Since our last entry we have had some big decisions to make regarding the options of taking Ashby Girl to the Mediterranean. I was a bit concerned to whether Young Debs would be up to the trip and whether she could cope solely in charge of Ashby Girl whilst I took my turn sleeping. Well we have now made that decision and after a great deal of thought we have decided to stick to our original plans and take Ashby Girl to Greece ourselves. We are now planning our route, but this will be very flexible and may alter at any time depending on the weather conditions. Hopefully we will include a map on the site with all the places we have visited and when possible our next destination.
Over the last six months things have been progressing quite well although the weather has still been awful. Once again we had plans to hop over to Guernsey and Brittany in September but due to bad weather conditions we decided to have ten days in Spain at my sister's apartment which is in Peniscola between Barcelona and Valencia. We have never been over keen on Spain in the past but Peniscola was excellent, the weather was brilliant, the apartment was great and we both had a great time.
During August we spent four days in Eastbourne at Sovereign Harbour where the weather was the best it has been all year and we had a great time relaxing on the back of Ashby Girl sipping cold beers and watching all the boats entering and leaving the lock, this is what yachting is all about. Young Debs parents, Stan & Shirley came to Sovereign Harbour on the Sunday, it was good to see them both as they have been a bit under the weather and not been down for some time.
We have got a new neighbour Jon, he is from New Zealand. Him and his brother Paul bought there boat in America and sailed it to the Azores then Jon and a couple of his mates sailed her to Brighton. They had one or two little mishaps on the way but also stopped at some great places. Check out there blog site, you have to take it into account that Jon is very modest and takes most things in his stride, he has an attitude that most people would love.
See Link below and check out Jon's site.
Captain Jon's Site
When Jon first arrived in the berth next to us we were both thinking the worse as all these loud Kiwis approached trying to park there boat in complete disarray, we both thought these lads have no idea and are the complete opposite to what sailing is all about. How wrong we were, when they managed to berth there boat, they all jumped off, introduced themselves and we have never looked back. I would call Jon an adventurer, always looking for the next adventure, mind you when he is in between adventures he is always busy, either away in foreign parts or working on his much loved boat. We have also been lucky enough to meet some of Jon's friends, Captain Dan, William and Smarty to name just a few and not forgetting his girlfriend Linda. They are just like Jon and have some great tales to tell and live there lives to the full.
Although the weather has not been that good over the last six months, we have still managed to take Ashby Girl out on a regular basis, either with friends or by ourselves.
We have also managed to have a few friends visit us for a few beers and parties, this includes, at long last our best buddies Rob & Jacqui. Fat Boy Slim was playing on the beach at Brighton. We had a prime position on Ashby Girl anchored just off shore with well over 100 other boats. Smarty was also there on Jon's boat, we kept the party going on the pontoon when we got back in.
We are still getting Ashby Girl ready for the off. We have fitted the new electric windless, I made a stainless steel gantry on the stern of the boat where the solar panels are fitted, I have put a third reef in the main sail, we are having a new jib sail made which should be with us by mid January, purchased a new tender and also loads of small bits and pieces that are needed for the trip or just needed to make things a little bit more comfortable onboard.
Christmas day we decided to go out sailing and do a little bit of fishing. On returning to our berth Young Debs has to jump from the boat onto the pontoon so that we can tie Ashby Girl to the pontoon, I was at the helm when Young Debs decided to jump onto the pontoon then slipped straight into the sea. I heard a scream but was unable to see Debs as she was below the boat. I then had to make a choice whether to save Young Debs or save Ashby Girl. I had to think fast as I knew that if Young Debs had not been crushed by Ashby Girl she would not last too long in the freezing water. I quickly went below to check the insurance policies, I knew that Ashby Girl was fully insured but I wasn't too sure about Young Debs. Well after checking the small print I decided to save Debs, after all it was Christmas day. I managed to get Young Debs onto the pontoon then had to go and retrieve Ashby Girl, both Ashby Girl and Young Debs were lucky, both were shaken but no lasting damage.
We have now lived on the boat for just over one year, we have a lot of people asking how we live in such a small space, never being able to escape each other, they say it must be cold, they say it must be horrible when its rough, well no, we reply its warm and cosy, when its rough we get rocked to sleep, brilliant.
We will be updating whenever we have news now as we are getting pretty close to the off. We did have a bit of very upsetting news; we sadly lost our brother-in-law Clive in October after a very short illness, Clive was also into boats and it was only in the spring of 2008 that he passed his Day Skipper course, we will miss sailing with Clive.
SEE (e) PHOTOS JANUARY 2009