Today has been one of the busiest yet, but good progress has been made on the electronics installation. Raymarine C80, GPS, Radar and Autopilot.
Plus I have measured up and drawn a stand for the compressor and generator, which I intend to keep in the engine bays, for storage that is, in use they will be out of the engine bay and well cleaned before returning. I have tracked down a company in La Rochelle, who has offered to make them out of marine grade aluminium, 10mm plate, which will do nicely. They should be ready on Wednesday, fingers crossed.
Maggie and Ivan dropped in today, other immanent Mahe owners (22nd May) Maggie cant wait, It was really nice to see them, they have sent various emails and even called us up at home for a chat about comparing progress, we meet through our blog. Maggie and Ivan should be here at the same time as Jef and Marin (Mahe 88). Anyway a picture of the happy couple to be. Not that they are not happy anyway, you know what I mean. Good luck and fair winds to Maggie, Ivan, Jef and Marin.
Monday 28 April 2008
Sunday 27 April 2008
Day 17 - Heading home for the last time
In a change to my usual train based updates, this update is being composed on the Le Havre-Portsmouth ferry by the wonders of technology, using the free internet access in the Club Lounge. I arrived in France yesterday morning by air at 9.35 into La Rochelle airport, where Kevin was waiting to meet me having spent the last week apart. Another of my now legendary flying visits to return our car home after last weekend's delivery trip.
It's been an exhausting few weeks for both of us and when I arrived at the boat the sun was shining and we had it to ourselves for the first time since the first night when we slept amongst the boxes and bags. I had the usual tour of updates and progress since my last visit, as usual I could see the hard work Kevin had put in in just a week, in fact when I think back to that first night it is amazing to think we have only had the boat for just over two weeks. Although Kevin and I are used to spending time apart in the week as I have been travelling away with work now for over 5 years, this last week has probably been one of the hardest. I have been frantically busy, working all week whilst trying to pack up our house ready for exchange hopefully Friday next week. This may not seem like a large task but we are keeping only a few boxes in my sister's attic and what we are taking on the boat everything else has to be disposed of somehow. We are very lucky that our house buyer wishes to buy all of our furniture too which has helped enourmously, which is just as well because the sale is going through very quickly (fingers crossed).
The other reason for the additional pressure this week is that we have both decided that it is not worth the money for the additional work that I had planned to do over the summer to be living our dream apart. Therefore I have booked two weeks off work to do the Canaries delivery trip with Kevin and if the house sales goes through as planned then I will be handing in my notice as soon as we have completion. However, I like to think that we have become the kings of flexible planning which should come in very useful in the coming few years, so this further change in schedule should not cause us any concerns. After all, craming what I had expected to be 3 months of time into a couple of weeks should be fine. I only have a company to close down, house to sell and wedding to organise, I'm sure it will be fine!
I think the side to all of this that you don't really often read is just how difficult it can be in the weeks running up to a big jump off like this in throwing / giving away / eBaying possesions, saying goodbye to friends and family with just photos of a boat to look at and other peoples blogs to remind you why you are doing all of this. I think that was part of what has made my last week very hard work was disposing of our possessions in wet and rainy UK in the house on my own. However, for all of the those people out there planning / thinking of it, I can tell you that the one day I just had with Kevin on the boat has made all of that disappear, we both spent the day saying how sure we were that this was the best thing we had ever done. I think the 27 degree heat helps! It's amazing the uplifting affect on the spirit that the sun gives, but it was also the critical decision not to push ourselves to go out sailing despite the lack of wind in further preparation for the crossing or to do anymore jobs or anything else. We infact decided to take the day off for the first time in what seems like months. Kevin prepared and absolutely delicious lunch prepared with local fresh ingredients enjoyed al fresco on the cockpit table in the shade of the bimini. In the afternoon, we walked along the seafront, people watched in cafes, ate ice creams (ok so that was just me!), wondered round the supermarket buying fresh seafood and wine stocks up for the boat while we still have access to cheap but excellent wine and a car.
Even visiting the supermarket which we both find a terrible chore at home, is fun in a foreign country, particularly one which takes it's food as seriously as France. We ended up with fresh prawns, the obligatory bagette and half a fresh crab enjoyed on the cockpit table (outside) in the setting sun with a glass of champagne courtesy of our brokers, which we were too exhausted to drink on our first night and which Kevin had been saving for us to enjoy together since. Absolute perfection and definitely worth all of the effort.
I know I should probably be terrified as it is my first big crossing, but I am really excited about the delivery. As the delivery skipper is already booked we will keep him on for the trip as I am sure we will both learn a lot from him. So I fly back out on Wednesday, Tim arrives on Thursday and hopefully we set off shortly afterwards, depending on the weather. Ironically our original departure date would have been perfect weather wise, but one advantage of the slightly later departure, is one that I get to go along and two that we will managed to get all of the electronics fitted before we set off. We have a basic set we go with the boat which would have been adequate for the delivery but now we will have everything up and running. So fingers crossed the weather holds a bit longer.
It's been an exhausting few weeks for both of us and when I arrived at the boat the sun was shining and we had it to ourselves for the first time since the first night when we slept amongst the boxes and bags. I had the usual tour of updates and progress since my last visit, as usual I could see the hard work Kevin had put in in just a week, in fact when I think back to that first night it is amazing to think we have only had the boat for just over two weeks. Although Kevin and I are used to spending time apart in the week as I have been travelling away with work now for over 5 years, this last week has probably been one of the hardest. I have been frantically busy, working all week whilst trying to pack up our house ready for exchange hopefully Friday next week. This may not seem like a large task but we are keeping only a few boxes in my sister's attic and what we are taking on the boat everything else has to be disposed of somehow. We are very lucky that our house buyer wishes to buy all of our furniture too which has helped enourmously, which is just as well because the sale is going through very quickly (fingers crossed).
The other reason for the additional pressure this week is that we have both decided that it is not worth the money for the additional work that I had planned to do over the summer to be living our dream apart. Therefore I have booked two weeks off work to do the Canaries delivery trip with Kevin and if the house sales goes through as planned then I will be handing in my notice as soon as we have completion. However, I like to think that we have become the kings of flexible planning which should come in very useful in the coming few years, so this further change in schedule should not cause us any concerns. After all, craming what I had expected to be 3 months of time into a couple of weeks should be fine. I only have a company to close down, house to sell and wedding to organise, I'm sure it will be fine!
I think the side to all of this that you don't really often read is just how difficult it can be in the weeks running up to a big jump off like this in throwing / giving away / eBaying possesions, saying goodbye to friends and family with just photos of a boat to look at and other peoples blogs to remind you why you are doing all of this. I think that was part of what has made my last week very hard work was disposing of our possessions in wet and rainy UK in the house on my own. However, for all of the those people out there planning / thinking of it, I can tell you that the one day I just had with Kevin on the boat has made all of that disappear, we both spent the day saying how sure we were that this was the best thing we had ever done. I think the 27 degree heat helps! It's amazing the uplifting affect on the spirit that the sun gives, but it was also the critical decision not to push ourselves to go out sailing despite the lack of wind in further preparation for the crossing or to do anymore jobs or anything else. We infact decided to take the day off for the first time in what seems like months. Kevin prepared and absolutely delicious lunch prepared with local fresh ingredients enjoyed al fresco on the cockpit table in the shade of the bimini. In the afternoon, we walked along the seafront, people watched in cafes, ate ice creams (ok so that was just me!), wondered round the supermarket buying fresh seafood and wine stocks up for the boat while we still have access to cheap but excellent wine and a car.
Even visiting the supermarket which we both find a terrible chore at home, is fun in a foreign country, particularly one which takes it's food as seriously as France. We ended up with fresh prawns, the obligatory bagette and half a fresh crab enjoyed on the cockpit table (outside) in the setting sun with a glass of champagne courtesy of our brokers, which we were too exhausted to drink on our first night and which Kevin had been saving for us to enjoy together since. Absolute perfection and definitely worth all of the effort.
I know I should probably be terrified as it is my first big crossing, but I am really excited about the delivery. As the delivery skipper is already booked we will keep him on for the trip as I am sure we will both learn a lot from him. So I fly back out on Wednesday, Tim arrives on Thursday and hopefully we set off shortly afterwards, depending on the weather. Ironically our original departure date would have been perfect weather wise, but one advantage of the slightly later departure, is one that I get to go along and two that we will managed to get all of the electronics fitted before we set off. We have a basic set we go with the boat which would have been adequate for the delivery but now we will have everything up and running. So fingers crossed the weather holds a bit longer.
Friday 25 April 2008
Day 15 - Sunshine at last
This morning we had a visit from Fountaine Pajot, I had mentioned to the after sales manager Thierry yesterday about the engine bay covers only having 3 seals around the hatch and to make it water tight it would require 4. Without any prompting they turned up and fitted the 4th seal, which I am eternally grateful. Then Thierry turns up with a roll of the seal and handed it to me for spares, how good is that, I must say that Fountaine Pajot have been excellent at sorting out our small problems and the snagging list is now at an end. Thank you Fountaine Pajot!
The sun has now decided to come out and shower us in sunshine, which is most welcome, very little to none existent wind, which in these parts must be rare. Anyway I thought I would take a photo on Invincible basking in the sun to share with you all.
By the way the current temerature is 22 degrees the shorts are on and a bottle of white is chilling in the fridge, oh god I miss work, Ha!
The sun has now decided to come out and shower us in sunshine, which is most welcome, very little to none existent wind, which in these parts must be rare. Anyway I thought I would take a photo on Invincible basking in the sun to share with you all.
By the way the current temerature is 22 degrees the shorts are on and a bottle of white is chilling in the fridge, oh god I miss work, Ha!
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Day - 13 Slow day in La Rochelle
Yesterday we went out in 25-30 knot wind speeds to see what the boat could do in these conditions and I am glad to say that it handled the conditions with no problem what so ever. However Paul was feeling sea sick for most of the time, something I don’t suffer with thankfully.
Today we are just having a lazy day of sorts, I have been moving things around the boat to make some sort of an organized approach to the various lockers and holds. Blowing up the fenders we brought with us as the standard ones supplied are on the small side.
Paul looks like he has been in a fight, which he defiantly lost, the bimini is quite low on entering the boat and you need to duck your head, I did warn him due the fact that I lost the same fight in the first week on the boat, but after a few hard whacks you should start to learn about the procedure required. Duck!
The boat is now taking shape and will soon be ready for the big off to the Canaries, to hopefully better weather. I know we are on the Atlantic coast, but the weather system is so varied if defies belief, hence Biscay having it reputation. The good news is that I have downloaded the latest weather predictions and we are in for some sunshine for the next 4-5 days, which I am looking forward to.
Today we are just having a lazy day of sorts, I have been moving things around the boat to make some sort of an organized approach to the various lockers and holds. Blowing up the fenders we brought with us as the standard ones supplied are on the small side.
Paul looks like he has been in a fight, which he defiantly lost, the bimini is quite low on entering the boat and you need to duck your head, I did warn him due the fact that I lost the same fight in the first week on the boat, but after a few hard whacks you should start to learn about the procedure required. Duck!
The boat is now taking shape and will soon be ready for the big off to the Canaries, to hopefully better weather. I know we are on the Atlantic coast, but the weather system is so varied if defies belief, hence Biscay having it reputation. The good news is that I have downloaded the latest weather predictions and we are in for some sunshine for the next 4-5 days, which I am looking forward to.
Sunday 20 April 2008
Day 10 - Hard Goodbyes
The day has arrived that I must say goodbye to my daughter who has spent the last week with me, enjoying our new boat. A tearful goodbye with some big hugs at the airport from Jo, Alex and Chris.
This now left me with the car to go and locate Paul, to transfer him and his kit to the boat, mean while Paul was having a major problem with him not being able to locate his credit card. I was alerted of this situation by Toni from England Paul’s girlfriend.
I was asked to make my way back to the boat to meet with Paul, it being Sunday and Paul wanting to speak to his personal banker, who is located in Germany only gave us the option to wait till Monday.
Both Paul and I retired to a local café and watched the world go by with a few beers, before returning to the boat and planning our next couple of weeks build up.
This now left me with the car to go and locate Paul, to transfer him and his kit to the boat, mean while Paul was having a major problem with him not being able to locate his credit card. I was alerted of this situation by Toni from England Paul’s girlfriend.
I was asked to make my way back to the boat to meet with Paul, it being Sunday and Paul wanting to speak to his personal banker, who is located in Germany only gave us the option to wait till Monday.
Both Paul and I retired to a local café and watched the world go by with a few beers, before returning to the boat and planning our next couple of weeks build up.
Saturday 19 April 2008
Day 9 – The Guest Arrive
The first wave of our guest have arrived, both Chris and Paul have flown over together from Manchester and meeting up at the other side in La Rochelle airport to share a taxi, Jo had given both Chris and Paul a description of each other, having never met before and they had to try and work out if they could match the description with the person, sounds like the making of a fun game, anyway Paul admitted to having a go and failing on his first attempt, he explained that upon approaching a single woman standing at the airport who he thought matched the description. This ended up with some poor women wondering if she was the target of some weird chat up line. Chris did not admit to any such adventure and they both arrived at the boat bringing the long awaited sunshine.
Mean while Jo was heading down via the ferry in the car with some more additional kit for the boat, arriving a bit later than planned, but safe and sound.
We had a brief interval to decide on what the next stage of events would be, well it was simple, we now have enough crew to help move the boats, which have been pinning us to the pontoon rafted up. We were soon free from our Jail and on our way out of the marina, only to be confronted with the return of the international optimist boats, which basically consisted of about 2 to 300 small boats containing children with kamikaze like tendencies, you think you are bullet proof at that age, and I was impressed with boats ability to quickly come to a stop and avoid the mass murder, which was now possible.
Jo and Paul did what they could in alerting the mini yachts people to our presence, this did not seem to matter as our boat was only about 100 times bigger than them and they out numbered us anyway, Paul later likened it to a swam of killer bee’s attacking. Chris was just amazed with the chaos, shouting encouragement to the skipper on the helm (me), useful phrases, like lookout they are also coming from behind, thanks Chris!
Once clear of the swarm we headed out to the open sea with fair winds and glorious sunshine, raising the main then unfurling the genoa left us all with a big smile on our face, Alex was soon on the helm grinning from ear to ear. We stayed out for a couple of hours trying out the boat on all points before heading back to the marina. This without a doubt had cleared the cob webs from people’s long journeys to get here.
On rafting up to our location, this time on the outside the weather returned back to its normal state and the heavens opened pouring down with torrential rain, which we now all had to endure helping out unloading the car. Upon completing this task we treated ourselves to a meal out at the ‘La Globe Trotter’ a little bit damp but in high spirits.
After the meal, 3 courses for 12 euros and it was wonderful French cuisine, so no complaints all round. We retired to the boat with Paul continuing on into La Rochelle to see the sights and feeling the need to contact his girlfriend by phone in the early hours to regale his tale of the day in his new found state of happiness.
Mean while Jo was heading down via the ferry in the car with some more additional kit for the boat, arriving a bit later than planned, but safe and sound.
We had a brief interval to decide on what the next stage of events would be, well it was simple, we now have enough crew to help move the boats, which have been pinning us to the pontoon rafted up. We were soon free from our Jail and on our way out of the marina, only to be confronted with the return of the international optimist boats, which basically consisted of about 2 to 300 small boats containing children with kamikaze like tendencies, you think you are bullet proof at that age, and I was impressed with boats ability to quickly come to a stop and avoid the mass murder, which was now possible.
Jo and Paul did what they could in alerting the mini yachts people to our presence, this did not seem to matter as our boat was only about 100 times bigger than them and they out numbered us anyway, Paul later likened it to a swam of killer bee’s attacking. Chris was just amazed with the chaos, shouting encouragement to the skipper on the helm (me), useful phrases, like lookout they are also coming from behind, thanks Chris!
Once clear of the swarm we headed out to the open sea with fair winds and glorious sunshine, raising the main then unfurling the genoa left us all with a big smile on our face, Alex was soon on the helm grinning from ear to ear. We stayed out for a couple of hours trying out the boat on all points before heading back to the marina. This without a doubt had cleared the cob webs from people’s long journeys to get here.
On rafting up to our location, this time on the outside the weather returned back to its normal state and the heavens opened pouring down with torrential rain, which we now all had to endure helping out unloading the car. Upon completing this task we treated ourselves to a meal out at the ‘La Globe Trotter’ a little bit damp but in high spirits.
After the meal, 3 courses for 12 euros and it was wonderful French cuisine, so no complaints all round. We retired to the boat with Paul continuing on into La Rochelle to see the sights and feeling the need to contact his girlfriend by phone in the early hours to regale his tale of the day in his new found state of happiness.
Friday 18 April 2008
Day 8 - Rain stops play
The rain has been coming down steadily all day with no sign of letting up, both Alex and I went for a wonder round the shops to pick up some supplies for the boat and for us.
A very nice bottle of Muscadet with some local ham and cheese, the wine cost 2.60 compared to a bottle of coke, which cost 2.80 Euros.
We managed to scrub the decks with help from the rain, plus we gave the boat a good clean, we have guests tomorrow, Jo, Chris and Paul are on route.
We have bought a 12V car hover to help with the cleaning, but as soon as we plugged it in and tried to use it, it died on use, blowing the fuse, which then meant we had to find the distribution board, which turns out to be in the Guest room under the bunk, so the hover will be going back and we will need to buy a rechargeable one. Otherwise it's good old manpower.
A very nice bottle of Muscadet with some local ham and cheese, the wine cost 2.60 compared to a bottle of coke, which cost 2.80 Euros.
We managed to scrub the decks with help from the rain, plus we gave the boat a good clean, we have guests tomorrow, Jo, Chris and Paul are on route.
We have bought a 12V car hover to help with the cleaning, but as soon as we plugged it in and tried to use it, it died on use, blowing the fuse, which then meant we had to find the distribution board, which turns out to be in the Guest room under the bunk, so the hover will be going back and we will need to buy a rechargeable one. Otherwise it's good old manpower.
Thursday 17 April 2008
Day 7 - Has it been a week already!
Well I am now getting on top of the list of jobs, which needed doing before we get to go off and play.
I have just got WIFI onboard, or as the French say WEFEE, 6 euros for a week’s access, I can cope with that.
The weather is up and down at the moment, brilliant sunshine one day 18 degrees, nearly put my shorts on and torrential rain the next day 9 degrees.
The food is phenomenal, bit pricey, but don’t mind that if the quality is right and it is. The beer is expensive :-( but wine is cheaper than coca cola :-) and it’s good stuff as well. Cant win them all.
The good thing about the rain is that it has been a good test for the boat, checking for leaks around hatches etc and the good news is, no leeks, not a single one.
Some of the crew will be arriving on Saturday and all being well and the weather gods permitting we will push off and do some sailing.
My next door neighbour is a French man called Bernard 65 years of age, who has bought a similar boat and he invited Alex and myself to dinner last night, spaghetti, very nice, he has crossed the Atlantic four times across to St Barts were he now lives, so he was telling us a few yarns about his travels, he had quite a few after all he has been cruising for the best part of 20 years, not bad eh!
Alex is helping out and has taken about 30 quid off me at cards in the evening, dont know were she has learned to become a shark. Anyway for winning at cards you also get to scrub the decks!
I have just got WIFI onboard, or as the French say WEFEE, 6 euros for a week’s access, I can cope with that.
The weather is up and down at the moment, brilliant sunshine one day 18 degrees, nearly put my shorts on and torrential rain the next day 9 degrees.
The food is phenomenal, bit pricey, but don’t mind that if the quality is right and it is. The beer is expensive :-( but wine is cheaper than coca cola :-) and it’s good stuff as well. Cant win them all.
The good thing about the rain is that it has been a good test for the boat, checking for leaks around hatches etc and the good news is, no leeks, not a single one.
Some of the crew will be arriving on Saturday and all being well and the weather gods permitting we will push off and do some sailing.
My next door neighbour is a French man called Bernard 65 years of age, who has bought a similar boat and he invited Alex and myself to dinner last night, spaghetti, very nice, he has crossed the Atlantic four times across to St Barts were he now lives, so he was telling us a few yarns about his travels, he had quite a few after all he has been cruising for the best part of 20 years, not bad eh!
Alex is helping out and has taken about 30 quid off me at cards in the evening, dont know were she has learned to become a shark. Anyway for winning at cards you also get to scrub the decks!
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Day 6: Port des Minimes, La Rochelle
Well what can I say, the last week has been a complete blur, but a nice one at that, I thought it was time to update the blog and spend some time boring people about the totally amazing time we have had the last couple of days in France, the weather is very changeable, we have had one day of torrential rain followed by glorious sunshine every other day, Bernard who owns the Mahe next door was impressed with how fast I catch the sun and turn brown. Ah the sun I don’t care what anyone says, the best medicine in the world, especially when you come form good old blighty.
We still have a lot of work to complete on the boat to get her up to speed for ocean voyaging, but some work you don’t mind doing.
The boat is everything I expected and my expectations were high so no disappointments, which is very rare in these days.
Included are a few pictures of the ‘Spifurl’ for the sailing enthusiasts. This is the first boat to have one!
I will do a full update later when I have chance to play with this enormous sail, first impressions in a word ‘phenomenal’, not for the faint hearted and powers the boat up to speeds, which will easily mortify some of the bigger boats, clearly a spin off from the racing scene. More details to follow…
I am still trying to come to terms with the wow factor every time I see the boat, so without going into to much detail a picture says a thousand words!
We still have a lot of work to complete on the boat to get her up to speed for ocean voyaging, but some work you don’t mind doing.
The boat is everything I expected and my expectations were high so no disappointments, which is very rare in these days.
Included are a few pictures of the ‘Spifurl’ for the sailing enthusiasts. This is the first boat to have one!
I will do a full update later when I have chance to play with this enormous sail, first impressions in a word ‘phenomenal’, not for the faint hearted and powers the boat up to speeds, which will easily mortify some of the bigger boats, clearly a spin off from the racing scene. More details to follow…
I am still trying to come to terms with the wow factor every time I see the boat, so without going into to much detail a picture says a thousand words!
Sunday 13 April 2008
Day 4: Rain and Spending - Port des Minimes, La Rochelle
I am typing this update from a decidedly soggy La Rochelle airport. I am on my way back to Preston after a hectic few days on our boat. I have written up the events of the handover below, pictures to follow soon. I am afraid that time has been short for updates before now.
Today Alex and I had a well deserved lie in after our long day yesterday. Bernard rafted beside us in his new Mahe finally got me out of bed running his engines for hot water, which is probably fair enough as this unseasonal bad weather is hard for him as he is from Martinique. We had a croissants for breakfast then a walk in the rain to the chandlery. We are fitting a Seagull filter for drinking water and Kevin needed a fitting for the connection to our cold water supply. Of course we ended up buying a crystal dehumidifier, jerry can, Q Flag and gas lighter (first casualty of the trip) while we were there, the spending really is on full flow recently this being one of many recent trips. That was the extent of my activities this morning is I needed to head to the airport to get home for work next week. I am flying back via Southampton as there are no direct flights to Manchester on a Sunday.
Kevin is continuing with his list of jobs, the most pressing of which is the addition of the boat name. Apparently failure to show this plus our UK Registration number and Red Ensign (UK Flag) could result in a 4000 Euro fine, which we have been warned is closely monitored here and certainly we cannot leave the marina without. Kevin spoke to our Delivery skipper Tim Basset yesterday too. He needed to move our delivery date to the 1st May, which actually seems sensible due to the work remaining. He is also insisting that the 50 hour service of our new boat engines is complete before departure too. This is not going to be cheap as there are two, so this adds more pressure on Kevin to get the fitting out done so we can get the engines run in, so the extra week will come in handy.
Today Alex and I had a well deserved lie in after our long day yesterday. Bernard rafted beside us in his new Mahe finally got me out of bed running his engines for hot water, which is probably fair enough as this unseasonal bad weather is hard for him as he is from Martinique. We had a croissants for breakfast then a walk in the rain to the chandlery. We are fitting a Seagull filter for drinking water and Kevin needed a fitting for the connection to our cold water supply. Of course we ended up buying a crystal dehumidifier, jerry can, Q Flag and gas lighter (first casualty of the trip) while we were there, the spending really is on full flow recently this being one of many recent trips. That was the extent of my activities this morning is I needed to head to the airport to get home for work next week. I am flying back via Southampton as there are no direct flights to Manchester on a Sunday.
Kevin is continuing with his list of jobs, the most pressing of which is the addition of the boat name. Apparently failure to show this plus our UK Registration number and Red Ensign (UK Flag) could result in a 4000 Euro fine, which we have been warned is closely monitored here and certainly we cannot leave the marina without. Kevin spoke to our Delivery skipper Tim Basset yesterday too. He needed to move our delivery date to the 1st May, which actually seems sensible due to the work remaining. He is also insisting that the 50 hour service of our new boat engines is complete before departure too. This is not going to be cheap as there are two, so this adds more pressure on Kevin to get the fitting out done so we can get the engines run in, so the extra week will come in handy.
Saturday 12 April 2008
Day 3: Fitting Out - Port des Minimes, La Rochelle
Alex and I arrived into La Rochelle airport at 9.35am, where Karen and Paul kindly collected us and took us to the boat. Kevin had been very busy and the boat was looking lovely. I noticed one of his first jobs had been fitting our fishing rod holders / outriggers! There were lots of signs of progress actually and most things had already found a home. Alex got the guided tour whilst I caught up with Ash and Laura. Karen and Paul handed over all the final paperwork and said their goodbyes. We said a huge thanks to them, particularly for the last couple of days as their help had certainly made quite a potentially stressful and certainly monumental day for us go much smoother. We certainly benefited from their experience and connections in the area too.
Next, after a very brief sit down for a cuppa, the girls were dispatched to the local hypermarket (as the fridge contained only a loaf of bread, eggs and four bottles of champagne kindly donated for the celebrations!). Whilst the boys continued with the long list of jobs Kevin had listed. Ash, Laura and their hire car having been co-opted into service already from their holiday! The gender lines seem to have been drawn as oftem seems to happen on boats as generally the girls spent the day shopping, cleaning and preparing food, whilst the boys did engineering. Another good days progress and some much nicer sunny weather followed by a fantastic meal out now Alex had arrived to sample the lovely Frech food we'd been raving about. Kevin also got to try the seafood platter now he had Alex his fellow seafood addict with him. Ash, Laura and I looked on in amazement at them eating through Oysters, crabs, mussels, whelks, clams, winkles etc etc./span>
Next, after a very brief sit down for a cuppa, the girls were dispatched to the local hypermarket (as the fridge contained only a loaf of bread, eggs and four bottles of champagne kindly donated for the celebrations!). Whilst the boys continued with the long list of jobs Kevin had listed. Ash, Laura and their hire car having been co-opted into service already from their holiday! The gender lines seem to have been drawn as oftem seems to happen on boats as generally the girls spent the day shopping, cleaning and preparing food, whilst the boys did engineering. Another good days progress and some much nicer sunny weather followed by a fantastic meal out now Alex had arrived to sample the lovely Frech food we'd been raving about. Kevin also got to try the seafood platter now he had Alex his fellow seafood addict with him. Ash, Laura and I looked on in amazement at them eating through Oysters, crabs, mussels, whelks, clams, winkles etc etc./span>
Friday 11 April 2008
Day 2: Unpacking - Port des Minimes, La Rochelle
Friday started very early for me at 4.30 am to catch the Saint Malo ferry back to the UK to return our hire van. I managed the 4 hour drive quite successfully with only a minor detour on the Nantes ring road and manage to arrive in time to upgrade to a day cabin. I spent the rest of the day sleeping before arriving into Portsmouth on a lovely sunny evening at 6.30 UK time, passing the majestic HMS Warrior where we are getting married in Augst on the way, which was a lovely welcome back. Yet more horrendous M6 driving followed this time in torrential rain and still amazing busy raod up to arriving home at 11.30pm. Ready for another 3.30am start to collect Alex and fly back out! We must be mad!
Kevin meanwhile set to on finishing the unpacking and starting on our kitting out jobs. At 3pm, our friends Ashley and Laura had arrived and rescued him from a 7am start to work and still not as much as breakfast! They all went off to the supermarket for provisioning, including bedding for Ash & Laura so they could stay a a few days.
Kevin meanwhile set to on finishing the unpacking and starting on our kitting out jobs. At 3pm, our friends Ashley and Laura had arrived and rescued him from a 7am start to work and still not as much as breakfast! They all went off to the supermarket for provisioning, including bedding for Ash & Laura so they could stay a a few days.
Thursday 10 April 2008
Day 1: Handover & Sea Trial - Port des Minimes, La Rochelle
We were up and awake very early for our sea trial and were queuing up for breakfast starting by 07:30. We had our continental breakfasts then kitted up for our sail in the bitingly cold wind and checked out the hotel.
We'd arranged to meet on pontoon 15, but when we arrived slightly early the boat hadn't yet made it through from the comissioning quay. However, Paul (MI Cats) soon turned up and explained that the boat was on it's way round and we were to meet at the Capitainerie pontoon, so we headed over just in time to see her pulling in with Ramon from FP at the helm. We loaded up quickly and headed out of the marina. One of the remaining jobs on the boat was the connection of the windex, so I'm not sure of the wind speed but would guess it was 10-12 knots, not ideal in terms of testing the water tightness of fittings etc, but ideal in terms of getting to see our spifurl which can only be used in light winds - it is designed for light downwind sailing, ideal fro the tropical tradewind route we are planning. Ramon put up full sail as soon as we were clear of the harbour and killed the engines. It was fantastic to be back under sail, though to be honest I was still struggling to take in the fact that soon they would be handing over the keys to this gorgeous boat! We were soon up to 7 knots and all was well, the seas were calm, so it was no trial for her and she was gliding along nicely.
Ramon then went to fetch the spifurl which being a lighter sail you do not leave out all the time to protect it from the elements. Kevin and I gathered at the bow to watch exactly how Ramon rigged it whilst Paul took the helm. It looked relatively simple, the furler clips to a D ring at the end of the bowsprit and the furled sail hoisted via our additional halyard. The furling line is then used to release the sail, it filled quickly and you could feel the immediate surge of speed. It looks tremendous when it is fully filled and it's hard to show in the photos the scale of these sails when they are flown but it is really impressive. Ramon had not used the Spifurl either before and there was a little faffing when we hoisted the sail, however this he did single handedly, so it wasn't so difficult though I think we will need some practice. The winds were a little variable so we didn't sail for too long with this sail, Ramon furled the spifurl in and had it back in it's bag in no time. We headed off around the bay before heading back in before lunch.
FP are obviously keen to get you to sign over ownership of the boat before you move about and start loading kit and discussion over damage marks etc get more complicated. Unfortunately there were still some jobs outstanding, which however they did plan on getting completed that day. I know there are a few people reading who will wish to know details, remaining tasks:
- Replace door frame to heads / bathroom - scratch found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Replace heads door - poor fit found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Connect up VHF, windex cables from mast - incomplete / found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Replace transom deck shower hose - slight leak - found by Kevin
- Add additional blocks ordered for reefing lines found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Resin drips in cockpit - to be removed found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Remove scuff marks from bows - found by Kevin
Generally, not a bad list and as you can see Karen & Paul from MI Cats had really done all the hard work for us. Therefore, when we retruned from our trial sail to do our inspections we didn't really find much wrong. They also did an excellent job of keeping our list on the agenda with the 5 other bopats being commisioned that day from FP. Ramon was clearly very busy but made sure that what we needed got done.
This obviously put some pressure on us for our unpacking as I was due to be returning with the van on Friday to collect Alex. We started unpacking at 4pm via a fairly long walk down pontooms with no trolley (Ouch!), with the electricians finally coming at 7pm to complete the wiring so we could finally officially handover.
We finished unpacking the van, if not fully unpacking on the boat by 9.30pm, by which point we were shattered and hungry. We went in search of a supermarket whilst we had the van, but found that they don't keep such long hours in France. So we returned to Port de Minimes to find a restaurant instead. I insisted on going to the first one we came to, which just happened to be called Globe Trotter which seemed rather appropriate! Where we had a lovely meal but couldn't even managed the desert of our set meal before crawling back to the boat for our first night on board!
We'd arranged to meet on pontoon 15, but when we arrived slightly early the boat hadn't yet made it through from the comissioning quay. However, Paul (MI Cats) soon turned up and explained that the boat was on it's way round and we were to meet at the Capitainerie pontoon, so we headed over just in time to see her pulling in with Ramon from FP at the helm. We loaded up quickly and headed out of the marina. One of the remaining jobs on the boat was the connection of the windex, so I'm not sure of the wind speed but would guess it was 10-12 knots, not ideal in terms of testing the water tightness of fittings etc, but ideal in terms of getting to see our spifurl which can only be used in light winds - it is designed for light downwind sailing, ideal fro the tropical tradewind route we are planning. Ramon put up full sail as soon as we were clear of the harbour and killed the engines. It was fantastic to be back under sail, though to be honest I was still struggling to take in the fact that soon they would be handing over the keys to this gorgeous boat! We were soon up to 7 knots and all was well, the seas were calm, so it was no trial for her and she was gliding along nicely.
Ramon then went to fetch the spifurl which being a lighter sail you do not leave out all the time to protect it from the elements. Kevin and I gathered at the bow to watch exactly how Ramon rigged it whilst Paul took the helm. It looked relatively simple, the furler clips to a D ring at the end of the bowsprit and the furled sail hoisted via our additional halyard. The furling line is then used to release the sail, it filled quickly and you could feel the immediate surge of speed. It looks tremendous when it is fully filled and it's hard to show in the photos the scale of these sails when they are flown but it is really impressive. Ramon had not used the Spifurl either before and there was a little faffing when we hoisted the sail, however this he did single handedly, so it wasn't so difficult though I think we will need some practice. The winds were a little variable so we didn't sail for too long with this sail, Ramon furled the spifurl in and had it back in it's bag in no time. We headed off around the bay before heading back in before lunch.
FP are obviously keen to get you to sign over ownership of the boat before you move about and start loading kit and discussion over damage marks etc get more complicated. Unfortunately there were still some jobs outstanding, which however they did plan on getting completed that day. I know there are a few people reading who will wish to know details, remaining tasks:
- Replace door frame to heads / bathroom - scratch found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Replace heads door - poor fit found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Connect up VHF, windex cables from mast - incomplete / found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Replace transom deck shower hose - slight leak - found by Kevin
- Add additional blocks ordered for reefing lines found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Resin drips in cockpit - to be removed found by MI Cats in pre inspection
- Remove scuff marks from bows - found by Kevin
Generally, not a bad list and as you can see Karen & Paul from MI Cats had really done all the hard work for us. Therefore, when we retruned from our trial sail to do our inspections we didn't really find much wrong. They also did an excellent job of keeping our list on the agenda with the 5 other bopats being commisioned that day from FP. Ramon was clearly very busy but made sure that what we needed got done.
This obviously put some pressure on us for our unpacking as I was due to be returning with the van on Friday to collect Alex. We started unpacking at 4pm via a fairly long walk down pontooms with no trolley (Ouch!), with the electricians finally coming at 7pm to complete the wiring so we could finally officially handover.
We finished unpacking the van, if not fully unpacking on the boat by 9.30pm, by which point we were shattered and hungry. We went in search of a supermarket whilst we had the van, but found that they don't keep such long hours in France. So we returned to Port de Minimes to find a restaurant instead. I insisted on going to the first one we came to, which just happened to be called Globe Trotter which seemed rather appropriate! Where we had a lovely meal but couldn't even managed the desert of our set meal before crawling back to the boat for our first night on board!
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Arrival
We had an excellent sail from Portsmouth to St Malo, all the best trips start with a ferry in my book and this one was really luxurious compared to the Scottish Islands ferries we have taken in the last few years with ensuite cabins and French cuisine. We awoke refreshed and raring to go, we docked and were on the road by 9.30 French time.
I got to experience my first attempt at driving on the right and was soon overtaking on the excellent and empty autoroutes. We arrived about 2pm into La Rochelle and went straight to the commissioning quay in the Old Port to find our new boat! She was looking lovely, we think we are the first Mahe to take the optional Spifurl sail which involves an additional bowsprit (protruding pole / spar), so it was good to see it all put together. The dingy was inflated and hung from the davits and again it was great to see that too. It seemed there were a few Mahe's sold under the Boat Show deal as there were a number with similar extras all lined up on the quay. It was great to see her finally with all her plastic wrapping still on looking shiny and new.
We were a little concerned to see that there was still some work ongoing on the boat and we were worried that it was not ready for our trial sail the next day. However, we managed to speak to Karen from MI Cats (our broker), who it seemed we'd just missed at the boat as she'd gone to sort out the paperwork at the factory, who assured us that the majority of work underway was the snagging points that they had picked up on their review that morning and we were still on for 9am tomorrow for our handover sail. We decided not to panic about it and checked into a hotel with secure parking as planned and headed out for our favorite restaurant.
I got to experience my first attempt at driving on the right and was soon overtaking on the excellent and empty autoroutes. We arrived about 2pm into La Rochelle and went straight to the commissioning quay in the Old Port to find our new boat! She was looking lovely, we think we are the first Mahe to take the optional Spifurl sail which involves an additional bowsprit (protruding pole / spar), so it was good to see it all put together. The dingy was inflated and hung from the davits and again it was great to see that too. It seemed there were a few Mahe's sold under the Boat Show deal as there were a number with similar extras all lined up on the quay. It was great to see her finally with all her plastic wrapping still on looking shiny and new.
We were a little concerned to see that there was still some work ongoing on the boat and we were worried that it was not ready for our trial sail the next day. However, we managed to speak to Karen from MI Cats (our broker), who it seemed we'd just missed at the boat as she'd gone to sort out the paperwork at the factory, who assured us that the majority of work underway was the snagging points that they had picked up on their review that morning and we were still on for 9am tomorrow for our handover sail. We decided not to panic about it and checked into a hotel with secure parking as planned and headed out for our favorite restaurant.
Tuesday 8 April 2008
Departure
The day to collect our Mahe had finally arrived and started with an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo. The first job of the morning was to collect the van for all our belongings. There are a limited number of companies which allow UK vehicles to France and the insurance adds quite a premium. We opted for OneCarOne in Preston, but for some minor difficulties finding them we were all checked in and back on the road by 9.15am. Next was packing the van, this was the bit we had been anxious about for a while as although all of our belongings fit within our measured masking taped area in the garage there was still a concern we should have gone for the bigger transit van, but as it was borderline it was hard to justify the £400 increase in hire and ferry charges which could easily be spent elsewhere. So we set about our loading very methodically and after 30 minutes using our well honed packing skills (UK scuba diving requirement) we'd everything in but some dive kit and books and still some space to go. It would be about this point that Kevin thought to step to the side of the van to check the load, which then shortly after resulted in the less careful unpacking of the van and yet more replanning. Owing to our electronics still being stuck in customs we opted to do a second trip the following weekend to deliver these plus the selection of items not fitting in this trip, still cheaper in our car than just switching up to a transit van now. So we selectively reloaded the van and were back on the road by 11am. The usual stressful journey down the M6 in the rain, roadworks and suicidal drivers commenced. Conversation mostly consisted of how we still didn't quite believe that we were actually going, especially Kevin who now leaves the country until a brief return for our wedding.
We arrived in Portsmouth in good time and had a drink in the sun while waiting for the ferry. We were discussing the inevitability of being stopped by security for searching when we board the ferry in our still fairly heavily loaded van packed to the rafters, not looking forward to a third repacking of the van in a single day. Paul had warned me from their trip to La Rochelle, Kevin is clearly suspicious looking as he always gets stopped at any security check point. We'd also been warned by Maggie and Ivan (other Mahe buyers) that flares would be confiscated if found. However, as we didn't want to have to rely on my GCSE French to decode the instructions in the event of an emergency, we thought we'd risk taking UK flares with us rather than buy in France, but we weren't relishing the thought of £150 worth of flares being confiscated either. Heading back to the car to sit in queue and looking around the cars, the majority were retired respectable looking it seemed more certain that we'd be scrutinized. There was a even less hope when the neighboring row of cars started moving and Kevin spotted every fourth car was being waved to the security area and we were fourth in row! Then a glimmer of excitement when we started moving and the second car had not returned and were now third. However, clearly we were even more suspicious looking than we thought as they decided to pull us in out of sequence or perhaps they are trained to detect people holding their breath!
We got quite a friendly looking young guy and thought our luck was in when he just started running through the standard airport type questions about packing bags/vans yourself usually fairly innocuous as long as you don't make any wise cracks about bombs etc. Clearly with the enhanced security threat, the ferry companies had opted to use this masterly detection technique for terrorists too. We were home and dry.
"Do you have any knives or sharp objects?". No no we assured him. We smiled and nodded expecting now to be waved on our way.
"Can I just have a look in the back?" Drats
"Of course"
So we both get out and open the back doors, it is about now that both Kevin and I both individually spot the lovely set of chefs knives that Kevin bought me in a leather presentation brief case immediately inside the door to the van. The security guy whistles and says "it looks very full" in a it's the end of my shift type way, great perhaps we've got away with it!
"Perhaps you could just open that brief case there in the front" He was obviously thinking it looked innocuous and he could still finish in time! They were pretty sporting about it and said they would just take the set off us for the journey and we could collect them on the other side. They didn't look any further as I guess they felt happy with their find. Kev saw the stock pile of confiscated knives they had accumulated, so we got off lightly especially when you consider the pile of diving, fishing and sailing knives we had in the van! We genuinely did not know that this was the case the only notice we saw was the one pointed out to us in the security area which is a bit late, I'm sure that was the excuse of the person who had their maschete confiscated too! We were relieved and amused to be honest and the phrase "No, no knives here" was repeated regularly though the evening over a few drinks!
We arrived in Portsmouth in good time and had a drink in the sun while waiting for the ferry. We were discussing the inevitability of being stopped by security for searching when we board the ferry in our still fairly heavily loaded van packed to the rafters, not looking forward to a third repacking of the van in a single day. Paul had warned me from their trip to La Rochelle, Kevin is clearly suspicious looking as he always gets stopped at any security check point. We'd also been warned by Maggie and Ivan (other Mahe buyers) that flares would be confiscated if found. However, as we didn't want to have to rely on my GCSE French to decode the instructions in the event of an emergency, we thought we'd risk taking UK flares with us rather than buy in France, but we weren't relishing the thought of £150 worth of flares being confiscated either. Heading back to the car to sit in queue and looking around the cars, the majority were retired respectable looking it seemed more certain that we'd be scrutinized. There was a even less hope when the neighboring row of cars started moving and Kevin spotted every fourth car was being waved to the security area and we were fourth in row! Then a glimmer of excitement when we started moving and the second car had not returned and were now third. However, clearly we were even more suspicious looking than we thought as they decided to pull us in out of sequence or perhaps they are trained to detect people holding their breath!
We got quite a friendly looking young guy and thought our luck was in when he just started running through the standard airport type questions about packing bags/vans yourself usually fairly innocuous as long as you don't make any wise cracks about bombs etc. Clearly with the enhanced security threat, the ferry companies had opted to use this masterly detection technique for terrorists too. We were home and dry.
"Do you have any knives or sharp objects?". No no we assured him. We smiled and nodded expecting now to be waved on our way.
"Can I just have a look in the back?" Drats
"Of course"
So we both get out and open the back doors, it is about now that both Kevin and I both individually spot the lovely set of chefs knives that Kevin bought me in a leather presentation brief case immediately inside the door to the van. The security guy whistles and says "it looks very full" in a it's the end of my shift type way, great perhaps we've got away with it!
"Perhaps you could just open that brief case there in the front" He was obviously thinking it looked innocuous and he could still finish in time! They were pretty sporting about it and said they would just take the set off us for the journey and we could collect them on the other side. They didn't look any further as I guess they felt happy with their find. Kev saw the stock pile of confiscated knives they had accumulated, so we got off lightly especially when you consider the pile of diving, fishing and sailing knives we had in the van! We genuinely did not know that this was the case the only notice we saw was the one pointed out to us in the security area which is a bit late, I'm sure that was the excuse of the person who had their maschete confiscated too! We were relieved and amused to be honest and the phrase "No, no knives here" was repeated regularly though the evening over a few drinks!
Sunday 6 April 2008
Final Farewells
We are now reaching the end of our preparataions and saying our final goodbyes. We had a lovely night in our old local of The Ship in Elswick and thank our friends for making the effort to coming to see us through the snow! This perhaps encouraged some of the promises to see us in warmer climates, we hope they do. There are already 4 of our friends coming out to La Rochelle, which we hope is a sign of things to come. The summer is also getting well booked in the Canaries.
We are both still in state of disbelief, though the packages and emptiness of our house is probably a clue. All rooms have been stripped and by the time the van is packed on Tuesday morning we will be left with little more than a couple of boxes for my sisters loft and work clothes for me.
Our house buyer's surveyor is coming on Tuesday, so things appear to be progressing well, so much so that our buyer arrived to do some measuring up yesterday!
Best Wishes to Jonny and Kate our friends who are haeding to Australia by yacht (blog address in links) at a similar time to us. They are heading for a couple of weeks in Scotland as a shakedown from a long winter of fitting out. We hope you enjoy your trip.
We are both still in state of disbelief, though the packages and emptiness of our house is probably a clue. All rooms have been stripped and by the time the van is packed on Tuesday morning we will be left with little more than a couple of boxes for my sisters loft and work clothes for me.
Our house buyer's surveyor is coming on Tuesday, so things appear to be progressing well, so much so that our buyer arrived to do some measuring up yesterday!
Best Wishes to Jonny and Kate our friends who are haeding to Australia by yacht (blog address in links) at a similar time to us. They are heading for a couple of weeks in Scotland as a shakedown from a long winter of fitting out. We hope you enjoy your trip.
Thursday 3 April 2008
Fast Forward
I have been awake since before 6am this morning packing our house in my head! I think I had been lulled into a false sense of security of time recently concentrating all my efforts on getting Kevin and the boat ready for delivery. My departure in August still seemed a way off and partly by self-preservation I had been putting my leaving work and moving house to the back of my mind. As regular readers of our blog will know we had put our house up for sale last August and received only one viewing in the few months we had it on the market. I had therefore been sitting back comfortably thinking that all that work was still ahead of me… until the day before yesterday!
So, as Kevin reminds me my job is now much easier, only the wedding to organise no house clearance to arrange as our buyer wants to buy the contents too. As catamarans are not designed for very heavy cruising loads we have been very economical on what we are taking with us – we are hiring an escort sized van to take everything over to the boat and this includes electronics and autopilot plus generator and liferaft! Therefore, the majority of our household belongings will be staying here. However, as we have been preparing for this for some months we are largely now decluttered as anything which is not in use has been eBayed! I am still finding it rather eerie walking round the house and imagining that I will almost literally be walking out and handing over the keys in only 4-5weeks time (touch wood, fingers crossed)!
Only a couple of weeks ago I was talking to my sister about putting our house on the market and she asked what I would do when the house sold, to which I promptly replied I would be moving in with her! I am not sure either of us expected that to be happening from early May and in fact I will be dividing my time between my parents and younger sister, when not working away. Although, as I pointed out, my parents also have their house on the market as they are planning to move to Lanzarote fulltime, but as their villa is fully rented for the next few months, Donna’s spare room could get very crowed! It will actually be a good opportunity to spend time with my family before we set off, as I haven’t seen as much of them as I would have liked due to our preparations for the trip and working in recent months.
I have really been having a reality attack in the last couple of days, Kevin had his as he finished work and is now firmly in the excited zone. My reality attack generally manifests itself in to-do lists anyway, so it is quite productive! What this really means though is that I can finally see myself out there and doing this too now. In fact, as we are now selling the house early we have decided I will finish work slightly earlier too so that I can take Alex out for her school holidays in mid July to the Canaries and stay out there to have 3 weeks with the three of us together on the boat before the wedding. Alex quickly calculated that this means she can do more scuba diving (which she loves) with three of us on the boat and I (perhaps vainly, though surely permitted for a wedding?!) calculated that I won’t now be the only one at the wedding looking milky white! Honestly though, this will really be the best start to our trip, there has been far too many occasions in the last few years when I haven’t been around due to work and it will be wonderful to start our adventure properly with Alex on board.
So fingers crossed it all works out. Rough timetable for those who have been asking:
• Sat 5th April – Leaving drinks for Kevin – The Ship, Elswick from 7pm
• Tue 8th April – Collect & pack van, drive to Portsmouth to catch overnight ferry
• Wed 9th April – Arrive St. Malo 9am, drive to La Rochelle, Yacht brokers final pre-handover checks
• Thu 10th April – Sea trial and boat handover, frantic van unpacking
• Fri 11th April – Jo drives van back to Preston via St. Malo ferry
• Sat 12th April – Jo & Alex fly out to La Rochelle
• Sun 13th April – Jo returns home and leaves Alex for half term week
• Sat 19th April – Jo, Christine (family friend) & Paul (from Kevin’s course) arrive
• Sun 20th April – Alex, Christine and Jo fly home
We have two more weeks planned in La Rochelle to ensure the boat is ready before heading off to the Canaries late April.
So, as Kevin reminds me my job is now much easier, only the wedding to organise no house clearance to arrange as our buyer wants to buy the contents too. As catamarans are not designed for very heavy cruising loads we have been very economical on what we are taking with us – we are hiring an escort sized van to take everything over to the boat and this includes electronics and autopilot plus generator and liferaft! Therefore, the majority of our household belongings will be staying here. However, as we have been preparing for this for some months we are largely now decluttered as anything which is not in use has been eBayed! I am still finding it rather eerie walking round the house and imagining that I will almost literally be walking out and handing over the keys in only 4-5weeks time (touch wood, fingers crossed)!
Only a couple of weeks ago I was talking to my sister about putting our house on the market and she asked what I would do when the house sold, to which I promptly replied I would be moving in with her! I am not sure either of us expected that to be happening from early May and in fact I will be dividing my time between my parents and younger sister, when not working away. Although, as I pointed out, my parents also have their house on the market as they are planning to move to Lanzarote fulltime, but as their villa is fully rented for the next few months, Donna’s spare room could get very crowed! It will actually be a good opportunity to spend time with my family before we set off, as I haven’t seen as much of them as I would have liked due to our preparations for the trip and working in recent months.
I have really been having a reality attack in the last couple of days, Kevin had his as he finished work and is now firmly in the excited zone. My reality attack generally manifests itself in to-do lists anyway, so it is quite productive! What this really means though is that I can finally see myself out there and doing this too now. In fact, as we are now selling the house early we have decided I will finish work slightly earlier too so that I can take Alex out for her school holidays in mid July to the Canaries and stay out there to have 3 weeks with the three of us together on the boat before the wedding. Alex quickly calculated that this means she can do more scuba diving (which she loves) with three of us on the boat and I (perhaps vainly, though surely permitted for a wedding?!) calculated that I won’t now be the only one at the wedding looking milky white! Honestly though, this will really be the best start to our trip, there has been far too many occasions in the last few years when I haven’t been around due to work and it will be wonderful to start our adventure properly with Alex on board.
So fingers crossed it all works out. Rough timetable for those who have been asking:
• Sat 5th April – Leaving drinks for Kevin – The Ship, Elswick from 7pm
• Tue 8th April – Collect & pack van, drive to Portsmouth to catch overnight ferry
• Wed 9th April – Arrive St. Malo 9am, drive to La Rochelle, Yacht brokers final pre-handover checks
• Thu 10th April – Sea trial and boat handover, frantic van unpacking
• Fri 11th April – Jo drives van back to Preston via St. Malo ferry
• Sat 12th April – Jo & Alex fly out to La Rochelle
• Sun 13th April – Jo returns home and leaves Alex for half term week
• Sat 19th April – Jo, Christine (family friend) & Paul (from Kevin’s course) arrive
• Sun 20th April – Alex, Christine and Jo fly home
We have two more weeks planned in La Rochelle to ensure the boat is ready before heading off to the Canaries late April.
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Farewell Bash
I can’t believe how the time is flying by, only 6 days to go before setting off to pick up the boat.
We have decided to have a farewell drink with a few of our friends, the location will be at ‘The Ship’ in Elswick on Saturday night 5th April from 7.00 onwards, all are welcome!
We also had some excellent news yesterday, whilst I was packing up the tools in the garage yesterday, more packing, I heard a knock on the door and it turned out to be our estate agent, who asked would it be possible to let some one in for a viewing, as soon as possible today. Why not? I have nothing better to do than rush round the house and give it a tidy etc….!
… After two viewings in one day, we have now been offered full asking price with an early completion and can they keep all the furniture and fittings?
I checked the time and it was after 12, as it was the first of April, you know what I mean. Anyway it turns out that the offer was genuine. Both Jo and I still keep looking at each other in disbelief. This act has now confirmed that I must take religion more seriously.
Karen from M.I Cats has confirmed that the sea trial and handover will be taking place in La Rochelle on the 10th April, so, all seems to be going to plan.
This afternoon, more packing, this time it will be to empty the wardrobe and reduce this to one bag, send the rest to the charity shop.
We have decided to have a farewell drink with a few of our friends, the location will be at ‘The Ship’ in Elswick on Saturday night 5th April from 7.00 onwards, all are welcome!
We also had some excellent news yesterday, whilst I was packing up the tools in the garage yesterday, more packing, I heard a knock on the door and it turned out to be our estate agent, who asked would it be possible to let some one in for a viewing, as soon as possible today. Why not? I have nothing better to do than rush round the house and give it a tidy etc….!
… After two viewings in one day, we have now been offered full asking price with an early completion and can they keep all the furniture and fittings?
I checked the time and it was after 12, as it was the first of April, you know what I mean. Anyway it turns out that the offer was genuine. Both Jo and I still keep looking at each other in disbelief. This act has now confirmed that I must take religion more seriously.
Karen from M.I Cats has confirmed that the sea trial and handover will be taking place in La Rochelle on the 10th April, so, all seems to be going to plan.
This afternoon, more packing, this time it will be to empty the wardrobe and reduce this to one bag, send the rest to the charity shop.
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