This is the Captain speaking 3rd August 2005 This has just been the Blackest week of the year!. We have had Bill, Agnes, Charlotte , Anne and Colin on board , all part of the Black tribe. Amazingly it all went well. I say amazing because Agnes had never been on board a boat before, does not swim and is nervous about water. But there she was, assisted by Stugeron, ferrying essential cups of tea from the galley to the cockpit and generally being a very han...

Hi folks We have just spent a very relaxing week (in sailing terms) with my Mum and Dad and niece Charlotte and nephew Colin. As Hugh mentioned it was my Mum's first time on a yacht and we were all a bit nervous on how that was going to work out. As it turned out, we needn't have worried as she took to it like a duck to water, whilst Charlotte and Colin turned a fetching shade of green. We spent one quite rough night at anchor in a narrow little cove called ...

Hi Folks Well we made it to Palma in time for Alex and Ruby to catch their flight home, which shows that tight schedules can be made, but they are definitely not recommended. We have had to rush through so many interesting places instead of stopping to explore them. I think I was so focussed on just getting to the Med, that I really didn't give any thought to how far it is from Faro to Palma (562miles). It meant that instead of a relaxing cruise for Alex and...

This is your Captain Speaking 22nd July I have been strangely silent over the past couple of weeks but we have been pressing on to make the distanced between Faro and Palma so that Alex and Ruby can make their flight on Monday 25th. As I write , we are settling down for a night sail from Ibiza to Majorca. Today was eventful as with a wild screaming noise which was reminiscent of the last time I shut the cat's tail in the door, the engine water pump seized ...