Trilleen has completed her multi season Round Britain and Ireland sail in aid of the Andrew Cassell Foundation, the unique charity which helps disabled sailors race on equal terms with and against abled people, and which will in just a few days be entering not the usual three but four Sonar Keelboats at Cowes Week. I will leave the Crowdfunder live until the end of Cowes Week for anyone who would like to donate to mark the completion of this mission.
This trip has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Despite one new mast, two unplanned winters away, a grievous bereavement, and going through two and half engines, I’ve completed that which I set out to do, and Trilleen is in better shape than she has ever been. She’s becoming a right little beast at near offshore work, and I’m looking forward more than ever to further adventures. I’d like to thank Boatfolk East Cowes for finding space for me in their incredibly busy marina in the run up to, and through Cowes Week.
The last part of this trip was a gentle tacking session up into the Solent from Chichester. The stop at East Head had mostly been to let the berthing confusion which always accompanies the Fastnet to clear. Three tacks with the tide under us in the deep water of the Solent channels fetched the headland dividing Osborne Bay from the mud flat to the east of Cowes. There the slow process of handing sails, and preparing to re-enter the Medina for the first time in three years began, there to complete what I set out to do three years ago, almost to the day.
After Cowes Week Trilleen will be rebasing to Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth. I find myself drawn more and more to the northern waters, and it makes sense to be based within easy reach of Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. What comes next beyond that passage to her new home is for now unknown.
In the coming weeks I’ll write some more reflective posts about the trip and what I’ve learnt but for now that’s enough for now.