Yacht Pipit

      

The end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end - 27th August 2016


More on that later...

There have been times when there have been long spells between our updates and this is certainly one of them - nearly three months this time! Well we don't have so much to report these days but in this update, there is quite a bit.

Soon after our last update we had an enjoyable long weekend in Devon & Cornwall. We stayed aboard a yacht in QAB marina in Plymouth on Friday night (thanks Simon) and enjoyed a traditional curry in our old favourite restaurant just round the corner. After a leisurely breakfast at The Bridge at Plymouth Yacht Haven with our friend Kim we pushed on to Falmouth, where we had an appointment with Ancasta to view a new boat. Smaller than Pipit, she exceeded our expectations in many ways - 6ft draft (good for sailing performance) but lifting keel (good for creek crawling), twin transom-hung rudders and tiller (low maintenance), inboard diesel, cockpit as large as Pipit's (for enjoying an al fresco Tribute, Doombar or cup of tea), marine heads (for comfortable removal of the aforementioned), what's not to like? With a small but perfectly adequate galley, and Eberspächer heating available as an option, we can see a plan coming together...

We stayed in a beautiful B&B in Mylor Bridge, ideally located for a (albeit fairly long) lovely walk to Mylor harbour. We enjoyed a nice evening catching up with Ann's friend Penny in Castaways, and returned there on Sunday for a long, leisurely lunch in glorious Cornish sunshine where we were joined by a number of friends we hadn't seen for 6 years - a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.


Our fellow guests' Daimler Dart - beautiful.


On Monday we made our way back 'up country', stopping for lunch at Horsebridge where we enjoyed a perfect crab sandwich and met up with sailing friends Robert & Deborah - another good catch-up in more sunshine and a perfect end to our mini-break.

The bridge at Horsebridge - a bridge for horses presumably...


We are quite often woken these days to the gentle sound of cud, or more often the grass verge or hedge, being chewed - occasionally there is the odd mooing to give the game away. Our road seems to be one of only two into the village that doesn't have a cattle grid, so the 'wildebeest' (see an earlier update) that graze on the common sometimes enjoy a foray into town to make a phone call, that kind of thing...

"Got any change?"



I do have to beware passing 'traffic' when reversing out of the drive during the morning rush hour...


In early July, we had another weekend away, this time on business - well sort of. In Ann's capacity of Web Editor at The CA we hosted a lunch table in the sponsors' marquee. Prior to lunch we were made very welcome and kept in coffee & croissants by members of the Island Sailing Club, where from the balcony we watched the first finishers cross the line, breaking the previous record held by Sir Ben Ainslie - perhaps not surprising given the exceptionally strong winds, which also resulted in two dismastings and one sinking, thankfully nobody being hurt. There are some amazing photos here and a couple of rather more sedate ones below:



For the next few weekends we just enjoyed being at home and our local environs, despite Andy working some very long hours, and even one Saturday - this isn't what we had in mind, but fortunately only a temporary arrangement to please a demanding client. We even found a new pub, just a 20 minute stroll across the common - now there aren't many pubs in this area that Andy hasn't visited or at least known of in the last 30 something years, so The Black Horse at Amberley was a serendipitous find. Having said that The Queen Matilda at Avening remains our 'local', even though it's an hour's walk away. Their recently opened B&B rooms are stylish and finished to a very high standard.

Cherington Lake - spot the two coot chicks on a lily pad.


Show it some fuel & a new battery and it's a runner - oh and maybe a cylinder head...


It's not often you find a dragonfly on your plums...


Fuchsia 'Barbara Windsor' - what a lovely pair...


Three weeks ago we popped round the corner to Gatcombe Park to watch some of The Festival of British Eventing - no sky diving ponies (see last year's account) but the Devil's Horsemen were fantastic (if your bank has a black horse as its logo, we have seen your horse). The Pimm's wasn't bad either...

Some of The Devil's Horsemen.


Not often you see a horse jumping over a boat...



Scurry driving, not sky diving...


Nice...


This week Ann's friend Penny dropped by on her way back to Cornwall and unlike last time it wasn't pouring with rain, so a stroll across the common to the aforementioned Black Horse was rather more pleasant than our last soggy walk! The views from the beer garden across the Stroud Valleys and to Wales beyond are spectacular and it was good to spend the day chatting & catching up.

Where's the 19th?


What view?


"Yawn - pub lunches are just so boring..."


And so, that bring you up to date - almost. After much soul searching, we have made the very difficult decision to sell Pipit. Unlike houses and cars, it's a rather more emotional process, especially in our case as Pipit was our home (our first together), and has looked after us and kept us safe during some of our more challenging passages, including the English Channel, the Alderney Race, Chenal du Four, Raz de Seine, the Atlantic coasts of Spain & Portugal, the Strait of Gibraltar and, of course, the Big One, the Bay of Biscay. In return, we hope we have looked after her well, maintaining her ourselves to a high standard, but boats do need to be used, so we have come to the conclusion that now is the right time to pass Pipit on to her next owners for a whole new set of adventures. You can see the For Sale Website here.

Sad for us as the above is, as hinted at earlier we are forming a New Plan involving another boat - not quite sure when yet, but we'll keep you posted...

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