... try and find us

 We have come to Dartmouth harbour with the desire to get wheels for the boat ... but not the kind you think. We DO want to go ashore, but unlike these folks, we are happy to leave our boat behind. We are free to go anywhere that has ocean access, but once we drop anchor and step ashore, we would like a bit more range.  After some consideration and much research, we decided that folding bikes - Bromptons, specifically - would speed up the inevitable trips to port offices, the supermarket, museums and places of interest. Kate, speeding around the Plymouth dockside on a borrowed bike Due to some good fortune, we were at a marina in Plymouth (back in May) and met up with a friend who needed his bike transported back to Cherbourg.  When we offered to take it for him, he kindly offered for us to "use it if you want to."  He had just the brand of bike we had been considering and after having one to test ride, we quickly fell in love with the compactness, light weight, clev...

After a week of splashing the boat, loading our stuff on the boat, re-acquainting ourselves with the boat, having new things added to the boat, provisioning the boat and then preparing the boat ... we are on the move again! Victoria Marina We arrived from Cherbourg after a seven hour motor through dead calm waters and almost no wind. It was well after dark when we pulled into the harbour and we tied up to the Waiting Pontoon. The marina itself is behind a seawall and is entered by way of sill.  The sill maintains enough water in the marina to keep all the vessels there afloat through a potential 9 metre tide cycle.  It's a very clever arrangement. It requires all the mariners, both arriving and leaving, to know where we are in the tide cycle and therefore how much water is above the sill. Sill at High Tide ... and at Low Tide. Provided you know your vessel's draft and are aware that the sill is 4.2 metres above the low water measurement on the tide cycle, there should b...

After a four-and-a-half month rest on the hard stand, Chinook is going back in the water! Let the adventures continue.

After the success we had sticking to our 2024 plan (ha ha!), we decided to tempt fate and plot out our next year or so.  As always, this is very preliminary, lacks detail and is subject to change: but here goes... November - December 2024 Chinook splashes tomorrow after a four and a half month stint on the hard. We will move back aboard and reacquaint ourselves with her.  We have spent almost as much time aboard Voyager as we have on Chinook so we will be forgiven for thinking someone has moved the pepper shaker ... and everything else! We have a new sail to learn how to use (whoo hoo!) and lots of sorting and list making to keep us busy.  If we have a weather window, we will head to the Channel Islands for a week or so. Wendy and Graeme arrive on 1 December so we will give them a few days to get settled then start looking for a weather window to cross The Channel to England. For the rest of the 2024, we will be bobbing along the coast of England. 2025 Jan - May  ...