Apologies it has been a long time since the last post. A lot has happened in that time. The bottom has been Copper coated - a saga for a later date - but all good now!! Ouch poor bank account. Thank god we had all the work professionally done and guaranteed given the application issues.

At the same time we have had some cosmetic fibreglass work done and the topsides polished.

We had a problem with the rudder being very stiff so have taken the opportunity to drop it and clean up the bearings. We needed help to remove the quadrant which was very corroded and had to have the bolts drilled out where they had corroded. Hopefully it will all be OK when it is refitted on launch day.

Looking good now but the deck needs a good clean.

We have fitted an Autoprop (ouch 2). A new front cabin hatch - that turned out to be virtually the same cost as replacing the cracked perspex.

The sailing plan is now fairly fixed (oh yeah!!) the aim being to cast off on May 1st heading for the Channel Islands and then coast hopping to north Biscay before crossing to northern Spain. Loads of charts and pilot guides piling up.

We have to be in A Coruna for the end of June to meet out daughter Kate and grandson Josh who are coming over from Australia for a holiday.

We will then spend the rest of the season getting to somewhere near Gibraltar for the winter.

I know it seems strange but we are going back in the water next week. Mainly so that we can spend time on the boat to get the rest of the jobs done we want to do as well as to acclimatize us back to living on board and making sure everything works - especially the rudder. We also want to make sure all is OK with the Coppercoat after the issues we had with the application. The boat will be lifted - at the yards expense - in April to make sure everything is OK.

Hopefully from now on there will be more updates.

Jim