It's Been a Long Time

3 August 2014

I went on this thing called a Geisterbahn. I walked through a sort of a haunted house with someone I didn't know who was behind me in line. This was in La Linea near Gibraltar. We walked through and all these creepy things happened. At the beginning there was a guy locked up in sort of like a prison and shaking the bars and my partner behind me was the one who gave me the creeps because he was scared. Plus he was also pushing me. And then I saw a Pharoah's head and back there, in a coffin, there was this guy dressed as a mummy and he came out and started sort of chasing us. And then there was a woman who had a stick in her hand and she banged it down on the ground which made us jump. And she said, "No running" in Spanish. Then she asked if we wanted English and my partner said yes. And then there was this guy with a toy chain saw at the end and he sort of stabbed it at my partner, but it didn't touch him. Then we were sort of running down the stairs and that was the end of that.

We walked to a new country on foot. We walked to England (Gibraltar). We got to climb the Rock and a monkey attacked me. I got a little bruised but it wasn't bad. I wasn't scared but I was more surprised than anything.

Dad and I went on a scooter ride up through the mountains to Ronda, Spain. And we were trekking through quite a bit of places like Istan before we finally got there. The scooter was pretty fun but at the beginning I felt sort of scared because it was my first time but I knew Daddy wasn't going to let anything happen to me. Then I found it sort of fun but my arms got tired from having to hold onto Daddy all the time.

We are in Alalmar. It's been sunny and really windy. We saw whitecaps in the marina! The next big thing is that Belle is going to come on Thursday. It's going to be fun. Then we are going to go to Morrocco.

Here is a picture of what I've been doing lately. Roger cooked a really yummy meal. Plus it was really pretty. Mommy never makes pretty sculptures when she cooks. The next one is a video of a Steve Miller Band song that I like, but it took too long to load.

El Rompido

1 July 2014

Here we are in El Rompido, waiting to be able to leave. Today and yesterday I updated two novels (kids' novels), The Day Before the First Day and The Mystery of the Whining Lake. They are the shortest novels around here. Today the US plays Belgium, but I don't know if we will get to watch it because we want to leave in the morning. It depends on the sail, whether it's fixed or not and whether the wind dies down enough to put it up. I had a book that I gave to a little kid who was in line in front of us in the grocery store; it was called Touch and Feel Dinosaurs. I got it when I was about his age--2 or 3. I was going to put it in the book exchange in the marina office but the office was closed, so I gave it to him.

2 X 3

24 June 2014

We are on day 3 of sailing to Morocco, but we are still in the Algarve. It's a slow trip to Morocco! I'm still in my pyjamas at 9:00 in the morning. We a saw some dolphins today--not on day 2, on day 3, and not day 1.

We've anchored both nights that we've been out and we plan to anchor tonight too. Yesterday we went into town in the dinghy.

Today is fine. The ocean is a bit rolly, but it's not bad. We also have a good view of land.

I was feeling a little seasick, but now I'm much better.

We are motor sailing because there isn't much wind.

We have a guest named Rogger. He is a new crew member and is sailing with us to Gibraltar.

(Max)


28 June--Day 6

Day 6 out sailing with 15 knots of wind. Yesterday Dad and Rogger fixed the anchor and installed a crane so we can use the outboard. We couldn't sail yesterday because these things needed to be done. I cleaned my room for one of the first times ever [an exaggeration! hlss, ed.]. At night we went and saw the bull ring, but it's not used anymore.

We watched some soccer--Germany and Portugal won. The US and Ghana lost.

Mom and I trekked all over town (not really--hlss) looking for a giant grocery store. We found it, but it didn't have tofu. Mom called it the "super supermarket extravaganza." "Extravaganza" is my favourite word. Good luck, everybody!

(Max)

Catching Up

No name blog

We ran aground and it's so shallow that Daddy can stand.  We had to call the marina for help and they had to tip over the boat to get us out, not so far that we capsized, though.

Daddy and I went to the beach.  We saw fish--striped ones, polka-dotted ones, and I saw one with what looked like purple hairs on its head.  

Sailing Away

16 July 2013

We will soon be in Sicily.  I just wrote some postcards to my friends and I still have some more to do, but I am going to buy those in a different place.  

We are at sea.  Daddy and Belle have played chess at least three times today.  I started writing a new play about five days ago, maybe less.  Mommy and I have played once.  One time Belle laid down her king.

I am learning how to take down the mainsail.  I've learned not to let it go through my hands too quickly; if I do, I'll probably get rope burn.  When Mom winches in the jib, I like to put my feet on the jib line because then my feet get tickled.

I keep on kibitzing when Daddy and Belle are playing chess, even though I'm not sure what "kibitzing" means.  Mom just told me what that means.

Today I got seasick!  More than three-quarters of the way there and I got seasick!  The waves were very choppy, though.

I've also started a charity fund this week.  I am raising money for the Lagos Children's Home, the food bank, and to help stray animals.  No one on board will donate anymore right now.  I will have to find some other sources of donations.

Right now I am winching; it's almost the only exercise I get right now.

I want to do another charity fund.  I will go around the marina and ask for money.  This fund will be for people who don't have any water.  

Night Shift

Right now I am doing the night shift and I am staying up til 1:00.  The night shift is when we sail at night and someone is up. We have to look out for boats and if we see  one coming too close we have to wake up Dad.

Mommy and I have been taking the first watch from 10:00 to 1:00.  Belle is supposed to do the second one from 1:00 to 4:00 but last night Daddy couldn't sleep so he did that one and Belle watched from 4 to 7.

I really like staying up for the first part of the night shift because that means I don't get to bed til 1:00,  it also means that I have to stock up on food from dinner so I eat a lot.  I also sleep late in the mornings.

We've also seen ghost boats.  There's a light and then there is no light.  I also saw a ghost star.  

Right now we are in some town that I don't know what it's called and I am playing games on Mommy's Ipod.  We have free internet here.  Mom says we are staying here for as little time as possible.  Maybe we'll anchor tonight.

On the Way to Croatia...Finally

I've been sailing but I've been getting a little seasick.  Mommy says I'll adapt pretty quickly, though, and I think she's right.

We've been sailing pretty much the whole time but now we're in Rota, Spain, the perfect place to be to relax and have some coffee (even though I don't drink coffee).

We went through quite a lot of chops.  Chops are when the waves are pretty high, just in case you didn't know.  I was pretty sure that  you knew, but I was just going to say so anyway.  I don't care if you comment that you didn't know, but now you do.  Right now we are at an internet cafe.

We had to use the motor more than we sailed, but we hope to sail more.  We were hoping to go to Barbate, but we had to go to Rota because of the weather.  We saw our friends Patricia and Seamus in Rota.  They have been stuck here for a few days because of bad weather.

We met some Hawaiians and they are just a man family--a father and his three of them.

We just found out now what Victor and Brittany named their baby.

Isabelle got here and I am happy because now I can harrass her.

Bye bye!

Sorry that I haven't been writing since last year...

14 May 2013

Yesterday at school my class turned into "artificial second graders."  This means that we'll have to do harder work and we'll get to do what the second and third graders do in their circle, which is stuff that we don't.  I'm not sure what that is, though.

We went on a sailing course at the beginning of April.  I saw a shark, a whale, a dolphin, but I don't think I saw a fourth whale.  I learned to check the oil in the engine, the bilge, to turn on the instruments and the radio.  I am also the one who does all the talking on the radio, like when we come into a marina like Marina de Lagos with the drawbridge.

Today I'm just about to go to school so I have very little time to write.  My friend Artur rides with me and we entertain ourselves.  On the way home we like to be shirtless and have the roof down.  Mommy says she drives with crazy people--but we're not.

Everybody at school is into marbles.  I have about 300 marbles.  I play with them and I trade them but I don't trade my big ones.  My favorite one is a mix in between turquoise and blue cat's eye.  The other one I like is sort of a clear marble and it's got blue, red, and yellow curves in it.