Current affairs. When we are offshore on Ruffian the phrase 'current affairs' usually elicits a status on Iain's snacking on natures popcorn or the state of the love life of some dried fruit. One thing it very rarely refers to is what's happening in Westminster, or more importantly this week, what's happening in Scotland. While we took to the task of sailing down long island sound the Scottish people took to the task of deciding upon the future of 'The Union' and their independence.

As we left Newport and sailed down Long Island Sound, around rocks, past tugs and through the tide, we couldn't help but focus on the goings on in Scotland. What happened on the other side of the Atlantic seemed so much more important than the goings on, on our little boat. With the miles ticking down to Port Washington at the same rate as the minutes to the close of polling we surfed on the kindle and looked for any news on the radio.

For some reason the local radio station was more interested in local goings on but we were elated to read, as the sun started to shine, that the Union was still, a Union. The Scottish people had voted with their heads and not their hearts and our country was still in one piece. We were elated to still have our country together and also to be able to get some sleep after a sleep deprived 24 hours.

After the vote is Scotland being driven by economics and not emotions we were in for a surprise in Port Washington. Every resident was wearing their hearts on their sleeves, dressed in blue and white, and logo'd up in Vikings attire. It was the first ball game of the season and it was the finale to a parade the whole town supported.

We settled down to watch 'the big game', but found that watching the people was more entertaining than watching an inflated pigs bladder being passed around the field. We were surrounded by the great American dream in miniature. It was brilliant.

The cheerleaders were all perfect with their straight long brown hair and teeth so white you could see the suns reflection in them. They carried their trophies of first world in their hands, with their iPhones in their left and the keys to their cars in their right. Every other word was 'like' or 'OMG' and we felt like we were on a set from 'The Stepford Wives' or 'Glee'. We just hoped that they wouldn't explode when they found something they could understand or throw themselves into song at the first opportunity.

As the game drew into the 4th quarter (we leant that 2 halves isn't enough) the excitement reached a crescendo. The visitors, Hicksville, were winning and the Vikings were doing everything they could to get the ball over the line to score a try, or errrm, a touchdown. The cheerleaders cheered and the substitutes on the sidelines oozed testosterone for those on the field, but it was all to no avail. As the clock rung out Hicksville were victorious and the townspeople downtrodden.

In the one hour of the ball game we felt we learnt more about America than in our last 2 summers. America is a wonderful place to be, an amazing place to grow up, the American dream is still there for the taking and all this without a thought to the monumental course of events that had happened across the Atlantic just hours before.

Yo. Selfie at sea.


Red sky at night. Brrrrrrr.


Yo. Selkie at sea.


Lordy. It's not downwind.


The enroute navigation even happens when you have computers.


Iain discovers yet another new camera function.


We are both carriers of the plague.


Fiona grows bored of the 'getting cold in the rising sun game'.


Iain finds an innovative way to create freshly ground pepper.


And they're off. Hicksville vs Port Washington.


The all American half time entertainment.


Off chucking young people around.


And they then line up for another, errrr, scrum?