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07 February 2010
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07 February 2010
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Birvidik

Vessel Name: Birvidik
Vessel Make/Model: Victory 40
Hailing Port: Jersey C.I.
Crew: Bob Newbury
About: Liz Newbury
Extra: 11 years into a 10 year plan, but we get there in the end.
24 December 2023
22 November 2023 | Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.
14 August 2023 | A farce in three acts.
14 August 2023 | Sliding Doors
14 August 2023 | The Game Commences
11 March 2023 | Joseph Heller, eat your heart out.
24 December 2022
26 August 2022 | or 'French Leave'
03 August 2022 | or 'Fings ain't the way they seem'
18 June 2022 | or Desolation Row
22 March 2022 | or "Every Form of Refuge Has its Price
28 October 2021 | and repeat after me - "Help Yourself"
23 September 2021 | Warning - Contains strong language and explicit drug references
23 September 2021 | or Everything's Going to Pot
04 September 2021 | or Out of my league
27 August 2021 | or 'The Whine of the Ancient Mariner
16 August 2021 | Found in marina toilet, torn into squares and nailed to door.
06 August 2021 | or 'The Myth of Fingerprints'
Recent Blog Posts
24 December 2023

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Those were the days, my friend...

22 November 2023 | Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right

As a fully paid-up Guardianista, I am fully aware that blanket, stereotypic statements along the lines of:

14 August 2023 | A farce in three acts.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles - Preface

OK, I admit it.

Happy days are here again.....

16 March 2013
Well, it seems that my attempted foray into a wryly humorous analysis of the absurdity of the human condition did not meet with unqualified success. Many of our loyal fan-base now appear seriously concerned about my mental well-being and fear that I have taken up residence in the Slough of Despond. Comments have ranged from the terse, but admirably succinct 'Dismal' through 'Over-heavy on the home-spun philosophy' to the somewhat pointed communication that merely gave the contact details of the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Funny that. I thought I was just taking the piss.

Especially out of philosophy, both home-spun and otherwise

Full marks, though, to Mr. Kevin Saint of Walthamstow E4 who recognised the sub-Swiftian intent and replied in kind. He wins a weekend on the stump with Boris Johnson.

No, in the bustling social whirl that is overwintering, Mr & Mrs Yottie have no time for luxuries such as philosophy, melancholy, analytical thought or even drawing breath. Indeed, such is the dramatic contrast between the cruising season and overwintering that it causes yotties to exhibit a pronounced seasonal dimorphism and, moreover, one that is diametrically opposed to that to which they were accustomed before they began the cruising life. In those bygone days you put on weight in the winter and lost it in the summer.

For the cruising yottie, the summer is just too hot to do anything. Most of the day is spent lolling around like a dead fish in whatever shade isn't already occupied by the cat. If you're not lying around enervated by the heat then you're confined to the boat for days on end while you ride out a blow at anchor. As a result, over the course of the season the cruising yottie develops a physique reminiscent of a cross between a shar pei and Roy Hattersley as painted by Lucien Freud.

The winter, however, wreaks a very different metamorphosis. Exercise rates increase by a factor of ten or more and we are transformed into lithe, muscular heptathletes. For a start, the facilities block is halfway to the marina entrance, so it's a three hundred metre round trip every time you want a shower or a dump. That soon adds up.

Which leads me, somewhat circuitously, to the dubious point of today's update. What is it about the cruising life that means that we will happily spend six months of the year putting up with having to trog 300 metres through the wind and rain every time we want a shower or a dump, but by the same token wouldn't even consider looking at a hotel room if it didn't have en suite facilities?
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Birvidik's Photos - Birvidik (Main)
15 Photos
Created 31 January 2017
3 Photos
Created 16 October 2015
The move from seagoing to rivers and canals
29 Photos
Created 11 October 2015
10 Photos
Created 6 January 2015
18 Photos
Created 25 September 2014
14 Photos
Created 17 February 2014
21 Photos
Created 2 September 2013
4 Photos
Created 2 September 2013
10 Photos
Created 8 August 2013
16 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
4 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
11 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
12 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
and wintering in Lefkas
19 Photos
Created 6 February 2013
14 Photos
Created 18 August 2012
19 Photos
Created 26 June 2012
5 Photos
Created 18 January 2012
14 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
5 Photos
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9 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
8 Photos
Created 16 October 2011
9 Photos
Created 10 October 2011
10 Photos
Created 11 July 2011
23 Photos
Created 21 June 2011
10 Photos
Created 15 May 2011
44 Photos
Created 21 April 2011
9 Photos
Created 29 March 2011
24 Photos
Created 26 March 2011
12 Photos
Created 25 December 2010
13 Photos
Created 23 December 2010
7 Photos
Created 28 September 2010
10 Photos
Created 21 September 2010
15 Photos
Created 8 August 2010
9 Photos
Created 6 July 2010
12 Photos
Created 28 June 2010
9 Photos
Created 30 May 2010
21 Photos
Created 4 May 2010
20 Photos
Created 7 February 2010
7 Photos
Created 7 February 2010
13 Photos
Created 20 December 2009
11 Photos
Created 20 December 2009
15 Photos
Created 8 September 2009
11 Photos
Created 20 August 2009
13 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
10 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
6 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
12 Photos
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15 Photos
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8 Photos
Created 8 June 2009
8 Photos
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10 Photos
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8 Photos
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27 Photos
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24 Photos
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9 Photos
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15 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
9 Photos
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22 Photos
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8 Photos
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8 Photos
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15 Photos
Created 13 August 2008
10 Photos
Created 13 August 2008
13 Photos
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5 Photos
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10 Photos
Created 4 August 2008
9 Photos
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12 Photos
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10 Photos
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14 Photos
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17 Photos
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22 Photos
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6 Photos
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10 Photos
Created 4 March 2008
8 Photos
Created 4 March 2008
7 Photos
Created 30 December 2007
16 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
8 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
8 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
11 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 11 December 2007
24 Photos
Created 11 November 2007
7 Photos
Created 12 September 2007
12 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
3 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
9 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
4 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
4 Photos
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Created 3 August 2007
13 Photos
Created 25 July 2007
7 Photos
Created 25 July 2007
8 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 17 July 2007
3 Photos
Created 17 July 2007
21 Photos
Created 7 July 2007
22 Photos
Created 16 June 2007
16 Photos
Created 16 June 2007
4 Photos
Created 28 May 2007
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
24 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
The trip up the river Guardiana between Spain & Portugal
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
2 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
A selection of the myriad photographs taken over the 6 months in Lagos
37 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
Dia de Cidade festivities & torrential rains
21 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
4 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
3 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
12 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
11 Photos
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9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
8 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
18 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
10 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
18 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
2 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
6 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
11 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
7 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
22 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
10 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
13 Photos
Created 22 May 2007

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Photo Albums
07 February 2010
20 Photos
07 February 2010
7 Photos
SailBlogs Friends
inclusionWinds v2.0
AURA