferriteria. A taxi ride back to the marina for provisioning is 4 euros, worth it to save further damage to back and shoulders.
I was really impressed by the beautiful beach and crystal clear waters.
That's where we will be found after we've caught up on essential jobs.
Tristans already got stuck into repairing the leaks in the cabin top and trying to find out why the batteries aren't charging.
We've just heard about the awful fires on Madiera. I can't imagine how people are dealing with the destruction.
