David first learned to sail on a Loch Fyne day boat out of Helensburgh Sailing Club on the River Clyde in his mid twenties. With the arrival of a family he did not do any more, until in 1984 we bought our first boat, “The Golden Soak”, a Matilda 20. [...]We got as far as a circuit of the sugar ship, the SS Captyannis, which ran aground in a storm on a sand bank in the River Clyde off Greenock, and just about felt brave enough to venture around the Green Isle to the boatyard off Kilcreggan where she was laid up in the winter. When “The Golden Soak” broke her mooring and grounded in a summer gale off Helensburgh Sailing Club, and after a respray, we sold her and bought “Areion” a Pegasus 26. At that point I did not particularly like sailing but it was a case of join in or become a sailing widow. I chose the former and have never regretted it. I learned to sail with Liam Carver aboard Storm Venti out of Craobh Haven, first as competent crew, then as day skipper. Thanks to Liam it was during those two weeks that I discovered how much I enjoyed sailing. On Areion we were infinitely more ambitious sailing round the Gareloch, Loch Goil, the Kyles of Bute, the Isle of Arran and as far as Loch Gair within Upper Loch Fyne. We had our first ever two week summer cruise on her. It was a great success and it whetted our appetite to do much more. “Leander” followed. A centre cockpit Jouet Fandango 33, we felt she was huge! Rounding the Mull of Kintyre in her we really thought we were going places! Now we made Craobh Haven Marina our summer berth and this opened a whole new and beautiful cruising ground for us. They say the ideal boat is one a few feet bigger than the one you have and so it was on our case and led to our next purchase of Ostreon, an Oyster 37. Being a cruiser/racer we had some very fast and exhilarating sailing on her exploring all over the Inner and Outer Hebrides. In 2000 aboard Ostreon we enjoyed our first cruise in company with the Clyde Cruising Club as non members and enjoyed it so much that we applied for membership. Not all that long after that David was asked if he would be their web master to which he agreed and served for a period of three years on the Committee. Without exception every single weekend in the summer months was spent sailing out of Craobh. By now we had begun to harbour thoughts of cruising further afield and so, looking for a heavier displacement offshore cruising boat we found “Stella”, an Amel Maramu 45ft. centre cockpit ketch. She was to take us on a journey we could not have dreamed of. To see if we could cope with sailing on a grander scale we completed a six day ocean passage with Stokey Woodall from the Azores to Lagos in Portugal. This was the turning point for us in our sailing life. We absolutely loved it. The summer of 2003 we had our second cruise in company with the CCC to Orkney culminating in a splendid party in the Caledonian Canal celebrating its 200th anniversary. It was the enjoyment of sailing in such convivial company that would shape the way in which we would go cruising in the future. In May 2004, following our retirement, we cast off from Rhu Marina and headed south, taking ten weeks to day sail down the west coast of Ireland, across to the Isles of Scilly, and hence to the start line in Torquay of the Biscay Triangle, a two week cruise in company run by Blue Water Rallies. The remainder of the summer season was spent cruising South Brittany. Stella was laid up in Lorient and we came home for the winter to plan for the next stage. Which was..... the round the world cruising rally, again with BWR from 2005 to 2007. It was the adventure of a lifetime for us. Stella performed magnificently and for that reason will always be remembered as a very special boat for us. No sooner had we “landed” in Crete in April 2007 than we began talking about doing it all over again! A year later Stella was sold (tears were shed). And so now we have Voyageur, a Super Maramu2000 purchased last summer in Bodrum, Turkey and we are currently preparing to set off on our second circumnavigation, this time with the World Cruising Club. Although we will revisit many of the places, there will be many new destinations too. Our route will divert from Bali, Indonesia heading south west to South Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope, instead of going through pirate country as was the case on the previous rally. We are always asked why we still choose to join a rally. The answer is simple. Company and camaraderie. David and I believe in safety in numbers. We had some very fine company on our last rally and have high expectations for this one too. The process of arranging visas, customs and immigration procedures, the Panama Canal transit is made so much easier. In addition there is always up to date weather information. So.....different boat, different route, different rally.....same skipper. I wouln't swap him for anyone!