Tag Archives: Sails

Bees on board

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We set sail a week ago with just four of us on board … now we are six!

Two fluffy, loving shipmates, who we couldn’t bear to send overboard joined us today.

It feels good to be back on board Pura Vida – a very sleek catamaran – that will be our home for the next few weeks as we meander around the coast of Italy.

The sun was hot when we pulled the anchor up in Preveveza, Greece, last Monday. Our first anchorage was on Antipaxos and later that afternoon we settled in for the night in a turquoise bay off the island of Paxos. The water was fresh, not English fresh, at 19 degrees of course!

We headed to the north of Corfu, after a brief stay below the old town, where we had to meet the agent who would help us “clear out” of Greece officially. It seemed odd as we’d only arrived a couple of days earlier and now we were leaving! Our destination is Italy, possibly ending in Sardinia and there are many miles ahead!

Last year we found ourselves in Corfu in the midst of a parade and got rather trapped. This year it turned out to be the same date and police cars were already gathering to block the roads. We wouldn’t get caught out this time! However, it did mean shopping was limited with many places shut for the festivities. We made do with coffee and croissants while we watched a marching band assemble in the rain. Someone noted that the marching wasn’t up to scratch, but who likes marching in the rain?

We’ve had a mix of weathers en route, but our first little drama was on an island north of Corfu, from where we planned the main hop across to the coast of Italy.

Tired and eager to cook up some supper, the anchor was dropped in a bay, where we could see sand between the rocks. A lot of creaking and dragging sounds over the next few hours made us all wonder if the anchor was on or between one of those rocks.

We watched an orange sun slipping into the sea on the horizon and hoped we were wrong.

The next morning, pulling up the anchor took us an hour instead of five minutes. The captain, who volunteered to go in the water to review the situation, had to sink his pirate hook down to help shift the anchor from between two rocks. Forty five minutes later, after much signalling and repositioning the boat, the anchor eventually came free. The skipper then spent the next hour or so attempting to regain feeling in his arms and legs under a duvet! Cold water swimming isn’t for everyone!

We’ve been testing out our sails in a variety of wind conditions from full on surfing yesterday, with waves flowing onto the boat at the back, to being battered by the waves side on this morning.

That was when the visitors arrived – one bumble bee at first, blown in by a gust. We were so worried he’d be blown away, we helped him crawl into a box for safety. I wasn’t sure he liked it and a few minutes later, his mate arrived and nestled into the cockpit canopy hiding from the wind. I decided they should face the wind together and helped the first bee out onto the canopy near his fellow traveller. Seconds later they were neatly cuddled up together under a strap. Then we were six!

The wind has calmed again now and we thought our pair of bee companions had flown on, but they keep reappearing, so I think they’re here for the long haul!

It’s also time to re-set the sails and look for a safe anchorage or harbour for tonight. Meanwhile the first batch of scones is in the oven, so a little touch of Devon is on the way!

Where do loofahs come from?

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If you thought sails were just for boats, think again. Here follows a tale of giant sails and cucumbers,,,
I knew there was trouble ahead when I came into the lounge and saw a very large bundle of cream material piled on the table.There was also a gathering of suspicious poles, bolts and what looked a bit like giant safety pins being placed strategically at the bottom of the stairs. Best plan of action was to allow the activity to continue and try to keep a low profile. I tried to ignore the banging and drilling, but eventually I was summoned to the roof terrace where help was required. Up on the top of the house it was all hands on deck where a huge sail was billowing – fixed now at two points to the roof I found myself holding a corner of the sail while other visiting helpers struggled to attach another corner to a pole with considerable heaving, stretching, wobbling on ladders and knots. Knots were the order of the day and there were bowlines in abundance and plenty of rope to secure and stretch the sail. At one point I found myself in danger of being lifted up with the wind as it gusted under our enormous sail shade, a few more mph and I could see myself becoming a human kite and floating off into the blue sky, while the ‘sail-makers’ were preoccupied with securing their knots. Anyway, after trips to buy paint and special expanding screws in strange dusty DIY stores and visits to neighbours to borrow drills that could tackle concrete, we eventually sank down under the wings of our giant sail shade – Mojitos in hand. We felt a bit like desert nomads, sipping our minted brews…and we all admitted that we liked the new ‘tent’ very much. Thank goodness for strings and things and sailing knots.

Later that night we were enjoying a meal at a favourite shack (not being rude that’s what it’s called) and my sister noticed what she thought might be giant cucumbers hanging from vines above our heads. They were half the length of my arm and I’d never seen cucumbers that size. Questions were asked about these strange marrow-like cucumbers.
No, they weren’t cucumbers….and all would be revealed said the owner, after we’d finished eating. But he gave us a clue: “you can’t eat them and you probably think they come from the sea.”
There was much pondering, of course I had a eureka moment and saw through their disguise…I’d seen a bunch of them on sale another day by the side of the road. Not much use to us as we don’t have a bath – these were ‘young loofahs’. The restaurant owner had one he’d prepared earlier in good Blue Peter fashion and showed us how, once dried, the skin could be peeled away to reveal the fibrous body of a loofah. Who would think when you spot them alongside the sea sponges and pumice stones on the shelves at Boots, that they are really ‘air pumpkins’ that have been dried out in the Mediterranean sun? Fancy keeping marrows or courgettes in your bathroom…
As for our sail… it’s still intact tonight, but come the winter tornadoes we may need to do some serious reefing or de-rigging to stop our little house being blown out to sea. I should have known living with a sailor would be unpredictable, but at least he has his sail and knots on the roof…all we need now is a flagpole!