Monaco

Well I managed to make it out of Ibiza thanks to my mate Steve & the 24 meter yacht that he captains & have been parked up here in Monaco for the last month.
The trip here was quite eventful, passing through Mallorca, Barcelona and then up the Spanish coast through the Gulf of Leon which through some heavy swell at us, then it was down along the French Rivera to our final stop in Monaco marina.
The French Rivera is absolutely beautiful with the train & the road out too Italy hugging the coastline and boring through the mountains, there's even a little bit of snow forming already on some of the peaks.
Monaco's not the liveliest of places, more of a rich old mans town, hell they even have defibrillators on the street for those unannounced heart attacks. Although it's not lively I think it’s just what I needed. Chilled out doing nothing and just setting myself back in order has been really good. The French seem not too bad, not as bad as I've heard from others, although maybe the fact that I'm still speaking broken Spanish to them makes it look as though at least I'm trying.

Living on the boat hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, it's quite big with 3 bedroom each with ensuite showers and a kitchen...better than some flats I've lived in, just feels like a normal floating house & whilst I've been here have been helping out with bits and pieces on the boat. Steve's such a top bloke that he let me borrow his mates car for a day to drive to Antibes for some interviews & that. Now being the first time driving on the wrong side of the road (the right hand side) with a car that I was unfamiliar with (why are the blinkers on the other side!!!!!) and not knowing how to get to where I was going I think it went surprisingly well......besides the wing mirror kidney slap I managed to give some bicyclist at 60km p/h. Going by the rear view mirror I'm sure he'll ride again another day.

I've also managed to get a trip up to Gothenburg in Sweden since I've been here, my first taste of Scandinavia & a fucken cold one!
Well I've not been one to do anything half hearted I've dived absolutely full steam into this yacht thing. Have done a shed load of training which has cost me an absolute packet that I don't have and am not even guaranteed a job at the end of it. I kind of look at it as an investment if you will, once I get a job I can pay it off in no time at all, just have to borrow from the bank to get it in the first place. So since leaving Ibiza in my messy state, you will be surprised to hear that I am now trained in First Aid, Freezing water sea survival, fire fighting and all sorts of other things and have managed to pass my medical examination!! And too think that just a month ago I had no idea what was next, where I was going and a not a dime to my name, bloody hell must be doing something right!

Now I sit here absolutely ecstatic as I've managed to pick up a job as a deckie on a 54 meter super yacht that's heading down to the Maldives, Thailand, Seychelles then back up to the Med over the next 5 months!!!!! I’m absolutely speechless, I get flow out too Istanbul where I will join the crew and start cruising down to the far east. Am one lucky lucky man :D

Check out the pics here >>> http://redmonkey.smugmug.com/gallery/3818460