Mr Silver and his family grew up going on boating holidays, for many years they had their own boat which they’d take out to sea, either speeding through the ocean or meandering along lazily, taking in the beautiful scenery. They all love the water; diving off the boat, water skiing and swimming all day long, as I’ve mentioned before I’m actually a little scared of the ocean but I love relaxing in the luxury of the yacht eating delicious fresh food and later in the evening enjoying some wine with the whole family.
On our first day boating Mr Silver and I, along with his parents, went out the boat hired by Paul and Sandra and their family:
The Eden Erina was our ride for the day; a 23 metre Leopard Sport. Now I’m not going to pretend to know anything about boats but it was definitely a beautiful ship, large and well-appointed with a luxurious cabin, three bedrooms and a kitchen.
You could lay out and sunbathe on the front or the back of the ship and there was plenty of space for our big group…
Soon we were off and our noble steed powered through the ocean until we found a calm and sunny spot for everyone (expect me) to have a swim….
Look at the big smile on Mr Silver’s face, I don’t think he’s ever happier than when he’s cruising along in a boat surrounded by his whole family…
Mr S couldn’t wait to dive in and have a swim around that beautiful sparkling ocean…
Then came my favourite part of the day…
Rosé was poured and glasses clinked…
We didn’t have to worry about a thing as Paul and Sandra had hired a private chef to prepare us a delicious meal to enjoy from the comfort of the boat.
First of all a beautiful and colourful mozzarella and tomato salad, I don’t think I’ve ever had tomatoes so big, red and juicy and I’ve rarely tried green ones, it was really a treat as I adore tomatoes.
I can’t imagine anything more fresh and summery than delicious orange melon and parma ham…
And warm, homemade pizza topped with fragrant oil and yellow cherry tomatoes…fully satisfied from our fresh and light meal…we sat enjoying the rest of the sunshine; playing games with the kids, singing and dancing to music and occasionally leaping into the sea.
As the sun began to dim, I when to sit at the front of the boat for a quiet moment to enjoy watching the sun glittering off the sea…it can be a little overwhelming to be on holiday with someone else’s whole family and little moments of quiet reflection are necessary sometimes I think…
And isn’t the stillness of the glittering water, the perfect place for a little introspection? Mr Silver’s family always say that around 6pm is the best time on the boat…the sun isn’t so intense, there’s a glow coming from the sea and it’s time to open a bottle of wine and enjoy a moment of quiet bliss before heading out for dinner.
We docked the boat at the port of Antibes, a beautiful coastal town near Cannes. I’d actually stayed there around ten years ago when I had a friend living there and as we walked through the pretty cobbled streets it bought back memories of my time there.
We found a simple restaurant that would please the whole family and started ordering some starters to share…
A tuna tartare and a salmon tartare with fat chunks of raw fish and citrus accompaniments…
And big steaming bowl of mussels…
With everyone happy and smiling from the fun day we’d had…
More fresh fish for main course…
Whole sea basses were ordered up and big plates of prawns…
And as we enjoyed street performers as we finished off our last mouthfuls of fresh fish and glasses of wine…
After dinner we headed back to the boat to say good night to each other after a beautiful day at sea…I may not have been born a ‘boating person’ but I could certainly get used to this life…
