Dreaming of our sailing days ahead

Thursday 8th April... Linda - The Easter bunny forgot to bring Easter Eggs to Thésée this year. Instead he brought me a box spanner and a heating element for the ship's boiler. Dean was pretty pleased with my presents, more so than me strangely. In fact the Easter bunny got a bit muddled and brought us two identical box spanners. But that's another story. 

So Dean is scratching around trying to find jobs to do. I told him that doing no jobs at all is great, he should try it. The ship's boiler is just fine, but we have to have spares as it's getting on a bit now. I had to stop Dean fixing the unbroken boiler, and he did relent thankfully. Although we do have all the spare parts now, just incase. 

My Easter Presents, a box spanner and a heating element.... 

no chocolate here

I was walking Saffy one morning. It was windy and I noticed a brochure blowing in the wind by the bins. I thought Dean would like it for his own Easter present.... and it's free too. It's an SVB brochure... lots of boaty bits for sale. He likes SVB. They are based in Germany. Ordering anything from the UK since we left the EU is a nightmare. So we just order from EU companies now. It's much easier and cheaper.

Another magazine for his collection

We had a walk into town looking for some stretchy material to make a protective cover for the paddleboard. The only material we could find was very expensive... 10 euros per metre, and we need 7 metres. Hence, we didn't buy. The next photo is of Dean's favourite shop... he calls it Arkwright's... they sell EVERYTHING a man needs, except stretchy material. 

Arkwright's

Whilst we were out and about we went to the secret bread shop in the alleyways behind Arkwright's, and the nearby fruit and veg shop. I've not been down this alleyway before and I was pleasantly surprised. We bought some fabulous tomatoes here, and they had the smell of my dad's greenhouse when I was little 😊

Dean the lonesome shopper

Perfect toms

Now Dean did find a useful job to do. Now that we are hoping to depart in the next few weeks we are starting to ensure everything will be tied down securely. His dive cylinder fits nicely underneath the navigation table, so he has now secured it in place with a chunky strap around its middle, and also tied at the top.  

Nice job Dean

Ooh here's a very important thing purchased this week. New flares. Our old flares had expired and the the chandlery took them off him in exchange for buying new ones. Disposing of old flares is quite a nuisance as a lot of places won't take them. At the same time Dean bought a new campingaz bottle, and they exchange them for your old one. We normally get our bottles refilled but the nozzle had gone a bit dodgy so we thought best to get rid. 

The new flares

Now Dean did have a treat up his sleeve on Easter Sunday. He decided to make home-made pancakes for breakfast, Now that got me out of bed. 

Pancake morning

Ooh yeah

One night I remembered we had a jar of curry in the lockers, so we had Chicken Curry for dinner. In fact I think that was the same day as pancakes. The curry was delicious. Hopefully we can get some more next time we're in Lidl. 

Curry.... another taste of back home

Now we're still in middle lockdown. Not what we had hoped for as we would  have liked to be getting on the move next week. So we're still in limbo. We have asked the local diver to scrub Thesee's bottom and we think he may do it next week. We are trying to delay him a little now that we can't move anywhere yet. 

After 3 days of quite windy weather we are now enjoying beautiful sunshine again. Today we walked to the beach with Ant & Cid. It was still breezy and we regretted not taking the kite with us. Never mind, maybe next week we will go again. I have to say the sand on the beach is fantastic. It's some of the best sand that I have ever seen. Half way along there is a beach bar. The guy has been refurbing it for some months now, and it's looking great. Shame it won't be open until we leave Licata I expect. 

Dean and Ant on the fab beach

Some of the stray dogs

The beach bar - refurbed

New wooden parasols and loos too

Wish you were here?

Thursday 15th April - Linda - One more week closer to departure, whenever that may be?? We started by updating some of our online Navionics charts on the Ipad. That didn't take too long and so we charged all the electrical items.... cameras etc, Dean filled the water tanks and we put a tenner on the electric meter. Normally we put 50 euros but as we don't have a departure date yet we're playing it by ear. Saffy's been lazing in the cockpit enjoying the sunny weather.

Saffy behind bars

Dean's run out of jobs so he's started on mine. First up was to strip the saloon cushions and take them to the launderette. I always give him strict instructions not to cram the washing machine. They have a large machine that takes 15kg for 8 euros, and he got the whole lot in easily. We were talking to each other about how pleased we are with them. They have not worn at all and really only needed a freshen up. In fact we talk quite often about how pleased we are with Thesee and his fixtures and fittings. 

All covers removed from both sofas, port and starboard

Once dry, time to put them back on again

It's quite a tricky job

While the weather was good we had another Cobb BBQ. This time a whole chicken with roast potatoes. It really does work quite well. Saffy thinks so too.

Sunday we were at a loose end so we went for a mystery walk. Not having many ideas, we ended up in the town. Sunday afternoon and the place was deserted, no people, no cars. It felt totally different. We noticed the orange trees down one of the main streets. You would think people would pick the oranges but we've heard they don't taste too good.

We tried to get some photos that were a little different. This first one is at the bus station. Just three bus stops... a bit different to bus stations back at home.

Next we found ourselves at the train station. Not busy today, in fact we have only ever seen one train since we've been in Licata.

A couple of flowery balconies

Thin buildings

The Church of San Domenico

Palazzo di Citta - Town Hall

Another nice day and Saffy dog makes the most of the sunshine. She likes to sit outside and sniff the air after her morning walkies.

Now, Dean was in the mood. We stripped the bed and he put the quilt in his bucket to soak for two days. I can't believe he got it all in there. He got to work on his grape trampling trick. Whatever would I do without him. I bet you wouldn't catch any other hubbies doing that along the pontoon.... or anywhere for that matter. After the two days of trampling he took the hugely wet quilt to the launderette to be washed in the 'big' machine. We have to make the most of the launderette while we can, as not all marinas have them.

My washer man

Really scraping the barrel now. Our salt pot seemed to have got damp inside. We didn't think it was a refillable pot but you know Dean, nothing beats him. In no time it was washed and refilled. Looking rather spiffing for a salt pot.  

We did our usual Lidl bike ride with Ant and Cid yesterday. We've got it down to a T. We set off at 2pm when everyone has gone for siestas and the roads are much much quieter. We know the route around town perfectly, and in no time we are there and back. It's quite funny as every time we go to Lidl it seems to be full of yachties from our marina. We were almost back when Ant stopped off at Arkwrights, which just so happens to be next door to Blue Sky bar. The bars are open for takeaway but you can't sit down... Didn't take too much of a decision to grab a 3 beers, and a rum & coke for me.

Saffy was still fast asleep when we returned

Thesee got a treat this week, a bottom scrub. The diver turned up at 7.30am on Tuesday. He was scraping for 2 and half hours!  In fact he ran out of air and had to go for another new cylinder to finish off the job and replace the anode. He said the old anode was fine still, but we decided we wanted the new one fitted anyway. Might as well whilst he's down there. The anodes used to last for about 9 months on average, but since Dean has fitted a galvanic isolator (whatever that is), the anodes are lasting much longer. The previous anode lasted 15 months. The hull scrub is not cheap but it's definitely a lot cheaper than a lift out.  Dean put the GoPro camera down there before the diver came. There was truly a coral reef growing on the hull. Astonishing.

Our very own garden growing

Diver in the water just about to start

Looking down at him at work

His equipment trolley

I'll finish the week with a photo Dean insisted taking of me with our newly delivered water filter jug and 12 months worth of filters. We did a calculation whether it was better to buy this and use water out of our tanks, or whether to buy bottled water. There wasn't a massive price difference, but the thought of having to carry 12 months worth of bottled water from the supermarket throughout the year wasn't very appealing.  

Thursday 22nd April.... This week we sadly had to say goodnight to our sweet beautiful Saffy. 

Saffy had been Dean's faithful companion for 18 years, and mine for the last 9 years. We are heartbroken and of course this week's photos are all dedicated to her.... and there's a lot!! In no particular order...

Loving the countryside mud

First visit to Thesee

Upstream on the River Fal in Cornwall

Thoughtful moments

Playing games in the Lake District

Day out in Llangollen

Overlooking Catbells, Derwent Water

South West Coast Path, North Devon

Crossing Biscay, this pigeon landing on Saffy's head 

gave us one of our most memorable moments

Paddling in streams

More countryside walks in the UK

Jurassic Coast path, Dorset

Enjoying a cuddle on another cold ramble

One of our favourite photos

A rare seaside sand digging moment

Camping in the New Forest

First bed on board, nautical of course

One of her favourite napping places on the bridge deck

Cycling in Santander, Spain

Summer days at Wicor, Hampshire

Negotiating a squeeze stile on a 

long summertime walk in Derbyshire

Saffy just loved the outdoor life

Chilling out on deck at Newtown Creek

Happy Days with a chew bone

Keeping a lookout 

This was the day we left Wicor 

to start our 5600 mile journey

A nice spot to keep warm on the solar panels

Saffy's all time favourite beach... 

Anse de Penhir, France

In her heyday at Bideford

Some walks were quite exhausting

Clovelly beach

Another favourite at Ilfracombe

Always fun at Goodrington Sands

Saffy soon got used to chilling out on the boat

Back on the bridge deck again

A new bed at Almerimar, Spain

Recovering from falling off the passarelle into the water

at Almerimar. What a fright she gave us.

Early morning walkies at Cabo de Gata

Time for a couple of gravy bones

In Majorca at the magnificent anchorage at Playa Trench

Cuddles and tummy rubs

Asleep on the boat in Sicily

Loving it in Weymouth

All wrapped up in Portsmouth Channel

Sunny Mediterranean Days

Siestas and all that

On holiday at Von and Jim's place

With her sailing buddies Oscar and Lady

Some days were so hot she liked to find a shady spot

RIP Sweet Girl. It won't be the same without you 💔

Thursday 29th April.... Linda - It's been a difficult week trying to get used to life on board without Saffy dog. You don't realise how much your life revolves around your pets until they're gone. It's almost as if we have nothing at all to do. Unconsciously we still glance to see she is alright, and keep stepping over her now imaginary bed and pet bowls. We took some of her food to feed the stray dogs near the beach, and most of her belongings have been donated to the local dog rescue centre. We decided that Saffy's legacy should be for us to go for a walk every day, and when we are at anchor to make the effort to get the dinghy off and go ashore. To be honest, we wouldn't have seen half of the lovely places we have done, if it hadn't have been for taking Saffy ashore for her walkies. So, thankyou Saffy, we shall definately ensure your legacy lives on sweet girl.

And so, a couple of weeks worth of other news and photos....We went to the local hospital as they were offering walk-in Covid vaccinations. Unfortunately one of us 😉 was too young to qualify and so we both declined, and will wait to get done together if possible. We had to sit and wait for over an hour whilst the doctor had his siesta before refusing us. The other one of us 😏 was not amused with the waiting game, however we did get some nice photos from the waiting room balcony.

No jobs left to do on board Thesee, so we took some walks around Licata as much as we could. We are not amused to be still in Orange Zone when most of Italy has been downgraded to Yellow zone. The weather is really hotting up but we still have the odd windy day here and there. Here's some pics of our little outings...

Along the coast road looking west

....and east

In the marina, the entrance to the private beach

It may be private but it's also polluted, so no bathing

Is this a banana plant growing in a garden?

I would say so

Square rigger in the boatyard

One day we walked to the beach with Ant & Cid. We took our kite and they took their drone. When it was my turn to fly the kite I crashed it twice at the waters edge....oops. We found a beach bar and stopped for a couple. I had two glasses of wine and it must have been potent because I had to go to bed when we got back to the boat.

Setting up the flying objects

It was much windier today than our last attempt

In motion with the kite strings

Hard to get a kite photo, lol

Fixing it after I dunked it in the sea

The newly refurbed beach bar...

you've seen this before

All to ourselves

After a turbulent couple of weeks, we are starting to really feel the need to sail away. As soon as we get a weather window i'm sure we shall be off, destination yet to be decided. We hear that Greece is starting to open up. Still top of the list though is Croatia or Malta first. 

The next blog post will be called 'Milling and Chilling'