A life on the ocean waves

It's “All Systems Go” at our house right now!  The red-brick exterior and green front door are the same as ever, but once inside, there is a palpable change in the air.  From the youngest to the oldest, we are all making preparations for the changes ahead in our own ways. Jack's 3rd birthday Jack is our youngest.   He was three in December, and has been sailing since before he was born, and not without incident.  His first trip, whilst still on the inside, was a five-week cruise down the west coast of Brittany.  Embarrassingly, he and I fell into a French river during a slightly ill-judged marina docking episode.  I was trying to push Snow Goose away from a pontoon against a very strong tide, over-optimistically as it turned out, and somehow ended up dangling from her guard rails over the water, and of course I couldn’t hold on for long!   Jack was perfectly protected, being not only in-utero, but also under bulky sailing oilees, plus, by the end of the incident, my f

Happy New Year everyone! It’s been a while since Laura last blogged and lots has happened. So, after a wonderful Christmas and New Year spent with family and friends in Bembridge and Winchester, we thought it high time to update you as to what’s going on. Before I do, can we just take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their interest, good wishes and Christmas cards. I’m afraid we didn’t manage Christmas cards this year, so please accept this as our heartfelt greeting and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. I suppose the biggest blogging news is that we have found a boat. “Victoria” is a 50ft wooden ketch, built in New Zealand and launched in 1988. She has sailed 150,000 miles and has just returned to New Zealand after seven years away sailing the world, including our home waters and rounding the Horn. She is a tried and tested world cruiser, with a unique layout below-decks which feels like it may suit us well, but above all she is solid, well maintained, safe,