Keeping our fingers crossed all last week worked and Thursday afternoon saw us driving down to Hunros to meet up with Rick, Liz and the boys on Sundance who had sailed around from Chichester to meet us at Universal Marina and after inviting us aboard, very kindly served up a great chicken curry, a few beers and great company before we finally called it a night and returned to Hunros at 1:30am.

Saturday saw both crews prepare the boats and at about midday Hunros followed Sundance down the Hamble and out into the Solent for our first sail of the year. Sundance quickly disappeared into the distance cutting the corner at Calshot while Hunros stayed out wide and rounded the buoys, at one point we were catching up, or at least I would like to think we were, before dropping back again when turning west outside Cowes. At this point the wind started gusting and the sailing lost some of its enjoyment, soon after the weather broke and we gave up sailing and made a direct course under the engine only to catch up with Ian and Anne on Halcyone who we were intending to meet in Lymington along with Sundance.

Berthing on the Town Quay in front of lots of spectators was a little daunting but all three berthed with no incidents. After hello's, showers and hot drinks we all made tracks across the quay to the Ship Inn for something to eat before crashing out to catch up with the lack of sleep the previous night.

Saturday saw an informal race from Lymington to Cowes in next to no wind, trying to move 12.3 tonnes of boat with little more than a puff of air (3.5 knots) is hard work and eventually Hunros yet again resorted to using the engine. We had sunshine all the way, it was cold but absolutely fantastic weather and after berthing at East Cowes Marina all three crews made their way across the River Medina (Halcyone walked, Sundance and Hunros took the river taxi!) and spent the late afternoon walking up and down Cowes High street finally being rewarded with a beer before making our return journey across the River Medina to East Cowes Marina.

Saturday evening was spent enjoying a meal in the Lifeboat restuarant attached to the Marina and then back aboard Hunros for a nightcap or two.

11.30 Sunday morning Sundance slipped their lines and set off for Chichester closely followed by Halcyone who was heading for Portsmouth. Hunros stayed until later as we had the least distance to travel and needed to delay our return to Universal until nearly high tide as berthing on our berth is near impossible when the tide is rising quickly as the current runs really fast through the moorings.

A quick tidy up and a short visit into the marina office to pay the balance of this years berthing fees and we were on our way home, arriving just in time to feed the cat.

Fantastic start to the sailing season with great company, good food and well behaved weather, now I am counting the days until our next trip to Hunros.

Christmas has truly been and gone, and before I knew it, January had disappeared as well.

What have we been up to?

Well we spent New Year's Eve enjoying yet another outstanding meal with great service at the Ferry Restaurant in Swanwick and being only a short distance from the marina we walked back along the river bank to Hunros at about 2.00am in what was a beautiful clear dry night, a perfect end to the evening. I will not dwell on the fact we woke up to ice on the inside of the hatches as I had forgotten to leave the night heater on but Hunros soon warmed up with the heating on full blast.

The weather played a big part in January with snow and ice, and snow and ice, and snow and ice, and sn.............

The first Owners Association rally of the year was cancelled due to the weather but the get-together in Reading took place as planned with all attending dressed up in Dinner Jackets and posh frocks. I must say that Kerry and Charlotte both looked stunning on the night although it was difficult to accept the waiters admiring looks at Charlotte. It is hard to believe that she will be sixteen in August and is currently spending her time preparing for her exams and looking at college options for September.

As for the coming month, we are hoping to go sailing at the end of the half term week possibly visiting Lymington and Cowes but it is weather dependant and of course February sees the start of the RBS Six Nations with games every other weekend until the 20th March.

The work being carried out on Hunros by contractors has nearly been all completed with only a couple of small tasks left internally for them to finish,

I need to start thinking about carrying out an engine service, sterilising the water systems and there are still a few electronic items which need fitting before the season really kicks off but in the main she is nearly all complete and I still can't really believe she is ours.

Take care,
Paul.

No sign any Easter eggs in the shops just yet, but you know that they are waiting in the warehouse ready to jump onto the shelves the moment the first present is opened on Christmas day, no wonder the years feel like they are starting to fly by.

Hunros is having some work arried out on her which will be hopefully completed over the next couple of weeks. At the moment we can't sail her due to the fact that the work identified the need for a new shroud (wire cable, holds up the mast). One has been ordered and now we are waiting for the weather to ease so Hunros can be moved to the lift dock and the crane used to hold the weight of the mast while the shroud is changed.

Watching London Irish play impacts upon any spare time we have available during the Rugby season and what with other commitments we haven't visited Hunros for nearly a month. Something which we will correct over the next couple of weeks. we are hugely lucky that the staff at the marina go and check each boat twice a day and adjust any mooring lines or fenders as required so although I think about Hunros everytime I see the weather forecast, I don't worry about her too much.

Just starting to think about planning next years cruising holiday, we hope to take our holiday slightly earlier to miss some of the crowds as Charlotte will have finished her exams before the Schools officially break up, but of course we will be guided by tidal heights and tidetimes.

The owners association cruising calender will shortly be released and as Vice Commodore will mean we will attend more than ever before so next years sailing season is going to be very busy.

If I don't have time to drop back here before January, have a great Christmas and sincerely hope the coming year will be a good one for you all.

Well, we are now just into November, the nights are drawing right in and the shops are full of Christmas stuff, at least I haven't seen Father Christmas in an advert just yet.

The Bavaria Owners Association has held its Annual General Meeting at Mercury Yacht Harbour last weekend which we attended, staying aboard Hunros. We were going to move her to Mercury for the night but with the weather forecast offering up to gale force winds on the Sunday we decided at the last minute that we would take the car and taxi back. In hindsight it was the right thing to do as although the weather didn't break until later than expected, the cost of the Taxi back to Hunros that evening and the river taxi back to Mercury in the morning to collect the car were only half the cost of mooring Hunros at Mercury overnight. Another lesson learnt about the costs of owning a big boat. Oh, and yes, you do now need to tip your cap as I was duly elected Vice Commodore of the Association.

We have just had the booking form and prices land on the doorstep for the next 12 months moorings starting April 2010....... The price per metre has stayed the same as this year and they have offered a small discount for early payment but I am not quite sure how the VAT is going to work, something we need to look into. There is no doubt we are hugely lucky with our moorings, the setting and facilities are second to none, the berths are well spaced, the marina is easy to get to never taking longer than 1 ¼ hours door to door and the neighbouring boat owners are great company, but, and there is always a but, it is expensive. We had a quick look around at alternatives but have decided that it is worth finding the extra to stay where we are as we do use the boat for somewhere in the region of 35 to 40 weekends of the year. So that leaves me back doing the lottery every Saturday in the hope that Camelot might pay our berthing fees.

We are not quite sure what we will be doing for Christmas yet as Kerry's mum doesn't fancy joining us and staying aboard Hunros so we are still throwing ideas around. Kerry's mum did surprise me by saying she fancied a slow motor up the River and back next summer but I think she secretly hopes I will have forgotten all about it by the time next summer comes.

Hope to be back soon with further up-dates, possibly towards the end of November just about the same time as the Easter eggs will be in the shops.......

Take care.
Paul

It has been such a long time since last posting here. It was intended that this would be kept up-to-date but time just flys past and the next thing I know we are just about to change the clocks.

Hunros is no more, long live Hunros........

The original Hunros has moved on to be replaced by a bigger Hunros with lots of room for everyone, even a teenage daughter, well nearly.

We were offered the chance to part exchange our Bavaria cruiser 30 for a Bavaria Cruiser 42, the deal was too expensive and we nearly walked away until we found out the the new boats name was 'Dream'. With Hunros meaning 'Dream' in Cornish there was no way we could walk away so we hunted down the back of every sofa, raided the loose change jar, borrowed a serious amount of money and did the deal.

What we have now is still sinking in, she is wonderful, sails beautifully and makes me smile everytime I think about her, and yes, she is now known as Hunros.

Ray was working on his boat and went up his mast again to take some photos of the area, he kindly took one of Hunros for us again. (Thanks Ray).

we have just had fitted a new Sprayhood and Cockpit cover so she is looking very smart and ready for us to spend time on during the winter months, we think we will be sailing over the New Year break and are currently discussing being aboard for Christmas as well.

I will try harder to keep this more up to date, promise.

Till next time, take care.

Friday evening saw us at Hunros after a couple of weekends away due to Charlottes' dancing shows and Cheer Leading competitions.

Our weekend plan was to join with some other Bavaria owners at Island Harbour marina on the Isle of Wight and attend the Last night of the Proms event at Osborne House along with a champange picnic on the lawns.

On the Saturday we slipped the lines at around 13:00 and for the first time Kerry took the helm to safely guide Hunros out into the river. This was a big step as although Kerry has often helmed hunros while sailing she has never been behind the helm when either leaving or returning to the pontoon.

About halfway to Cowes Charlotte became very quiet which is normally a fair indicator that she is feeling unwell. By the time we had entered the River Medina she was hanging over the side being sick. By the time we reached Island Harbour she was quite unwell to the point that she was really unable to help with berthing. The wind was blowing nearly 20 knots so we really needed the extra pair of hands but the other boat owners when asked quickly jumped to our aid.

Charlotte continued to be ill and completely unable to do anything without feeling or being sick to the point that there was no way she would be able to attend the event nor was she in any fit state to be left alone. It wasn't hard to decide that the last night of the proms was going to take place without us.

The following morning after a good nights sleep Charlotte seemed a lot better and well enough for the return journey. Upon our arrival back into the Hamble Kerry got all carried away with her new found Captain skills and brought Hunros back onto the moorings inch perfect.

We have no idea what made Charlotte so ill, we had all eaten the same food and she hadn't done anything unusual in the previous few days but she is now back to 100% heath and fitness.