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.
Friday, 11 April 2008
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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