36.22.39N 10.32.69E

The last blog stated we didn’t know where the week has gone, this time it’s “where has the month gone”. We’ll try and make sure the next one is not in a year’s time!!!

The main activity this month has been trying to decide what to do and where to go. After much deliberation we decided we would like to stay in Hammamet for the winter. Having finally made that decision we needed to find a berth. We had been told there were some private berths available. It soon became clear that these would not be suitable for us. One was between two other liveaboards, which would not be that great anyway, we then found out that the person on one side really hates cats – so a definite no for us. The other berth was just too expensive.

The next option was to check with the Marina office. We had already done this and been told they were full for the winter. However armed with the name of the berthing Master we went to the office. This time they would try to ring up people they think will not arrive and see if we can have their berth. After a few more trips to the office we were told “we can not ask you to leave”. We are still not entirely sure what this meant. However after several more weeks visiting them we now have a berth for the winter (hence the slight change in position).

In among running around trying to sort out a berth we have had the usual chores of boat cleaning, laundry and shopping. We have now found the municipal market in Hammamet. It costs us more to get there than on the bus than it does for our weekly vegetable shopping. Even so it only costs us about £1 for both of us to get there and back. If anyone is interested we can email you with our other activities that seem to take up lots of our time.

We have finished varnishing the new cockpit table. Next task is to polish and lacquer the brass hinges and then fit the table and drinks holder.

We visited Nabeul which is famous for its pottery market on Fridays. We had meant to go during the week to avoid the crowds on a Friday. Somehow we failed and ended up going on a Friday. We went on the bendy bus, along with Jo. Luckily we managed to get two seats which we shared between the three of us for the hour long journey. Nabeul is a very busy lively place and we returned unscathed despite Stephens close encounter with the galloping horses. We decided to pay the extra 10p to come back on the air conditioned minibus with a guaranteed seat. We were trying to work out where the bus stop was when we saw the minibus. We flagged the driver down and she tried to explain where the bus stop was, but in the end gave up and let us on while she was stuck in traffic. She then drove on to the bus stop where there was a long queue of people. Since not everyone managed to get on we realised we had played a bit of a blinder flagging her down. We need to visit again and to remember to take the camera!

Ramadan ends in a weeks time. This year we have had no problems with the lack of alcohol – we stocked up well and know the location of the vineyard that can sell wine during Ramadan.

The weather has been very hot, although in the last few days it has cooled off a bit and we needed a blanket on the bed. Thinking it had gone really cold we checked the temperature it was still 27 degrees (well this is cold now we are use to 40 C). Yesterday we actually had rain (picture below!). We think it has been over 3 months since we last saw rain. On the plus side it was still very warm.