May 11th, 2018
NZ
NZ is as lovely as ever and its been a joy to catch up with Traceys brother and sister-in-law. Funny living in a house after so long on a boat and we are enjoying the novelty of it. Birdsong is a real pleasure as is walking Tony's dog 'Flo'.
We popped down to the marina in Opua and walked past a cafe to spy Paul and Emma from Cornwall. Such a pleasant surprise and really good to see them settling into their new life here.
They kindly loaned us a bike and so we did the cycle trail to Kawakawa and on the way we were tooted by the local tourist steam train.
As you can see a good time is being had on the other side of the world.
April 28th, 2018
Walkabouts
So, a momentous day today in many respects for we have lifted 'Pearl' out of the water to give her a well-earned two-month rest as we head off on walkabouts. We are catching up with Tracey's brother in NZ, attending my brother's wedding in Australia and then spending a month in Cornwall catching up with relatives and I have a ton of work across Europe to fill up our cruising cash sack.
It's all very exciting and although it will be sad to leave 'Pearl' behind I think it will be nice to have a break and some time away to reflect on all the lessons we have learnt since leaving Guernsey five months ago. Five months that have been ram jam with adventure and interesting people.
Looking back, it's amazing how much we have fitted into five months, particularly as it has all been two handed. Tracey had only done two night sails when we left and here she is with 7,500NM under her belt. Having raised a family she wanted to step out of her comfort zone and grow through challenge and travel. I'm so proud of how she has coped and it's been a pleasure to watch her turning into a proper sailor without really being aware of it.
We haven't had a cross word and we are leaving already excited about coming back and heading off into the blue yonder again.
ps the black line on the globe is our voyage so far
April 26th, 2018
Bird Song
One of the things we have really missed since heading off on our adventure is birdsong. Proper birdsong, not seagull screeching which is never a pretty sound. I guess one of the reasons for missing it so much is that we were living in woodland so we went from green to blue and the reality is that we love both environments. Its this love that pulled us up short when walking up to the marina facilities for a shower to be overwhelmed by the sweet sound of birdsong in the morning. As you can see a bird orchestra has been created and we love it.
April 23rd, 2018
Competitiveness
The Americans are very proud of their history but being such a new country they don't have quite the amount that we do. With it being in short supply every house has a sign to say that they are the oldest, tallest, widest etc etc. Its really quite competitive and so this sign made us smile
April 23rd, 2018
lovely streets
Annapolis is really quaint, particularly as you get off the tourist track. This is a typical street which would have accommodated seafarers.
April 23rd, 2018
Boat Show
We had a lovely day off yesterday visiting the Spring Annapolis Boat Show. Its small show but it was nice to see Annapolis after hearing so much about it and we had lovely company thanks to Ian and Mitch. They are about to launch their yacht, go long term cruising and we hit it off straight away. They are in the same marina and kindly give a lift, a tour and of course we ended up having a sociable lunch. A great way to wind down from the Berlin trip and as you can see the sun was shining making it a lovely spring day.
April 22nd, 2018
Blur
Wow, that was a trip and a half. I've just been to Berlin to give a talk at the ESMT University. The talk went really well and I always the enjoy working with the team and participants on that particular course. Talk about a blurred trip. The cheapest flight was via Dublin so I had a night in Berlin, a night in Dublin, if you can call it that for I checked in a two in the morning and a night in the air. Can't tell you how nice it was to get out of air-conditioned air and back onto 'Pearl' where we have birds chirping away in the trees that surround the marina. Good times, we're off to the Annapolis Spring Boat Show today.
April 16th, 2018
Hawk
I forgot about this picture from the top of the mast in Georgetown.
As you can see, if you look carefully, a bird broke our 'Hawk' which is the wind direction indicator.
Up I went to retrieve it and do one of my bimonthly mast checks where I look at every nut and bolt in detail.
Pleased to report that the rig looks as good as new and Tracey is once again proved right in suggesting that an electric winch might be a good idea.
'Not on one of my boats said I', only to eat my words as Tracey sends her 'fat old Cornishman' up the mast with with the press of a button and a self righteous smirk.
