Getting ready to depart

My name is Chris Horseman and the first part of this family blog is mine. I am taking a sailing sabatical from June 2008 to September 2009. Because we think that house prices are going to crash and as a result the financial system is going to melt down we decided to sell the house, hibernate our finances as safely as possible and basically be somewhere else.

I am only a "day skipper" with Yachtmaster theory but I have a couple of decades of navigation and weather planning experience as a private pilot that I am hoping will help at least a bit.

Last year we had our first yacht based holiday in Greece with me as skipper and a good time was had by all despite Kim's avowed terror of the sea.

I decided we should buy a small yacht for the trip but as it included a requirement to home school the children for a couple of terms we ended up with something rather bigger, namely a 42ft Catamaran.

In order to make sure I can handle the boat and the trip we have planned while keeping everyone safe I have organised a sort of "Super course" for myself with a very experienced delivery skipper (Jay) from PYD who is going to instruct me in all things necessary for a seaman from provisioning to astral navigation over a journey of 2,500 nautical miles incorporating the channel, the fabled bay of Biscay, the straits of Gibraltar and Medina and some long unbroken passages.

Jay and Ankie our mate have been on-board for two days but we keep getting little delays. I keep re-stowing things to improve access and buying things for the boat (today oil change pump, generator spares, crash gonad!) so every day in port adds more cost. Hopefully we are now nearly ready to depart. I bought “Swallows and Amazons” for Alex, started to read it and was immediately captivated. I had planned to save it for the trip but decided to ask Kim to get him a copy to read before he comes out. We serviced the generator (New oil and filters), tested Sat phone and did lots of clearing up.

Mum, Tina, Ian and Alex go for a ride to the Isle of Wight (Picture)