It's not something I usually lose much sleep over but occasionally, when the boat is out the water, all chocked up nice and safely, I think back to an event some fifty years or so ago and think "what happens if the yard goes bust as happened to my dad's pal?" Or, for whatever reason, the yard can't, or won't put the boat back in the water.

Back then, dad's pal, also a Largs Sailing Club member, was eagerly awaiting delivery of his new boat, making its way to Largs overland, from a yard in Scandinavia somewhere. The boat made it as far as the south coast when word came through that the yard and all its contents were now in the hands of the receiver, behind locked gates as the builder's UK dealer had gone bust.

Somewhat concerned about his new purchase and a distinct lack of interest from the Receiver, dad's pal rented himself a Land Rover, bought a pair of bolt cutters and headed off down the M6 with mischief on his mind.

Under cover of darkness, both Land Rover and bolt cutters were put to good use and the boat made it safely back to Largs. I'm sure there was a bit of a to-do behind the scenes but sometimes, there's things you gotta do.

Which brings us to Norfolk Virginia on a cold winters night. We left Time Bandit in the yard for three to four weeks while we went gallivanting around South America. Three to four weeks turned into nine weeks and, just as we're getting ready to head back, we get an email that says, "Whoops, the Travelift is kaput. We can't get you back in the water."

It is getting cold in Norfolk, Virginia and we really need to get south so the butter will melt and we can thaw out. Ironically, we will be heading back almost on a reciprocal course to the one we painfully flew all day yesterday.

The Blog has been "off the air" for a while as those last nine weeks have been on two wheels rather than two hulls and you don't really need to read about these travels. (Although, if I can ever get WiFi there will be hours of tedious YouTube videos to watch).

The grand plan is to head for Antigua and hopefully, this time we won't find any missing sailors. That is, if we can get the boat back in the water and if everything works.

Welcome back, thanks for reading and Happy Christmas.