Sunday 17 May 2009

"HAVING A BREAK"



After a few days in Fuengerola, and catching up on some much needed work, and other stuff, I decided it was time for a break. I had had a pretty hard time for most of the trip so far, and really needed to get the batteries (MINE) recharged. The weather seemed to finally have changed, and I was now basking in some fab sunshine. So it was that I started to look for a way to get back home to France for a week or so. Gerry's missus said I should try the overnight train, and so I went off to the station at Malaga to see what could be done. After queueing for about half an hour, I finally got to the enquiries desk, and despite the guy not speaking English and me using signs, we decided that the night train to Barcelona would be the way to go, and then from Barcelona, it would be just a short three hour hop up to my home near Carcassonne. Job done! Well, no, not quite. After taking another deli style ticket I then waited two hours to get to book my fare. Frustrating, yeh, yeh, but remember this, before you leave the comfort of U.K. service, a journey lasting one and a half hours in the U.K. is around £90. In Spain, it cost me 116 euros for the night train with a bed, and the complete journey lasted 13 hours. Also remember, that in Spain they say "Manana", but in Portugal, there is no such hurry, so you just have to be prepared to chill for a while. I got my ticket and it was for Thursday the 7th May arriving in France the day after, so yes, I am at home as I write, but return to Simo this Thursday the 21st May. My plan then is to get down to Gibraltar, and then wait for a favourable wind to get through the straits to Cadiz or even Portugal. The problem is, that I am under strict orders to be home for most of June, as we have lots of visitors coming. I do have to think of S.W.M.B.O. (SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED), who to be fair, has not whinged or moaned once about my being away for longish periods. So this time, I will only be on the boat for about ten days, and then I will have to find somewhere inexpensive to leave Simo for the month of June. You never know, I might just go to Morocco. As I write this, I am having a few problems with the boat insurance, not for the first time I might add, but this is not really the time ot place, so I will tell you all in another blog in the future. After the big fall I had on the first day out, I have given the whole trip a lot of thought, and it may well be that Madeira is not going to happen. I have had quite a few people telling me not to go, and I think eerrrrrrr. Why? Why? Why? It's not because I am scared, but I am thinking, what on earth do I have to prove? So after Portugal, do not be a bit surprised, or p----d off if I don't do it, and head straight back to the Balearics. I will try to do a video when i get back on the boat, a day in the life sort of thing!!!! The next bit of blo, are going to Portugal on their hols, so it would be nice to catch up, but not sure if I will make it right over to that side of Portugal.

Have fun!

P.S. I just wanted to say also, that you may remember my saying about the two dolphins that came to see me out of Motril harbour. Well, a lovely lady called Jennie Snell reads my blog, and she and her late husband, John, owned Simo before I did, and she wrote and told me that Simo was named after a dolphin and that they had had a lot of nice experiences with dolphins. Below is a paragraph of what she told me:-

"Simo was named after a dolphin - hence the carving of the dolphin on the bulkhead. The story goes that a young boy developed a relationship with a dolphin and he named him Simo. I read about it in the 'Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals' by William F. Perrin."

When I get back to Simo, I shall take a photo of the dolphin carved on the bulkhead that Jennie talks about, and hopefully will be able put it in the next blog.