8th August
We have spent the last 2 days on board. Yesterday morning we
rowed over to the yacht club for a much needed shower, the dinghy ride was an
experience, the wind had already picked up a little and coupled with the tide
made for almost no progress in a forward direction, we eventually had 3 of
oaring on 1 side and Barry alone on the other to make slow progress, we ended
up bumping into all the bouys on the way past and after 20 minutes or so
managed to tie up to the dock on the other side of the river. A quick shower
and a faster but still not plain sailing row back left us all a bit worn out.
We then did a bit of school, and added a few ropes to the
boat in anticipation of the strong blow today.
I spent the night tossing and turning, waiting for the wind
that never arrived. I got up early and the wind arrived, I must say the harbour
is rather protected but there is a fetch and eddies were and still are all over
the place. I spent the day working on our website, I have added to the
homeschooling portion of the site and started adding lesson plans for homeschooled children. This will be a long process as there are loads of lessons to
write, and they all come with worksheets, lesson plans for parents/teachers as
well as summaries for study purposes. So for those needing help with
homeschooling it is at hand, and will be added to on a regular basis.
The boys again did school today and this evening we are all
a bit tired owing to the effect of the rocking motion on board today, the wind
is expected to switch tomorrow and will be howling from the NE, which blows
directly into the cockpit…I am glad we are safely tied up at the moment, those
seas outside are huge.
9th August
This morning we got up with no real plans, the wind is still
howling, but we feel safely tied up so no big problem. Then at about 11am Barry
says, let’s take a walk to the restaurant down there, pointing down the river.
I say I don’t think that is a restaurant but okay.
So we head of and find the way, walking out and a few blocks
to the Fish market building, here there are fisherman, who we saw returning to
the harbour on Thursday afternoon, filleting fish. We bought a carpenter and
got it filleted, a few shrimps and some seafood mix and decided to make Paella
for our visitors on Sunday, there will be 12 of us on the boat so it is going
to be a bit of the tight squeeze…but at least it is some adventure!
12th August
Aunty Max, Lorraine, Sade︠ and Josh came over for lunch
yesterday. The wind was still blowing like crazy and we ended up putting the
motor on the dinghy and getting across to the yacht club as the stairs down the
dockside proved too complicated and scary for Aunty Max.
Sade and Josh climbed aboard from the dockside and we
chatted on board while waiting for Barry and Rauen to return with our other
visitors. Unfortunately, Brian and his wife and kids decided not to come aboard
so I am hoping to see them at another date perhaps at one of their places.
Barry made Paella
which was fantastic and we had boerewors rolls for the non-fish
eaters…including a roll for me, but when I tasted the paella I was amazed…no
roll was needed!
We spend the afternoon chatting, Aunty Max brought some
photos of a birthday party my mom had held for one of the kids and we spotted
the kids from way back when and named them. I showed them photos of boat
repairs we did and a few videos out at sea.
Aunty Max really enjoyed the paella as she doesn’t often get
to eat seafood as Sade doesn’t like it…glad we got to treat her!
When it was time to go, we did the return trip on the dinghy
and everyone got wet…the bumpy seas and wet dinghy ride made for an authentic
afternoon at sea!
