Well, what a blast. After 10 years of dreaming and 18 months of serious planning, we are about to set off on our adventure with the goal of sailing around the world.
On the 17th June we are setting off from our Gosport berth, sailing our way South towards Tenerife, where we will join the Cornell Islands Odyssey to Cape Verde and then Barbados – planning to arrive in the Caribbean before Christmas this year.
That image of sunshine and swimwear, sipping an ice cold G&T in some exotic location has been far from our reality over the last few weeks, however. Since moving onto Lady Jane we have been subject to 12 hour days of hard labour cleaning, sanding, and maintaining. Then another hour tending wounds and bruises. Finger nails? Forget them.
We have installed more safety equipment than you could shake a chandlers at. And moving from a four bedroom house into a 42′ boat has helped develop an uncanny knack of finding storage spaces where some might think none exist. Windows and hatches have been replaced, bilges have been cleaned – and are now storing an embarrassment of booze.
Solar panels have been added, which should keep us self-sufficient in terms of power needs. The watermaker is working, the satellite phone can receive weather forecasts, the man-overboard alerting system works, and the crew of two are physically fit thanks to all that graft.
So, we are now more than ready to go – not least of all because we need a holiday.
One of the items we have added to our collection is a YB3 tracker. This sends a position report to a server via the Iridium satellite network where it can be viewed on a map. In practical terms this enables us to share our position with people on this website so that you can share our adventure with us.
Our first port of call isn’t so exotic. I mean no disrespect to Portland marina, but I suspect that anyone reading this would prefer to hear more about locations a few miles south of the UK. We need to pick up a spinnaker pole from the very-patient Andy Gordon of AG Rigging, who has had my spinnaker pole stored in his shed for well over a year.
From there it is off to France and the Channel Islands, but not necessarily in that order. And we plan to keep this blog updated as we go to share a little something about where we are and what we are up to.
Cheers!
Allen and Maria
Wow! So exciting. Such an amazing thing to do. I can’t wait to read the next updates…
Safe travels and have a blast!
Can’t wait to see the journey unfold. Happy sailing both 😊
Good luck, may the sea gods and the weather gods be kind to you and may you post way too many pictures of chilled alcohol in far flung places.
Safe travels & wishing you fair winds in your sails…. it’s gonn be an amazing adventure… thanks for sharing with us x
Wow looking forward to keeping track of your amazing journey – we have a big project going on here which will hopefully be complete by Christmas and we can resume some world touring of our own. Who knows we could end up in the same part of the world as you at some point 😊. Happy safe sailing x
Thank you for sharing your amazing adventure, keep safe, have fun!
Really excited for you – what an adventure you have ahead. Wishing you the best of luck and lots of good weather. Looking forward to your updates xxx
It’s really happening – you’ve raised anchor and sailed away……!! We’re really looking forward to tracking your journey and hearing about your adventures. Keep safe and have the most amazing time living out your dream.
Bon voyage Captain Pugwash and your motley crew. Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures on the high seas and on land. Safe sailing to you both.
Have a safe and wonderful journey you both! May your butter always last until the next breakfast, Poseidon and his fellows be favourably inclined towards you and freedom fill you with strength and satisfaction.
Farewell Midge and Allen. Your gonna have an amazing time. We’ll miss you! We’ll try to fly out and see you at one of your stops. Lots of Love xxxx
Good luck! Sooooo exciting.
Great post Chucks! Look forward to many more 😉 Xx
Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures. Safe sailing and have many amazing experiences.
Stay safe, cant wait for the updates too
Thanks everyone for the comments and best wishes… it means a lot to Maria and I. We will try our best to keep you folks up to date and as entertained as we can.
Cheers and thanks – Maria and Allen.