Cruise 2017 Adventure

We had a good day in Solomons Island yesterday catching up on little jobs before a visit to the Museum. The highlight of which was this Cottage Lighthouse that we fell in love with. Its so cute inside we could have moved in there and then. Today, in deference to the coming winter and impending gale we took down the Bimini. Tracey chipped her tooth the day before yesterday and has a dental appointment this afternoon. If the wind gods are in a better mood than forecast we will rattle down to Deltaville tomorrow.

Since we have returned to the US we have been busy with lots of jobs not least having a rack made for my new toys in the form of a paddle board and a windsurfer. As you can see from the picture its been fitted and we couldn't be happier with the result. One of the other big jobs is that we have doubled our solar panels so that we can keep up with power consumption without use of the engine. Thats a lot more on the back of the boat but I think it looks discreet all things considered. The big news today is that we are now on top of the main jobs and will start to head south from what is already quite cold weather. Thanks to insurance restrictions we cant head south of Cape Fear until the 1st of December so although we are on the move there isn't any great rush. Feels great to have the work done and be on the move again for it feels like we have opened a new chapter and so its with a spring in our step that we set sail on what is a perfect crisp winters morning.

We come across some interesting boat names but this one caught our eye. One thing we have learned about boat names is that there is always a story behind them. I would love to know the story behind this one.

We arrived back to the good ship Pearl yesterday to be greeted by a lovely cold night and clear star lit sky. So good to be back on our lovely lady and thanks to jet lag we were up and about at 05.00hrs to do the laundry, have a shower and get on with things - that job list better look out. As you can see from the picture we have been gifted a lovely morning.

Been a mad mad few weeks what with the Annapolis Boat Show which was great fun but pretty full on from dawn until dusk. The up side was that we met lots of interesting people and got to know the Swiftsure guys well. They are the US agents for Garcia and as a thankyou for our efforts they bought us a drone which was completely unexpected and really very moving so stand by for some good pictures once I master the manual.

The evening of wrapping up the show I flew to Hamburg to speak at a conference so my body didn't know what was going on. The flight out stopped in Iceland where I found myself waiting to board the next plane at three in the morning in driving rain and standing in an inch of water. Three degrees feels bloody cold in those circumstances but it did entertain the ground staff for I was in my shorts, flip-flops and Hawaiian shirt!!!

On returning we motored 'Pearl' to Herrington Harbor North where we lifted her out for a couple of weeks. We are having new Solar panels fitted, changing the anodes and pressure washing the bottom. At the same time, we are having a windsurfer wrack fabricated under the solar panel for we have been pulling all the toys together for our time in the Bahamas, BBQ included. We just can't wait to get back to an open sea with crystal clear water.

The night we lifted her out we flew back to London where Tracey caught the train to Cornwall and I bumped straight back into the air for Italy where I was teaching on a business course. The session went really well and I jumped straight back on a plane for London and the train to Cornwall feeling pretty gaga. Three transatlantic flights in a week feels a bit excessive.

The reason for the madness is that I am teaching in Oxford today and we decided to fit a family visit around the logistics of Italy and Oxford. It's always good to catch up with family but the really exciting thing is that Olivia has got engaged so we are here to help with wedding planning. Where does the time go - the day I first held that lovely little bundle in my arms seems like yesterday.

I love this picture for when we set sail off across the Bay of Biscay in a gale in December Tracey had only done two night sails. Here she is having crossed the Atlantic and explored her way up to Nantucket covering 8,800NM and all of it two handed. In doing so she has become a proud member of the Ocean Cruising Club and as you can see sailed her way through her first burgee. Proud of her.

The show opened yesterday and what a manic day we had for the boat was swamped. Met lots of lovely people as well as catching up with many Ocean Cruising Club members. The night before I had the pleasure of speaking to an OCC dinner and invited them round. Its a lovely club full of fascinating people for to be a member you have to have done a 1,000 mile passage. They are all serious cruisers with lots of stories and advice.

What a fun day Wednesday was for we were the last boat to enter the Annapolis Boat Show. They build a Marina just for the Show. In fact they build it around the boats as they are shepherded in. It reminded me of sheep pens as we were were bolted in - there's no leaving.