Yesterday we had my cousin over with her husband and son. And what a day we had. It was great, if not weird. It started as soon as they came aboard.  Having hired a taxi boat and being early risers they called to say they were on their way sometime around 9am; so after a mad panic to finish our hasty sweeping and tidying up, we all stood waiting for their arrival on deck. It took a little while longer than expected because their particular boat dropped off a man in the adjacent island of Farol first, so the mad panic on our part was quite unnecessary. It did wake us up though.

Then, having introduced them to the boat; very proudly; I had just begun to make coffee when Erwin came screaming in for me to turn the engine on. Such was his panic that I was at first rendered speechless and statue-like before I looked around and realised another yacht was bearing down on us at speed. This was very unexpected and it took me far too long to find that one key that was necessary to then start the engine. Arggghhh. However I did manage it after telling myself NOT TO PANIC.

Erwin was already pulling up the anchor and it was left for me to shove her as quick as possible into gear and get us the heck away from this fast approaching boat. Scary stuff. The girls were yelled at to stay put and I launched her forward just in time. I saw the eyes of the startled yacht owner;  quite probably just up, staring at me in disbelief from his cabin window. At this point I looked forward – I had to see where we were going – and realised that there was a huge gulf of water in front of us and the boats that had been our close neighbours were now miles away in front of us. Oh dear. It was us. It was us who had been drifting towards the poor guy in the yacht we had just missed. And I had been giving him a look of - what in ***** name are YOU DOING? Opps.

Welcome aboard!

Thankfully, after my lovely cousin had put her camera away (she had been trying to take a picture of me in complete stress; thanks Rach), they were all really cool and very relaxed about the whole incident. So we carried on as if it had barely happened at all; once the anchor was firmly back in place. We did however feel full of remorse ( especially me) when we realised that the guy we had just scared so much had left – yacht and all, just when we intended to jump back in our dingy and fully apologise. And so, to that man, if you are reading this, ever –  I am sorry we gave you such a fright, I do hope your exit on that morning was already pre-planned and that you are at this moment having a lovely and safe time.

We continued on to have a glorious day of relaxed swimming, island exploring, biggest and the most beautiful shell competitions, attempted fishing ( we lost the rod by the end of the day not to mention reams of wire and a few other near-miss experiences, one of which, Adam, is duly recorded on video!). Amazing no one got really hurt.

And I must just finish this post with at least a quick mention of our lunch. One of the best meals I have ever eaten. Set on the fishing island of Culatra there is a restaurant with it’s view to the marina that serves the very freshest and best garlic and coriander clams, as well as the very freshest and best spider crab, IN THE WORLD. It must be so. Not to mention the fried fish eggs and prawns; which clearly deserve a mention too. Heavenly.

OOOh and I almost forgot the oysters!! How could I do that? An integral part of the whole experience. We ( Erwin ) had to open them himself as they offer them cooked – according to the locals here only crazy Dutch and English eat them raw ( we represent the aforementioned countries, though I must point out, we feel more akin to citizens of the World; or even Europe will do). Anyway. The oysters, expertly opened by the man closest to me, were also DELICIOUS. It was all in all a lunch beyond lunches. All washed down with a very lovely bottle of white wine in amongst great company; what could be better? Other than the obvious.

We sat and enjoyed  ourselves thus for THREE HOURS!!  Even the children, who minus the alcohol joined fully in to the whole lunch experience were happy. Glorious. And thank you Rach and Boo. One to remember. xxxxxxxxxxxxx