Yes I know it has been a while… what can we say… been busy having fun
Since the last instalment we have been having a rare old time in good old blighty but first things first… now where were we…
Bramble finally got the sling off her leg (not that it bothered her much hopping about the place on three) and the good news was it stayed in and she’s slowly regained the use of it. As soon as she was comfortable we cruised up the Waterford River to stay on the pontoons in the river. Interesting place Waterford; Viking central and full of excellent old buildings as well as drunks and boarded up shops… it takes a couple of days to grow on you but you get there in the end! (And a couple of days we had as the tail end of Hurricane Katia decided to sweep on through.) Wonderful shelter up there though and we met a family with a 126 year old 87 ton wooden ex-steamer “Amazon” (you would have loved her Graham… just beautiful despite needing a bit of work!). She looked like something straight out of African Queen and had just returned from a trip to America; just fantastic.
As Waterford thoughtfully decided to put on a harvest festival in honour of our lack of progress we felt obliged to stay longer than we intended (so much so people were asking us what we were still doing in Ireland so late in the season… or was that a polite Irish way of saying we had outstayed our welcome!!?) and enjoyed some great music, food (can’t beat a good Blaa) and local beer. It has become the in thing to brew beer in the recession and there are some great new breweries… Helvick and Metalman to name a couple.
Interesting facts for today are: it is illegal to sell heritage seeds in the EU… can you believe that?! Who’s got shares in Monsanto??? And Greece now owes 150% of its GDP!! Still not bothered too much about it though… ahhh to be Greek!
Today we also noticed for the first time that Irish men age really badly… yes I know that that irish hut warden told me so but we have just noticed it for sure today… there were we thinking “gosh they leave having kids late” and all the time the poor “old” blokes with teenage kids are actually only in their late thirties…
Finally Katia lets up and after a nice couple of nights down the Kings Channel (a back loop in the main channel near Waterford Castle; very wind in the willows – was actually the original route of the river and very peaceful and sheltered now the main channel goes round it – hardly noticed the violent stormforce 11 that was blowing out at sea!) we try to make a run for it, however, the genoa car was a whoopsy (thank goodness for duct tape and cable ties!) so we pull into Dunmore East again and tie up alongside a fishing boat thanks to some local sailing club guys waving us in. Next day we leave bright and early and motorsail across the St Georges Channel at full speed as the weather forecast starts to deteriorate again.
So long Ireland and thanks for all the Guiness and just remember it is better to have lived one day as a celtic tiger than a thousand years as a sheep!
Milford Haven (Dale Bay) turns out to be a bit less than a haven; the boat next to us has had its toerail ripped off in the last blow so we endure a bumpy night and leave early the next day for Padstow. (Apparently the last gale here while we were up the river was terrible and one boat broke its mooring at Menai and ended up wedged in the bridge… definitely worse places to be than Waterford in a big blow!!)
Note from Bramble… Great to be back amongst British dogs… no more protecting your backside and avoiding scraps; woof woof!
So it’s three countries and two sunrises in two days – very tiring for us all but we have a great sail across the Bristol channel and spend most of the time surrounded by dolphins. Bramble is overcome with her delight and shouts her approval every time they jump… surprisingly it doesn’t put them off and in fact some swim alongside to take a closer look and try barking through their blowholes – too cool!!
The news on the radio is:
Posties aren’t allowed to ride bikes anymore – a health and safety issue!
Saab only sold 1000 cars worldwide last year and have gone under
Houses in Ireland are now going for 120000 euros for 2!!
Come on Kiwis who wants a holiday house in Ireland – the euro is 60cents to the dollar!!?
Padstow is amazing and although the entrance is a little tight and the depth a bit dodgy, the facilities and the boat being right at the centre of it all is awesome; so much so we have trouble leaving.
Bramble enjoys the parade of dogs – one a minute and sometimes more. It has to be the most dog friendly place in the world and why is that folks??? Why little Chalkie of course! Yes he may have gone to the great doggy farm in the sky where he probably has his own soundman to terrorise at his leisure but his presence is everywhere and Chalkie/Bramble lookalikes are more than abundant! “Padstein” as the locals hate to call it is a veritable puppy paradise and signs in shops welcome dogs everywhere. What a place!!
We meet loads of people including Alan and Karen (Yacht Blue) and have a wonderful time hanging out, walking and drinking at the local boozers… our bit to help the economy. Murray notes that most other people are doing it with chips and icecream but each to their own!
Headlines from this week are:
“Acropolyse Now – not even being Spartan is going to save the Greeks” - nice one!
“Beware of Greek taking gifts” – very clever
The Greek must be fuming. They don’t have a good sense of humour at the best of times and definitely don’t do laughing at themselves!!
Bramble has discovered mice in the fields and although still hopping can use four legs for this occupation… beware mousy your days are numbered!
Finally we drag ourselves away from Padstow and embark on a trip to Penzance. Weather forecast didn’t seem too bad when we set off but the wind soon picks up and the sea is washing machine inspired once more. Alan and Karen give up and head for St Ives but we plough on around Lands End and have a lovely sail into Penzance… phew another big day! We celebrate with a Nepalese Curry, (there was a push recently for recognition of the Ghurkha’s contribution to fighting for Britain and as a result many Nepalese have come across to the UK and set up restaurants) its absolutely amazing and we vow to hunt out more of these little gems around the country.
Mooring etc is a lot more expensive here than Ireland (yes, sorry Ireland we did slag you off a bit for costs but we were wrong!!) and as we progress around the coast that prices are escalating… 22 pounds /night for a mooring in the Helford River makes us cringe (there is a “voluntary no-anchoring policy in the river??); the poor businesses on land don’t get much of our dosh as a result.
Highlights so far have been:
The Helford River - despite the cost the village is very pretty
St Justs in the Roseland – what’s not to like
Mevagissy – the atmosphere of the harbour was great
The River Yealm – wow! Very shallow but wow, hard to leave and Bramble discovers squirrels at last (too funny for words and excellent for getting her to use all four legs!) Also thanks for the pizza and chat Irene – excellent to catch up.
Dittisham near Dartmouth – again, what a place
Weymouth – awesome beer festival – what a thirst we had after walking around the “picturesque” Olympic sailing area – some work to be done there before 2012 I feel!!
Studland Bay – despite appearing windy was in fact very sheltered and lovely walks abound and although we never saw them the seahorses are good!
Newtown Creek – again very beautiful and fabulous walking with wall to wall pheasants and partridges not to mention spotting a red squirrel (thanks a million Bramble – would never have seen that without your help and don’t worry people it was still in one piece!)
Poole – for its museum and dubious claim to fame of ever second shop being a charity shop! (Interestingly enough there was a news item about the government planning to limit the number of charity shops… too late chaps I would say!)
East Cowes – man the all you can eat Thai for 10.95 – the prawn and coconut dumplings were to die for!!
Gosport – never seen masts clash together in a marina like that – Do not leave your boat there, but thanks for the night out Alan and Karen, despite the buzzy heads the next day; I’m sure it did our colds the word of good!!
It’s been a mixed bag for sailing this late in the season… fog, rain, wind (round Portland Bill in a force 8 and rising!), cold and roasting hot sunshine (not an Indian summer as we haven’t had a frost yet… still the plants and bulbs don’t care and are flowering and having a lovely time) but we are still enjoying out here so persist with it. Prices for mooring are coming down and some places are charging harbour dues only, if anything, which helps the budget. Still the nights are drawing in and we have covered many miles this season so thoughts start to turn to laying up for the winter. Chichester seems like a good option as it is too late to make it all the way round to Ipswich… time for that next year!
Classic of the day…
We hear Falmouth coastguard reply to a Mayday and a very sheepish voice replies that they were just showing the crew how to use it and pressed the button by mistake!! The coastguard was very good about it and yes it happens all the time as we hear repeatedly over the next weeks!!
Also worth a mention was the bloke that complained in Salcombe because his pub was too busy for this time of year!!
Just an observation – As we travel round I can see why Britain is in the poo – In our dealings with people in business many appear to be very suspicious, unhelpful and customer service is non-existent!! You may be trying to give them money but they would often rather cut off their nose than take it! Maybe they should take a leaf out of Ireland’s book; they might still be poor but at least they would be happy at the same time!!
Sad statistic… in the UK only 60 under one year olds were adopted this year… 3660 are still in the care of agencies.
For your information: “The Navy” pub in Plymouth has vending machine that sells blow-up sheep, vibrators, herbal Viagra and condoms… hummmm and I was the only female in there…??!
Another great radio story… “This is not considered a mayday situation, sir” - that really told the guy who’s engine wouldn’t start on his yacht on the beautiful sailing day!!
More Greek statistics…
Greece has fiddled their books… no kidding!!...
Claimed their deficit was 3% when it was actually 15%
The railway there earns 100million euro a year and it costs 500million to run it!!
600million euros per year of pensions were left off the books.
Greeks are pay 52% ordinary tax (or they would be if the tax department hadn’t gone on strike!)
Greeks accounted for the purchase of 1 in 30 prime properties in London last year, this year they have snapped up 50% of them
Did you know??
The average age of a first time buyer in the UK is 37 and climbing.
If you buy an American nickel (5c) it’s worth 6.8c as metal!! There must be a way to make money out of that!
20million euros was paid out last year in fishing subsidies to landlocked countries with no fishing fleets!!
Stress shrinks your hippocampus
Dyson make the best hand driers in the world (just checking you are paying attention – although this is true in our observations!)
61.35% of over 16 years olds in the UK are obese
Last year 180 million pounds was spent on interpreters by government department in the UK
In the Last decade Honda has widened its seats by 2”
More EU stupidity
Under eight year olds are no longer allowed to blow up balloons!! Where do they get these ideas???
And so finally we have made it to our resting place for the winter – Chichester Marina.
It’s a lovely spot – quiet, peaceful, well sheltered and the facilities are great unfortunately they are not too of ait with winter liveaboards so we are somewhat secondclass citizens when it comes to discounts and other extras offered to annual berth holders (its that noses and faces thing getting in the way again!) but what the hey if they don’t bug us, we wont bug them… too much
Off now to hibernate in my pile of leaves for the winter - catch you in the spring!!
Just kidding… will update you every once in a while… on sunny days…
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