well, as the position indicates, the good ship, chez patrick, is steadily inching her way towards Canet Port. Thank goodness the powerful Tramontane has subsided for the moment and le vent Marin is not gusting either, so all bodes well for our sailors. Received a satphone message from Pat this morning, as I woke up and he said that they had, had a very peaceful night with an incredibly beautiful sunrise! He said the sea was very calm and a slight headwind was still slowing them down considerably but that the sails were up and they were sailing as well as using the engines, when the wind angle was problematic. Both boys sound happy and tired. Eager to be on dry land and with their women again!! Tina is very happy as she has a birthday coming up and Gary will be back in time to help her celebrate it in her homeland, Romania. Think it will be a very happy birthday celebration indeed!! Good timing, too. It sounded as though they would stop in Ibiza for their ice cold beers and rest, later this afternoon. Clearly, they are stronger or more motivated than I thought, because it sounded as though they were ready to stop for a rest, two days ago already!!:-)) not so!! Still sailing. I have settled down very well into my single life here in chateau villelongue. Now that most of the creaks are silent at night, I'm managing to sleep well. B is brilliant:-). She calls regularly from Paris, to check that all is well in the land of artichokes!!:-)) speaking of which, I have a huge crate full, from my kind neighbour, waiting to be cleaned, on the kitchen floor. How I wish T was still here. She is an artichoke cleaning goddess. Strips them in no time at all and has mastered the art to such a degree, that her fingers and nails hardly get stained pitch black anymore. I'm not that lucky!! Just cutting them up, renders me a coal black manicure!! I didn't have the heart to tell my neighbour that the crate was too much for me, so tomorrow is artichoke bottling day!!! Luckily, I learned to do this while still living in Johannesburg. High time B arrived here and pulled out her cordon bleu skills in the kitchen. Think Nick, her American boyfriend, is too scared to come down here with her, in case I put him to work behind an apron!!!:-))