Today we visited Villa D’Este in Tivoli which is a large Renaissance villa from the 16th century famous for its gardens full of fountains and water features. It inspired the Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen .
Tomorrow Patty’s son arrives with his partner and we will spend a few days in Rome with them.
Last October we stopped sailing in Lady Cindy with the intention of moving to West Wales to complete a three year work contract. Six months later, and we are travelling in a camper van around Europe, and eventually further afield. So what changed?
Mainly, the job was not as described. I was expecting to be given responsibility, trusted to manage my time, given responsibility for a small budget to get projects started etc. This was not the case and eventually, after being denied an opportunity to discuss issues with the trustees, I resigned.
While in Wales, Patty and I bought a Renault Master based camper van. Soon after buying it, it developed an engine problem, that is a long story but the bottom line is that we have had a new engine installed as well as new injectors, turbo, clutch etc. We have also done various improvements including a new bed, new water tank etc.
Our plan is to tour Europe this year, starting where we left off in Lady Cindy, Fiumicino, Rome. At the end of the year, we intend shipping the van to South America where we intend to tour next year. There is more planned that we will reveal nearer the time.
After spending 6 months in West Wales, Patty and I have started our travels again, this time in a Renault Master based camper van. We are currently near Rome having spent the last week preparing Lady Cindy for sale.
Patty and I will both contribute to this blog, this is just a quick update on whats happening now. In due course, we will blog more about our time in Wales, the van and our future plans.
Yesterday’s sail to Fiumicino was quite emotional. I knew it was the last big sail I’m going to do for a while. I am going to a marina in the Fiumicino canal later today where Lady Cindy will stay for up to three years while I complete a work contract in the UK. This is a pause in the journey not an end. That Atlantic ocean will still be there in three years waiting to be crossed.
The weather is definitely starting to turn, its been windier and cloudy the last two days. Its still warm though.
I will spend the next two weeks working on Lady Cindy. There are a few jobs i have put off needing parts or a non moving boat. On the 27th I start an epic journey to Southampton across Europe by train. More on that in a future post.
Patty is still in Argentina with family, the boat is quiet without her, and not as clean🤭 She returns to Italy at the beginning of November and after a brief visit to her apartment in Barletta, she will fly to the UK to join me in Wales.
Dotty and I have been slowly heading North back up to Fiumicino to dock the boat from the 15th. Most of my free time, and there has been a lot, has been spent working on an Android app. More on that later..
I was woken this morning with a call of ‘hello there’ bleary eyed, i popped my head out the open hatch above my bed to find a swimmer next to the boat. He asked to rest against the boat, he had swum well over 300m from a hotel complex ashore. I invited him aboard while i made coffee. His dry bag, which was full of water, contained his now wet cigarettes and a bottle of wine 🤣, did i mention he’s from Dublin? 🤣 he is on holiday with his girlfriend and went for a morning swim. We had a good chat and i took him back by dinghy.
In case you are wondering how Patty is getting on in Argentina..
I have now booked my journey back to the UK. It involves a £500, 33 hour journey using a taxi, 7 trains, a sleepover at Geneva station, crossing Paris by metro, a pet transport minibus through the channel tunnel and two more trains to Southampton. Well the alternative, was a 6 hour journey with two flights from Rome to Southampton via Amsterdam. That cost half as much, but dotty would have to travel as cargo 🤔 imagine her howling in the hold 😳.
At Southampton i will visit family and stay in a pet friendly hotel. I also pick up a car my uncle is kindly donating before driving back to wales. Friends have kindly arranged temporary accomodation while i look for something more permanent.
I have been developing an app called ShipsLog, the clue is in the name as to what it does. I am at the stage where i am using it myself snd ironing out bugs/making improvements. Watch this space for more information
We really liked Palinuro. We had pristine water for swimming, breeze at night for comfortable sleep, and shops nearby. A little bit of paradise…
Since there were no winds predicted we decided to hang out there, initially for 5 days, but then we extended it…
John set up all the water toys, so we swam, cooked and explored. John worked on his app and, as most of you know, had a successful job interview. He got the job offer just 2 days later!
Given the change of long-term plans, we headed back north, to Agropoli. Enjoyed time Liz and Peter again while here, and we’ll stay longer. On Friday I’ll leave by train to Rome to catch my flight to Argentina.
John will head to Fiumicino, where we contracted with a marina to dock Lady Cindy. But he will do so slowly, hopefully enjoying the Amalfi Coast, as there should be less people along side it, since the marina can take the boat on the 15th of October.
John then has an appointment on October 28th (first available we could find…) with a transport service in Calais to cross the channel which is one of the only ways the UK will accept Dotty back… (the other option is as cargo on a flight). To get to Calais John and Dotty will be on trains for about 17 hours… (the fast train from Milan to Paris is not running until November due to a land slide). And, of course, once in the UK, the traveling will continue until he reaches the final destination…
For my part, I’ll arrive in Argentina just in time for Jazmín’s (grand niece) 4th birthday. We’ll (mom, sister, niece and grand niece) attend the Messi Cirque du Soleil performance in October and I’ll depart just after my sister’s birthday.
We may not post for awhile after this, as we will both be busy…
Until next time, folks!
Before leaving Agropoli we had a wonderful dinner with our friends Liz and Peter at La Ruota in Perdifumo. Excellent company and meal.
There isn’t a picture of my face when I had the first bite of steak, but everyone commented on it (pure bliss!!). Good beef is not an easy find in Italy. Appropriately cooked, even less. This happened to be American beef perfectly medium rare. YUM
While in Agropoli, we entered a shop to get some sundries and we left with an inflatable flamingo… The back story: Several weeks ago we saw an inflatable flamingo on a boat and I kept teasing John asking why didn’t Lady Cindy have one? This store had a flamingo on display, and John, very sweetly, gifted me one. I’m a happy floater!
We got fresh fish yesterday morning and after swimming and floating on my flamingo we ate fish and chips (and our version of onion rings, scrumptious 😋).
This morning it was windy enough so we took off early. By noon we were at anchor, explored the caves, swam and we still have time to float and take the dinghy to the beach for a BBQ for dinner.
The water is cool and clear. There is some wind and temperatures in the high 20’s. What a wonderful life we lead!
We set out from Salerno a week ago with the intention of making progress South toward Sicily. We only got as far as crossing the bay to Agropoli 🤣. We were waylayed by good company and bad weather.
However, that’s one of the things we both love about this lifestyle; the freedom of not having to rush anywhere.
We initially stayed because we met Liz and Peter and enjoyed socializing with them. Then the weather (winds) hit and we hunkered down on LC. We were well protected, the anchor held, and we finished seasons 3&4 of the series we were watching 🤯. We also made a good dent on the refrigerated supplies we’d stocked up in Salerno (which was needed, since socializing meant eating out more than we normally do).
Now we’re getting ready to go out to dinner with Liz and Peter. Tomorrow we might move on… or not… 🤣
On August 18th we left Torre Annunziata with the goal of reaching Salerno by the 22nd since I had to be in Barletta by the 24th to pick up my EU passport. We sailed past the Amalfi Coast. It’s beautiful, but so full of boats speeding by that it’s hard to enjoy it. We found a spacious bay to anchor just off Salerno, we were there for 8 days (well, I was in Barletta from the 22nd to the 25th…).
John and I liked Salerno. A big enough city to have amenities, but still holding a small city vibe. It has an extensive coastline, so we’d come ashore at different points, depending on where we wanted to go.
We replenished supplies, including propane and decided to wait out for predicted winds and rain at “our spot.”
Mother Nature had other plans… When the winds started the anchor dragged and we decided we’d be better off at a marina given the weather, and we needed fresh water as well. I called around and came to an agreement with a gentleman. However, once inside the harbor, when I called – as agreed – to advise of our arrival another guy answers and keeps insisting that it wasn’t their marina I’d contacted (I called using the “recent calls” log, so it was) He finally said they didn’t have a spot.
Meanwhile, we’re in the harbor, tight quarters, windy, Lady Cindy isn’t easy to maneuver at slow speed. As I’m giving John the news about the marina, a group of men see us struggling a bit and offer us to side moor at their location (they rent boats and I’m sure they knew there wouldn’t be business with the coming weather).
Side mooring in that weather was a challenge, too. The swells pushed the boat against the mooring quite a bit.
However, shortly after arriving John also discovered that the engine’s water pump needed repairs. After some research, the best option was to order a pump via Amazon and have it delivered to a locker the next day.
The Universe is taking care of us. We had a safe spot for the winds and rain, we were able to replace the water pump, refilled the water tanks, did laundry and grocery shopping. We gave the owner a monetary thank you, but it was a fraction of what the marina would have cost (BTW, after we’d docked I received a call from the guy that insisted it wasn’t their marina I had called acknowledging that I’d talked to someone else in their office…)
Today we are under sail, surrounded by blue water and clear skies, heading south toward Sicily, with plans to stop by Stromboli Island where there is an active volcano that John is very keen on seeing.
For those of you asking about Dotty. She’s doing fairly well, given her age, the space constraints and the fact that she doesn’t like swimming. 😆
She is finding it harder to come up and down the steps, but so far manages with a bit of help.
Otherwise, as long as John is close by, she is happy. She gets anxious when he’s moving about the boat, worried he’ll leave. And she cries/whines when we are both in the water; but the one time I brought her into the water with us she scratched John attempting to climb over him 😬. So, no more swimming for her, in spite of the heat…
Not sure if she’s happy about it, but she does get a bath now almost every time we refill fresh water; which I understand is more often that she used to get baths in the past😁.
This area of Italy is very friendly to dogs, so we’ve ridden buses and trains with her on our way to Pompeii and Vesuvius. And restaurants are happy to accommodate her as well.
And while we have to leave her outside when we shop for groceries, we usually don’t take too long and exit before she starts howling 😊.