We visit Amsterdam and Spain
Well in our last post we mentioned that we were getting ready to visit Amsterdam. Well we went and had a great time.
We went with a couple of friends of ours, Mark & Sarah, It was Sarah’s birthday whilst we were there so there were birthday celebrations while we were there.
We visited a few places we hadn’t been before, one of which was the Bodyworks museum. A really bizarre thing to see, but very interesting. Google it for more info, but not for the fainthearted!
We of course took in a boat trip and also visited the Maritime museum. The highlights of which can be seen on our video of the trip.
Well we were only back a week and then it was time for our next adventure… we set off to visit our great friends, Glyn & Julie, who now live just down the mountainside from Guadalest in Spain, (near to Benidorm). They made us most welcome, as always. We haven’t seen them for four years and we took off in conversation where we left off last time. It seemed like only the day before that we last saw them, true friendship. We managed to get out on their boat a couple of days and spent some relaxing days along the coast enjoying the warm sunshine and blue skies. Our latest video is the highlights of the visit.
We visited a couple of local markets which you’ll see on the video which were interesting and we managed to pick up a Sailors squeeze box for taking on our boat. Not sure how that will go down with the neighbours on a mooring!!
So, at the moment we are sat at home, getting ready for our next trip starting soon. We are off to the Ionian, and spending a couple of weeks on a Bavaria 41 yacht we have chartered. The first 5 days will be spent doing the practical Day skipper course and the remaining time, assuming we get qualified! will be spent on our own. We have planned to meet up with Kevin and Dee from Sailing Kejstral in the Zakynthos area, there are making their way over from Turkey as I write this. It will be great to catch up with them and spend some time sailing, eating and drinking with them. We are getting all of our camera gear ready that we are taking. We thought about taking the drone, but we might be struggling with the bags, we’ll decide on the day we leave.
Anyway, thats a bit of a catch up on what we’ve been up to. We bought the drone and a new compact camera, a Canon G7X mkii to add to the arsenal of equipment we have to film. We have a video of the first flights of the drone here. We love the idea that we can incorporate the drone footage into our videos to give a better finished film with some interesting angles to add to your enjoyment. I suppose going through security at the airport will be interesting with all the electrical items, batteries, cameras, chargers, laptop, ipad, kindle and phone!! Ah well, small prices to pay.
Right thats it for this post other than just to say a big Thank you to everyone who has started or continues to follow us on our social media pages. The numbers are growing by the day, along with the number of views we are getting as well. If you don’t already follow us on social media, check out our “Come Aboard” page on this site where you can find all the links to all of our social media channels, be good to have you aboard. Subscribers to our You Tube channel especially welcomed along with any thumbs up you can give us on our films, it helps us out no end as it helps with our rankings. It would be nice as well to see some of you leave comments on here as well.
Okay, that’s all folks, have yourselves a great day.
Until next time,
Carl and Jenny x
Starting to adapt to a new way of life!
So thats it, the end of an era! Today is day one of both me and Jenny being retired! I officially retired on the 6th March although my last working day was about three weeks ago, and Jenny finished yesterday. Today i’m having to pull her reigns in and get her to adapt to slowing down a little bit. We have for all our working lives been fixed to shift patterns, timetables, strict schedules etc, but as from today that has come to an end. We have been very fortunate that this week we have been able to pay off all of our outstanding debts, cleared our mortgage and can now say, in the words of Dave Ramsey …. “WE”RE DEBT FREEEEEEE!!” and boy does that feel good. A few holidays to take that we’ve had booked over the next few months and then its boat buying time. Between now and then though, we have got to finish sorting out all of our belongings, deciding what we need to keep and what we don’t and minimise on everything so that the day we move onto the boat, everything will fit on!
So what’s been the typical day for me since I finished? Well, because i’ve had a pretty hectic job and quite a stressful one at times my biggest change has being slowing down, i’m getting used to it a bit now although now Jen has finished as well, the pace will probably pick up again lol! So, at the moment, wake up around 7.30am, and start with a 10 minute meditation session, a nice cup of tea (Earl Grey or green tea with lemon), a quick check through emails on my iPhone, social media and then check YouTube for any new uploads from the channels I subscribe to. Sometimes a second cuppa and then its time to face the day. Last year I started doing DDP Yoga which I really enjoyed so i’ve started doing that again, alternating with a new workout plan – the TRX suspension straps. If you’ve not heard of these then Google them and have a look on YouTube. Really easy and can be used almost anywhere, especially on a boat, one of the reasons we bought them. I got these off E-bay, brand new for around £15.00 but they sell for $185.00 so we got a good deal 🙂 Once thats out of the way a nice shower.
It’s then time for breakfast and a few household chores and then its been sorting through our stuff, doing some planning and a bit of time spent reading.
Here’s a link to 10 Benefits Of Reading: Why You Should Read Everyday I have been reading on average 3-4 books a month, in addition to reference books for studying and research. It’s surprising how much you can read and how much you learn in just a short time each day.
We will be visiting one of our favourite cities soon, Amsterdam, and aim to have a look around the Maritime museum. We’ll be taking the GoPro with us so will get some footage and put together a short video of the trip. We’ve not been for a while so looking forward to it.
Well, i’m going to finish off my cup of tea and watch the rest of the Live Extreme Sailing program. Have a great day everyone.
Carl
C & J
The time is ticking down and getting faster!!
Well it seems ages ago now that we publicly announced to our friends and family that once we had retired we would be selling up, buying a boat and sailing off into the sunset. Even sitting here writing this it still seems a long way off, but not any more!
Our plan has always been to retire from work, sell the house and possessions, apart from a few sentimental ones, get the boat and set off! Family have always said “oh you’ll never do it” others have tried to talk us out of it, but now the time is coming quickly to put our dreams into fruition. I (Carl) finished work last Friday, although my official retirement date is in five days time. 30 years serving Queen and Country. Jenny finishes a few days later. At least I get a few days to myself lol!
“What’s happening with the kids?” we’ve been asked many times. Well our daughter is 23, has her own career working for Audi and is also a singer/ songwriter. She now lives up near Newcastle with her job. Our son (almost 21) has recently moved out and got his own house and is now settling into that quite well, although he calls on his way from work a few times a week for his tea. He has a job in the construction industry that he absolutely loves. So thats those two sorted. That just leaves our dog “Ruger”. 
We’ve had him since he was a pup and he’s been one of the best dogs we’ve ever had. However, he doesn’t travel that well and as much as we have considered taking him with us, we feel it would be too stressful for him to move onto a boat, and also our plans involve flying back home every few months and that would be totally impractical with having a dog onboard, what would we do with him when we fly home? So, reluctantly, we have found a new home for him. He will be going this coming weekend, i’m not looking forward to the day at all. We are so confident though with his new owners. They had a dog just like him who they idolised but who passed of old age, and from the meetings we’ve had, along with Ruger, they have already fallen in love with him and he has taken to them. We can be sure that he will be looked after well.
Questions we’ve faced along the way.
“Why would anyone want to give up all that they had acquired throughout their working lives to live on a boat?”
Well thats an easy one to answer, it’s something we set our heart on doing 30 yrs ago when I started my career. We knew back then that if I completed my 30yrs service then I would walk away at a fairly youngish age, have a good pension and a good payout. We love to travel, and we love seeing all the different cultures, and whilst we love being in Foreign countries, we wouldn’t want to settle in just the one, so why not do it by boat. We can stay in one place until we get fed up then move on.
“Why would you put yourselves in danger and move away from everything we hold dear?”
Have you ever seen the statistics for road traffic collisions/fatalities etc in this country. Well i’ve dealt with more than my fair share of them in the last 30yrs. If I never saw another one in the next ten years it would be too soon! I haven’t got numbers to hand but it’s going to be a hell of a lot more than people coming a cropper out on the ocean waves. Yes there are Pirates in certain areas, simple, don’t go to those areas. You wouldn’t walk down a dark alley in a rough neighbourhood at night for risk of being mugged, assaulted etc, same thing goes out on the sea. Yes we won’t be just a five minute car ride away from our family, but with phones, internet, skype, email we have instant communication, other than if we are a long way offshore. If we need to get back home its a four hour journey.
“You are going into the total unknown with no real plan.”
Well yes we are sort of, but not totally. We know we want to spend the first couple or three seasons down in the Med area around Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy and eventually cross the Atlantic down to the Caribbean and beyond. But the beauty is we aren’t stuck to a timetable or itinerary. If we like somewhere we may stay a while, somewhere else where we’re not too keen on may be just a day or two, and that is what is exciting to us. We will just go, see what happens and follow the wind.
One of the main things we are looking forward to is meeting new people and new friends. Through our YouTube channel and Social Media we have already met up with a few new people and become friends. So far, because we all have something in common there’s been quite a natural bonding which has been nice. We are looking forward to inviting crews from neighbouring yachts over for a sundowner, and maybe even getting invited aboard theirs 🙂
So much to look forward to! But in the meantime we have so much to do to fully prepare. Our possessions are getting moved on albeit a bit to slow for Jens liking. I really must start listing on Ebay, Gumtree etc. again.
We would really appreciate it if you could take a look at our YouTube channel, have a look at the videos, and once you’ve watched it give it a big thumbs up using the Like button. If you want to see more and keep up to date as our plans progress click on the subscribe button as well and you’ll not miss an episode. Just click on the button below go straight to our channel, but just before you do, why not leave us a comment below. We’ll be sure to read and answer them all.
Until the next entry, take care, thanks for reading and have a great day.
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Carl & Jenny.
Jenny takes her Dayskipper theory exam!!
So this weekend, Jenny finally got time to sit down and do the theory exam.
She has been studying using the www.Navathome.com online course. I must say, it is a great course, well presented and the feedback from the instructors has always been within a few minutes of sending. We would highly recommend this company and their courses. I did my Dayskipper and Yachtmaster theory in 1994/95 so have been doing the course work myself as a bit of a refresher. It was well worth the money, and probably didn’t cost anymore than paying for a classroom course, the benefit of this one is that you can study whenever you want. Anyway, the good news is….she passed!!!!!
So in April we are off to Greece where we are both doing our practical course. We’ve hired a Bavaria 41 yacht, 5 days with the instructor, then assuming we get through the assessment, the next 9 days on our own sailing around the Ionian, can’t wait.
Here’s the latest video we’ve just uploaded to You Tube. Please give it a thumbs up if you like it and subscribe to be notified when the next one is released. Hope you enjoy it.
Carl and Jenny
Not long now…!!! and we meet up with Sailing Kejstral Adventures
Firstly, as the first post of 2017, Happy New Year.
We’ve been a bit quiet on the blog for the past couple of months as the sailing season had finished and we’ve had a lot going on with other family stuff. Hopefully now though we will be aiming to put out at least a weekly blog (Mondays) and as the weather gets warmer and we start our trips more regular videos. There are a couple extra videos gone up on our You Tube channel so make sure you check them out.
So, an update on where we are at the moment with our plans to set sail later this year. Well we are slowly weeding out our possessions, we knew this would be the hardest part, still a long way to go though. I (Carl) have 27 working days left till retirement 🙂 at least that will give me a little time to sort out the rest of our possessions. Our son gets the keys for his own house, so he will be moving out in a couple of weeks and we will be putting our house up for sale within the next couple of months. We have a house sitter coming in soon in the meantime as we have 3 months of travelling prior to buying the boat so they will be keeping an eye on the house and will be able to show prospective buyers around, all though the houses around here generally sell within a couple of weeks of going on the market.
We recently visited the London Boat Show, and treated ourselves again to stay on the London Sunborn Yacht right next to the Excel Arena in Victoria docks. Highly recommended if you are staying in London.
We were a bit disappointed with the show this year, there didn’t seem to be many people in attendance, certainly on the two days we were there, so the normal buzz and atmosphere was missing somewhat, so much so that we didn’t even bother filming the visit. But on the plus side we got to see a couple of shows we wanted to see, Jen bought me some really useful spanners for the boat and we confirmed that we still wanted to buy the Bavaria 46 yacht. A nice 3 days away all in all.
Yesterday we had visitors around. Kevin & Dee from the You Tube channel Sailing Kejstral Adventures. What a great couple. We had a lovely afternoon/evening with them, and Jen even got to cook a gorgeous Mousakka, served with Greek salad and wine.
It was great to finally meet Kevin and Dee in person, although for the first ten minutes it was like watching You Tube, listening to them lol. It felt like we had known each other for ages and hope this will be the start of a great friendship.
We could have talked a lot later than we actually did but they had a five hour drive ahead so we had to say our goodbyes. We will hopefully meet up in the Med later in the year.
Carl and Jenny Sailing Adventures meet Sailing Kejstral Adventures
See you next Monday.
Carl & Jenny x
Part 2 of our Atlantic Charter trip
Following on from our last entry, we get aboard the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36 and set sail from Plymouth.
Scott who was crewing with us started to feel a bit under the weather after an hour or so, although the sea state was quite rough and we had some strong winds.
We eventually got around the coast and moored up in Salcombe for the night. All in all we had a great day sailing. We did post this video up on both our Patreon site and our You tube channel a couple of weeks ago, but in case you missed it here it is again. Hope you enjoy it, if you do please give us a thumbs up. If you want a reminder for our next video then please subscribe to our You tube channel and if you really really like our stuff consider becoming one of our Patrons. Info in the video or on our You tube page or you can fin details on this website on the support us section.
Lastly we are at 99 subscribers as we type this on our Youtube channel. Are you going to be our 100th subscriber?
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Carl & Jenny
We set off to Plymouth for our week long yacht charter
We have had this charter booked for some time now along with some friends of ours, one of which is an established and experienced skipper. This helped to put Jenny’s mind at rest knowing that we had an experienced skipper aboard.
Join us in part 1 as we prepare to set off, the journey down and the provisioning of the boat!
We have 4 parts in all to the week so check back soon for the next episode. Don’t forget if you join our Patrons then yo get to see our videos earlier than everyone else, along with the other incentives and gifts.
Hope you enjoy this episode, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Carl & Jenny.
We stumble across a naturist beach… Well “When in Rome”!!!!
As we posted a few days ago we spent a few days staying in a hotel on Poole Quay whilst visiting the Southampton Boat show. You can see our video by clicking on our previous blog post or by watching here
The day after the boat show we visited the lovely town of Wareham, a place we have spent many holidays when our kids were younger. We used to visit a couple of times a year taking our touring caravan along with our inflatable dinghy and outboard engine. We spent many an evening motoring up and down the River frome, the kids loved it.
We then decided to go for a drive to the beach, we stumbled across the naturist section, so seeing as it was a nice day, we decided, if you can’t beat them join them 🙂
After a couple of hours though the cloud came over and caused the temperature to drop, so we made our way back to the car, had a drive over the chain ferry and went back to the hotel. We spent a couple of hours sat on the quayside watching the world go by with a nice bottle of wine.
We stumble across a naturist beach and visit Wareham Quay – A C&J Extra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbxMpmiqAc8
We finished the weekend off by visiting Wareham Quay again on the Sunday morning and treated ourselves to a lovely Full English breakfast before it was time to start the long drive home.
After a 4 hour drive along with a 40 minute delay due to an accident on the motorway, we arrived home safe and well.
It was a brilliant long weekend and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We are now looking forward to our Atlantic trip starting this Sunday. Check back here to find out how we got on.
Carl and Jenny
We get featured on the “Have Wind Will Travel” Blog
As some of you may already know we have our own Patreon page where you can become one of our Patrons and contribute towards the making of our videos. Well we also contribute to other Patron sites, one of our favourites being “Have Wind Will Travel’
Well Annie who runs the site has recently uploaded a feature length film of their crossing across the Atlantic and very kindly made it available to all her Patrons. So The day it was released we made plans to watch it that night.
We enjoyed the film so much we decided to write a review and send it to Annie. Well today Annie has featured our review on her blog. If you want to read what we thought click on the link below and it will take you to Annie’s blog page. You might then want to nipover to her Patreon page, become a Patron and then you too could be one of the lucky viewers to see this film in its entirety. You amy also want to nip over to our Patreon site also 🙂
Heres the link for her blog
Have a great day folks.
Carl and Jenny
Our trip to the Southampton Boat show
On Thursday we set off from home to the south coast where we had planned to spend a few days at one of our favourite places on the Dorset coast, Wareham and Poole. We had booked a hotel right on the sea front at Poole Quay, it couldnt have been in a better position. We arrived just after lunch after a steady drive down, checked in, unloaded the bags then made our way onto the seafront terrace where we spent a couple of hours with a nice bottle of red wine relaxing watching the boats.
Following morning we were off to the boat show where we met up with some other YouTuber sailors, Paul and Lucy from S/V Patience. We had a great day at the show and made new friends.
Here’s a video of the day. Please give it a thumbs up if you like it, and even better, subscribe to our channel.
Carl and Jenny