The Sailing Bug

We have not long got back from a weekend trip to Herm aboard Mystere. The weather has been absolutely stunning with temperatures in the mid to high 20s. Myself, Shane, Dave, H and G went across on Saturday evening for a rather nice meal in the Whitehouse and a few drinks. Despite making it to the boat to get it out of the marina with literally minutes to spare and also having to make a somewhat impromptu stop at Rosaire steps to make it to the restaurant on time, things went reasonably smoothly. The perfect compliment to an evening of lots of beer, good food, the resurfacing of the Audi vs. BMW debate , me managing to slice my foot open running across rocks and more beer was a relaxing day on shell beach with a Frisbee before heading back

Just a quick note to let those of you who know me that my mobile number has now changed. I have not got around to sending out mails / texts to people yet but will get round to it soon. If you want my new number drop me an email. This does mean as I now have GPRS I may set up some random blogging of comments and pictures from my mobile - more on this when I get a chance to look at options for this.

I may finally be joining the IPOD owners club soon as I have had some vouchers from work today for a local computer store who have got the IPOD mini in for a prety good price. Looks like I will not be able to get down there for a while with the trip away tommorow so it will have to wait for another week or so unless I decide that there is another toy that I want to get from there instead which is always possible with me and computer stores!!

It is not every morning that I can say I was woken by the sound of a policeman knocking on my front door but today I can..! I was woken this morning at 04.55 by the sound of my car alarm going off. I managed to stumble to the window where I noticed a police car parked outside my driveway. I was not quite sure what was going on at this point as I was still pretty much asleep. Next came a knock on the door. As I answered it the policeman standing there explained to me that they where patrolling the area and noticed that my car door was partially wedged open by my seatbelt and that when he opened the door to check if it had been broken into the alarm went off. After a quick inspection I realised that nothing had been taken and that it was just me being a bit thick and not closing my door properly! So full marks to the police for keeping an eye out but it would have been nice if they could have let me have another hour or two’s sleep first!!

I have just turned up to work this morning to find out that we are apparently going to be entering teams into the Fantasy Formula 1 competition in the local paper. The rules are something along the line of £85m to spend, 5 drivers from different teams and points scored if they finish in the top 10. So far I have chosen Button, Fisichela, Montoya, R.Schumacher and Moteiro although this may change before I get around to sending off the entry. After considering all the new rules and regulations for the `05 season and driver moves I decided to totally ignore that and pick a more random method or driver! This should prove to make an intresting point of discussion after a race weekend and I may even win something which would be nice.

I have just got in from a long day of boat repairs and improvements aboard Mystere. Mystere is the 25ft MG Spring that is owned by Phrixus and Phocus that I crew on during local races. We got some useful things done including mounting the autohelm correctly and wiring it in, complete tidy up of the wiring cupboard, reattached the door below the cooker and a few other minor things. Unfortunately in trying to get the GPS, Navtex, auto helm and instruments talking via the NMEA protocol we managed to get something a bit wrong with one of the above not working in whatever wiring configuration. Despite a good few hours of head scratching and de-soldering and re-soldering it still was not working. The evening was topped off by a chinese takeaway and a bottle of Tiger beer kindly brought by H. Looks like a case of RTFM for the problems we are still having and another attempt at fixing it next weekend.

I finally managed to sign up for my correspondence course with the National Marine Correspondence School last night. I will be studying for their coastal cruising course that incorporates all aspects of the RYA day skipper and Yachtmaster courses and includes the Yachtmaster shore based certificate. The course consists of 31 modules and NMCS claim that it can be completed in as little as 4 weeks but at an average of 4 hours a week it could take 8 - 9 months to complete. Phrixus has also signed up for the Yachtmaster course which consists of 18 modules so it looks like we will be meeting up for a beer and a bit of study for the next few months.

Right so I have decided to start looking at doing some qualifications for the trip. After having a look around I decided to have a go at the Coastal skipper course offered by the National Marine Corespondance School as it covers the RYA dayskipper course material as well as the RYA yachtmaster course and some other useful stuff. That should keep me busy for a few weeks! I have also emailed the local PADI dive centre in Guernsey about PADI courses so that I can become certified to do some SCUBA diving on the trip.

Unfortulatly the NMCS website is broken and wont let me enrol and I have not heard back yet about the PADI course! Looks liek some phone calls are in order tommorow.

I was thinking this morning “why do I want to go on this trip and what do I want to get out of it? After a quick think I have thought of a few things. I want to see the world and visit places I have never been before – there are so many different cultures, places and people out there beyond the rock I live on that I would hate to grow old without exploring the world I live in beyond Guernsey. The idea of SCUBA diving in crystal clear Mediterranean water, anchoring up off a remote Caribbean Island and taking my mountain bike to the island to explore the sights, earning money by taking up jobs in ports and other places we stay and being able to pass on the stories of the trip for may years to come is what is driving me to go on this trip. This is my dream – this is what I want to get from the trip.

I can see nothing worse than growing old regretting lost opportunities or reflecting on what I could have done when I was younger but no longer have the time, money or ability to pursue.