Tower Bridge. Nice. Mariquita has moored up by Tower Bridge. Weve arrived! Tea has been served, Digestive biscuits scattered around the deck and were all off to bed now. How terribly Britis...
Sitting on the port deck after dinner on a Wednesday evening sees me motoring slowly towards the white cliffs of Dover. Not me personally; Im chilling out having just cooked dinner for our crew of 11...
Well now this is exciting. Tomorrow we head off from stunning Gosport and turn east for the Thames and the Queens Diamond Jubilee Pageant. If you haven’t already read about it, I am a Silver Jub...
Putting in the top mast. Mariquita went out for her first race-training sail yesterday in the Solent. And the day went excitingly well which, with 7 months since our last race in St Tropez and ...
We’re here! We made it! After 3 weeks and 1 day, we have arrived in Gosport, England. It’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing. In fact, I’m so pleased that the trip is over, as is everybody e...
Im so glad thats over! I just crawled into my bunk having cooked and eaten lunch. And I am exhausted. As we crawl our way up the Portugese coast, finally out of the Med and heading North, the seas ha...
I really love being the cook onboard. Yes, Im aware that a week ago I was praying for tera firma as we bashed into a nauseating swell whilst also being solely responsible for providing good foo...
Its peculiar how you have to wash damp off. I have just come down below from my evening 7-10 watch and Ive had to wash a clingy layer of damp from my face and hands. Its not enough to just dry it off...
The sun is finally out as we cruise past Spain on our passage to the UK on Mariquita. The sea has a definate attitude about it but compared to the last 24 hours worth of behaviour, its quite pleasent...
I arranged this blog to be posted whilst I am otherwise engaged in the gruelling process of sailing an old wooden boat in hefty seas (forecast) with strong wind on the nose as we head West towards th...
All aboard and ready to go. Dying to get going in fact. Funny how when you’re supposed to have left a place and you’re still there, it doesn’t feel right somehow. Like being in school after everybody...
This is it. This is my last night in the double bed. Tomorrow we move onto the boat and into the small cabin with its small bunk. I know I should be better person and not mind. But I do. One shower, ...
Its hard to imagine that in one weeks time I will no longer be sitting cross legged upon my lovely double bed with the view all flat and stationary out of the window. We will be all at sea, slowly di...
The big move onto the boat has started. Out of the crew house with its multiple bathrooms and copious water flow; its double bed and wardrobe space and onto the boat with - none of the above. Whoopee...
By Jove I do believe I have a little sunburn upon my arms. Sanding on a deck that is high in the sky, a quaint breeze hiding the true heat of the sun and before you know it, milky white skin has turn...
The yearly anti-foul requires Mariquita to be lifted out of the water in a couple of giant slings. Before the big crossing to the UK it is good to do this and this year there will also be a shaft che...
Isn’t it nice to feel wanted? Having avoided blogging for a whole month due to lets say - Life - I feel its time to return to the keyboard and once again divulge recipes and classic boat adventures, ...
On Sunday George decided we should go for an off-roading session in his beloved Landrover in the snow and explore the tracks and trails around the hills of the Cogolin area and beyond. Being a bit of...
Oops, was that me? They do say be careful what you wish for but this is what Im talking about! Snow falling in La Garde Freinet is a very rare event indeed but in the course of an evening I think wev...
Well I’ve got myself into such a pickle. I feel cheated of my Lazy Sunday. Things started on the wrong foot when I woke up early enough to go to work. That’s always a disappointment on a Sunday isn’t...
At last we have rain. That’s not something you hear said very often unless you live in the Serengeti or here when there is no snow in the Southern Alps, mid-winter. If there is rain down here, there ...
The yellow spray of Mimosa as I drive to work in the warmth of one of Januarys Mondays, fills me with concern for the lack of snow in the Alps and the little action my snowboard is experiencing. When...
We had perfect rice cooking techniques, then we had naan bread and now we have Saag Aloo. This is probably my most favourite friday-night-on-the-sofa meal. It is vegetarian but really, from one...
Our days here in France are numbered. Mariquita will set sail for the UK in April which will come upon us in no time at all. Or maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself due to the Spring-like...
A Happy New Year to you all! I hope that you all had a fantastic festive holiday and ate loads of great food. Or just ate loads. Consuming huge amounts of Quality Street is one of Christmas’s highlig...
I’m sure that being December, almost Christmas and ‘tis the season to be busy, you wont have noticed I haven’t blogged much this month. Actually, only once (Oops). I apologise if I’ve let anybody dow...
It’s time to eat mince pies. I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to begin the mince pie making frenzy and I am going to have to eat many, many, many of them to make up for lost time. Oh shame.So I m...
The humble loaf indeed. Ive been told and have read frequently about how bad for you the modern loaf is. Obviously were talking here about your average supermarket white bread in all its shapes and f...
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch eaves run;To bend with apples the mo...
I’m trying to multi-task. Sadly I’m not very good at multi-tasking despite being supposedly of the right gender in which to do so. I apologise to my fellow females for letting the side down. I am att...
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