I mentioned the unfolding story of us escaping and starting a new chapter in our lives, I also mentioned about Michael the previous owner of El Sueno, now Annecam had paid for a twelve-month marina berth which made it so easy to winter Annecam until the following season. I did not mention that this same Michael had arranged and paid for a haul out plus new anti-foul, he or our broker did not mention any of this to us at all. We had just moved on board and were unpacking our bags, getting our clothes and personal items squared away when we got a knock on the back of the boat from a gentleman we had not seen before. He told us that he was there to take Annecam across the marina to be lifted out of the water for work, as we were not sure if he had the right boat I quickly ran over to BlueNautic where Michael the broker called Michael the old owner and we found out that everything was organized and we were to be lifted out for the work and it was all paid for, it was all part of the deal.

It was all a bit of a whirlwind as we were soon up on the hard secured in a cradle with a team of workers cleaning and sanding the hull. The next day the workers were starting to apply the new anti-foul and another guy was inside replacing one of the ball valves on one of the through hulls. Annie and I caught a bus into Zadar to purchase some provisions and on our return, we noticed a group of girls up on top of Annecam, they were cleaning and polishing everything above the water line, they had even taken down and folded all our laundry that we had left hanging on the life lines. All of this was part of the service that was provided and paid for by Michael the old owner. Wow! what a start and it did not end there. We were prepared to purchase new crockery, cutlery, utensils and bedding but we did not have to buy a single thing as the old owner had thrown everything in, he told us as he handed the key’s over that he had removed all his personal belongings and what was left on board was ours to keep or throw out. To this day we are still thankful for his generosity.

At the end of our first season on Annecam in the Mediterranean, Fiona our first guest joined us for a couple of weeks before we left Annecam tied up in the marina where we had found her and flew back to Australia. It was a great way to use my long service leave and as that was ending, it was time to go back to work, time to go back and face the demons that we had escaped. The other bonus for us was 2011 was the last time we did a winter, we managed to spend the summer in the northern hemisphere and return to the summer in the southern hemisphere just in time for the fire season.

Almost as soon as we arrived back in Australia we found ourselves back at work, back on the hamster wheel. Annie was offered her old job back as soon as we arrived back in our old home town and it was only days and I found myself back doing what I had escaped from six months earlier. We were counting the days to get back to Annecam, to do this I applied for my accrued annual leave, this application was not supported by local management so I submitted my resignation. This turned out to be the easiest way for us to get back on board Annecam and I withdrew my resignation at the end of the northern summer to get back to work for another six months. With all of the accrued annual leave that I had and discussing my plans with management in our head office, this was this best way to reduce what was owing to me.

Back to our journey, we spent an additional six very expensive weeks in the Marina Dalmatia to have some additional work done on Annecam, items like solar panels so we could produce our own power without the need for shore power. We installed our brand new Mantus Anchor so we could sleep at night, our old CQR anchor would not hold bottom and we spent many nights dragging in our first season. We sent a heap of freight from Australia to bring Annecam up to speed, items including a new generator, fishing gear, safety equipment, AIS transponder along with a heap of personal items. Once everything was imported and squared away we were off, off to explore Croatia some more.

We also had more visitors join us, there was Shauna then Susie with one of her sons Blaire, all from our old home town, a lovely German couple we met in Croatia the first year we were there, Hieke and Gerd, this couple even got engaged on Annecam. These guests all spent time with us in Croatia. We finally left Croatia and sailed to Montenegro with our buddy boat SplitEnz with Steve, Angela, and three young guests on board with them. We all sailed into the Gulf of Kotor in Montenegro and what a head spin that was for us all, it is very hard to paint the picture for you as one sails into this ancient water way, you are surrounded by shear mountains with what looked like beautiful medieval fishing villages along the shoreline. Then there is the ancient fort of Kotor, we made the climb to the top and we could see why this fort had held strong and had never been breached in its history.

We sailed from Montenegro to Greece, sailing from the Adriatic into the Ionian Sea, it was here that we had Anne and Peter join us to transit the Corinth Canal, sailing from the Ionian to the Cyclades. The Corinth Canal was something that every sailor should experience at least once in their life time, we loved it so much we sailed back through on our way to Italy and on to Sicily to winter Annecam in the Marina de Carla del Sole on the south coast of Sicily at the end of season two. It was here in the Marina de Carla del Sole that Fiona joined us for her second visit, Fiona nick-named by us “Pivo” has managed to join us at least once every year in different locations around the world.

This would be the last time that we would go back to work in Australia. The journey, the adventure just keeps on going.

The photo from left to right is Cam, Annie and Fiona inside Annecam, taken on our first year in Croatia.

“In life, walk away from anything or anyone who takes away from your joy. Life is way too short to put up with fools.”