‘I never thought I’d be so knackered – by talking to people!’

I nodded. Hehe. Actual talking. This was Lu after I came back from taking Emma home. Emma is the oldest boat kid on L’Alchimiste, a catamaran which arrived in Bonaire a few days ago.

It was so nice. We went for ice cream and the kids sat at their own table in Luciano’s. Then yesterday, Emma popped in unexpectedly, just as Lu was finishing her maths revision. It was the perfect foil. Delph came out of her room from reading, and they played board games and card games until dark. I gave Emma a lift home.

Patrice and his son, Jean and Jean’s girlfriend, Morgane, were coming for dinner. We’d told them about our pressure cooker – Patrice doesn’t have one onboard. For the purposes of living onboard, a pressure cooker is a great thing. Saves gas, makes food quickly while retaining all the juices. We couldn’t live on Quest without one. Of course, Patrice knows about pressure cookers. Apparently, they were invented in France. Let me just Google and check.

Oh boy. Patrice is right. Typical. ‘In 1679, French physicist Denis Papin, better known for his studies on steam, invented the steam digester in an attempt to reduce the cooking time of food.’

We said they had to try this on Quest. As well as Jack’s delicious coconut curry in the cocotte minute, Patrice and his family also came to watch a movie. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a movie night on Quest. Social distancing and watching Netflix don’t really lend themselves to it.

While doing yoga, Lu and I discovered Patrice is a big fan of The Muppets. He also pulls a great Muppet face, but that’s a chicken and egg situation. I immediately thought of the latest Muppet movie: The Muppet’s Most Wanted, which has a French policemen character in it, played by Modern Family’s Ty Burrell. As soon as the French policeman thinks he solves the crime, he’s off on his ‘80 day, paid-annual vacation’. I couldn’t help it. This would be an entertaining night.

Except somehow I married someone who has traditionally hated The Muppets. When Jack found out we were planning for this Muppet movie, dinner almost didn’t happen at all. Something along the lines of, ‘I’m not cooking if we have to watch The Muppets.’ Ok, ok. We backed down – but the deliciousness of dinner mellowed him later and, by a stroke of good humour, we got to put it on.

Patrice brought the big apple crumble pie from Gio’s. We had three types of cream on Quest piled on top. The laughter (especially at the French policemen) was frequent and hearty. And shock horror, I heard Jack laughing too. When Sam the Eagle tells the French policeman he didn’t like him before he met him. It’s something for everyone.