Monday 24th to 30th December

The christmas eve party went really well, we had agreed to meet at 17:30 in the laundry room, as the marina bar was not interested in having us. The women here had done a great job of covering the washing machines and really making the place look nice. They had managed to put the tables together and find enough chairs for everybody. There was plenty of food, and in the end there was 14 of us for dinner. I've never seen so much fish about, and even tried everything, but to be honest I only tried the fish once? Luckily for me, Trix had made a gorgeous home made pizza and Madeline had also done gammon and spuds which I made the most of. It was great to be amongst so many more experienced sailors, and they had all been away for years and had covered some serious mileages in there travels. I spent most of the evening, trying to question them as much as possible, and it was great to find out that just about everybodies yacht had a condensation problem. I'm sure that Nanjo was the smallest liveaboard yacht there, and I was the only solo sailor. It was a great atmosphere all night, and the time went really quickly. Once Peter started bringing out his 12 year old malt, which soon dissapeared. In the end it was just Peter and Trix and me left, I do remember having a shaky walk back to Nanjo as the wine and whiskey took effect in the night air. I slept Christmas day until 11am, and woke with a thumping head and a rough throat. Luckily a lovely cup of tea soon cured the throat and a large fry up soon gave my stomach a reline, after the fish of the night before. Christmas day was spent onboard really enjoying the sunny weather and relaxing. Boxing day, was just so gorgeous, blue skies and no wind with the sun beaming down. I went for a long bike ride and took some pictures, after I had done all my laundry and hung it up to dry. I could not think of a better way to spend the day. No commercials and no hassle, bliss.
The rest of the week was spent just enjoying the weather and the occassional ride into town for supplies. The whole marina and living onboard takes on a whole different experience when the suns out, I think I couldn't have found a better place to spend the winter. But when it's blowing and the winds thundering down, then I would rather be in a nice warm appartment somewhere? The atmosphere in town is so different to what you would get back in the UK over Christmas and leading up to the New Year, there is no rushing around the shops and everybody seems to be in a much more relaxed and strress free state than I'm used to back home. Roy and Madeline had recommended I got onto Skype when I chatted to them at the Christmas party. So, I downloaded it and managed to find a cheap webcam with a built in microphone in the Chinease shop for only 12 euros. It will make keeping in touch a lot cheaper and easier.
I was invited for drinks on Roy and Madelines large catamaran, a Prout 46. The first large cruising cat I've been on, and I was really impressed with just how much space and light they have on the whole boat. The interior was absolutely gorgeous with a lovely custom wooden fit out, Roy gave me the grand tour, and it's the first time I've seen a 3/4 size bath on a yacht. We were joined by Peter and Trix for drinks, and it was a great way to spend the evening with superb company. I climbed back on Nanjo and down below, thinking just how small and cosy my cabin was. If I was in the market for a larger yacht, then I would certainly look at a catamaran. Roy reckoned they had hit a top speed of 13knots, which must be something, compared to my usual 4.5 to 5.5?