Yesterday we embarked on our first ever sailing trip on our very own boat. It was AWESOME! The wind was decent, the sun was shining, the sea was flat… the ultimate vindication of a self-confessed fair-weather sailor! The Solent is pretty but it is not comfortable! We didn't go far, only around 5nm to the east and then back again, just to test everything and make sure there's nothing we need to do before setting off for real. There is obviously but at least no leaks - oil, water or otherwise. Really excited now to get going!

I did realise after sending out the link on Friday evening that most of the email addresses I have are peoples' work addresses and that it's therefore unlikely that anyone will see it until Monday morning - which is not the best time of the week to read all about people enjoying themselves in the sun. So I thought I'd expand a bit on some of the less pleasant realities of living on a boat that we've experienced so far, just to balance things out. Firstly, you hurt yourself on average about once every 30 seconds. It is virtually impossible to move without bumping some part of you (heads, toes and shins have been favourites so far) on something made of metal or wood (metal or wood inevitably wins all fights). Second, stuff breaks CONSTANTLY! So far we've had batteries, the toilet pump, a sea cock, the anode, a lost line up the mast, one of the speakers, and possibly a winch or two (jury's still out). This is clearly how people keep themselves entertained on longer crossings when there's no scenery and nowhere to park up for an aperitivo. Fortunately Gerard seems to know what he's doing and has enough tools and gadgets on board that I can't foresee any job he would not be fully equipped to complete. Speaking of which, he assured me that a massive pair of cable cutters was an essential purchase (though I have a hunch it could be the nautical version of men who buy big sports cars).

Other than fixing stuff and sailing, we've been generally tidying, cleaning, finding a space for everything, forgetting where those spaces are and hunting around for ages… I've been pimping our fenders, making covers out of leggings and splicing hoops in the ropes that hold them (this probably doesn't sound very impressive but it took me about 6 hours and as such I deem it newsworthy). The soundtrack to all of the above is provided by the most amazing radio station - it's like the Heart fm of the Med, we've had Kate Bush, Blondie, Bob Marley, JT, Shirley Bassey, some glorious Barry White covers… All the classics!

Ah and we saw the pope! He happened to be in Cagliari so we stopped by to have a peek. Everything was in Italian of course but we're pretty sure he was the guy in the hat.