Thank NU for the memories

As mentioned below, I finished my contract with Norwich Union yesterday. I worked there for eight and a half years, left in November, went back on a contract in January, and finally told them I really couldn't stay on after the end of April.

Many of my colleagues in NU and Aviva now have a link to this blog, so if you are reading this, I'd like to thank you all for being a really great bunch of people. Despite the many frustrations of working in a big organisation it has been the individuals who have made it all worthwhile.

Please all of you, keep reading, keep commenting, and keep in touch.

Oh yes... now that I have finally, really left, I can insult the brand with headings like the one above...

Ben and school

We have permission to take Ben out of school for two half-terms so that he can be home- (or boat-) educated. Fortunately his school, Thomas Mills in Framlingham, is being extremely positive about the whole thing, although they did have to go to County to get clearance, which is a bit scary.

On Thursday we saw Ben's head of year who confirmed that it would be best if he finished school at the half-term holiday. Guy will be on study leave from his GCSEs, Sam is leaving M&CM at the end of May and I finished my contract with Norwich Union yesterday, so from the beginning of June we will all be at home. Of course, we could all go and live on the boat, I suppose. It would be good practice, but will everything be ready by then? Aaargh...

Guy has a job

Guy, aged 16Guy has been offered the voluntary post of summer centre instructor at the Fellowship Afloat Charitable Trust, down in Tollesbury, Essex. Hooray! We're very proud of him.

This means he can get away from sailing with us... in order to go sailing. Still, Wayfarers and Lasers on the Blackwater is a bit different from Atlantic Spain. He'll be there for three weeks or so in August.

The main reason he is coming back to the UK at the end of July is to go to his girlfriend's parents' wedding. Yes, umpteen years on they have decided to get married. This seems to run in the family, as last weekend Guy went to a party for his girlfriend's father's ex-wife - and she got married at the party. I asked if she and her new husband went on a honeymoon, and Guy said "No, but they did get very drunk."

Software aaargh

I needed to install my various useful bits of sailing software on to my laptop. I have a chart viewer which reads the same electronic chart cartridges we use on our onboard plotter. This allows me to do passage planning on a bigger screen than the six-inch one on the boat. It also means that I have to have a cartridge reader plugged into the back of my laptop.

Snag: This works fine on our big desktop PC which doesn't get up and go anywhere. However, it seems that every time I disconnect and reconnect the cartridge reader from the laptop, I have to completely reinstall it from scratch, which means also connecting the external DVD drive and finding the relevant CD. I can see I won't be using it much at sea...

I have just installed TotalTide, which is a great tool from the Admiralty (shades of Samuel Pepys there) which works out all the tides for the whole world (if you pay enough) or for the whole of Europe, forever. It's not a very expensive bit of software, but it does require you to obtain and input a 35-character encryption code to make it work. Naturally the first two codes I tried didn't work. Why do they have to make these things so complicated?

Anyway right now both programs are up and running, and I suppose I really need to get on with doing some proper passage planning. Perhaps I'll just make lunch first...

Our route

Our route from Suffolk Yacht Harbour to southern Spain
An idle few minutes with Photoshop at work today produced this - the grand plan. Thoughts or comments, anyone?

Teaky clean

Why do men have this thing about perfect woodwork? To me, it's logical to focus on doing the most vital things now, for example getting Kalessin's bottom painted before the launch (due the first week in May). But Sam wanted to finish scraping the old varnish off the various teak rails, and treat them with an acidic cleaner (which involves energetic scrubbing with lots of water) before doing the second coat of antifouling.

His reasoning is that the teak cleaner running down the antifouling makes it all streaky, so we need to do the cleaning before the antifouling. Yes, says I, but if we clean the teak after we launch, the antifouling will be underwater, so it won't get streaky. Also we will have millions of gallons of water for rinsing within easy reach, instead of running up and down a long ladder with a bucket. Also I am already weary and want to get the antifouling done straight away instead of spending three hours scrubbing teak.

Anyway ... the teak does look very nice now. Also the second and final coat of antifouling is on (finished about 6pm Monday). Also Sam's shoulder is getting better, but still prevents him from doing too much. Boy, I slept well last night - in fact I'm still rather tired...

Diesel-flavoured ears

I spent most of yesterday (Saturday 16th April) down in the bilges of Kalessin trying to soak up a diesel spillage with a couple of premature baby nappies (from Tesco), a small fishing net to prod them with, and some bits of kitchen roll. This came about when I, having been sent down to the bilges originally to clear up some sawdust, accidentally knocked a disconnected exhaust pipe which was of course, filled with diesel. After clearing up the diesel I antifouled the rudder without event, but as soon as I was let anywhere near the hull, I managed to get a huge splodge of antifouling in completely the wrong place, which had to be wiped away hastily by a parent. Maybe I'll try something else next time.

Bottoms up

Our first coat of antifouling (the paint which stops barnacles sticking to the bottom) went on yesterday. It is a slightly unattractive pinkish grey colour, but goes greenish-white under water.

We've gone for a high-powered version this year (Blakes Ocean Performer) as we may not be able to get Kalessin out of the water next year. The full retail price is £95 for 2.5 litres, which makes it more expensive per cc than the single malt I bought Sam for Christmas - Aberlour a'bunadh.

As predicted I got to do much of the heavier work. Scrubbing down the hull with a Scotchbrite and gallons of water guarantees arms wet up to the elbow. Then when we finally started painting, the first time I closed the can, it squirted highly toxic paint neatly into my eye. Rapid removal of my contact lens and irrigation with lots of water seems to have prevented any serious damage, but I still have an attractive grey smudge on my left eyelid which I can't get off.

Today we're celebrating Easter at home, and the second coat of antifouling will go on tomorrow (Monday). My current task is making fitted and draw sheets for the main bunks. Normally I quite like sewing, but for some reason I don't seem to be enjoying this and keep having to take breaks, to write blogs or do bits of gardening, before getting back to the Velcro...

...and pain with liferafts

Normally for our summer sailing we hire a liferaft. This isn't really an option for this trip as bringing an enormously heavy liferaft, complete with explosive device, back to the UK on the plane is somewhat frowned on by the airlines.

So it's time to spend some serious money. The liferaft Sam identified (Lifeguard Forties) looked like a really good deal - until our friendly liferaft agent suggested that we find out whether they could be serviced in Spain (this one needs yearly servicing). It transpires the only agents are in Barcelona and Valencia, which won't be too handy if we end up in Seville. Instead we'll have to go for a Plastimo one which, of course, costs more, but Plastimo has dozens of agents in Spain and Portugal.

It's frustrating to have to spend over £1,000 on something you hope never to need. Insurance is very cheap by comparison (our annual premium is going up by a mere £54!)

Frozen shoulder

Too much grovelling in cockpit lockers is very bad for you.

Sam went to the doctor today after several days of agony and was diagnosed with a frozen left shoulder. He claims he will still be able to do lots of work on the boat over the Easter weekend with his right hand only.

If you happen to be down at Suffolk Yacht Harbour over the easter weekend expect to see Camilla liberally splattered with antifouling while Sam indulges in a little gentle polishing...

Departure date

Lucilla (my sister) asked what date we were leaving, having accurately calculated from the posting below (La Coruna Dreaming) that it should be 18 June.

Guy's last GCSE exam is on the 16th so we plan to leave over the weekend 17/18 June ... weather and readiness permitting, of course.

Our first hop will only be to Ramsgate, a trip we've done a number of times. Then we need to reach the Channel Islands and we will probably go down the French side, because we have pilots and charts for it and have been as far as Fecamp last summer. The English side means a long hop from Dover to Eastbourne with nothing but cliffs en route. Anyway, being in France is more interesting than Brighton or Portsmouth!

Hi there

Ben, now aged 13 - this picture was taken a year or so agoJust so you know, this is me, Ben. On board Kalessin I'm the ship's boy. My duties include fender boy, assistant engineer and galley hand.

Today's efforts

Sam has just returned from spending a day on the boat. He says we won't have much time for chocolate eggs and home diy over Easter - it's all going to be antifouling and holding tanks.

Hopefully all this work means we'll have less to do next winter - just as well, as we'll be leaving Kalessin around 1,000 miles from home.

Ben (13) has just said he doesn't want to go if we have to leave Kalessin behind. However we suggested that he could spend New Year in Spain servicing winches and that seems acceptable. There's no accounting for some people's tastes.

Kalessin at home

Kalessin of orwell, a Westerly Storm 33 built in 1988. She was originally called Box Bee
Kalessin of Orwell in her home berth at Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the river Orwell.
We've had to give up this berth (you pay for the whole year in one go) so once she's launched she will be on a swinging mooring at Pin Mill.

Kalessin is a Westerly Storm, built in 1988 and previously rejoicing in the name Box Bee. She is just over 10m long with a beam of 3.5m, and she displaces 5.1 tonnes. She has three cabins and a very fine loo, a spacious galley and a number of unnecessary luxuries such as pressurised hot water. We have owned her since September 2004 when we sold our Sadler 29, Magewind.

La Coruna dreaming...

It's two months and one week until Camilla, Sam, Guy and Ben are due to head south for France, Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean in our Westerly Storm Kalessin of Orwell.

I'm starting this blog slightly experimentally to help us think about options for communicating with our friends, relations and colleagues in the UK and elsewhere.

Today Sam is down at the boat continuing to wrestle with the installation of the Lavac, Guy is at Tollesbury learning some advanced sailing skills (rudderless sailing and jury rigs appear to be on the syllabus) and Ben and I are at home feeling chilly (after a £700 oil bill last week we're too mean to run the heating in the middle of the day).

Merry Christmas from just me

Video of photos made for Sam's funeral    Dear friends and family As I hope you all know, this year has been a difficult one for me. On ...