So Very Tired

[Kyle] Well, quite unlike the haulout, the boatyard was ready to go at first light on the appointed day to put me back in the water. I had assumed that I would have two or three hours before they got around to anything, based on my previous experience. They all came charging over, eager to get me in the water just after I had applied wax to one side of one hull.

Fortunately, there was enough of a lag while they painted two coats of bottom paint on the parts that had been resting on blocks the rest of the week, that I was able to wax the rest of the hull in panic mode. I kept thinking that I would try to just get the next three feet done, then the next three feet. In the end, I got the entire surface of the boat below the rubrail done about a minute before she went in the water. I had no power tools so I had to do it Karate Kid style. Oof!

Once I got back to the dock at our marina, I found A LOT of water in the starboard bilge. It turns out that when I serviced the engine water seacock, I hadn't quite got one of the gaskets aligned properly when I reinstalled it. I was worried about taking on more water getting the boat to a lift, so I decided to fix it there. Most of the repair I did with one hand, while the other was over the 1 1/2" hole in the bottom of the boat. There was a period of about 10 seconds when I needed both hands for the assembly and had to let the water gush in. A 1 1/2" hole lets in a lot of water really fast and it's difficult to remain calm knowing the boat is sinking. I got the thing back together correctly (nothing like pressure!) and now it's completely dry. I went outside to look at the waterline before I pumped the bilge and the boat was 4" lower.

Since then, I've been busy with a million little chores that there's never enough time for, getting the boat ready to go. Last night I went to bed and slept 9 1/2 hours without so much as rolling over, I think. I finally feel ready to go, though. We just have a few small jobs and provisioning to do and then it's just a matter of getting a good weather window.

I saw my first northbound cruiser today during my run and was happy to think that in a few weeks, instead of watching them all go by, I would finally be joining in.

Easter Snow and Chocolate

[Maryanne] I spent Easter with my best friend of over 20 years: Annie. We were very active, with dinner parties, football matches, gang shows and obviously EASTER.

Easter = chocolate eggs - right? Annie obliged (thanks Annie). In England Easter commonly also means the last dash of winter snow. This year we had both. It was fun, and I have overdosed on chocolate. I need to do lots of exercise to recompense. And of course it was great to catch up with my good friends Annie and Mike (and the kids). The weekend went well, but was definitely complicated by the fact that my hearing was totally gone for most of the stay.

Mason's Tender

During Kyle's recent stay in Moncton in Canada, he had the time to visit the local ale house with entertainment! Since then he has been raving about a local band Mason's Tender. Here is more info if you want to know what gets Kyle up and singing.

Mason's Tender (Band) write-up

See Video live in Moncton

The Great White North

[Kyle] I've been working up in Canada for the last few days, first in Quebec City then Moncton, New Brunswick. Even though it's officially Spring, Winter is definitely still in full swing up here.

In Quebec City, it's been too cold for snow to melt for ages and the accumulation is more than 10 feet in most places. The snow has all transformed into hard ice that completly obscures the ground floor of everything. The roofs on one story houses out of town just look like continuations of the pile in the front yard. Everywhere you go, there are trenches cut through the snow for roads and walkways by snow blowers. I saw one pile of now at the end of a small parking lot that was as high as the 4 story apartment building behind it. There was one point at which I was considering scurrying across the crust to save myself some considerable trench distance. Then I realized that if I fell through, I would be in over my head like an avalanche victim and that once I got to the other side, the jump would be too high to make anyway.

Moncton is slightly better with only about half the snow accumulation but it is still so very cold up here.

Every time I come up here, I get such respect for just how tough Canadians really are. To persist in building a society where the winters are this bad and this long really requires a special kind of fortitude. It makes the unpleasant boatyard chores go a little easier with some perspective. At least I won't have to put on six layers just to go outside and I don't have to dig my car out of anything when it rains, even if it's one of those awful cold rains.

Boatyard Blues 2

[Kyle] The boat yard finally got me out of the water an hour before closing time on the last day I have off. I'll have to do this week's list next week and next week's list next week also. I'm starting to feel like the people who have to go to work to get some rest.

Boatyard Blues

[Kyle]I arrived at the boatyard this morning expecting to have the boat hauled out of the water for a fresh coat of antifouling paint. I had with me a whole list of jobs that I wanted to get done that the boat has to be out of the water for me to do. I was all ready to go. I had forgotten since our last haulout last July how boatyards work.

Almost every boatyard I have been to operates pretty much the same way. They know you need the work done. They know they're the only yard for maybe 20 miles (which is a long way on a 7 knot boat, slower with a foul bottom). They know that if they don't get to you when they said they would, you'll wait. The last time we brought the boat here, we waited three days for a two hour job.

I tracked down the yard manager, who is very good at wandering directly away from people while looking busy and avoiding any hint of recognition. He muttered something (while zipping around feverishly but doing nothing in particular) about probably tomorrow, definitely the next day. Why, I naively thought, did you allow me to make an appointment for this very day weeks ago if you weren't going to do it today? I could have done many other productive things with my life if I knew for sure that it wasn't going to happen today. Instead, I'm sitting on the boat at the fuel dock (no permanent place to go) in limbo. I need to be around in case there is a miraculous flurry of activity and they need the boat moved now. Of course, it never happens, but I would hate to go run three hours worth of errands and come back to find the boat resting on parts of the hull unsupported by bulkheads or that it wasn't levelled properly and is in torsion or any number of things that could have been easily prevented by having the knowledgeable owner on hand. Honestly, the only people who have enough experience to haul a Gemini without supervision is the factory. They're just too unusual for yards to treat them like a generic sailboat. So I'm stuck here until either something happens or they all go home for the night. Then I'll start the same routine tomorrow. They never seem to get that I'm a livaboard.

They say things like "Just leave the keys in it and we'll call you when it's done. Which month did you want it by?"

"No point," I say "I'll be there."

"Oh, okay" comes the response "We'll call you when something happens."

"Well, I would know when something happens. I'll be on the boat."

"Yeah, we'll call you."

Nevermind. It seems that the only strategy that really works is for me to get down to my last half day and then get visibly nervous about not getting done on time. Then things happen. I have to be looking at the boat in the lift thinking that I have to have the engine running and be backing out of the lift in 20 minutes or I'm no going to make it to work. Then stuff happens. The problem is that I apparently can't simulate the look without being in actual distress. I think even if I did, though, no yard is going to buy it on the day of the appointment. So I'll try again tomorrow.

Translation

[Kyle] For those of you that aren't British, a "do" is what they call a party. While she's dong that, I'm preparing to have the boat hauled and have new antifouling paint put on. Maryanne is fortunate(?) enough to be allergic to the stuff so that gets to be my job.

Family Do!

[Maryanne] My newest nephew, Oliver, was Christened this weekend, and for the most part was totally oblivious to all the festivities. It was great to see ALL my family again.

Here is "Auntie Maryanne" and her 3 nephews: Oliver, Max and Alfie.

Wild and Windy in Cornwall

Kyle took this video at the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall on 12 March 2008

Cottage in Devon

{Maryanne} Traditionally, Kyle and I have celebrated our anniversary with a weekend B&B getaway. This year, our anniversary fell while I was in Britain, and we were also given an amazing gift of a timeshare "anywhere in the world". We decided to find a cottage in Devon (the county I was born in, and close by to my brother Russell) - and have Kyle spend as long as he could with me - although obviously his work would dictate the actual days we could share. The cottage was in a resort in a tiny village of Devon: Woodford Bridge. The countryside is very hilly (commonly 17% slopes) - and with windy and narrow roads (I think Kyle has been a little nervous with my driving!). The weather was mostly terrible (worst storms of the winter, lots of flooding, and the beaches officially closed for one day because of the crazy weather.

The cottage itself is amazing with every facility you might imagine necessary. The staff are unbelievably helpful - I needed a Dr for a painful ear infection during our stay, and they booked the appointment for me - I saw a Dr within 2 hours of even asking where the nearest Dr was. We have availed ourselves of traditional cream tea in the thatched bar, and have peacocks strutting around in the garden, and roosting in the tree outside our patio each evening. Pretty impressive.

Most tourist places are closed until Easter, but we have had plenty to keep us busy. Given the weather we have not explored the area as much as we would have liked - but we did do a circular tour of Cornwall, and took in Lands End (most westerly point in Britain), the Lizard (infamous rock formation, jutting out from the south west coast), St Michael's Mount, and lots of other stunning coastal areas and towns. Given the weather, and it's exposed nature was very blustery: we have some impressive movie shots which I will post soon. We also managed to take in a local ancient monument - the Merry Maidens - a stone circle the story reports that some young ladies were caught dancing on a Sunday and turned to stone on the spot.

Devon and Cornwall - the West Country

[Maryanne] Wind and rain - welcome home! After collecting Kyle, we took a slight detour to visit with a university friend of Maryanne's before arriving in Cornwall to see her Brother (Russell) and family (Clare and Alfie). Our energetic nephew put us to shame, with so much travel and a touch of jet lag, Kyle and I were keen for afternoon naps on a regular basis - we could hardly keep up with the activities of a young family!

Russell took us on a grand tour of the south coastal region of Devon and Cornwall: dramatic beaches and plenty of history. Beautiful dramatic coastline - cliffs, sandy beaches, pebble/boulder beaches - great surfing (for those more energetic). Thanks Russ!

Transport Woes!

Well, Kyle started the story. With flights canceled from Newark to London, I took a detour to ensure I could still arrive on the planned date. Arriving in the UK didn't make things much smoother - a 3 train journey turned into 5 trains, and a bus, and an arrival time 5 hours later than expected. The good news is I MADE it.

After a few days at the family home, reminding myself how to drive a manual (stick shift) and drive on the left side of the road, I traveled to visit my sister Sarah, and meet up with Kyle. Two minutes after I climbed into Sarah's car for a trip to the pub for dinner, her car died.. Dinner plans were delayed and we spent a few hours organizing tow trucks etc... Hmm.. I wonder if anyone else will be pleased to see me now?
Later in the week, I was a little nervous of boarding a ferry to Plymouth - Luckily there were no issues, so hopefully any jinx is over.