Best Laid Plans ....

Well, Angela has retired for the evening so will do her blog piece in the morning but for all those waiting for an update on our exploits (OK Mom, just for you) .... we set off for our first port of call, Poole Quay, place of many childhood memories, en route to our overnight destination of Weymouth but only got as far as .... Yarmouth!

The weather forecast was looking OK so we set off, a bit later than planned to take advantage of tide and the improving forecast (nothing to do with Angela getting up really late - honest), but even so we met some rough sea conditions beyond The Needles so decided to turn and head for calmer waters - they do call it 'pleasure' boating after all!

I'm sure Angela will tell you about how bad the conditions felt from her and Buster's perspective, but from my seat it was also quite interesting! The problem with weather and the sea is that the sea conditions can be affected by weather many hundreds of miles away, so some poor weather over the North Atlantic has created big swells which came rolling up the English Channel, and it was these we were running over today. Some of the troughs between waves were pretty deep; we buried the bow in the oncoming waves a couple of times with a big surge of spray and water over the foredeck (or bonnet as Angela calls it!). Even with the full covers on we were getting wet! 

So we did the not-so-brave but sensible thing and turned around, and here we are ... in sunny Yarmouth, not quite the Med (or Weymouth!) but you could be fooled.

...and they all went into the ark, just to get out of the rain...

... 2 dresses, 2 stripey tops, 2 t-shirts, 2 tankinis (Andy got very excited about these as he thought they were going to be a female version of a mankini, alas no my love they are to keep one covered up!)...

I opened my eyes and there it was on the sunroof (it's a hatch!) RAIN, oh nooooooooo! Good job Bustaaar and me got our sunbathing done yesterday, but a quick check on BBC weather assured me it was going to brighten up by lunchtime so I stuck to my original clothing plan of tankini and shorts and after an hour of messing about and drinking coffee I meandered up to the facilities and had a shower...I rate Shamrock Quay Marina toilets and showers 9.5 out of 10, I have knocked off half a point for the lack of storage within the shower for toiletries and although they always have a large bouquet of fresh flowers (including lilies, my favourite) they don't top up or change the water in the vase so I do this when we are here, much to Andys amusement (I'm sure someone will catch me at it one day and mistake me for a cleaner and ask me to clean the loo for them).

Today we are entertaining guests, friends Emma, Paul and Freddie (aged 3 next month). They made good time from Northants, getting stuck in only one queue a couple of miles from home, petrol heads going to Silverstone! and were with us at 11.30. We had a bit of a chat and some Prosecco and by the time we set sail (figuratively speaking as we are a motor cruiser not a sail boat) the sun was shining.

We had a pootle round to see the cruise liners and big cargo ships, Freddie and Bustaaar got lots of smiles and waves from passing 'sailors' then we headed out to Hamble. It was a bit windy so the ride was a bit bumpy but everyone managed to stay dry apart from me! I'm sure Andy drove into the wind or waves or something so the sea came in bucket loads, good job I had my Tankini on! Bustaaar was quite vocal when we were close to the Marina announcing our arrival and calling everyone to gather round to watch us dock, no pressure then, thanks Bust!

We walked into Hamble and had a delicious late pub lunch relaxing outside under a massive umbrella being serenaded by a 'boy' with a guitar, he was fantastic, played popular songs from all eras/artists in a rockabilly style, Paul said he was 15, # amazing! We filled up with fuel on the way home OUCH! and had a nice cup of tea back in Southampton before our guests disembarked and we waved them goodbye.

Andy and I had a light supper as the sun set and afterwards discovered that every muscle in our bodies aches and all of our joints have seized up, my iFit told me I have walked 19,984 steps today and burned 3000 calories, I KNOW!

Carry On Cruising....Day One...The Animals Went In Two By Two...

Like a school kid on the first day of the summer holidays I awoke at 6am full of excitement and raring to go, however, the moment soon passed and within five minutes I was fast asleep snoring my head off (really, me snoring, I don't think so!) ...so...


After a lie in and a leisurely start we were up and packing by 9.  To Andy's surprise #astonishment I have a new packing regime for this trip and to keep everything to a minimum I have chosen the number 2...2 people, 2 bags of clothes, 2 pairs of shoes (YES! you read it correctly ONLY 2 pairs of shoes), 2 cool bags of fridge food, 2 food cupboard bags, 2 types of wine (you guessed it, Red and White), 2 pairs of sunglasses, 2 books, 2 hair grips...you get the idea...


Now, as the newly appointed Marketing and Communications Director I have started as I mean to go on with an overambitious video production asking my camera crew for difficult camera techniques from awkward angles...and here is the hilarious Benny Hill style video of us packing the car and leaving...nope, it didn't work so you've just got a picture instead!

We were undecided which route to take as Countryfile LIVE is on at Blenheim Palace this weekend and there's a strong possibility of long queues and delays...so we chose to ignore the annoying sat nav lady who was trying to send us in completely the wrong direction, not sure where she thought we were going, threw caution to the wind and followed our normal route.  We made good time with only a couple of minor slow moving traffic queues (nothing at Blenheim) and arrived to bright sunshine and a warm breeze...


...we unpacked at another leisurely pace (well, Andy loaded the boat, Andy unpacked and Andy stowed the luggage while Bustaaar and me did some sunbathing on the bonnet (foredeck apparently!)...then we went for a dog walk around the picturesque industrial and housing estates of Southampton, nice, called in at Quay Fifteen for a couple of cocktails and back to the boat for homemade cottage pie...


The wind has died down now and there aren't many people around the marina today so it'll be a calm and quiet night...  zzzzzzz

Welcome to 'Castanet'

Well, we're back again and getting ready to set off on our 2016 adventure, this one on the high seas.  If you remember my last blog from our trip last year I showed you our new boat which we named 'Thalassa' ....

Well, we decided it wasn't the right boat for us so twelve months later we sold Thalassa and bought a new one - welcome to 'Castanet' ....

Castanet is a Jeanneau Leader 805 - a 27 foot / 8 metre motor cruiser with a single 260hp diesel inboard engine, a forward V-berth (which we've converted to be our 'Stateroom') and galley, separate head (that's toilet to you landlubbers) complete with shower, and a mid-cabin (which we use as our storeroom).  On deck we have a double crew seat at the helm so we can sit side-by-side as we cruise along and a large horseshoe-shaped seating and table area (our dining room) which converts into a rather large sunpad!

In another change to tradition, Angela will be in charge of the blog for this trip so enjoy her posts (and my postscripts if she lets me!) as we head off into the sunset ....

Video Highlights - Day Seven - Samnaun

Video Highlights - Day Six - Alpine Passes

Make yourself comfortable - this is a long one!  Driving Heaven.

Video Highlights - Day Five - Zell Am See to Samnaun