37.16.422N 9.52.817E

After doing the sights in northern Tunisia, we have spent some time relaxing. We had a Harry Potter fest a few weeks ago – we read all 7 books and watched all 5 films on DVD (and had a few weird dreams as well).

We are now starting on the boat jobs. We cleaned and re-waterproofed the spray hood. Anne has been servicing the winches and making winch covers for them. She still has the large 3 speed winches to complete – a case of leaving the most challenging to last. Stephen has been polishing all the stainless steel bits on the boat (6 days and still more to do) and also has made a start on t-cutting, polishing and waxing the GRP.

The Arabic lessons are coming along fine. Unfortunately our teacher (the local dive master on a boat a few doors away) knows no English so we are not sure what we are learning. Still it is fun. We finally gave away the “Tunisian air conditioning” box to him and bought a large fan – it’s much more effective and provides a nice breeze at night. We are slowly been accepted on the locals pontoon. They are a mixture of Italian and Tunisians that are either based here or come here each year for summer; this is year 20+ for some of them. The other night we were invited over for a drink and a meal and had a really good time despite the language difficulties. We did pick up one vital tip – they sell no alcohol at all during Ramadan so we need to stock up.

The weather is still hot. Obviously we were getting used to the heat, so the weather has now added high humidity into the mix to ensure we don’t get comfortable.

The visitor’s pontoon is full most nights now – we still have plenty of amusement each afternoon watching the boats moor. Sometimes there doesn’t need to be any wind for a boat to put on “a show of it”.

Cat Watch Update:

Koshka is getting brave and is now exploring the pontoon when it is quiet. Yoyo still prefers to stay on board just in case she misses out on some tuna.

The kitten opposite has left home and has now been adopted by a Tunisian on his boat. He still uses up his lives far too quickly. He got locked in the showers and was meowing like mad to be let out. We also found out he “hid” on a fishing boat and was out at sea for 4 days. He was only discovered by meowing from under the bunk of a sleeping fisherman. He is fast becoming famous locally for all the wrong reasons. Now we just need to learn Arabic for “cat of 100 lives” and we can officially name him.

By special request, below is a picture of Wanda in Bizerte