We are back on the boat! Back to knocking heads, knees, elbows while moving around, back to stuffing clothes in tight little compartments, back to walking across two docks for a shower and – new for the kids and me: trying to stay snug under the covers at 10 degrees Celsius during the night.
But, most importantly: Back together with lovely Bill, brand new with even longer scar at the shoulder after his surgery in Germany!
Porto Rotondo
The trip from Avignon to Sardinia took 24 hours, but was very affordable and comfortable: 35 minutes on the fast TGV train to Marseille and then on to the overnight ferry to Porto Torres, Sardinia. The kids and I had a nice cabin with shower and ate an excellent dinner and breakfast in the full service restaurant, the only one that was open.
Ferry in Marseille
Our boat here in Porto Rotondo sparkles and shines for our welcome. New matrasses in the aft cabin will have me wake up backache-free in the months to come (the old ones were quite soft and worn). And the head, sailor’s talk for toilet, is working like a charm now after Bill took the whole piping apart – a job I am glad I wasn’t here for!
Porto Rotondo is as dead as a doornail except for marine repairmen and construction workers hammering, sanding and painting away on houses, stores and yachts for the summer season. Thankfully two bars are open during the day for croissants, café macchiato and (packaged) ice cream for the kids.
Surprisingly enough the quiet doesn’t bother me. Quite the contrary: After the action-packed winter months in European cities I am quite content – so far – to cozy-up in our little cave, prepare favorite foods, talk, read, play games and do little projects on the boat.
Having said that, I would be even more content to untie and set sail to a different harbour somewhere on Sardinia or Corsica. But we are waiting for new batteries shipped from Germany and, once we have those, related electrical work still needs to be completed. So we might yet have to stay here for several weeks!
Hopefully today we can go for a sail with rigger Nathan to put the mast under pressure and check the tension of the brand new rig. The sun is shining and the wind is supposed to blow 20 knots.
It is wonderful to be connected to nature and the elements again – besides Bill, that’s what I have missed most during the winter away from the ocean.