August 1999 - Setting sail

Posted 5 August

WE’RE OFF!

Today is the day! We are leaving! I am very excited. On the pier everybody talked and chattered. All the crew gets ready to leave. Suddenly we’re off. Everybody waves. We wave. We had red T-shirts with the Maltese cross and a big red battle flag to match. While we were sailing we had other boats sailing along with us. Well, one wasn’t exactly a boat. It was a dinghy. The people on the dinghy were our friends. They were taking pictures of us. Soon they went back to shore. But one of the other boats which was also carrying our friends stayed with us for a bit to swim with us in a bay on Gozo.

I went sky diving from a high rock. It was fun, but when I was sitting on a hatch I put my hands underneath it and with my weight it slammed down and jammed my fingers right inside. I had to go to hospital for stitches and an x-ray. Luckily my finger wasn’t broken. It really hurt and now I can’t swim for a whole week, which is a bore because it is VERY HOT!!!!!!

Posted 11 August

CAMPING

Me and Tom and Rexy (my Dinosaur) made a camp. It was cool. We had a fan (it was hot in the boat). We had space and Mum gave us crisps to eat inside the camp. Rexy thought they were yummy. They were. After that we were going to go on the bosun’s chair for a swing, but my finger messed it up.

SIM FISHING

I played on my new computer. I played Sim City. You had to build your own city on this square piece of land in space. I played that for a bit. After, I went fishing with Tom and John John. We caught nothing and a hook came off one of the lines. Doesn’t matter, we have loads.

BIRTHDAY AND BIKES

In the morning I went on a bike with Tommy. It was really, really fun ‘cause I went whizzing backwards and forwards, but I went on some cobbles and I fell off and had a cut on my hand, but not on my bad hand (luckily). After that we made a birthday for Rexy. We made cards and presents (I gave him a pack of cards) and we pretended beads were sweets, coloured plastic wire was liquorice and pens were candy sticks. It was fun and Rexy invited the Beanie Babies and we almost had music. Everyone said it was a fun birthday. After that Mum took one of my stitches out. The other one she is going to take out tomorrow. It is a cool day so far.

OUCH!

On the 8th Mum took out my other stitch. It didn’t hurt. Mum put on some spray that made my finger numb. She took out the stitch with a sort of sharp knife called a scalpel. After that I only had to wait one more day before I could swim! On my first day of swimming we swam in a beautiful spot, and quite a way away too. I swam to the beach with Tom to a bouncy play thing like a bouncy castle in the water. We climbed on, jumped a bit on the trampoline on the top, and slid down the slide. Then we realised we had to pay! So we swam back to the boat.

AEROBIE

On the 10th I went to the beach with John John, Tom, Julia and Hannah to play aerobie. It is like frisbie but goes much faster and further. It was fun. I went snorkelling but didn’t see much.

Posted 15 August

RIZZI FISHING

Me and my cousins went rizzi fishing (rizzis are sea urchins). We got a knife and poked it off the rock. Then we picked it up gently and put it into a holy bag (the ones with holes in) and then carry on. Tom, one of my cousins, kicked a rock with a rizzi and some of the spikes went into his shin but it is getting much better. We cut the rizzis in half and scooped out the food inside. It tasted of strong, strong fish and I hated it. YUCK!!!

OUT OF THE BLUE

We were invited onto a huge boat called OUT OF THE BLUE. It was FANTASTIC!!! There was a sofa up on deck, and two twirly chairs on the winches, everything. We played games like you have to close your eyes and grab two hands, and then open your eyes and undo the knot. It was hard.

BEACH SWIMMING

Me, Mum and Hannah all went swimming to the beach. There were loads of rizzi about under water and lovely stones. After we played about on the beach I decided to go back so I swam back to the boat on my own. On the way back, I saw lovely fishes. I have drawn lovely pictures of them, but Mummy and Daddy haven’t got their act together with getting the scanner working, so I can’t put them on my log yet!

Posted 23 August

LUCKY DAY

Today you won’t believe what happened to me today. First I went on the bosun’s chair. It is a sort of harness and you strap yourself inside and when the boat is moving, you push yourself off the side in the strap, and swing. Someone has to have the rope that is attached to you on a winch. So you can go into the water if you want. It is great!! Then we caught a humungus fish. Tuna. It was gigantic. You can see it in the photo in the ship’s log. Straight after that we saw dolphins jumping up and down in the distance. It was cool!!

DINING OUT

Today I went on the bosun’s chair again, but now you know what it is, there is no point in telling you what it is again. So what I am going to talk to you about is Dining Out. I went to a restaurant with my aunt and uncle (Bumble and Niggle). It was great! We didn’t go to bed until quarter to twelve. Late! I had a steak. It was yummy. We were celebrating Bumble’s birthday. We celebrated in Menorca, an island near Spain.

OH DEAR!

Today I saw Zara, Niggle and Bumble again. I wanted to help Sebastian to rock Zara the baby, so I got ashore to help and I ran with the pram up and down, up and down. Zara loved it. As I was getting on board again I missed with one hand to grab on so my feet slipped too and my other hand couldn’t hold my whole weight so I fell in. It was horrible water! It was scary and cold. Brrr!!! Hopefully that was the last of it!

FUN ‘N’ GAMES

Today I did everything. I met Niggle and Bumble and Zara again. We walked a while and then the girls/women: Emma, Bumble and Mum including Sebastian all went shopping. Me and the rest went sailing in huge, huge waves. All to go to a lovely bay where we were surposed to meet the ladies. Then we went to the beach and me and Tommy found a log and used it as driftwood. Then we got back to the boat and played the computer. In the evening I sang two songs, one was ‘speed of the sound of lonliness’ and the other was ‘strumming my pain with his fingers’. I think everyone enjoyed it.

NO MORE

Today I was going to go snorkling. Unfortunally I had lost my flippers and snorkle on the beach so I went to look there but they weren’t there. So now I don’t think I can snorkle any more.