Elodie is Chris and Joelle’s daughter and Chris is Rudi’s best friend. The four of them joined Liz and me for a week in 2000 making six on board.  Now I have sailed at Easter with seven blokes each with at least one large and one small bag but within 24 hours most of it seems to get stowed and the boat is reasonably shipshape. 

Elodie was only 14 months old and not much bigger than a lifejacket but her gear took over the boat for the whole week.  The cockpit table was covered with disposible nappies, feeding bottles, sterilizing gear and items I didn’t recognise. She had her own bunk above Chris and Joelle in the starboard aft cabin which had her sleeping bag, books, cuddly toys and changes of clothes. Her plastic toys were on the floor of the cockpit which doubled as her playpen.

Having a baby on board turned me to jelly but she was a delight. She slept when she should sleep, took her meals at the right time and Liz practised being a grandmother. Look at the photographs.

On Wednesday afternoon Elodie was put in her bunk for an sleep after lunch.  The lee cloth was up and with a couple of duvets around her she wasn’t going to move much.  There was only a gentle breeze so the sea was flat and there was no danger in leaving the small porthole open so she got some air.  Three knots of boat speed is more than enough for the five mile sail to the Cap de Antibes where we dropped anchor for a cup of tea and a swim.

“Chris where is Elodie’s T-shirt and sun hat?” Joelle called up from Elodie’s cabin.

“On the bunk with the rest of her gear,” replied Chris.

“No it is not” called back Joelle “Nor is her swim suit or any of her books.”

Chris had checked that Elodie could not get out but hadn’t foreseen the wonderful game she could have posting things through the porthole.       

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