POLLY PORTSIDE - Polly makes new friends
'Look Pippa, I can already jump off the sup board!’ Polly runs over the beach to the flood line. The rippling water tickles her toes. Oops, the sea water is quite cold! Still, Polly continues. While trying to climb onto the board, Polly almost disappears under water. It is a 'stand up paddle' board, normally her mum and dad use it to paddle around the boat for some exercise or to explore the surroundings. But now it's a nice float for Polly and the other children to play with. The board is very wobble when Polly tries to get up on it. The waves in the surf try to overthrow the board with Polly on it. Fortunately Pippa arrives just in time to hold the board. That feels safer!
Flying on the surf
While Polly is desperately trying not to fall, from the corners of her eyes she also sees Madelief and Jaap swimming towards her. They also want to play with the sup board. ‘One, two, three,’ Polly counts, closes her eyes, pinches her nose and jumps into the water. She wears a float vest, so she cannot sink. After all she can’t swim yet. Despite that she still disappears under water. Spitting and snorting, her face appears again. This is so much fun! The water is cold but when she climbs on the board again, the sun warms her up quickly. Madelief and Jaap also climb on the board. It has become a boat now! There are three small sailors on board and Pippa sails the boat. She gives the board a firm push and for a moment it feels like Polly, Madelief and Jaap are flying. They surf over the waves to the beach. ‘Yeah, we want to try that too!’ Kiki and Noor are jumping up and down on the beach. Polly, Madelief and Jaap make room for Kiki and Noor to come on board. Pippa also steps on and the three of them are screaming with pleasure.
New neighbors
On the beach the parents are watching the children. It is a very nice white sandy beach and the water is clear blue. Zouterik, Karakter and Phi are anchored together at Isla Cies, a small island not far from the Spanish coast. They have agreed to spend a few days here after Polly’s birthday. A small boat arrives on the beach. Earlier, Polly already saw two new sailing boats anchoring in the bay. She is building a sand castle. Who would that be? She gets up, curious, the little bucket still in her hand. She runs to the boat. Two very tall people get out. ‘Hi, we are Kitty and Laurens. What's your name?’ they ask Polly while they drag the boat onto the beach. Moments later they are sitting down to chat with all the people who are already on the beach.
There’s grandma
Polly enjoys all of it very much. It’s a bit like her birthday but with even more people. And it's very nice to play on the beach with the water, the sand and her little bucket and shovel. She runs to the sea to get new water for the canal surrounding her castle and when she returns there is a lady at her sand castle. She asks if she can help. She introduces herself as grandma Mariëlle. Together with grandpa Han, she lives on the other new boat that Polly already saw at anchor. Polly likes the fact that grandma Mariëlle wants to help her. Together they can build much faster. And she misses her own grandmother very much. Side by side they create a very large castle with no less than five towers. They decorate them with white shells. There is a wide canal surrounding the castle. And it has a drawbridge they made them from twigs that they have found in the shrubs on the beach. Polly fantasizes that a princess lives in the largest tower. She's locked up and the prince comes to free her at his sup board. Which of course has to fit in the canal. Jaap also helps, he’s carrying buckets of water back and forth from the sea to the castle to fill the canal surrounding the castle.
The prince rescues the princess
When Polly gets in the dinghy to return to Zouterik, the sun is already setting. Daddy pushes the boat through the surf. Oops, there is a very high wave. Polly turns around. Oh no, the wave breaks over her sand castle! The water takes it all into the sea, the towers, the shells and the drawbridge. ‘It is getting high tide,’ says mummy, ‘then the water ends up higher on the beach and takes everything with it that lies on the border of sea and beach.’ For a moment Polly is sad, but then she realizes that the prince can probably swim very well and that he has already saved the princess. ‘Tomorrow I’ll build a new castle and then I’ll also create a life jacket for the princess.’ Satisfied with this solution, Polly turns around while they calmly sail back to Zouterik.
