Sephina of Beaumaris - Day 22 - Meet the Sparkes'

Day 22 - Meet the Sparkes' Now if I said to a lot of people that they had to go and spend 3 weeks isolated on a 40 foot yacht in the middle of the Atlantic with their soon to be in-laws... well we can all imagine their reaction. So this is my account of such a trip....... Now to start with, a little back story. Nothing about my relationship with my Fiancée Steph or the Sparkes Clan has been in what I would call real time. For example, Steph and I had barley been together when we got our first job together and we soon flew out to run a yacht flotilla. So from day one we were in each others pockets. But it worked. And the same really applies to my in-laws to be. I have, between winter and summer seasons working with Steph, managed to go up to the Sparkes family home on three occasions.. read more...

Sephina of Beaumaris - Day 20 Pigs to the rescue

Day 20  Pigs to the rescue As there is far too much rolling and being thrown about I’ve got some ugly bruises to contend with.  On one of the days I had to stay in bed and dose myself up with Stugeron and paracetamol.  I refused to eat or drink so when I finally surfaced at 6pm I was told I had to have something. The only thing I could face were chewy sweets but there were none left in Week Three’s snack box.  Did this count as an emergency?  The skipper was asleep so I gathered the rest of the crew (all two of them) to have a vote. Fortunately, they saw the situation as an emergency so I went to retrieve the emergency snack box from it’s hiding place. Only two of us knew where it was hidden but as there aren’t many places to hide things on the boat I think there. read more...

Sephina of Beaumaris - Day 19 WINDY

Day 19 WINDY Just a short one as we are busy riding the waves!The next two days bring the windiest period of the rally getting to 24 knots with gusts at 28 so we are all getting used to the motion. We are currently looking at arrival somewhere around Tuesday morning all being well. Looking forward to it Skipper. read more...

Sephina of Beaumaris - Day 17: Twistles & Needle Point

Day 17: Twistles & Needle Point After sailing over night for the first time in AGES! I experienced a change of wind during my watch, at around 6.30am it spun around in EXACTLY the direction we’ve prepared for...2 weeks into the trip.....better late than never! This meant after a speedy water conscious shower we popped on deck & put up Dad’s famed Twistle rig – for those with no idea, its basically 2 sails pinned out with poles from the fore-stay (the pointy end of the boat).We’ve been hooning it along at 7knts ever since – the GPS has even predicted us getting to St Lucia within 4days & 12hours.......YEAH RIGHT! Bets are on & dad is guessing we’ll be in on Monday at some time, I recon more like Tuesday ... Mums a bit more optimistic saying Sunday & Matt’s really. read more...

Sephina of Beaumaris - Day 16 Washing Machine and not the one I installed

Day 16 Washing Machine and not the one I installed Nothing much to say today as everyone is quiet as the sea and wind has got up and we are in a bit of a washing machine for the next 48 hours. Steph and Matt are doing sterling work keeping the boat going but not too quickly. Cats OK and will write more when it is quieter. Clive. read more...