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Wednesday 26 to Friday 28.6.13.

Arbatax, eastern Sardinia. Soon discover that there are no ferries, no one way car hire to airports, taxi to either main airport €200!! Bus to either takes 5.5 hours... On Thursday afternoon we were awoken from our afternoon siesta by the voice of Lynn from Birgitta which had just come down from the north. We joined them for dinner later and caught up with our respective news. They are headed from here straight for Sicily via Lipari early Friday morning. They anticipate the passage will take them some 30 hrs with an ETA Palermo Saturday evening.

I have to return home on Saturday for a week for personal and business reasons. The journey will be arduous. A bus from here at 04:55 hrs with an ETA Olbia airport up north - a journey of no less than 5.5 hrs. From there the plan is to fly to Gatwick with Easyjet and on to the Island the same day with Flybe. I hope to be back a week today. Jackie plans to sort out Bootlegger in my absence.

Thursday / Friday 27 and 28.06

Arbatax marina

Saturday 29.06.

05:00 Departed Arbatax by bus for Olbia airport in NE of the island. After two bus changes and 5.5 hrs drive through some stunning scenery, many bus stops in the towns along the way arrived at Olbia airport at 09:45. I had a long wait until my flight to Gatwick at 16:20 but there had been no later bus. Uneventful flight back to IoM via LGW arriving home around 20:20.

Sunday 30.06. to Wednesday 03.07.

After a day out on a tourist boat which included snorkelling and swimming on several beautiful beaches on the Sunday, Jackie spent the following four days working on Bootlegger. The works included general sorting and tidying above and below decks , and preparation work on the coach roof to receive new black vinyl trim between the ports. The results following the laying down of the trim by a contractor is very good. During this period a nearby yard received our bathing ladder/passerelle and welded new wheels on it relative to its latter function.

New black vinyl trim being applied

I spent the next three days attending meetings and taking care of personal administration before flying to Liverpool early Thursday morning then hiring car for drive to Sheffield for a meeting. Met up there with son Karl. After meeting we drove to Stansted stopping off at air museum in Newark.

Friday 5^th July 2013

.04:15 Woken by alarm. After taking a swift breakfast returned hire car and checked in at this very impressive airport.

06:15: After a coffee, Karl and I bade farewell to each other.

07:10 Easyjet flight back to Cagliari.

15:30 After a nightmare of a taxi ride from Cagliari which I and no doubt my seven Italian fellow passengers thought we’d survive, arrived back at Arbatax marina to be greeted by J at the marina gates. In my absence the passerelle had been returned c/w new big red wheels and the new black vinyl trim long both sides of the coach roof was completed and looking well. J had cleaned the boat throughout including the main cabin bilges. Bootlegger looked well.

I was thoroughly spoiled for the rest of the day on what became another day of Birthday celebration. After opening my presents from J and sharing a bottle of bubbly we later visited ‘our’ restaurant - Sapore Di Mare for a Birthday dinner complete with birthday cake with one candle!! I felt very spoiled.

Birthday Boy	This year's birthday cake is in Italian