Life Abroad – Andrea Jensen

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019

What’s up with the weather?Nearly June and still not summer yet!

We have now sat inside our little ship in Alghero Port for another 4 days with the weather battering us. If its not raining, the wind is howling! Every hour it seems, we are looking again at the weather forecast, with a glimmer of hope that it will say something different for tomorrow. We are sick of postponing and cancelling trips with disappointed customers saying ‘Oh well, maybe next time we will be luckier’. Who knows if they will be back or not?

So I have read books. Very different books are chosen from the shelf in our saloon. Whilst Colin browses the internet, longing to buy a motor bike. You have got to have dreams, I suppose.

The latest book (Blue Sky July by Nia Wyn) has brought me to floods of tears for 2 days, but it is so well written from the heart, it made me want to read it to the end. What is a harrowing true story about a mothers love for her brain damaged son, and her desperate drive to ‘cure him’, was actually an incredibly brave and inspiring book, full of light and dark. Never underestimate a child and the power and strength of a mother’s love. All children are different and they can teach us an awful lot, if we let them.

April 15, 2019April 15, 2019

Ant is Up the Mizzen Mast

The wind dropped and the sun shone so why not get our new volunteer to climb the mast? Welcome on board Ant and Ella! No time to waste, we start our fabulous day trips in 3 days time and there is still lots to do
(I cannot believe its Easter already). Something important is missing from the boat? Yes you guessed it, the SAILS! We are not going to get far with out them. But before they can go back on we had some blocks to change at the top of the MIzzen mast. Thankfully we had a brave volunteer. Thanks Ant!

Ella, in the meantime was getting to work on some sanding and painting. Those all important finishing touches make all the difference! Great work guys. Thanks.

April 10, 2019April 15, 2019

Rainy week in Villanova Monteleone

We still have a lot to finish off on the boat before next week which is Easter. We want to be ready for paying guests by 19th April. Our pre season on-line bookings are very slow this year and we think maybe Brexit is to blame. But that is all I am going to say about that! Our volunteer crew arrive from the UK on Sunday too, which will mean lots of training needs to start next week and we hope they catch on quick!

So back to Villanova Monteleone, we came here at the weekend due to the rain forecast in Alghero. I have posted some pics which I took this morning from our roof top terrace. As you can see the sky is a bit gloomy, but we never tire of the fantastic views across Monte Minerva, Rocca Doria and beyond, which we overlook from our roof top vantage point. Isn’t it stunning? We are 576 meters up above Alghero and on average it’s about 5C cooler up here, so today it was 8.5C when we go up, a bit chilly!

Our mountain top village is very rural and very traditional Sardo, that’s why we love it. It’s worlds apart from bustling Alghero city, but only 23 Km away. There are about 2,000 inhabitants who rely heavily on a Pastoral existence, most men being farmers, shepherds mainly. Families tend to share a small holding, somewhere in the surrounding countryside with small numbers of sheep, goats and cattle (and of course the loyal sheep dogs) which provide both their food and livelihoods. There is a large, local modern looking dairy cooperative in the village, which employs locals making very well known Pecorino cheese for the export market mainly. The locals speak Sardo, not Italian (so much for us trying to learn Italian, which we are doing, all be it very slowly) and are predominantly erderly. Life here is very simple and very family orientated. The young leave the rural villages (once they have finished school) for the busier towns and mainland Italy, where they try to find work. English was not taught in schools in Sardinia until very recently, so only young Sardinians know any English.