I’m at D-3 for departure round the UK and Ireland supporting the Andrew Cassell Foundation. It’s all getting very real very quickly now. I never thought that I’d manage to climb a mast again, but with the help of some trainers in Yorkshire, and the encouragement and mentoring of the Andrew Cassell Foundation I succeeded … Read more
I’ve made it through Cowes Week in one piece and with that, the last activity related barrier to Trilleen’s departure Round Britain and Ireland has been cleared. This Cowes Week with the Andrew Cassell Foudation has been inspiring and exhausting in equal measure, much as last years was, except this year I was skippering and … Read more
Trilleen is ready for splash. Refitting older and traditional boats is a perpetual terror. You never know which dawn will reveal critical structural flaws, rot, corroded metal, or simply sheets of veneer falling of the joinery. I’ve been broadly lucky this time with most things going to plan, if not to time. The positive aspects … Read more
The Hyrovane (Windvane) support rig is on the back of the boat. It’s square to the hull, and the bolts are wound up. Whoop. Whoop. Whoop. I can’t explain how amazing it feels to have got to this point, especially on the hottest day of the year. Unfortunately we aren’t going to make it into … Read more
It’s a long way to where I started with Trilleen a year ago in March. Then I was struggling to climb into the boat to work on her even a few times a day, and manoeuvring around her on deck and below as a trial of strength and will that I often felt I was … Read more
Boats are terrible things to be working inside when they are up on the hard and its hot. They turn into little ovens without even the cooling benefit of the ocean around them. Most of today was spent outside though where the heat was a little less bad helping Colin with positioning the steelwork for … Read more
I was due to be driving a support boat for a classic yacht this morning, but unfortunately the weather is not very summery at the moment and the classic yacht crew were a bit nervous about breaking their amazingly beautiful racing machine as it is a) very beautiful and b) on its way to Switzerland … Read more
I’m exhausted. It’s been a sweaty hot day in the boatyard that turned incredibly windy and rainy later, and I’ve been up and down the boatyard ladder to Trilleen’s deck more times than I can count.