Yacht Breeze of Weymouth

13th May. We drove our campervan up to Inverkip, a good journey but as we got closer to Scotland it became more and more overcast, and the final hour of the journey was in heavy rain. In fact it was raining so much we could not carry everything down to the boat! The boat was fine, and we were grateful to Katrina and Colin who had been keeping an eye on it. The wind roared up to 50 knots, the boat strained against its'ropes and we decided to dress up warmly and go to the chartroom restaurant. A very good meal, but we were back on the boat by 8.30pm, in spite of the rain, still very bright outside, it is light so late, and so early. Next day we saw Katrina and Colin, did a ... read more

It seems to have been a pattern in this trip that the wind is on the nose, so 14knots from the North East seemed quite normal! At first it was fairly moderate, but did become a bit rougher, we carried on topos 54 55 41, 005 33 866 by 11.30 am. It does seem strange to watch those northerly numbers getting larger, for so many years, they always got smaller. Also to be able to get weather forecasts, easily .and almost instantly, to be able to buy things in shops everywhere. and finally to get things done on the boat, in a stress free way.We soon passed Sanda Island, and then Aisla Craig, as we approached the land the sea became calmer, and finally when we got to Campbletown loch the sea was just covered in ... read more

Since buying Yacht Breeze of Weymouth, a Hallberg rassy 53 we seem to have spent a lot of time working on her, to get her exactly how we wanted. First we added a large gantry with big solar panels, which supports the dinghy as well. Then we had the mast taken off and the rigging replaced and all fittings checked. Next airconditioning and reverse cycle heating fitted, and then the boat out of the water and copper coated. So all in all a huge amount of time to get her ready. What follows is the first part of our trip to Scotland. This is a domestic blog, rather than a sailing blog, and is really just to let our friends and family know what has occurred. Journey to Scotland, April 2012-04-09 We left Weymouth after a ... read more

Tonight we are anchored in Sopers hole or west end as they prefer to call it in Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands. Unfortunately it is going to be a beautiful full moon here tonight, and although it is only 5pm some large boats are already partying very loudly. It does not auger well for the night ahead, so I say, if you can’t beat them join them. There is a full moon party about 5 minutes taxi drive away, so why not…more on this later. The transport of the boat is all organised and when we come home in April, we can leave it knowing everything is under control. Since we decided to send Perthamina home we have made our way up here to the Virgin Islands. Firstly we stopped at Nevis, my cousin ... read more

We sailed back to Falmouth Harbour from Barbuda, and had a really pleasant sail, it was good to drop the anchor in Falmouth and to go ashore and enjoy a meal at Trappas, the very good restaurant there. Falmouth is full of the very large superyachts, back from their christmas charters, and at night they light up their masts, and look very impressive indeed. There are some stunning boats here, and they look wonderful under sail. As we were leaving for nonsuch bay a few were having a race, their whole character changes when they put up their sails, regally leaving us in their dust! Non such bay was very calm, and very blue, the reef is quite close, so spent alot of time snorkelling and enjoying the quiet way of life. We met another hallberg ... read more

Northwards to Cairns Heading up the Bruce highway the weather became very wet. At times the rain was lashing down. We left Cyril and Kasia and did a detour through some beautifully green countryside, long straight roads with little traffic. Farms set in valleys, cows, cultivated fields, small towns and villages. We carried on and on, stopping for lunch and filling up with fuel. Eventually we realised that reaching Townsville was out of the question and it was getting late, the rain was torrential and we were tired, so we decided wherever the next place to stay was, we were stopping. It was a caravan/camping site at clevedon, a tiny strip of development along the side of an inlet and a massive area of water. This was a fishing resort of sorts, and the people were ... read more