Saturday 19th September
I managed to get Ricky up to Corfu and Gouvia Marina and it was a great relief, after all the secret planning, to see Roo (Reanna) and Calam (one L, two A's), saunter down the pontoon. We took them out for burgers and cocktails in the evening and the following day we all went out for a day sail. We messed about towing everyone behind the boat, it was great fun revving the engine to see who would let go first. It was Ricky - although to be fair hanging onto a rope is no mean feat at 4 knots! He did say he let go deliberately to give Calam some kudos, but the jury is out on that one. We anchored off the beach in the bay near the hotel they were staying in, had lunch and did some snorkeling. They sensibly booked a hotel so they could escape the parents and have some smoochy time together and explore the island in their hire car. We finished the day, after sending the kids off in the dingy to buy ice-creams, back at the anchorage outside the marina playing Monopoly Cards. Finally, in the dark, around 9ish, Ricky dinghied them ashore to enjoy the rest of their short holiday break, although they did pop in on route to the airport for a coffee and cake to say goodbye - Thanks for coming you two x

We spent the following 3 nights tucked up in my favourite marina, under Corfu Castle - Mandraki . I say 'tucked up' because - yes, you've guessed, once again, in between glorious sunshine, we were treated to yet more thunder, lightning and rain storms.

Thursday 24th September
We had planned to head back to Italy, but the wind was in the wrong direction and so we were a bit stuck. It was expensive to stay any longer in the marina, so we decided to try out another Jim recommendation - Sayiadha, on the mainland near Albania. Yes that's right Albania!

Sayiadha was a good spot . It has a fish taverna that has a great reputation with yachties. We anchored the first night but after looking at weather we thought we'd head inside as anchorage was getting a bit rolly. We worked out that a good spot was up in the corner, where the wind would push us off the quay and as luck would have it a yacht was just going to vacate it. A lovely guy from Yorkshire called Chris (sailing with his dad Keith) helped us tie up. That night we were pleased we had extra ropes on because at 3am we were woken by horrendous winds . This happened again the following night with waves crashing over the marina walls. Time to move on...

Sunday 27th September
We desperately needed to find a less stressful spot where we could get a better nights sleep and plan our trip back to Italy. So after a very wet motor sail in the rain for 3 hours, we arrived back at good old reliable Iggy Creek. I just want to say that Ricky was such a gent he stayed on helm like a drowned rat for the entire trip, whilst I sheltered under the spray hood - my hero x

We had two great days at Iggy. On Monday, the weather was lovely so we yomped over the hill and walked the length of the beach. On the way back Ricky AKA Dr Doolittle, acquired a new friend. He was a real old boy, his back legs, not that brilliant, but he kept up with us . Bless him, he walked at Ricky's side as if he belonged there. He even followed us up and over the hill back to the anchorage. It was really hard getting in the dingy and leaving him, but we couldn't keep him and so we told ourselves he would just head off back to the beach once we were out of sight. When we got back to the boat he had gone.

Then an hour or so later I noticed him sat under a tree at the dock, just looking out at the water. There were a pack of dogs at the bottom of the hill, so we worried that he wouldn't cross their patch back to his own without us. So feeling extremely guilty, Ricky packed up a doggy picnic, rowed back to shore and gently encouraged him back over the hill to his own turf . Once back on the beach he dumped the doggy picnic and legged it back to the boat without looking back. Fortunately , he didn't follow, the lure of the picnic was just too much - thank goodness.