Travels, adventures and family …
Me and la chica just had an awesome weekend down in Cornwall, and boy was it hot. About 30 in the shade! We stayed in a wigwam and a tree house, completely disconnected from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world. I can see why people want to live down here. We had some great swims, and rented a kayak for a couple of hours – we want to buy a kayak for the boat when we move out to the states, so it was good to have a bit of first hand experience with a 2-man sit on top.
… sung to the tune of “a holiday in Cambodia” …
So I’ve just finished the last of 4 days here in Sofia, Bulgaria – training up a team of people to work with Brightpearl on customer implementations. I’ve been pretty slack in that I’ve just been spending time between the office, which is 5 minutes away, and the hotel. We’re about 20 mins out of town by cab. 8 hours training during the day plus catching up with the rest of work doesn’t really leave much time for getting around …
First impressions of Bulgaria? Everyone is super polite. In fact that first struck me when getting onto the plane at Gatwick! No jostling, no pushing, just courteous blokes and gals. Nice. The stereotypical eastern-bloc hi-rise apartment building are everywhere, looking a little worse for wear. The roads are in a bit of a state too; but so are California’s.
It’s been nice and hot; last week they say it was up to 35 degrees. Mmmm. As usual, it’s a bit strange staying a hotel for a few days; lots of time on the computer, dining alone (nice food though) – making small talk with the staff. The usual “travelling on business stuff”. I’ve not been to the gym; even though I did bring shorts; my toe is still in a bad way from a kite surf wipe out two weekends ago at the Gower.
Back to UK tomorrow; it’s a mission of a journey; Gatwick isn’t the best place to fly from if you live in Bristol!
Rose’s Dad, wife and little bro came over for the weekend, Ozzi brought his bike so we headed out for a ride at Ashton court. Awesome summertime.
Buzzing from a blast around the woods on me bike. Love it love it love it. The summer evening light, the smell of newly cut grass, dusty trails, senses focussed 100% on staying on the trail, body pumped full of some awesome speed boosting chemicals, pedalpedalpedalpedal, hang in there round the switchback, front wheel scrubbing on the polished rocks, bushes and trees rushing past on the fringes of my peripheral vision, touching the brakes lightly to stay in control, powering up the hills, don’t stop don’t lose speed go go go go!
A wonderful weekend in Venice … and we got engaged!
I’m still glowing from the weekend (inside and out … having caught a little too much sunshine) – even though we only spent a day and a half away, it felt like a lot longer. It’s amazing how refreshing a short trip can be. We only sailed just around the corner from Plymouth to the river Yealm, but the weekend was spattered with a load of different Things To Remember. So what did we manage to cram into a trip not lasting much more than 24 hours?
Some shots from yesterday – a windy, sunny day on Peter Jones X112, “In X Celcis” – crewing in the annual Round The Island race – around the Isle of Wight. About 1,700 yachts took part, with an average of say 10 crew per boat, it’s the UK’s second largest sporting event in the UK as far as participant numbers go, second only to the London marathon. Who’d have thought it eh.
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
John Masefield (1878-1967).
It’s all done! After a few weeks’ slightly nervous wait, the title for our new boat has arrived! Up until this point I was still not 100% sure that the California DMV (basically like the DVLA here in the UK, but they also deal with boats) would accept transfer to a non-resident, but we’re in the clear, and she’s ours. Proper exciting stuff, and a lot less painful that I was expecting. The DMV office at Corte Madera didn’t ever have more than an hour’s wait, and I used our work address in the city as my “home address”. It does mean that she’s a US registered vessel, and with me being a UK resident we may, in some distant remote port, have a few questions to answer to over-enthusiastic customs officers … but the other option of registering with the SSR (Small Ships Register) here in the UK would mean that I’d need to get a cruising licence to keep the boat in the US. The cruising licence is only available for a year, and whilst you can just renew for further years, you need to have the boat outside of US waters for at least 15 days between renewals. Which from San Francisco is actually quite a challenge – it’s either Mexico, Canada or hanging around offshore for over 2 weeks. I was very, very tempted to plan for an extended cruise down to Mexico 12 months from now, but with my work commitments that’s not really going to be an option. So, the Stars and Stripes will fly from our stern in place of the Red Duster. We’ll live with it. For now.
So, Rose and I are busy making plans for Things To Do when we move on board later this year; my list containing things like “fix masthead light” and “fit gas detector”, and her list having “paint locker doors” and “change curtains”. We’ve got to be careful we don’t end up just having “pink” and “blue” jobs around the boat though!
Trying to figure out what we’re going to keep and what we’re going to get rid of as we move from a house (albeit very small one) is a challenge. We like to think we’re pretty light on “stuff” – but we’ve still accumulated too much over the years. Rose’s vast art library and art collection is going to have to thin down somewhat; we only have one sensible sized “wall” on the boat, and the marine atmosphere probably isn’t going to be great on books, even in California. I’ve not got much stuff, but what I do have is very big. Surfboards, bikes, kitesurfing gear, snowboard, climbing kit … I think we’re going to have to find a shed to keep some of this!
Took a quick walk after dinner and caught some dramatic light – looking out over Temple Meads station from our place in Totterdown, Bristol. Check out all the gushing chlorophyll – these plants have been GAGGING for some sunshine.
Road and Ocean 