Hi all,
Love to you all for Xmas and new year

18th December
Mid Atlantic 15 15.3 N
36 38.6 W
Dear all

I'm starting the letter now before we forget what has happened.

Well we finally left La Gomera on 29th November having done a bit of sight
seeing and last minute provisioning.

We had a fabulous 5 ½ day trip (800nm) to the Cape Verde's With Edward on
board we were (and are) able to enjoy a 3 on 6 off watch keeping which makes
life a lot more pleasurable. We travelled down with our friends Leif and Eva
on Malinda and stayed within sight of each other all the way which was very
reassuring for all especially on a night watch keeping each others top light
in view. We were going so well we were tempted to turn right for Barbados
instead. Edward and Will had a fishing competition, the first few dorado
(mahi mahi/dolpin fish) were given salvation and returned, traumatized but
alive having been caught too early in the passage to be filleted etc.
However Edwards's double hooker yielded 2 more unfortunate dorado. This time
the poor creatures were subjected to Will and Edwards attempt at descaling,
gutting and filleting. We ended up with 3 fine fillets (Edward got a bit
carried away and thought he could skin it too) and within the hour they were
baked and eaten.

We arrived in Sal (Baia da Palmeira) at night fall (despite always being
told never to arrive in a strange place in the dark) we had our other
friends on Filia Vente (who had arrived 2 days before) to guide us in. We
only stayed 2 days, the island is quite barren, the people very poor (but
not hungry) and very friendly. We had a quick tour in the back of an
Augueler (a opened backed truck with two long benches).

We did an overnighter to Sao Nicolau. We had been unsure where to go to
next, the deciding factor was a Dutch man Henny on the island, (a
representative of Trans ocean, a German cruising club, known about by
Malinda) who allows the use of his washing machine (at a cost). On arrival
to the island we were greeted by several boat boys offering their services
as dinghy minders for money. It was something we had to get used too.
Although most the children go to school others try to get money by taking
rubbish, minding dinghies etc. We only ever paid in sweets as money only
encourages them to stay out of school.

We really enjoyed the island, although going ashore was always interesting.
Landing the dinghy on the beach in the surf resulted in me being thrown into
the water on our first attempt, after that we took it in turns to drop each
other ashore on the quay. The village of Tarrafal was lovely, several bars,
small shops, a bakery and lots of individual fruit and vegetable sellers,
all selling 1 or 2 items. We were able to come away with fresh supplies of
bananas, peppers guavas and oranges. The fishing quay, when a boat had
landed its haul was busy with people gutting the fish and selling fruit, veg
and fish. The fish were huge tuna and kingfish, apparently the waters
locally are well known for it.

By now we were almost out of water and with the aid of Eva who speaks 5
languages managed to track down the tap, under a manhole cover by the
fishing quay the outlet under the steps! The rest of the details about how
to get it were more difficult to ascertain. So we returned to our boats with
some vague notion that we had to get it by or after 7pm.

Will and Lief in the RIB and Edward helping Klaus in a flubber they embarked
on an unforgettable evening. They left at 6 pm armed with 4 x 20 litre jerry
cans by 7pm it was dark and blowing 30 knots they had done about 4 trips in
the wild conditions, Klaus had run out of fuel and was drifting out to sea,
rescued by Will (Klaus later returned the favour) we discovered we over
filled into the bilge. By now I thought it was too crazy to carry on, but
Lief who didn't even need any water persuaded all to carry on (at 60 he's
got more energy than all of us put together) and finally by about 9pm.we
were full to the gills with water. Everyone was absolutely soaked and needed
some of the precious water to rinse off.

We had a day trip with Malinda and Filia Vente, organised by Henny in the
back of an augueler. The boys were brilliant despite lots of walking up
hills and in villages etc. We made Patrick a little seat on the floor behind
the cab; the highlight for all was a lagoon where all the chaps went for a
swim. Patrick enjoyed the villages where he 'persuaded' some boys to let him
join in their ball game. The weirdest, spookiest part was driving down roads
where spider's webs hung in sheets from the overhead cables down to the
ground and overhead. Thousands of huge black and white spiders forming a
tunnel around us, which went on for miles. Yuk.

Will took the dinghy back to Henny's beach to collect the washing, we had an
urgent call for help, having under estimated the surf on return to the beach
the rib was floating away, he managed to drag it back to the beach, but was
unable to empty out the water before the next wave crashed and filled it
again. Klaus (Filia Vente) went to the rescue; thank goodness we were with
friends. And the washing was still dry.

We left the Cape Verde's on Saturday 13th December for Barbados, again with
Malinda and Filia Vente. The first 5 days have been great. No one was sick,
wind 20kts, averaging 140nm/day... Mmmmmm Will here, just as Kate mentions
the wonderful sailing the wind has died and gone, Engine on and motoring in
very calm conditions. We cannot afford to do this the whole way but while
the wind is calm at night we may as well use some of this fuel we have on
board. Anyway enough of the boring stuff.

The trip so far has really been a voyage of exploration not so much of the
countries and places we visit but more of ourselves. The issues involved
living in a boat that is about the total size of our through lounge (Sean's
house) has tested our patience, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and will power.
So far the highs have been high and the Lows very low however, we always
look at what else we would have been doing at that moment and in general
prefer the adventure we are having now.

That isn't to say that we don't miss things from home (Friends and Family go
without saying). Things you come to take for granted such as running water
never took on so much significance as it has over the last few weeks.
Trust me on this one "Water is a precious commodity". As I sit here almost
1000 miles from anywhere unshaved and feeling a bit "Minging" I would give
my right arm for a warm bath or even a shower that you could stay under for
as long as you liked.
Kate mentioned the water refilling episode well I can tell you that was one
of the maddest things to date on this trip. What Kate left out was that most
of the refilling was in pitch black with the wind absolutely ripping at
everything. Every time you came into shore there was a really tricky quay to
come alongside with a swell running, numerous stray lines and occasional
dead rat that needed to be avoided. With that sort of effort needed to
simply supply the boat with fresh water you can see why it has become so
precious. (A water maker has been moved high up on the list of wants when we
reach the other side despite the enormous cost (3 months cruising budget)
and it being outside anything we had budgeted for it would make a massive
difference to our quality of life.)

If you have got this far in the letter well done I must now tell you about
one of the mainstays of conversation and effort onboard ...Fishing.
Most of you may know that both Kate and I ARE NOT BIG FISH EATERS I never
liked them however, when you have made the lure yourself and landed a fish
over 2ft long it all takes on a different perspective. I wonder if we have
reverted to hunter-gatherer syndrome. It also tastes fantastic. Edward
cooked the last one caught and made it into fish cakes for the boys
(although it ended up more of a fish hash than cake) still it was delicious.

Today has been a good day despite the wind going away. We now have a paper
Xmas tree taped to the mast in the saloon with baubles made by all the crew
stuck on. We even have tinsel around the nav instruments in the
companionway. Edward has been trying to play the guitar and Malinda were so
close at one point we could talk to them.
As for the dolphins, they stayed with us for several hours playing and
giving Patrick and Tom great pleasure.


27th December 311nm to go

Christmas has been and gone, Santa called us up on the SSB before xmas and
asked that since they were unable to visit one of his helpers could we do
the job for him! So our room was turned into Santa's grotto Patrick was a
bit wary to start with but was quite clear that he wanted presents, Tom
obviously was more specific having planned it exactly!

On xmas day Tom was sent back to bed at 04.30! but was up at 06.30 again,
Thanks to Judiths visit in November there were lots of presents including
some much needed DVD's. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast courtesy of
Edward. It was the most relaxing xmas I have ever had, with no shops to
visit for the last month I've not had to do any running around and best of
all no work. The boys were thrilled with their presents and the big boys
have clean shirts to wear when we arrive. Will bought me a shirt and jeans
from Gomera, unsure of my size!! He compared the thighs of all the shop
girls to mine (those who know Will can probably picture the conversation), I
should be pleased that he thought me a mere size 10, and fortunately they
are stretch!! And with a bit of jumping up and down I can get them on.

The days are rolling on and everyone is getting a bit fed up, no shortage of
sleep and there are a few letters on the way, lots of time to fill on night
watches. Lots of sunbathing and playing with all the new presents. We fill
in an hourly log so I feel quite at home as you know I worked on neonatal
ICU so it was much like filling in the charts At midnight I always had an
overwhelming urge to total up the daily amounts.


After 5 fast days to start with the winds have left us and have only been
10 - 15 kts.We have mastered the cruising chute but unfortunately the wind
is all over the place and can't always be used. We have enough fuel now for
about 45 hours = 225nm but with the forecast for F 4-5 (using the SSB and
listening to the mobile maritime net in America) we've risked putting the
engine on, and Bimini up because its so hot. Patrick had a bath of sea
water(27'C) in the cockpit

Schooling of Tom is coming on really well despite everyone saying they
didn't do it on passage I've found it easier with childcare for Patrick and
the chance to plan the lessons the night before, in the last 2 weeks he's
learnt his 2,5 and 10 times table off by heart, can tell the time and I've
even managed to sneak in some English.

2 days before arriving we had wind on the nose the NE tradewinds were
replaced by SW - W - NW- N winds all in the same day we were covering about
3 nm in 4 hours it was heartbreaking being so close, but the wind died
enough to put the engine , the next day was greeted by NE again gusting upto
30kts and we were in a position of having to slow down so as not to arrive
in the dark!!

2/1/04

We're here. We arrived in Barbados 3 days ago , and are anchored off
Carslisle bay off Bridgetown, the main town here. Malinda arrived the same
time we'd managed to stay close for the whole trip. There are about 20 +
boats all have recently crossed the Atlantic, We were invited to a New Year
Eve BBQ on the beach with 5 other boats it was really great and we felt we'd
really arrived. There were a few teenagers so Edward enjoyed the company of
younger people!! Will brought his cigars along, and Patrick having had a
long sleep was in his element.

GOOD NEWS

They sell Stones ginger wine produced under special license in Jamaica, and
its cheaper. We bought as much as we could carry!

Tom and Patrick are like wild things that have been released and are mad to
go to the beach all the time, and release their pent up energy.

Well time to go into town and find the internet. We look forward to hearing
from you all. PLEASE PLEASE NO joke or circular mail, it takes ages to
download mail and costs a lot of money, But we do love hearing your news.

Bye for now, our next port of call will probably be Martinique.So until then

Love to you all

Will,Kate,Edward, Tom and Patrick


Will, Kate , Thomas, Patrick and "Finale".

13^th October. Playa Blanca, Lanzarote

Hi folks

You’ll be glad to know that this is just a short letter. Not so much to say!!

We made it to portimao, which was really nice The marina had a free minibus to the hypermarket, I made 4 trips there, and to Lidls and bought amongst other items, 30 litres milk (uht) 30 litres orange juice 50 bottles beer and 30 bottles wine. Our wine criteria was less than 2 € and at least 12% we both highly recommend Portuguese wine. We would have liked to bought more but there was no room to stow any more after stowing the 30 T Rolls and 16 K rolls!! I did manage to find even more space under more floorboards and thanks to a spare part being sent to us by Duogen we had enough bubble wrap to avoid the annoying clinking noise that you get. (Thanks Pete and Alison, and the new tower looks great).

We left Portimao on Monday 6^th October for Lanzarote 600miles away. Halfway through day 2 we were planning on selling the boat and coming home, it wasn’t so much the 6 metre swell that incessantly rolled the boat, or the seasickness (actually I wasn’t, fabulous stugeron, but Tom and Patrick were once) or the tiredness (3 hour watches at night) but more the sailing at 1.5- 2 knots having only enough fuel to get us halfway there. We had various different sail combinations trying to go faster, twin headsails, cruising chute, poled out this, that and the other, still it passed the time of day. You’ll be glad to know that by the end of day 3 every thing seemed a bit brighter despite the generator not working (no dvd’s for the boys!!!!, or hot water) Will fixed the generator on day 4 and things were definitely looking up! It was a good opportunity to work on our all over tans,very liberating! Will mastered the SSB and we were able to talk for free with our friends who were already in Lanzarote. Day 4 was a mixture of no wind and up to 25 knots but we were pleased that we had recognised the various fronts passing through from the weather faxes we were finally getting to grips with. Also by day 4 I was back to cooking chicken etc much to the relief of the rest of the crew. and on day 5, I succumbed to making banana bread ( I feel I am a step closer to being a true blue water cruiser) En route we saw a turtle and the usual pods of dolphins leaping into the air and being generally playful. Patrick and Tom were real stars and I can’t believe how good they were (mostly) bribes and junk food had a large part to play. Patrick enjoyed using the the swell to assist his forward rolls in the saloon.

We arrived in Playa Blanca 7pm Saturday night, a bit of slow sail with winds mostly <13knots with occasional winds upto 24 knots. We were on a real high coming in, because despite being nighttime 3 boats were keenly awaiting our arrival at the anchorage ( the ones we’d left in Sines). They saw us on to a buoy from their dinghies. The next day saw a big bbq on the beach to celebrate Paul’s 40^th b’day and our arrival( the beef burger recipe went down well Sara, thanks). The kids, released from their pilot berth prisons of the last week went wild on the beach and had a fabulous time.

We are now in a marina and plan to leave the boat here for a while, hiring a car to tour the island. (all that in the next letter). Our address for mail for the next 2 weeks or so is

Apparently the mail takes about 2 weeks so you’ll need to send stuff now.

Will has lost lots off weight (very foolish) and is looking bronzed and sexy meanwhile I’m not!!

Tom has been swimming off the boat in 8 metres of water and his confidence is really growing. He reads constantly, a Roald Dahl book in 2-3 nights and we’re running out of reading material. Patrick’s favourite saying on arrival in a new port is ‘land ahoy’, he spends hours with small figures be it a power ranger and winnie the pooh or playmobil, his other favourite toy is kiddie k’nex which has been brilliant (many thanks Ju and Colin).

So it seems that all is well at the moment there is a long list of jobs to do but we’re having a few days off R’n R’ then back to the daily grind.

Many thanks for all your e-mails they are really really appreciated.

Lots of love

Will,Kate,Tom,Patrick and Finale

P.S we found 6 bottles of ginger wine under the floorboards, things are definitely looking up !!

Finale: 5^th Sept 2003

 Porto de Sines, 60 miles north of Cape St Vincent.

 Thought I would start a letter now but finish it another time.

 We left Cascais 4 days ago along with all our friends on Jasp, Malinda, Petrell and Tulachian 2. They were all heading for Madeira and we all knew that the party was almost over. Despite this our stay in Cascais had been wonderful, with 2 weeks of gentle days, playing with the boys, more surfing off the rib, perfecting the A, D, and E chords on the Guitar (well I say perfecting more like being able to change without a four hour pause). All our friends tried to persuade us to come with them and I have to say we were both I think really tempted but, the dogma I had preached of going to Gibraltar then making a decision was so deeply ingrained that we stayed. I hope we don’t regret it, as thy bond of friendship that we had built between us all was so strong.

 In Sines we had a beach BBQ with all 12 of us enjoying a splendid sunset with games on the beach, one small drawback was that in the morning while lifting the Bike out of the forepeak I hurt my back so much so that even had we wanted to go with everyone I was in no state to sail anywhere. (Perhaps those voltorol suppositories weren’t such a bad idea)

We said our farewells in the morning and I think that we all felt really lost.

I felt so strongly the urge to go regardless but was, due to circumstance, not able to and it was not a fun day for any of us.

10^th September

Lagos (Algarve)

Arrived here 4 Days ago back still painful (Kate thinks I may have slipped a disc bloody hope not). We sailed down here in company with "Isuelt" nice couple retiring to the Spanish coast, as it seems are most of the people that we have met in Lagos.

The Marina is very expensive and that’s not all. Still while I am unable to get the dinghy off the boat, Marinas it is for us.

The wind was really kicking up as we rounded Cape St Vincent to get here and a familiar "CRACK" was heard as the kicker let go again in 30kts "I must remember to reef earlier!!!!!" anyway it was all hands on deck as Kate wrestled with the mainsail while spray whipped the decks and the boys watched their 3^rd sitting of ATLANTIS on DVD, ooh to be a kid again.

We now face some difficult decisions whether to press on to Gibraltar with the very difficult prospect of getting back out again or, to head south to the sunshine and the Canaries to regroup and take on the Atlantic Ocean? Blimey sounds quite adventurous

Doesn’t it?

Meanwhile I’m struggling to be a fulltime house wife difficult enough in a house but you want to try it on a boat. Thought I’d make a nice quick lunch the other day (after having spent all morning handwashing all the clothing and tea towels)—beans on toast using one of my precious Heinz tins I was told you can’t get anywhere but are in fact even in small shops in back streets, alongside where they sell meat that looks remarkably like pigs dangly bits, anyway having unscrewed the floorboards in our cabin to access the tins that lay beneath I then struggled for a further 10 minutes to replace the floor which no longer seemed to fit.. I then had to toast a couple of pieces of bread at a time on a rusty pyramid over the naked flame. By the time it was ready Patrick was causing chaos and I didn’t fancy it then anyway.

While Will’s back has been out I’ve been servicing the engine and generally doing all the heavy work, under supervision !!!! So I thought I’d have ago at trying to fix the one gas ring that doesn’t automatically light, after I’d removed quite a few bits Will enquired as to what I was doing and to check that I’d switched the gas off. Oops. I think I’ll go back to cooking and cleaning.

We spent one day fixing the toilet pump after the handle fractured off after I swore at it for backfiring again. My job between childcare was to clean out the pump not a pleasant job.

Feeling as though he could now fix anything Will decided to fix the leaking tap in the galley which we thought was the cause of us losing water. Unable to disconnect the taps from the pipes he cut them off. We were without water for 24 hours.

Finally tracking down a plumbing shop to find a tap that sort of fitted, He plugged the 2^nd hole with a bit of wood, Actually the replacement tap is just what I yearned for, all I need now is a new work surface!!, We are still losing water but are too scared to look beneath the floor!!

Will is trying to ignore the manual jobs and is now tackling the trickier task of understanding the SSB (radio I think) after an hour of asking if anyone could hear him he finally succumbed to joining me in a glass of ginger wine from our LAST bottle.

24^th September (eve of our 10^th wedding anniversary)

 We are now in Faro, well actually 4 miles down river in the mouth of the estuary, anchored on our own (Will’s back is finally improving). It’s very pretty, a large nature reserve with beautiful beaches and it’s free! Sean (my brother) flew out to join us for a long weekend. With only a weeks warning to put a shopping list together Will beat me to it with a request for charts and books for the Canaries,Atlantic and beyond. So there was no room for all those things I really needed (mostly from Lakeland or Tescoes), So be warned if you are considering visiting be prepared!! Anyway it was brilliant having Sean over. Amongst other things he brought a copy of Octobers Yachting World where we are mentioned in 2 different articles, on Dan buoys and west country cruising, Looks like we’re going up in the world!!

Unfortunately we spent 2 of his 3 nights in Vilamoura which has nothing to offer it’s purely a tourist resort. So we drunk large amounts of cheap Portuguese wine,beer and Port all of which we highly recommend. The winds changed and we were able to set off for Faro (where the airport is) some 20 miles away. It was a fabulous day and we rediscovered our enormous no1 Genoa which meant we flew along at 6 knots in only 8kts of breeze. So Will was happy, not too sure if Sean was, I don’t know if sailing was on his agenda but we think he enjoyed it We arrived too late to go upriver to Faro so anchored here. Sean was due to return the next day so we went the 4 miles in the rib, we all got absolutely soaked in the hour it took us to get there, everyone seemed to dry off quickly except myself who spent the day looking as if I’d wet myself. Faro was lovely and we said goodbye to Sean. The bad news was that our plans to victual for the Canaries and beyond in the JUMBO in Faro have all gone awry, the anchorage near the town is tiny and large areas dry out (very similar to the Medway) so with an hours rib ride back to the boat it proved impractical So yet another change of plan, tomorrow we return briefly to Vilamoura to collect a repaired and altered sail and use the free internet, then onto Portomao to victual and prepare to sail for Lanzarote. So there it is, we are definitely heading south to the Canaries and beyond sooner than planned.

So now I’m paranoid that about victual ling, and worried that I either won’t be able to get, or will be much more expensive in the Canaries so my list includes among other things 12 bottles of ketchup, 60 tins vegetables, 10kg rice & pasta …….

Not sure where I’m going to put it all! (stop laughing Sara and John!! I’m sure I’ll realise that my paranoia was unfounded ) Will has been humouring me about it all and keeping the boys out of my way while I try and find space for it all.

 Will finally made contact with someone in Tenerife using the SSB which is good news, any more evenings of whistling down the set or calling Lingby would have driven me spare! He’s also getting hooked on Age of Empires and has sneaky games into the early hours (no work tomorrow!!) after banning the children from the computer because of lack of battery power. Apparently the wind generator does a better job when he’s on the computer.

 Apart from the squabbles, Patrick annoying Tom, Tom winding Patrick up and general warfare the boys are great. Patrick is really on form at the moment ( apart from his unhealthy obsession with willy’s and bottoms) and is mad to swing off things and be in the water. Tom is in heaven having been able to spend his birthday money (via Sean) on yet another Power ranger wild force megazord but to his credit he plays with all 3 non stop.

 So that is all the news to date. We will hopefully be in the Canaries next time we write.

Thank you to those of you who have sent emails/letters its good to get news know your still there !!

 Love to all

Will, Kate, Tom, Patrick and Finale

Hi everyone, 11^th June 2003

As I write this Will is sitting in the cockpit watching the sun go down over Dartmouth while drinking ginger wine and the 2 boys are in bed( but not asleep). Today motored from Torquay where we have had a prolonged stay, but I have missed out a large part!! Let me start at the beginning…..On the way to Queenboro when we left on the Saturday 24^th may (at last I hear you all say!) the engine pumped out oil with the water so even before we had got passed St Mary’s Island the stairs were off and the engine exposed, panic over it cleared itself but is this the start of things to come? Yes!

On the way to Dover before we sailed through the thunder lightening and hailstones sparks were yet again flying in the engine room, stairs off again to expose the culprit something was loose so Will ingeniously created the first of many fixing it things to repair it, we managed to get the engine going just in time to miss Redsands Towers. ( no, there was no wind!).

In Dover Will had to repair the forehatch, something seized and the whole thing had to be removed, at 11pm just in the final stage, an irreplaceable part fell into the marina. Will heroically? Donned wetsuit and dived the 5 metres to try to retrieve it. But couldn’t find it. We had another try at 8 am in 4 metres of water,with a weight belt, empty 5 gallon water container and a piece of string. With no luck after a third effort at 2 pm Will spotted a professional diver who had recognised us off the tv and went down in full dry suit and found it!! It cost us 2 beers and a photo.

I think Will quite liked the water because the next day he dived in again, after the weight dropped off of our, just replaced lifesaving Dan buoy. (replaced because the weight had dropped of the last one, .Plastimo have now withdrawn all stock)

We left Dover the next day before anything else fell off.

Brighton and Cowes were uneventful fortunately! Phil and Chris fed us in Brighton which was fabulous, and Judith, Colin and Marcia joined us for the trip from Brighton to Cowes so I had a chance to practice a few manoeuvres without the boys demanding attention from me..

We left Cowes and headed towards Poole. We seemed to be doing well so Will suggested we go straight to Torquay instead. 12 hours later we arrived in Alderney. Anchored in Braye harbour we took the dinghy ashore (Kates first attempt at sole control went well and now she has the taste for it!) .We took the dinghy to the beach, Patrick was affected by the sun and totally stripped off and ran round in circles. If it’s like this all the time then I think I’m going to love it.

That night it blew a hoolie and the waves were breaking over the breakwater (is that what its supposed to do??) but I’m getting used to the motion oh and NO I haven’t been sick yet a combination of Stugeron (which I highly recommend if you can’t sleep) and some super wrist bands which pulsate like a tens machine (which works by reminding you that there is something worse than seasickness!)

We sailed overnight to Torquay on Friday. Overnight seems to be much better because Kate and the boys sleep through it all.

Anyway Torquay was great got to meet up with Sean, Helen,Martin,Emily and Grace, and also Uncle Peter and Martin who I haven’t seen in years.Also got to visit lots of places that I used to visit every year as a child. Including an open top bus to the model village.

By Monday Will had itchy feet and was keen to move on. We thought we would pop across the bay to Brixham. Instead we ended up in Torbay Hospital with a suspected broken ankle (Will jumped off the boat onto a cleat and twisted his ankle) I tried to persuade him to try one of the 60 voltarol suppositories that I had accidentally ordered but settled with the oral version. The chaps were brilliant at the marina and gave us a lift to the hospital, my only regret is that I didn’t get a photo of them wheeling Will up the pontoon in a trolley. Unfortunately Patrick hadn’t had his sleep and did his usual hyperactivity thing. Will suggested I take them back to the boat. I insisted I stay!!!

By Tuesday Will was able to weight bear a little and by Wednesday we were ready to go. Will forced his foot into his Dubarry boot which he fetchingly wore with shorts (the mark of a true yottie!!) So that brings me up to date.

Well not quite. The sticky hatch cover has finally resolved itself, the back bit stopping it coming out, came off and Will used his ingenuity and a bit of a bracket to fix it.

And another handle on the forehatch has seized so it has to come off again.(we’ll keep you posted on that one)

Patrick is a demon We are convinced he has a disorder that makes him go loopy every afternoon when he jumps on heads, climbs up the handles of the drawers to reach the work surface, spits and is generally crazy.He would rather try and make you laugh by making faces than be sorry for being naughty. But he is toilet trained and likes to sss like daddy and Tom, and is talking really well, is adorable and cheeky.

Tom is finding it harder to settle into the new lifestyle. I think he’s beginning to realise that he’s not going to be able to do nothing all day, except read books. Having to help us is areal chore. However TV is never mentioned and he has only seen the odd dvd. He loves peeling potatoes and is mostly really good. His reading aloud is better than ours and he isn’t missing school only his friends. And he is finally losing his teeth.

I think we are beginning to realise that being all together 24 hours a day has its ups and downs but mostly it is great all being together.

Well there it is. episode one. The ginger wine supplies are being depleted at an alarming rate so if anyone is planning on a visit our favourite is Crabbies closely followed by Stones but any will do.

Our attempts to get emails are interesting, but libraries seem to be the best at the moment (and free) and we get them as often as possible. So please write and keep us up to date with all your news. It seems our Sat C is no longer working so we can’t receive emails on the boat at the moment although we are looking into dongles !!

I hope I haven’t bored you all too much and that you get this far.

Love

Will,Kate,Tom and Patrick. xxxxx