Just a short one this time. After a few hectic days packing, getting rid of stuff, making room for tools, getting paperwork sorted for travels and saying goodbye to family and friends I sat down this evening, the eve of our departure, for a quiet moment. When staring out to sea and seeing the sun glittering off the water and the boats sailing aroiund I felt inspired to write... so I grabbed the pen and notebook (thanks Liz!) and this is what I wrote.... Sunset at Sea... Sea shimmers, splashes, splishes, slowly slithers by, Spectrums sparkle sporadically, sun splits sultry sky, Surrendering to solitude, smooth ships silently fly. That's all for now folks, next time I post it will be from Guernsey or Cherbourg...thanks again for all the wonderful messages, gifts, cards, flowers and good luck ... read more

Well, we haven't begun our trip yet, but in the glorious sunshine on the Dart and the fact that both of us have already finished work in our heads, we may as well have begun our adventure. Tonight we decided to do an upmarket BBQ to trial our newest purchase again - a lovely stainless steel boat BBQ which has more than a passing resemblance, in my opinion, to a UFO. I procured king scallops, parma ham, tuna steaks fresh fruit and salad on the way home and lovingly prepared parma ham wrapped scallops on kebabs with huge chunks of mango and pineapple. I would like to tell you how succulent and juicy this culinary delight was ... however, I never even got to eat it! As Mike traversed to the bow (boat word for 'front' ... read more