Life Changing Event

When we returned to Sicily we had to rent a car to get back to the boat.  Now, renting a car should be easy right, well not in Sardinia. Joseph had previously booked online and when we turned up at the airport the rental car attendant was trying to double charge us. I have noticed a running theme here in Italy, they charge whatever they want unless you speak up. An hour and a half later we were on the road and the price was reduced. It took us three hours to drive back down to the southern coast of Sardinia. Zimbabalooba was left in great shape thanks to Christian and Joy. We spent the day doing laundry and grocery shopping for our 195-mile trip from Sardinia to Sicily. Now the weather window for this crossing was good so we decided to leave. We were feeling excited for this crossing because we knew were going to see family on the other side.

 

As I was taking a shower in the back of the boat, yes we shower outside sometimes and use the hose with the warm water being heated through the engine.  I noticed something moving above the water. We quickly grabbed the binoculars to get a better look. It was like a black stick and another type of pole sticking up and moving through the water. Joseph was very quick to realize it was a submarine! It must have been an old Italian diesel sub. We only saw the periscope and smoke stack.  I am sure they saw more of me then I did of them! It was really neat and I had been hoping we would see one.

It was during my evening shift that my life would change for the better. I usually do the 9-2 shift during an overnight sail. I was doing great reading my book by red light and making sure we did not hit any other boats. I have to go down every hour and record our whereabouts in the log. I think I have mentioned this before. It was at this time that Joseph got up from bed and came up on deck to see how I was doing. Now normally he would not get up at all because he knows the sleep is important and also cause I usually will not wake up again till 8am.

It was a little after midnight when he arrived on deck. I remember saying to him if your going to stay up then I will go to bed. He said no wait aren’t the stars so beautiful. I was surprised by his romanticism.  He said a lot of other sweet things then out of no were he got down on one knee with the red light on his head and asked me to marry him. I said yes!  He gave me a placement ring to hold the spot on my finger till we pick out what ring I want. Joseph is the most thoughtful and selfless man I have ever known. I am excited to spend the rest of my life with him.

We made it into Trapani, Sicily after 42 hours at sea. We were both exhausted!

We could not wait to call our parents and families and tell them the good news. My brother Joe was defiantly the most excited for us; it was great to share our news with our families!

 

Joseph and I celebrated in style the following night with dinner at a delicious fish restaurant and ice cream to follow. Now the ice cream or Gelato as the Italians like to call it is truly an experience. The good gelateria’s have over 16 flavors. My favorite part about getting ice cream is that they let you try as many as you want!So far I am partial to the chocolate and the candy bar flavors. Joseph really likes the café flavor but it is very strong.   

I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream!

 

More blogs to come!

Helicopter ...

 An underground chapel within a church

Bainis Eireannach... Irish Wedding!

  

So Joseph’s father Frank collected us at the airport, not sure if he recognized Joseph but he recognized me! We headed to Joseph’s parents house. In all the confusion and excitement of our arrival Frank went around the round about twice. He was trying to give us a nice tour. A lot of things can prepare you for driving in Ireland but in reality those first five minutes in the front passenger seat staring out the window on the wrong side of the road is better then any roller coaster at Disneyland. It was not Franks driving but more my brain telling me something was wrong. Next thing you know we are pulled up outside the house only to be greeted by a one eyed cat named (no name). The house is a lovely bungalow as they call them in Ireland overlooking Frank’s farm. The chickens had gone to sleep…that’s right chickens on the back yard. We all headed inside to find Auntie Maureen Frank’s sister was there to greet us. It has been a long day but we finally made it.

 Frank's farm
feeding the horses with Frank!

 The next morning the house was a bustle with appointment making for nails, hair, and Joseph desperately needed a shave.  Frank dropped us into town to do some shopping. At this point in our sailing journey I have read over 15 books. Normally I do not enjoy reading but on the boat there lots of time for reading. So it was time to add some more books to my collection. Joseph said he knew just the spot. Three and a half hours later toting 20 books enough to see me through to December, we took the bus to Mary Bernadette’s house for dinner. Frank and Auntie Maureen joined us there.  Mary made a delicious steak dinner. Her house is beautiful and very well organized! We had a lovely evening filled with wine and laughter.

The following day was the wedding. We woke up early enough to have a fry up with Frank and I headed off to get my hair colored and cut. I was a bit apprehensive to have this done anywhere but home although Mary assured me that this girl was good.  Turns out Mary had never even met the stylist but her friends had and everything worked out ok. Frank picked me up and even paid my tip. I still had not made it to an ATM in Ireland. On a side note Irish people tend to be a bit fanatical about weddings. It is important to look your best so instead of wearing a hat these folk put birds in their hair or at least that what I would call it. (check out you tube.Put A Bird On It) Alison that’s for you!

                                                                                      

 

 Back at the farm, we dressed up and made our way to the wedding. The church was part of the University College Cork grounds. It was where the groom, Joseph’s friend Michael had graduated from which turns out is a requirement to get married there.

The church was beautiful. Built over 800 years ago when the university was founded. We were on time for a change thanks to Frank keeping us on schedule.

The ceremony began, I don’t know if it was to save money or to keep it entertaining but one of the bridesmaids who are sister to the bride played the violin. She also did a reading and sang a song. The bride Claire looked beautiful. It was a full mass but moved along quickly. During the service the heal on my $10.00 TJMaxx black pump broke. I was like nooooo…

Joseph assured me there would be a cobbler near by.  As the church emptied out and the mandatory group photo began, Joseph was already one the case to find me a cobbler.

We were off to meet the cobbler. He recommended doing both heals and charged me 10.00 euro, which is equivalent to $13.00. He did say that now people would see me not hear me coming.  Off to the reception we went. We arrived a little late because Joseph decided to take me on a tour of Cork during Friday night traffic. The reception was at Castle martyr. It was beautiful place for a reception. Apparently it use to be a boarding school for boys run by brothers. The place was huge and now is used for functions and it has golf course.

The meal was spectacular even if they did forget to give my vegetables. Joseph made sure I got my greens because he wants to keep me healthy. We danced the night away to a live band until 4am. It was a blast. Then we headed back to Swan Lake, Bed and Breakfast, no lie it was named after the lake with swans on it in the front.

We had good nights sleep and drove back to Ballygarven the following day to watch the all Ireland hurling match between Cork and Claire. If you have never seen this game it is a cross between hockey and lacrosse.  What an exciting game it was! I’m definitely an armchair supporter. Cork lost but it was one hell of a game. Then it was time to jump back in the car to go back to Castlemartyr for the day after the wedding barbeque. The barbeque was held at Pat Shorts Pub. It was nice to visit with all of our new friends from the night before. I was hurting and could not drink anymore. We brought Joseph’s sister along to see if we could find her a man but none of the grooms hurling buddies showed up due to the defeat that Cork had endured earlier in the day. Better luck next time Mary! (Joseph told me to write that)

We enjoyed our last day in Cork with a trip to mass and dinner at Mary B’s house. Frank was not feeling well so Mary made us dinner in. Later that afternoon we headed to Fermoy to visit with Mary and John Noonan. Mary has been a family friend for as long as I can remember. Joseph and I had a great visit with Mary, John, Dennis, and Noreen, Mary’s sister. Mary made her brown bread, which I love, and also some delicious merigue pie. We really enjoyed our time at Cregg farm and look forward to many more visits!

Mary and John showing off the pot holder that Joan Bergin made for them!

   An oldie but a goodie...Joseph, Mary, & Fergus!!!

 The following day we left cork and headed back to the boat in Sardinia.

 

Sunny Sardinia

 Sardinia is beautiful! Joseph and I completed 195 miles to cross from Menorca to Sardinia. The trip was uneventful and enjoyable. We had very little wind and were forced to motor the whole way there. I did the last night watch and truly enjoyed every minute of it. I was all alone under the stars with no other boats or lights or land in sight. It really is an almost religious experience with the sounds of the water and the stars all lit up above.

We arrived in Sardinia just as the sun was setting. In order to save some money and enjoy the island we decided to anchor for the night. Joseph read about a great marine reserve called Porto Conte.  We pulled in and put the anchor down. I am usually in charge of the anchor although my duties have been revoked due to the fact that I did not put enough chain down and in the middle of the night the anchor alarm went off and we had drifted about 500 feet from where we originally laid the anchor. Joseph has since explained to me the importance and the ratio of chain to depth of water. When I looked at our GPS I noticed that we drifted by 2 big rocks…must have been a gift from God that we did not hit them. To my defense the wind began blowing up to 35 knots after we went to sleep.  The wind was so strong that the fishing boats did not leave port for three days. We knew the weather was serious !

We spent the following day exploring the reserve. That night we decided to stay anchored but Joseph did not sleep at all because he was suffering from PTSD from the night before. He got up 10 times to check the anchor. I slept like a baby! Wind was blowing very strong again.
  A view from the plane of where we anchored

The following afternoon we decide to head to a marina so Joseph would sleep and we could charge the batteries. We ended up staying 4 nights in a local marina due to the very, very high winds. Since it is not high season it only cost 20 euro to stay.  We had a couple lovely day trips into the city of Alghero. I really enjoyed walking and shopping in the old city. The Italians can get fired up easily. I thought the Spanish were loud but the Italians have them beat!  I like seeing all the different styles of the countries and have come realize that it does not matter if it doesn’t match. The Europeans wear what is comfortable and what they like. The food in Sardinia has been fairly good. We had a nice dinner at a local Trattoria. For dessert of course Tiramisu …so good!!!

 

 

 Joseph in the candy store

 A Moroccan man engraving text on our wooden spoon

  After enjoying Alghero we headed south to an anchorage just half way to Portoscuso. We needed to get going as we are hoping and planning on meeting some family members in Sicily! I can’t wait. The sail was easy, lots of motoring again.
We arrived in Portoscuso and then Joseph’s cousin Joy and her husband Christian joined us. We were lucky to get a break from the wind and waves in order to make it to the bottom of Sardinia to meet them. They are a very nice couple who we enjoy spending time with. Joy is a real estate agent and also does a local television show in Cologne. It is like a House Hunters only in German. Christian is a finish carpenter/cabinet maker. They spent two days sailing with us. Both are wonderful boat

guests and  both a blast to be around! They are boat sitting for Zimbabalooba while Joseph and I head to Ireland for a wedding.  
 

Joy and I enjoying dinner!

 Joseph and Christian enjoying the local beer!

  We stopped in London and saw the London Bridge and Thames River. It was very cool to see in person. I did not realize how large London is.  I am actually on the high speed leaving London and heading back to Stansted to fly on Ryanair(joke) to Ireland. Ryanair has seats that do not recline! I was shocked. Joseph says it is normal because the owner wouldn’t pay for the feature. Also no drinks or snacks for free.  I know these are very minimal problems in the world, I am just sharing.  
 Joseph and I in London

 On the high speed train they have the fanciest bathrooms I have ever seen. You have to push a button for everything and the buttons light up in sequence. I felt like I was in the Jetsons bathroom. Pictures to follow! 

  the train potty!
 Off to Ireland for 5 days. Looking forward to being with Joseph’s family and seeing where he grew up!

A special congratulation to my cousin Abby and her husband Brian on their twins, Logan and Emma!!!

Happy 30^th to Kristine Santacroce and Happy Birthday to Alison O’Laughlin and to my favorite brother Steve!!! Hope you all celebrated in style.

Hope everyone is healthy, happy, and safe back home!

Islas Baleares ....

When I returned from America Joseph and Zimbabalooba were still in Mallorca. We spent a relaxing 2 days and two nights at a Marine Reserve in the island of Cabrera . One has to reserve a mooring ball in the reserve in order to stay the night. It was a beautiful place and we met some lovely English boaters as well as some Irish men. We spent the days hiking and swimming. I really enjoyed the quiet that the environment had to offer.


When our two days were up we headed back to Island of Mallorca and spent an evening in the Porto Cristo. They had some nice facilities so we did laundry and took showers. The dryer did not work so I made a clothes line that ran the length of the boat, inside! It was raining so we were able to go into town for some drinks. The following morning we did about 40 miles and made it to Puerto de cala Ratjada. The rain continued to follow us into the evening so again we were forced to get some drinks!

The next morning we made the 50 mile journey to island of Menorca. We decided to go with a tip we got from another sailor and check out the Cala Covas but upon arrival we could understand why it was so popular. It was a small cala surrounded on all three sides with tall rocky cliffs. There were a lot of other boats and so we decided to go east down the coast a bit and find a less populated cala.
 

We had amazing luck and found a small cala with one other sailboat in it. It was also surround on three sides and had a beautiful beach. We were able to drop anchor and back towards the wall to put a line to the rocks. I like doing this because that way the boat does not swing with the wind and you stay in the same position all night. There was an older French man next door who was helpful. He was on his own so we invited him for dinner. I made my famous spaghetti bologna. I was worried he wouldn't like it but I soon realized it was the first time he had had meat in ages. He usually only eats what he fishes. He brought over some delicious tuna in oil that he had caught earlier in the day. His English was not great but I really loved talking with him. Terry was a retired Doctor of Medicine and had crossed the Atlantic 35 years ago with his wife and 6 month old daughter. It was cool to hear his story. He did the whole passage without GPS , he only used a sextant! Joseph and I were both amazed to hear this because we rely so much on our GPS. It lights up, has pictures, and tells you which way to go!



 We eventually had to say goodbye to Spain...I cried! I have so many wonderful memories from the summer and believe it or not my Spanish is really good. Joseph and I headed to Sardinia, Italy on Saturday September 14th. The journey would take us 195 miles east from Menorca.
 

Took a break during our hike...caught a lizard eating Joseph's pear! He was sleeping!!! see below...

Rainy day!

The three of us!