Regular followers of this blog (David and Peter, this means you) have asked why things are so quiet this season.
The answer I'm afraid is very sad news. On 17 May Sam suffered a severe stroke and was left with no movement on his right side and badly affected speech and language skills. He has improved slightly over the intervening five weeks - he can now stand for short periods - but at the moment it seems unlikely that we will sail again.
The irony is that on the day of his stroke Sam had originally been due to travel out to Augustenborg with a friend in order to start work on the boat, get it launched, and then sail it to Sweden. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a heart condition, on May 14 and decided to delay the journey.
Kalessin is still in Augustenborg and we expect now that she will stay there until 2013. Then we will get Guy to bring her back to the UK.
Sam remains optimistic and cheerful in spite of his condition. I'm not coping so well and the struggle to get him the best possible treatment as he comes up to discharge from the dedicated stroke rehab ward (and moving from Norfolk to Suffolk NHS) is not helping.
If anything changes I will update the blog further. Thank you to everyone who has followed our adventures over the years. I am so, so glad that we were able to achieve some of our dreams before this happened. If any of you are wondering whether to take the plunge and go off sailing, please, do it now while you still have the chance.
Camilla
Kalessin of Orwell is a 33ft Westerly Storm. In 2006-8 we sailed her down to Portugal, into the Med, and home through the French canals. In 2011 we explored Baltic Germany and Denmark. After Sam's stroke we cruised gently on the East Coast, the Netherlands and Brittany, and in 2021 sailed to Cornwall and back. In 2024, following Sam's death, Camilla plans a memorial round-Britain cruise
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