Southern England Whistle Stop
27 November 2016 | Peake Yacht Services, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
We rounded off our stay in Yorkshire by adjusting to the decreasing temperatures and declining opportunities for drinking real ale (Trinidad offers ‘Stag – a Man’s Beer’ and ‘Carib – Real Beer’, well lager actually). Then we had a lovely long weekend based in Moreton-in- Marsh, in the Cotswolds, with Anna & Neil and Julia & Tim. Yes, you guessed, much walking through quintessentially English rolling countryside and villages with houses of creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone and thatched roofs, and excellent pubs too. The weather was kind and the craic was mighty.
Next was a few days in Devon with John and Eddie where we agonised over Brexit, the state of the UK and the forthcoming US election. We walked the coast along from Exmouth and then again to Beer (that’s a place!) in bright sunshine and a warm spell.
Our UK visit was rounded off in Southampton with Julia & Tim, where much celebration of new jobs and adventures too place. We managed to have a lunch with Robin and Pauline, formerly of ‘Flapjack’ and great company in the Pacific.
So, on Sunday 23rd October, it was Virgin Atlantic to Tobago via St Lucia, and a much better quality of flight and service than the flight to London in July. We were excited by the prospect of getting back to MINNIE B, but somewhat daunted by the amount of maintenance and new equipment to be installed. We hoped that six weeks on the hard would be enough and we could get back on the water without too much discomfort.