the greece bit......

After a night sail to Corfu I was quite happy to do some windsurfing, swimming and relaxing we went into town for some food and to find an internet café. We used the Internet café and then walked about for a bit- seemed all quite touristy but this was a change from what I had seen so far in Italy. We decided in the end to eat in a kebab restaurant- with the front of the kebab shop looking a lot like the ones in Romford on south St. (reminiscent of 1am after a night out on the town), but at the same time it had seats out the front and tables to sit at. The food was nice- bit fatty, different to the kebabs in England. I was due to fly home that day from Lamezia in Italy but decided to miss it and stay out longer instead.
Plenty of mossy spray and a mosquito net fended of most of the mossys however seemed to get bitten a fair bit anyway. We stayed at a few quite anchorages. We sailed south, I started a new book (George Orwell’s 1984. )

We attempted fishing using lures trailed from the back of the boat….Alas our efforts were in vain as all we seemed to pick up was the odd bit of weed and mud. In-fact on the whole holiday we haven’t caught any fish at all, even using a selection of realistic-looking plastic fish of different shapes and sizes. Oh well, there is always next year- plenty more fish in the sea as they say.
On the 5th of June I got my results read to me over the phone by my Nan, I passed thankfully- which put me at ease and my mum even more so (due to worrying about what would happen if I should fail).

The weather continued to be hot and sunny, and most of the time we were able to jump off the boat into the sea. Very refreshing. At about 7 or 8 in the evening I have sat out on the back deck drinking a beer and eating nuts, reading and listening to music while the sun sets…this seems somewhat of a routine now, probably not great for my waistline, but great in every other sense- really good wind down to end the day.
Once while windsurfing out from and anchorage near the Onassis’s private island. the wind suddenly dropped leaving me a fair bit out from the boat and unable to windsurf back up wind towards the boat. In light conditions its is difficult to keep balance and find the fastest tack…the wind had dropped to the point of me holding the sail upright and not moving, waiting for the sudden gust of wind that I could use to sail back. However it didn’t come and after much frustration, flapping the sail about and swearing aloud, I decided I would put the sail laid down, rested on the back of the board and paddle in with my arms all the way back….this seemed an impossible task. I was too far away to shout to anybody…and for all I knew parents were sound asleep sunbathing on the boat and didn’t see me the whole time. Eventually after paddling back a while 2 guys in a small motorboat came up and offered to tow me back. I accepted, and just then my dad arrived on the dingy…so I got towed back feeling somewhat defeated. That afternoon the wind did pick up considerably along with my energy, so I had a fairly fast session and continued till dusk. My windsurfing session was followed by sausages cooked on the bbq by my dad.

We have sailed from Corfu to Lefkas to Kefelonia, so far in Greece. On the way Ive done a fair bit of windsurfing. Even today I managed a massively long windsurf, from Ayeufina to Sami; which lasted 3.5 hours over some choppy water. I saw a turtle swimming past who was coming up for air. My mum and dad sailed the boat to Sami, keeping close to me all the way. By the time I arrived my back, arms, legs and feet were aching a lot, and my arms continued to feel heavy for hours afterwards.





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saling in italy....

The start of my summer holiday was leaving a quite sunny England to arrive an even sunnier la mezia airport in southen italy to join my parents in a sailing holiday around Europe. I met my parents, who looked well and quite tanned, after months of cruising Sicily and Italy.

We made our way to roccella inonica marina, we met a family that had moored up next to us, a couple in their late thirties with 2 young children- all very friendly, we chatted to them coming and going from the boat etc, and my mum was pleased to entertain the kids whist getting them to hang up the washing, they seemed pleased to jump on and off the boat at will.

We discovered skeleton of a shipwreck on the beach, which we climbed on a bit. Me my mum

and my dad swam off of the beach and used the fold up bikes to cycle into town to collect groceries and essential items including getting a supply of beers (peroni is a light Italian beer that comes in large bottles- very nice imo) and some sardinaian liquore called mirto (that I had tried years back on a family holiday to Sardinia) and a gellati (ice cream) on return...

We sailed to a place called cratoni… historically a town of beattifull women, this may have changed some what in recent years… after a night wandering into town and eating at a pizzeria, me and my parents started thinking about what I was going to do whilst they went back to England to move house and sign various documents and things. Moved on pretty quickly to a place called ciro-a small pretty ‘out of the way place’ that was free to moor up also.

The next day we went by train to sibari (south coast italy still here) had a panni type thing and and ice cream on the way- very hot and sweaty at that point so an ice cream went down well… it turned out that sibari was “tranquil” to say the least, which some Italian guys we met seemed to understand, even if they liked it a lot… we had got there quite late on in the day, so late in fact that we accidentally missed the last (and only) bus back to the station, thankfully in the end it wasn’t a problem as the blokes who we were chatting to (meaning parents talking Italian to them, and me sitting there asking wtf they were on about) gave us a lift back to the station…pretty late evening when we got back to the boat caught a little of the England v Sweden game on a tv that had an execive amount of static on it, a delay of the trains due to a strike or something meant that we had a beer or 2 in the bar at the station, complete with a tv and free snacks!

Deciding that it was best for me to stay in ciro the next day my parents anchored further up of of the beach- we swam and I read more of a book id started (memoirs of a geisha)… we went back to moor up and that evening consumed some peroni and maybe some bacradi and coke too thinking about it with my parents….then decided to go to a bar with my dad….set off on the bikes, and whilst paying perhaps less attention than I should have lent and turned my head to see behing me, just at the same time as going of a speed bump…managed to get my self some attractive scrapes and cuts, so didn’t make it to the bar in the end. Despite my enthusiasm for a good evening thought that the wisest move probably was to turn round and put iodine on grazes, and plasters on fingers….woops!!

My parents left me in ciro for a week with some cash and keys to the boat. The windsurfer boom I found out was also binned when my dad chucked out the other bits, meaning no boom, meaning no windsurfer L, still I cycled about town using the net café and exploring places, spent a good deal of time on the beach and dosing about the boat, reading more of my book and eating lots of pasta salad and olive oil in various different forms (salads, bread etc etc)…a little dull to some extent, but very relaxing none the less.

On one of the later days a fisher man explained that I would need to leave the quay side and go out of the harbour as all of the fishing boats must us that bit of the harbour that afternoon- this was a little bit daunting as it meant motoring my parents 47ft yaught and anchoring it somewhere then returning it the next day single handed….any way that’s what I ended up doing which proved to be easier than anticipated, and I met my parents at the harbour side on return to help catch the ropes etc…and guide me using exaggerated hand signals, that resembled some form of expressive dance…so as I didn’t smash it up…or something….




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In the summer time and the weather is fine…

Since completing the first year at Plymouth uni doing digital art and technology I spent about a week or two with flat mates drinking in various places and hanging out down at the sea front- jolly good fun, no harm done (ish).

I left by train in a rush, all a bit hectic but made it home eventually carrying my Mac in one bag that seemed to weigh a tonne and a big rucksack full of everything I would need at home, Italy sailing or the trip to India (watch this space). This was probably one of the worse days I’ve had for a while.

Spent some time with my gran in Barking, and enjoyed some good home cooking and relaxed a fair bit, and learnt how to us the sewing machine.

I went to see a friend Tom White at Essex uni- much fun and great to be back in the student atmosphere saw a few friends there so good to catch up. Dossed about a lot more as Tom prepared for his mooting (law student), although managed to get in 2 Barbecues and some nights drinking and going out etc…great fun to meet/be re-acquainted with some great people, see old mates and live the student lifestyle for a few more days, due to Essex uni breaking up fairly late it would seem.

On return home I stayed with my nan once more and instead of microwave currys at 4 in the morning and other random things whilst at Essex. I continued to sew up some of my clothes (with my nans help of course), and eating meals set out on the table with wine, side dishes, cutlery set out in just the right order and elaborate puddings too…have stopped going to the gym since uni also :/ ….o well hopefully windsurfing and swimming in Italy should sort that out...

I visited a mate Jon Leigh in horn-church (close enough to me but kipped on the sofa as parents are moving house- so it’s a state at the mo), I went to the pub for a catch up and a few beverages with Jon and another mate Rob- whose now working full time in London after graduating from UCL. A good night, and something kinda nice about going to a familiar pub (jj moons- for you lot who reside in Essex)

Had an afternoon in Covent Garden to meet Amy, Bryony, Sally and her London mate whose name I forget (my uni mates in Plymouth) Lunch at waggamamas (I think that’s how ya say it any way) followed by a wander round market stands and a few drinks after that, we had a good chat, cheap-ish drinks and I managed to pick up the two Borneo sunflower masks that I had left in Amy’s hands to drive home with – due to having an excessive amount of junk to lug home on the train.