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Oh my god!  After years of thinking about making a big move, years of planning and months of saying goodbyes, here I am on a plane bound for Australia!

Just 2 weeks ago I returned from my sailing adventure and it has been an emotional rollercoaster ever since.  I said goodbye to most people before starting on my Round Britain Experience and since being back in Tamworth, I have wanted to hide away and just escape –  I know that sounds really strange, but saying goodbye isnt easy, and here I am doing it all over again.  It was the first time in my life that I had been away from my kids for any extended period, and I found that very tough, but it seemed like a dress rehearsal for my move to Australia, and we all got through it pretty well.

Coming to terms with living on dry land was quite an experience following 99 nights on a boat.

The first night in a bed felt weird, and I kept getting lost in the size of it, but at the same time kept dreaming I was falling out.  I have been sleeping in a cabin for so long with 3 sides enclosed (like a cot), and most nights being rocked to sleep by the waves and the gentle splish splosh of the sea lapping against the stern – so it has been difficult sleeping on dry land.  Also, I haven’t actually been home, as my home is now rented out ahead of my move to the other side of the world!

I have been staying at my very dear friends – Deb and Will, in their spare room.  They are not only friends, they are my next door neighbours,  but more importantly, feel like close family to me.  Thanks so much Debs and Will for your kindness, and your friendship (and all those bottles of red wine we share together, oh, and your fab cooking Debs!) But it has been very strange looking across from their spare room over to my own home – in which I no longer reside!

So, what have I been doing during my 2 manic weeks on dry land?

– I managed a visit to Wales to say goodbye to my sis, my niece and great niece (oh my, that does make me feel old!)

My sis cooked a lovely meal for me, but she looked like a power ranger as she did so

She has met a lovely man, who also rides a motor cycle, so has bought this helmet for her to wear……

The first night in my sisters flat, I awoke with a start not knowing where I was, I had to get out of bed and look out of the window to get a reality check!

I have become so unkempt during my sailing trip, that she treated me to a haircut

Thanks sis!  My ends are now all trimmed and I’m feeling a little more female!

– I did lunch with Rachel Smith who picked me up from Wrexham – she is my new friend, and I feel so lucky to have met such a lovely person!

– Rachel then drove me to Altrincham for  Tom Slattery’s 65^th birthday bash, which was great, and catch up with alot of friends there.

A Mickini!

Tom has the strangest friends!

Including my “hair twin” Paula Freeman!

– Lunch in Birmingham was a real treat with the girls from work – Serenity Birth Unit.  Mychelle, Anita, Anna, Mandy, Maike, Cathy and Sue.  Thank you all so much for coming, I had such a lovely time!

– I went to the Crown in Appleby Magna in Leicestershire, as a number of the locals there had googled the RBE blog, and been following it.  They wanted to meet me – (I pretended I was famous and attended for a book signing), but all it was really was a chance to drink more beer and contribute to the local economy once more (not that the guys let me buy one!)  I couldn’t believe such a land locked area had so many people interested in sailing!

I have spent quite a bit of time saying goodbye to a special man in my life, Mick!  We went out together last year, split up, but got back together earlier this year, knowing I was making a big move away, so we decided we would just have some fun together – because we are very good at that!  However, things don’t always go according to plan, it was fun, but we also grew very attached to one another, and saying goodbye has been very hard indeed!  Maybe we just said Au Revoir and our paths will cross again very soon, who knows!

– We had a lovely birthday meal for Tash the afternoon before our departure – I went shopping, brought the bags in and Debs took a look at what I had bought and did a “Ready Steady Cook”.  Before I had unpacked the final bag, she was already concocting a gorgeous feast!  Helen and Kira made it over too!

–  My lovely friend and professional photographer Steph see www.stephsimmonsphotography.co.uk) took some quick photos for us all – thanks Steph!

(tried to insert some of the photos here – but file sizes too large – it seems a shame to crop them so you will have to visit my page on Facebook!)

Saying goodbye to Tash and Cal has been so hard too, its hard to describe!

Will took us all to the airport and I was trying to be ever so brave!  I checked in, sorted my cash currency card then headed to security and had to say goodbye!  Thats when the tears flowed!  Ces and I walked away hand in hand, tears flooding down our faces, our hands gripped tightly together in mutual support – both of us uttering how hard this was.  Here we both were, on the threshold of our new adventure, tears running down our faces!

For the first time, I let the words out “am I doing the right thing??”  The answer to that is “yes of course, but it is difficult right now”

Getting through security certainly wasnt easy, as both Ces and I were blubbing away, and Ces left all her cosmetics and her laptop in her bag which sparked an alert and every bit of her bag was checked, with the security guy ignoring the tampons he pulled out one by one!

So, as I said, here I am now, sitting on a plane somewhere over the Indian Ocean.  I have already set my watch to Queensland time just to start to orientate myself.  I missed out on most of last nights sleep, my ankles are swollen, I’m starving and awaiting the latest Emirates nosh!

We arrive in Townsville late morning on Wednesday and I have my signing on interview for my new job the following day.  Then, just 5 days after arriving in Australia, I start work as a midwife!

The adventure is continuing……..

I’m sitting on a train heading to Wales and thinking about my time spent sailing around the coast of Britain and thinking how enormously lucky I am!

I have had some fabulous instructors during this trip, met some very interesting, yet strange people along the way, seen parts of our beautiful country most rarely glimpse, spent an intense period of time with my fellow crew members and learnt to sail a yacht!

If you have been following this blog, I hope you have enjoyed traveling around Britain with me!  If you haven’t, let me take you on a little journey right now!

The trip – well, how blessed I am to have travelled around the coast of Britain!  So, lets summarise – I have spent 99 nights on a boat, sailed 2,800 miles, visited 56 different places, seen dolphins, porpoise, minke, orca, seals, many birds, taught 2 men to cook, contributed to numerous local economies, sailed past the main headlands of Britain, stood on Giants Causeway, walked in the gorgeous Scilly Isles, eaten kippers on the Isle of Man, sampled numerous types of beer and whiskey, taken a tour of Belfast, brought a boat virtually sideways into a lock in Hull, spent 6 days with Royal Yacht Brittainia as my neighbour, visited the Orkney Islands and sailed in Scapa Flow, got a sun tan in Northern Scotland, drank in the most remote pub in mainland Britain, brought a boat into a lock with a broken gate right in the centre of London, became a loyal customer of The Coop!  Oh, and I have also learned to sail!

A big thanks to John and Mike, the other 2 crew members with whom I shared this trip.  Mike Graham

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is a most interesting character.  I described him in my first entry as “still waters running deep”, this was my first impression, and was a pretty accurate description.  He was very quiet, but would silently and patiently listen to those around.  He loved walking, and had spent 6 months last year walking the Appalachian Trail in America.  This is a very long trail on the East coast of America, 2181 miles long, starting in Georgia and ending in Maine.  He lives in Shrewsbury (spooky this Mike, as my train has just stopped at your town as I’m typing this!)  I called him “Catalogue Man”, (it may even have been a Littlewoods catalogue at some point!), although Mike thought this to be an insult, it was in fact a compliment, as he always looked pristine and gorgeous in his photos, with his well defined and coloured lips the envy of every woman!

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John Varty (sorry I kept saying it with an “F” Rev Varty!) is a lovely man who lives in Stoke, and despite this, has managed to retain a lovely sense of humour!  He has served his local parish for many years, now retired, but continuing his work in his resting years, and frequently taking calls from the Bishops PA (hiya Margaret!) along the way.  I hold John in high admiration, as completing a trip like this is an enormous undertaking for the fit and able bodied, but John has had health problems in the past, so for him, this was a fantastic accomplishment – well done John.  John could always be relied upon for a level view on things, for keeping positive, and for slicing onions whenever neded!  The thing I like the most about John is his infectious laugh and the fact that he takes a bit longer than everyone else at getting the rude jokes!

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Both boys were fabulous to travel with, there was never a cross word between all 3 of us, despite living in close quarters for 12 weeks, often sleep deprived and little privacy, and I feel very lucky to have shared it with them.  They were also both fabulous at putting up with a bossy midwife looking after them!

As for the instructors, well, again, I feel blessed.  Lets have a little look at them –

Duncs,

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Easy to see he is exe-navy, enormously experienced sailor, very quiet but doesnt miss a trick, loves splicing and making Turks Heads and his facial expressions speak louder than his words and is a great person to share a beer with!

Next there was FFFFFFFred!

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Well, another good beer drinking companion and a font of rude jokes and funny anecdotes.  He has a great way of teaching by turning the dullest of nautical facts into little stories you will remember for the rest of your life, a vessel restricted in its ability to manouever will never be forgotten!

“Air Hair Lair” Fred!

The next victim, sorry instructor, was Rick.  Nicknamed “Headwind Rick”, he certainly made the boat a more attractive place to be!  Another experienced sailor and this was his first time sailing around the Western Islands of Scotland.  He was very methodical and paid great attention to detail, liked his early nights and even earlier mornings and seemed to get a real buzz when one his students nautical lightbulbs lit up!

We had met our next skipper for just half a day when we sailed from Dartmouth to Brixham so we already knew we had a special person next!  Tank is a very skilled teacher and so relaxed on a boat.

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He was fabulous at instilling confidence in us newbie yotties, was fabulous fun, and really knows how to say goodbye to friends!

Our final skipper for Round Britain Experience was Chris Bracewell

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An Old Salty Seadog!

Again, fantastically experienced, with a wicked sense of humour and a glint in his eye, and could move about the boat really well without a zimmer frame!  He taught me many things, including how to ferry glide and found us the most strange fish and chips Whitby had to offer!  As you can see, just like the other skippers, he too has a great sense of humour and handles me poking fun!

I couldn’t finish without mentioning the instructor for the yacht master prep – Alan Haynes.  Alan has a lovely style, never shouts, (unless you are about to inadvertently gybe of course!) and works so hard to prepare his students for the assessment which could give them such a lovely qualification to pop in their pockets!

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A big thank you to all the instructors THANK YOU !!

I’m so glad I have taken this trip, it really was one of a life time, and if you are thinking of doing it, well just do it!

As for getting a yacht master at the end of this, well what can I say.  I have learnt so much during my 14 weeks on the water but its a tough exam for someone who is very new to sailing, and you really need to feel confident in your skills.  I have said before that it is important to believe in yourself, a self-fulfilling prophesey – if you think you are going to fail you probably will – and I did!  I know I can do it, but just not yet.  At the beginning of July, I had never really sailed a boat, and now I can spin one around on a sixpence.

I am flying to Oz on 24^th October to start my new adventure over there.  I have already been in contact with the local yacht club and offered to crew for them, once Ive spent time racing, I will learn so much about sailing and gain all the confidence I need!

Please continue to follow my blog, for the adventure continues………..

Happy sailing!

It has been a long week and now it is all over.  I had no time whatsoever to write up the last day of the yacht master prep, and it passed by in a blur, but take it from me, it was a busy day!

Alan was wonderful, kept us both cheery and tried to instill confidence in us.  Tim seemed to need very little of this and he was either looking very cool but paddling like mad underneath or he was just plain cool!  On the other hand, my stomach was a ball of lead, my head was stuffed full of facts and figures and whirring, my legs were shaking, my hands were quivering, and I’m not at all sure I had any other bodily  parts to think about!

Well, suffice to say, I had a bad day at the office on the day that really mattered, and it was a case of “I’m a midwife, get me out of here”!

All instructors had told me I was well capable of passing the yacht master exam, including Alan, and he should know, as he is an examiner himself! However, although they all had faith in me, I just didn’t have faith in myself.  Yes, I would like to blame it on the fact that it was blowing a hoolie when it was my turn to strut my stuff on the helm, or the fact that we were given a very inexperienced crew at the very last minute who didnt know his sheets from his windlass, or maybe even my hormones, but the plain fact is, once I made my first mistake (for there were many!) my confidence fell into my boots and I turned from a good yacht master candidate into an incompetent crew within minutes!

They say all things happen for a reason, and at the moment I’m struggling to find out what that is right now – any suggestions?

Enough for now, its very late, and I need to go and lick my wounds for a while, please call back later!

Goodnight!

Sleeping on a boat if a lovely thing, and I shall find it difficult sleeping in a normal bed on dry land.  You get rocked to sleep, quite literally and the splish splash can be very comforting.  However, I’m now in a bow cabin and we are at anchor, so there are all sorts of noises and groans, and if you listen to them too much you start to believe you could be drifting aimlessly!  I kept in mind that we laid the anchor chain, then held the engine in astern propulsion at 1800 revs to check it is firm – that would be one hell of a wind to get beyond that, so I ignored the occasional groans and slept, until 5am that is!  I think my body is getting a little into antipodean mode – this time in 3 weeks I will be enroute to a new adventure in Australia!

Day started with a cuppa, which I delivered, as usual to John in bed – he is on holiday and usually up so early as a farmer at home, so is enjoying a little down time at the start of the day

The day has now ended and yet again, Im snuggled in bed in my gorgeous little cabin and my hot water bottle with the wind rattling around me, the boat vibrating and rolling around – the Indian summer has officially ended!  We are in Teignmouth and attached to a pontoon which is just a girlie stone throw from the town, in fact, we seem to be getting nearer all the time – I shall explain.

We arrived here around noon following a gorgeous sail from Dartmouth with a lovely broad reach and the boys taking turns on the helm to see how they could best surf the waves and get the best speed.  Alan won, not suprisingly as he is the instructor, and he managed 11.2 knots.  That may not mean much to you, but it impressed the hell out of me, but I stayed right out of the competition.  I was skipper and taking my role far too seriously and busy doing a proper job, and nothing to do with the fact I would never beat that record of course!

Alan

Tim The Superyacht Man!

John!

I had carefully planned a pilotage into Teignmouth, and with Alan on the helm pretending he was a complete novice and needing careful direction, we brought the boat in behind two training naval vessels.  There has been a new gale warning at 9.40 saying the gale would arrive “soon”  Well you see, soon in my language is a bit like saying to my kids, “just wait a minute” with a “minute” having no definable boundaries.  The met office however have a definition of “soon” which means in 6-12 hours.  The wind speed quickly rose and we had a wonderful challenge getting the boat onto the pontoon, not least because the naval vessels had taken up the room we would have used.  Alan thankfully did not relinquish the helm, as he said that was one of the most difficult berths that could be made, but it was helped by the skipper of the naval vessels instructing his students to take our lines on the boat to which we rafted.  They were brand new at it, which took a nano second for us to assume, once we saw the looks on their faces as they took our lines wondering what the hell to do with it!

Anyway, here we are rafted onto a boat onto a pontoon which is one of 3 short pontoons in a row.  We had lunch, settled down to some work in the pontoon, whilst John inflated the dinghy and the wind blew him to the shore!  We jumped up when we heard a bang, it was the bathing platform touching our neighbouring boat, but we looked up to find the pontoon had left its position and was sitting at a completely different direction to the others.

Where has out pontoon gone??

Barely a boat width between pontoons when we arrived!

Instruments straight on, we ascertained we were in a good amount of water, but couldn’t understand what was happening. A quick call to the harbour office, and a woman there informed us “well, I don’t really know cos I just sit in the office and answer the phone, but the harbour assistant told me it does this lots and there is nothing to worry about”

We continued our studies and then Alan decided he would cook, he saw on the menu it was gammon, new potatoes, veg and cauliflower cheese which he considered easy.  Well, it is to someone who knows how to make a roux, but for poor John, who thinks this is just the name of a chef, it was a tad of a challenge!  With just a little coaching from me, and lots of boating analogies, the dinner was complete, and he had left just one pan unused in the process – a very good job John is great at washing up!

We had planned a trip across the small strip of water into the highlife of Teignmouth, but the rain was horizontal, so we had an evening in and continued our studies!

Its now 11.30, I’m very tired, and the line from the assistant at the harbour office is running through my head as I lye here in my cabin and feel the boat shaking in the wind…..goodnight!

I was far too exhausted after being put through my paces to write this last night, so its being written at 6am instead!

I felt really confident on day 1 with my skills and felt I was heading in the right direction, today has felt very different.  I didnt know if it was my hormones, or that fact that our lovely Indian summer was coming to an end, but I felt down on myself , a constant lump in my stomach and a feeling that I just couldn’t do it!  Its not like me at all, and quite scary as I have always believed in a self-fulfilling prophesey – if you think you are going to fail at something, you generally do, and the converse is true!

Alan is a very good teacher, he is very clear, concise but also very sympathetic to the fact I am new to this!

There has been some wonderful sunrises on this trip!

Lots of skills completed today, starting with picking up a buoy under sail, which is a skilled thing in itself, but we were doing it in the river just down from Dittisham, and the winds were very flukey!  Many skills covered today, which I shall just skim through here as I really need to get on with revising………I brought Nashira onto the wall at the pontoon in the town, blind navigation which involved sitting at the chart table, only knowing the log (distance travelled) and the depth, and giving orders to the helm and crew where you want the boat pointing and finding your way there.  A bit like pin a tail on the donkey really, but this time, you couldn’t peek through the poorly applied blindfold! Much time spent on sailing skills, tacking, gybing (safely!) and man overboard under sail.

Back into Dartmouth, laying the anchor (I now know it really isnt “dropping” it) and time for dinner.  My spaghetti carbonara seemed to go down a treat, although Alan called it bacon and eggs when I announced what our fayre would be!

Dinner over, it was back out again out to sea and complete pilotage in the dark, sailing around a port hand mark, safe gybing and then of course the man over board.

The man overboard is so important, and we often laugh and joke about it, but it is very serious, because it is a drill for an emergency situation!  Alan calls his MoB “Doris” which was a bit of a shock, as thats the nickname John has fashioned for me (“Bossy Doris” in actual fact!) so MoB was a little disconcerting!

We eventually made it back to our anchorage at 11pm and settled down to a glass of wine each before crashing down!  So, its really good morning, but of course, in the spirit of this blog, its goodnight!

Its nearly 11pm and I’m lying in bed in my lovely cabin on Nashira. When Alan gave us our briefing last night, he said he always tried to make his sailing trips fun, but then corrected himself, and added, “well, apart from things like yacht master prep of course”  It was with this thought that I barely slept last night, but now the day is over, I really have to disagree!

It has been a full on day, up at 7am and ready to work by 8.  We all had a civilised breakfast together then started on a full boat briefing.  That finished, it was time for some close quarters boat handling.

Tim took to it very well, he has been handling boats for many years, and the super yacht he currently works on has a tender bigger than our boat which he uses, and it shows – well done Tim.  Well, I’m a midwife who normally (when she is not pretending to be a skipper!) works in the midlands, and the biggest thing I get to drive apart from my ford focus is a hospital trolley!  I’m rather too afraid at times of the throttle and my big end, but today has found me growing in confidence.

I now feel confident in handbreak turns (yes, you read right) and really rather enjoyed throwing a 36ft yacht around the marina this morning.  I was asked to bring Nashira back to her berth, reversing in.  I was grateful for the practice I put in yesterday, and brought her round confidently, to which Alan said “that was near perfect”  I almost felt the joy Steven Jones experienced at their victory yesterday against Fiji in the world cup as I punched the air triumphantly!  You can’t begin to imagine the joy I feel at finally feeling I can control the movements of a boat, it is lovely!

We then continued to “pontoon bash” as we tried different techniques at bringing a boat on in gales – bow end on and lassoing a cleat as well as mid ships slip lasoos – and its good to see how well they can work.

Our day continued with picking up buoys, then finally anchoring for lunch in Fishcombe.  As if Brixham isnt beautiful enough, this little cove just off the breakwater is an absolute haven!

Not long to relax before we headed off towards Dartmouth, heaving to along the way, then tacking, gybing, and generally practicing sail trim.

Alan, as I have already mentioned, is a good instructor, but whats amazing is how he also managed to organise the weather for us!  It was glorious when we were doing our close quarters work, and also during lunch.  Now we are heading towards dartmouth, he managed to arrange a little fog so we could discuss sailing with poor visibility, then along came high winds and gusts which necessitated reefing.

With some little cocked hats on the way (three point fixes), and pilotage into Dartmouth, we relaxed on our journey up the river and picked up the very same buoy John and I had on Friday night.  This time we did it by bringing the buoy along our starboard side, and relying on our propwalk and someone lying down on the pontoon with a line leading from the bow, the buoy was picked up and the line thread through by hand – it worked so well!

Our journey over, we sat and enjoyed a cuppa, but still the work continued, and, like a coiled spring, I awaited the next round of questions from Alan “tell me Jill, if you had two vessels sailing along with the boom across different sides of their boats with a risk of collision, what are the regs” “tell me the features of an east cardinal” and with a card flashing across my face – tell me what vessel this is, what the lights signify and its aspect” the questions kept rolling in, rolling in.

However, its time for dinner.  I’m glad to say that my menu planning is now paying off thank goodness.  Many men state they “can’t cook”, well, sorry guys, but I knew very little about diesel engines before this summer, but I can clean out the water filters, check the oil, recognise when the alternator belt is in poor state of repair and change a shredded impeller – so I’m sure a spaghetti Bolognese isnt beyond any mans grasp!  John has said this, yet he sorts breakfast (including boiled eggs – which I think is cooking!) and Tim got on the boat yesterday saying exactly the same thing.  So – I have presented them the menu and am delegating!

I put out the packets of chicken kiev, the bag of penne pasta, the pasta sauce, the packet of carrots and mange tout and gave Tim a galley briefing!

Thanks Tim – dinner was lovely, and John cleared away!

Alan has given us a lovely de-brief of the day and has given Tim and I individual feedback.  I’m pleased to say that he thinks I have performed well today, and, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice, said he has rarely met a woman doing yacht master before who commanded the boat as well as me…….at last – being bossy is finally paying dividends!!

We have all worked hard today, so Alan felt we deserved a bit of RnR so over to the shore we went in the dinghy to the Ferry Boat Inn.

Lovely beer there I must say, but now my bladder is paying the price………..Goodnight, I think!

Another early start with the sun rising and a promise of another glorious day!  I was greeted by John who asked me what time I rolled in!  I said “I was a good girl dad and got back by 11” and he gave me an approving look and told me he had missed me last night!

What have I done to deserve such a lovely sailing companion.  I have just spent a lovely week on a boat, alone with a complete strange – but I already feel like John is a real friend.  He seems to have made it his mission to help me get through my yacht master and tests me at every occasion.  In fact, as I write this, he has just shouted over to me “have you got your cards there, are you learning them?”

The day started well, and I caught the end of the rugby match with Wales giving Fiji and absolute hammering and bringing themselves into the quarter finals.  We then had to watch the Ireland V’s Italy game of course, and I couldn’t help cheering Italy on, as the winning team will be facing us next weekend and I really wanted it to be Italy.  Alas, my support didn’t make a jot of difference and Ireland have now scared Welsh supporters witless, as we are to meet them in the quarter finals next week!

I’m a multi-tasker and whilst watching the rugby, produced a long shopping list correlated with a complete menu for the next 6 days.  We have Alan, our instructor, joining us this evening, along with a guy called Tim who is flying in from somewhere – France, Spain – who knows?  I know nothing else about either – but hope Tim isn’t French as he might be a little disappointed at the menu I have planned for the coming week!  But he is in the same boat as me (literally!) as he is flying in to do his yacht master prep and complete the exam!

My washing is now hanging along the guard rails of the boat and drying nicely in the morning sunshine.

Time for shopping!

Its the end of the day now – I’ve dragged John around the Tesco Extra in Brixham and have everything in stock for our week on the boat. I did some close quarters maneuvering and now feel happier reversing!  I got funny looks from some of the boat owners as they sat in the marina sunning themselves as I steered Nashira around, spinning her in circles and reversing up and down pontoons until I made John dizzy.  Then it was time to pick up buoys for a while!  That done, we headed out into Torbay and tried to work some magic with the 2 knots of wind, but ended up just trying to enjoy the sunshine – its 2^nd October and as hot as you would hope during the summer – its amazing.

I brought the boat back onto the pontoon, reversing into its position and careful not to damage the half a million pound Princess power boat in front along my way!

Such a beautiful day, so finished it sitting on the bow with my “Flip Cards” trying to learn lights on different vessels and wondering what “shooting nets” and “hauling nets” meant and why there were so many types of tows and why on earth they allow ships on our sea which are “not under command”!!  Just as I sat there looking like a good little student, our yacht master prep instructor, Alan arrived.  I did tell him I had been sitting there for hours with the cards waiting for him to arrive and view the studious scene!  It seems he too has a great sense of humour, so I’m in luck!

Alan is a lovely guy, vastly experienced and is a good teacher.

Whilst dinner was bubbling away on the stove, Tim, our other crew member and yacht master candidate arrived.  Tim has flown in from Palma, he is working on a super yacht and Nashira is a mere dinghy compared to the craft he is used to.

The team now complete, we ate dinner and the yacht master prep began in earnest!  Alan set us a quick task asking us to calculate the best time to sail to Salcombe tomorrow so Tim and I set about planning it and coming up with our answers.  I got it completely right, but failed to appreciate it wasn’t just an academic exercise, and my plan would have seen us slip the lines at 3am – so, slight adjustments, and we will be doing it in the afternoon instead!

I’m now in bed and wondering why I’m putting myself through all this stress!  For it is alot of work and stress, and I’m flying out to Australia in 3 weeks time!  Writing this blog might prove difficult for the next week as I’m put through my paces, so it might turn into an occasional update, so watch this space!

Goodnight!

Picture this, a river with a strong current running through, mist and fog, a Welsh woman on a boat watching rugby with an English man as they play Scotland!  I have to be very careful.  You know the response if you ask a Scot what team they support – they answer “Scotland who who ever is playing England”, well, it is the same for the Welsh let me tell you – strange I know, but true, unless of course they are playing the French!

Anyway – Its 8.41 and am trying to keep very quiet during this match, and have [romised John a bacon sarnie if Scotland are winning, so as Chris Patterson has now put a score on the board – maybe I better get the frying pan out quickly!

John is a keen rugby fan, is very English and taught the wonderful Ben Young, and currently teaches his brother so he is watching intently.

I sat quietly in my cabin with just the occasional involuntary outburst of “Flower of Scotland” and “come on Patterson”!  Alas, England won, and I tried to look pleased but not really sure I pulled it off!

The fog has descended on the Scotland rugby team and it certainly lingered for us on the River Dart.  I glanced around, trying to guess the visibility, which was around 50 metres, and started to negotiate the river in my minds eye – working out which way I would head and how I would progress.  This was to remain in my minds eye only, as John made it very clear to me that we were not moving until it had totally cleared.  He does work as a farmer in Norfolk, and I can imagine they have some pretty interesting fog in his neck of the woods!  We knew however, it would only be a matter of time until it did clear, we could feel the suns heat burning down – on the 1^st October too!

We were absolutely right, and the fog seemed to lift within minutes and revealed a gorgeous landscape

With the sun warming the land and people, we sailed down the Dart heading out to the coast and back to Brixham.  I couldn’t resist taking the odd photo or two hundred!

We brought the boat back into Brixham effortlessly (ahem ahem), and I had a lovely afternoon planned with my very good friends – Nicky and Stu.  It was Stu’s 50^th birthday last week, and Nicky had planned a bit of a get together for close family and friends, so abandoned John to Nashira!  Now most people when they attend a party take a present or a bottle or two, I’m ashamed to say I did neither, but took a large bag of dirty washing and made good use of their utility room!  Thanks Nic Nac!

It was lovely to spend time with them, and have an opportunity to say my goodbyes to their families as it will be the last time I will see them for a long time – as I’m stepping on a plane to Australia in little over 3 weeks time!

I’m happy to say that I made a new friend too – her name is Rachel Smith and she has been doing some work with Stu and Kevin.  You know when you meet someone and feel a real affinity with them – we both felt the same, and Rachel commented that she felt I was her long lost twin sister separated at birth – well, she is only 5ft , but more significantly, she is 6 years younger than me, so it would have been a shame on our fantasy mother!  Rachel is a most interesting creature – she has rowed across the Atlantic – how impressive is that!  She seemed as equally impressed by my trip around Britain, which really can’t compare.  I had my own cabin and ensuite facilities, and she had a bucket!

I think Rachel and I will be seeing more of one another in the future – I’m sure I can entice her over to Oz!

I have a long week ahead of me – tomorrow a new instructor comes onboard and starts our “yacht master prep” – aiming to bring me ship shape and Bristol fashion ready for my exam next weekend – gulp and double gulp!!

So, like a good little student, I left the party in good time and was tucked up in my cabin on Nashira by 11pm with no plans for a hangover tomorrow – goodnight!

The very last day of September – and what a scorcher!  Apparently the hottest September day on record – and here we are on a boat on the River Dart!

I took John a cup of tea this morning nice and early to repay yesterdays favour – this was at 6.45!  Its nice to have a good slow start though isnt it.  We only planned to go to Dartmouth today as we have a few bits and pieces to do in Brixham before we leave, and I wanted to do a bit of boat manoeuvering too in this fine weather.  Substantial radiation fog this morning, so we were happy to wait a little anyway whilst this cleared.

It was good to see Zoe again in SWMT office, and it felt as if I had never left there back in July to continue my trip around Britain.  She told me how Larry Lamb wandered into the office the other day to find a quiet space to tape a voice over as he was here to film handing over a lottery cheque – seems I arrived too late!

(Photo to be inserted here when internet allows)

We eventually slipped the lines at Brixham, and John has created a route on the chart plotter with 6 way points, so he is gradually losing the title of technophobe – maybe I can teach him to cook one dish before he leaves??

Past Berry Head, as optimistic as ever, we raised the main sail and unfurled the head sail and hoped the 5 knots of wind would fill them just a little……alas no – we just had to enjoy the sunshine and rely on the tide to help us along the way as we kept the engine power as low as we could get away with.

I have been in Dartmouth many times, thanks to my lovely friend Nic Nac, Stu and Fred, but this is the first time I have come in as skipper, so it didnt feel quite as relaxing as before, and a glass of pimms was a long way from my mind!  However, I always get a thrill coming into Dartmouth, the approach is stunningly beautiful and it just continues along the way.

We by passed Dartmouth and headed up the River Dart towards Dittisham, and my camera came out

It really is beautiful.  I lassoed a mooring buoy and we settled down to a lovely evening, pumped up the dinghy then prepared our evening meal which I left to one side whilst we made our way to the shore for a pint.

We avoided the Ferry Boat Inn as Rick had told us there was a lovely pub up the hill.

We indeed walked “up the hill”, kept going, and wondered if Rick had given us a duff lead.  A delivery van drove past us, so slowly as the lanes are really narrow, so I asked him if we were heading in the right direction to a pub.  He crinkled his nose and said, well, there is a bit of a funny one up there on the right, its a post office really, so I was really losing my confidence in Ricks local info.  However, the views from up the hill were stunning

So we didnt feel the walk to be a waste anyway.

The pub – The Red Lion, was indeed a post office too, but certainly well worth the walk.  The tourist all busy in the Ferry Inn, we had a real find up here – and the views from their beer garden fabulous

We discovered what the local delivery man meant when he said it was a post office really!

The pub that is a post office too!

Lovely beer in front of me, and John produces the cards to test me on my buoyage…….!  A pint of 4.5% beer inside me really seemed to help memory recall – honestly!  Maybe it is something I could think about as a strategy for my yachtmaster next weekend???  Perhaps not!

Two pints only, staying sensible – back to the boat to eat the dinner I had already prepared – perfect!  This lovely day was complete by sitting on the bow with a glass of wine looking wistfully up at the stars – perfect!  Goodnight!

Another beautiful day.  Sorry if you are reading this and have been sitting in an office or classroom all day, and we have been out on a boat in the sunshine for 2 days in a row -so very sorry, honestly!

We have both had a wonderful day and feel so very lucky!  We were both up bright and breezy this morning – well, John was, and thought he was being very kind by bringing me a cuppa at 7.15am, this was indeed a kind gesture, but you have to bare in mind we hadnt planned to leave until 10 and I hadnt had a lye in for a long time……anyway – it was a decent cup of tea and the day was far too beautiful to miss a single minute of!

I always find loads of things to do anyway to fill my time and never get bored.  I had a lovely shower, made adjustments to the chart plotter to get it set up how I like (having convinced John I really wasnt going to break it!) and popped to the shops for a few essentials, such as biscuits.  I also ate breakfast!  If you know me well, you will know I’m not too good at eating breakfast, I know its good for me, but I don’t feel like it when I wake up and often find myself doing other things and forgetting – until I feel unwell and make myself eat.

Each morning, John has presented me with a bowl of cereal and a boiled egg and toast which I have dutifully eaten – and enjoyed!

Anyway, I digress as usual.  We slipped the lines and said goodbye to our neighbours who seemed a little too relieved to see us go – they were friends on both boats having a jolly and enjoying the sunny weather and not really going anywhere apart from the off licence I think!

Again, we had a meticulously planned passage from Weymouth to Brixham, and I had inputted the waypoints into the chart plotter as I mentioned yesterday.  I did check 3 times that I had inputted them correctly – Rick has drummed that into me, and I checked it wasnt set to Bogata!  John hadnt really used a chart plotter before, for some reason he didnt get much chance to do so when he was on RBE, and, as I’ve mentioned, he is a bit of a technophobe.  However, he is now becoming very interested and kept muttering “this is a nice bit of kit” as we went along and the chart plotter helped.

Weymouth looked beautiful in the morning sunshine

As did the Dorset coastline

See the horse!

I’m not sure if I have mentioned – John has also completed the Round Britain Experience – he did it April to June and I did July to August so we have never met before but have completed the same trip.  However, as we spend the hours on the water regaling our stories, I think we experienced it very differently due to a few factors, not least weather!  When you have completed the RBE, if you want to progress to a yacht master qualification, with South West Marine Training, you are offered the opportunity to sail a yacht, instructor free for a week, then an instructor comes on board and puts you through your paces for a week testing you all the way prior to a RYA examiner coming along and assessing you (assessing sounds better than examining!)

It turns out that John had the opportunity to do his yacht master a month ago which he cleverly passed!  He didnt want to let anyone down (thats the sort of gent he is) so he didnt cancel this trip.  A good job really, thanks John as I’m sure SWMT wouldn’t have been happy letting me sail solo – and who would bring me breakfast after all?!

John however seems set on ensuring I too pass and is giving me all the support he can, in true “geography teacher” style.  He hands me a set of cards (like revision cards on various topics), tells me I have 10 minutes to study them before he tests me……….thanks John, who wants to sunbathe anyway – I am here to learn!

Back to the trip – we planned to give Portland Bill a wide berth being mere novices, and passed by East Shambles Cardinal

Like good boys and girls!  We could just see The Bill in the distance, and we felt safe.  Lyme Bay then forms the coastline, and we were heading to Brixham which meant we cut straight across it, so the coastline went out of view.  The sun was shining, the sea was very calm, almost milky, and very little breeze – this did mean we had the engine on, but it was a small price to pay for a beautiful day.  We really could have been anywhere at all.

John keeps a beautiful log – he is very artistic (although he can’t cook!) and I tentatively made my entries into it in my best handwriting.  I don’t think he reads my entries, but probably will in time, as I’m leaving little comments for him along the way.  Being a technophobe, he probably wont read this blog – so it will be our little secret for now!

Our timing, yet again, was perfect, we had the tide with us most of the way from Portland to Brixham, and the sun was just setting as we neared our destination

A fishing boat approaches Berry Head

Sunset at Brixham

We knew that one of our instructors – Duncan – would be on the boat next to our berth with his students, which put the pressure just a little on us, but as we neared, we could see another instructor – Rick, was also there – no pressure at all!  They stood there watching, arms folded as John glided Nashira into her position, and I stepped onto the pontoon and secured her on, all the lines ready prepared.  They had to dig deep to make any comments – and just made mention that one of my fenders was a couple of inches higher than the others – come on guys!

It was good to see Rick again as I hadnt seen him since Bangor NI.  He has been on RBE, bringing her round from London since Monday with some new students who are doing mile building and fast tracking, and it seems fast is the word as Rick clearly hadnt had time for a shave since he had left!  Life as an instructor seems to be a difficult one at times – joining boats with people you have never met before, teaching people with a wide range of knowledge and experience, often sleeping in the saloon and being away from home on frequent occasions.  They all seem to keep themselves affable despite this, so the odd whisker or too can be forgiven!

We joined Duncan’s boat – Kerry, for a drink, then headed back to Nashira for our dinner – left overs tonight – yummy!

I couldn’t wait to head to the showers.  Brixham has definitely won the award for the best facilities right around Britain!  They are fabulous!  John was most surprised when I eventually made it back to the boat, as I had been away so long.  I enjoyed a proper preen and a real soak in the shower, something I had planned for months as I’ve journeyed around Britain – thinking of the showers in Brixham!  Amazing how priorities in life can change isnt it!

In bed by 10.30, feeling absolutely exhausted – John has tired me out with all this testing – bloody geography teachers!  Goodnight!