A day in the life, 2/2

1015am Science lesson starts with Nick, while I finally finish getting washed and dressed, clean the stern bathroom, and sit down to read the email Nick downloaded from Corinne. Most of the time we can only do this when we are at a WiFi site, but sometimes Nick can do it via the radio. So, this is a real treat. I am keen to write back, but have two other projects still unfinished, and decide to write a bit more in our Christmas letter.

1045am Max is losing the plot! The science lesson is about light, and linking it to last week's one on the planets, Nick is trying to demonstrate the reflection of sunlight off the moon with a searchlight and volleyball. Max doesn't want to hold the moon and is really disrupting class. He earns his first time out of the day, and I become the moon instead.

1100am After a few more interferences from Max, class is finally over, and they settle to play with trains and drawing just as our visitors arrive. I finish a bit more writing before joining Nick and our guests up on deck. The children have already said their hellos and retreated, but cannot help interrupting all the time. When Max fails to get the attention he desires, all hell breaks loose, and he has earned another time out and the wrath of his mother!

1200pm Utterly embarrassed by our child's behaviour. I have retreated downstairs to try and keep the peace with the children while Nick trades books and boat stories before waving our guests back to their catamaran. It is midday, we are all hot and ready for a change of scene. So, bathing suits on, into the dinghy, and off we zip to the coral garden just around the corner. You don't need to convince Issie to get in the water, although she is annoyed she needs to wear her lifejacket today. We are off shore and the water is choppy (safety first!). Max, who has gained an enormous amount of water confidence in the last week, absolutely, positively does NOT want to go into the water. He prefers starting from land. Nick and Issie swim off to explore, and with some convincing, Max finally goes piggy-back on Nick, but misses the fantastic underwater world that lies beneath us. Antigua has nothing on Guadeloupe, and the colourful fish, sea urchins and underwater plants abound. However, the choppiness is starting to make Issie slightly woozy, so we pack back into the dinghy and head home to the boat.

100pm We hose down on the back of the boat; children snuggle into their swim robes and settle in front of a DVD. Nick prepares lunch while I rinse out all the swimsuits in fresh water and hangs them to dry. She also washes and bleaches some tea towels before returning to her writing.

130pm Lunch is served up on deck. Nick is keen to get Max to try sushimi (raw tuna). The brave boy actually does try, but is quick to spit it out. Unfortunately, the cooked version doesn't go down very well either with the kids, shame. So, Nick and I enjoy the tuna, while Max and Issie stick to their favourites: bread and marmite (for Issie) and Nutella (for Max), with some token carrot and cucumber!!! We watch as boats arrive into the harbour, probably those arriving from Antigua. Unfortunately, Issie and Max are not on their best behaviour and lose DVD watching after lunch.

200pm The kids retire back down below and are exceptionally quiet for about 15 minutes!!! Nick decides to take the left over bits of tuna to try and catch a fish, while I am so hot that I grab a brief moment to sit under the kids hatch to cool down and chill out. How nice not to have questions bombarded at you every minute, or how to spell something, or to intervene in a sibling squabble (it happens a lot).

230pm The peace is broken, the kids are asking a million questions again and making concentration difficult. Eureka, Nick has caught a fish! OK, a teeny tiny one, but it gets us all up on deck. This is enough to get Issie interested in catching her own fish and sure enough, within a few minutes, a lovely small yellow fish is in the bucket. Nick contemplates using it to catch a real big fish, but Issie is already calling it 'my fishy', so I strongly advise against this plan. A few minutes later, as I continue to write down below, Issie lets out a piercing scream. It appears Max wanted to hold the fish, but of course, it slipped out of his hands and bounced onto Issie foot. She was beside herself. The fish meanwhile was happily back in the Atlantic but Issie had real tears and said her foot hurt. Upon closer inspection, sure enough, there was blood! One of the fish's spikes must have pierced her skin. Some antiseptic and a bandage and we were sorted.

310pm Max keeps asking about his ice-cream, or 'can you play with me', or Issie keeps saying 'How do you spell this? How do you spell that?' It is doing my head in. Actually, it is my turn to wash up.

400pm At last, time to head into shore. In Guadeloupe, at least in Deshaies, stores are closed from 2-430pm. We find a shop already open at 415, purchase our Floups (ice cream sticks) and head towards the rubbish dump near the forest to dispose of today's bag (and recycling – another nice thing about Guadeloupe). We carry on up the road for a stroll along the river and then down to the fishing harbour where we get a good view of Ty Dewi in her anchorage.

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