Carols, wine and mulled socks

Escape on CAPE
David, Sarah and Bryn Smith
Sun 11 Jan 2009 18:53

Editor’s note:

After numerous complaints about the lack of a blog so far this year, and few dodgy comments about what the writer should do to the editor (a subject best left alone as there may be children reading), the Editor has allowed the up-loading of this first missive of 2009.

TDS

 

There was a big build up to Christmas here on CAPE, starting in November to get the UK and Ireland presents made and posted. Once we were into the second half of December, I finally relented and gave in to the continual pressure to put up the Christmas decorations. We retrieved them from their home in the depths of the deepest locker, wiped off the mould, and decorated the saloon. As Christmas was now official, we were proudly presented with our Christmas cards – the ones that the children had made in secret in September! CAPE was then invaded by Snowmen as we made cards for people around the marina.

 

The CAPE Snowman invasion.

 

The Christmas Committee

There were 23 liveaboards planning to be around for Christmas. We were split into teams – the girls planned the menu, did the shopping and tried to organize the boys, while the boys made the party hats and crackers, sorted the tables and music, and avoided being organized. In true committee style, we girlies met once to discuss the menu, and then again to change our minds (something to do with forgetting the entire meat course!). Lynne (MOYA) did the table decorations, helped by Bethany, and Lynne, Julia (WILD OATS) and Bethany and Bryn decorated the bar. Each boat was allocated a couple of items from the menu to actually prepare and deliver hot to the bar by 14:00 on Christmas Day. Yes, on Christmas Day we were mashing mash for 23!

 

Carols, mulled wine and socks

Christmas Eve saw us having a drink with Gary (WILD OATS) for his birthday, followed by carol singing around the pontoons. The singing started at WANDERING DRAGON and we subjected each boat to a carol or two before inviting the crew to join us as we moved on to torture the next boat. Everyone ended up on CAPE for mulled wine, before we relocated to PYXIS so that Karen’s Mum and Dad could join in, and (for those who didn’t have to get to sleep so that Father Christmas could come), the carolling and drinking carried on far into the night. Now that the event has passed without any digestive complaints related to the mulled wine, I can reveal the secret ingredient – one of Bryn’s old socks (clean of course) that holds the spice mix. David and I finally got to bed about 02:00.

 

CAPE mulled wine – note the old grey ‘spice’ sock lurking top right.

 

CAPE’s Christmas corner.

 

Christmas Day

Bearing in mind that David and I got to bed at 02:00, Christmas Day started early – 04:00 to be precise – when the children discovered that Father Christmas had not only managed to track us from Portugal to find us in Sardinia but had also found his way safely down the mast into the boat. They were sent back to bed and were up again hourly until 06:00, when they were allowed to open one present and then banished back to bed again until the more sociable hour of 08:00 (sleep-deprived parents can be cruel…).

 

Opening Christmas presents.

 

The children were delighted with their presents, both from friends and family, and from Father Christmas. Father Christmas has a wicked sense of humour – he gave them Heinz Baked Beans (too expensive out here normally) and washing up gloves (because the washing up is one of their boat chores) amongst other things in their stockings.

 

Moosie opening his present from Bryn – a hand knitted scarf with tassels (perfect for the freezing Sardinian winter).

 

We had a traditional Christmas Day breakfast of Bucks Fizz (for the adults anyway) and chocolate, and then got on with the mash and the famous Bourne chestnut sauce for 23.

 

At 14:00 we all sat down for a full traditional Christmas dinner – including sprouts. Remember that we were a mixed party of Brits, Swedes, Germans, French and Americans, so ‘traditional’ was international. We had German soup with dumplings to start, followed by turkey, beef, and pork, two types of nut roast, stuffing, potatoes (mashed and roasted), carrots, sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli in cheese sauce, chestnut sauce, and gravy. For those who had room, there was a variety of cheesecakes to choose from for pud. We had handmade place names, crackers and hats, and a Secret Santa present.

 

Christmas dinner, liveaboard style in Sardinia.

 

David modelling the handmade fez-style Christmas hats and an empty plate.

 

A rare photo of me, taken against a wintry backdrop.

 

The German–Swedish contingent – note the excellent artwork adorning the windows.

 

The American delegation – complete with wondrous star.

 

We had so much food left over we did it all again on Boxing Day (don't you just love leftovers?), followed by charades and Who's in the Bag? We dug out the octave of whistles from the Christmas crackers that Jackie and Stu’ gave us last year and had a riotous hour tooting carols and having hysterics.

 

Tooting Jingle Bells.

 

We went into hibernation between Christmas and New Year, catching up on sleep, DVDs, reading and chocolate. We got through Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and well into The Thieves of Ostia in Listen with Mother mode. We used money that we were given for Christmas on a 21" TV screen and DVD player, so were able to watch DVDs in comfort (prior to this we squished four of us around my laptop).

 

New Year

New Year’s Eve started with a meal of roast pork prepared by Max and Antonello, followed by a big dancey party. I think it was about 05:00 when we finally got to bed we were so busy dancing (my feet were killing me the next day – new boots – I should have known better and worn my Crocs).

 

Seeing the New Year in by dancing ‘til we couldn’t walk.

 

Moving swiftly on

Since New Year the weather has been mainly cool but sunny, and the sunshine has got everyone out doing jobs on their boats. I have been up to my old tricks – emptying and repacking lockers – and have finally thrown away some of the stuff that we have been carrying with us since we left and have never used. (I couldn’t throw all the potential junk out, though – what would I do when I felt the urge for a bit of locker rationalization in the future?) We have settled back into a proper school and work routine, and have started to plan the rest of the year. In the guitar department, Sailing is coming on nicely and the cords for Yellow Submarine are emerging slowly from CAPE’s bowels to haunt unsuspecting fishermen on the pontoons.

 

On the food front (I know that you’re all fascinated with what we eat and drink), we invited Les and Lynne (MOYA) over for refried bean and turkey wraps, followed by apple and gooseberry crumble (using a tin of vintage gooseberries that we bought in Kwiksave when there was a Kwiksave in Llangollen – one of the more useful discoveries from my recent locker rationalization). We’ve also been to WANDERING DRAGON for excellent burgers with buns, relish and sweetcorn fritters, meringuey-thingy roulade and sticky toffee pudding – and a tad too much port for the adults (I was going to say grown-ups, but that suggested some sort of mature approach to drinking).

 

After all the engine trouble we have had since leaving the UK, culminating in the engine refusing to start in Carlo Forte last year, we were keen to get the engine checked out properly. Before Christmas we had Mr Volvo Sardinia to take a look. He confirmed our worst suspicions that we have at least one (if not two) pistons knocking, and it is now a matter of when, not if, a piston blows, and it could end up with it making a real mess of the engine and possibly other things on its way out. There is also an ongoing problem with a bearing in the sail drive (the bit the propeller hangs on) that has got worse. Given the fact that we are having so much trouble sourcing parts for the engine, the only real option now seems to be to replace both it and the sail drive before we start moving again. We really don’t want to be in a position of needing the engine to get out of trouble and it letting us down – we have probably come to the point when getting a new engine is a matter of safety not convenience. So, I’ve booked in as much work as I can for the next couple of months at least. Our cruising plans for this season depend on when we get enough money together to buy the engine, get it fitted, and get back into the water!

 

Lies, damn lies and statistics

To distract myself from the thought of lots of work and living on the hard for a while, I had a sneaky look at the blog for this time last year, to remind myself of our ‘vital statistics’ for last year. Since leaving Aberystwyth in April 2007, by New Year 2007/2008, we had:

·        visited 3 new countries – Ireland, Spain and Portugal

·        explored 27 ports, marinas and anchorages

·        spent 306 hours 58 minutes at sea

·        sailed or motored 1543 miles

·        done all of this at an average speed of 5.0 knots.

 

Statistically speaking, our position at New Year 2008/2009 is as follows. Since leaving Portimão on 1 April 2008 we have:

·        visited 2 new countries – Morocco and Italy – in addition to a little ricocheting between Portugal and Spain

·        explored 35 different ports, marinas and anchorages

·        spent 290 hours 38 minutes at sea (equating to 12 days 6 hours and 35 minutes)

·        sailed or motored 1591 miles

·        done all of this at an average speed of 5.47 knots.

Not bad considering we were laid up with engine trouble for about 8 weeks in total!

 

So, overall, since leaving the UK in April 2007 we have:

·        visited 5 different countries (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Italy)

·        explored 62 different ports, marinas or anchorages

·        spent 597 hours 36 minutes at sea (equating to 24 days 21 hours and 36 minutes)

·        sailed or motored 3134 miles

·        done all this at an average speed of 5.23 knots.

 

Looking back, my New Year resolutions for 2008 were to stop calling people by their boat names (as they have real names and David says I must use these instead), and not to overuse and misuse ellipses (…) in this blog… So after failing miserably with these resolutions, I have decided that my resolution this year is not to make any. I wonder where we will be this time next year? (We might of course, still be on the hard here in Cagliari, still saving up for a new engine…)