Race 3 - 2021 Spring Series

16 May 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

A quiet, sporty and wet race this week. It was going well right from the start, we had plenty of beer as we boarded Astral with both Andy and I bringing beer, in addition to a big crate of Stella already on board. We slipped the berth for the 9am lock and were joined with Elite Sailing’s Spirit and Lightning. Lock out took a little while and wit... Read more

Race 2 - 2021 Spring Series

09 May 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

With the first race of the shortened 2021 Keelboat Spring Series abandoned due to lack of wind, this was the first real race. A 10am start with five boats, fewer than usual with many still on the hard due to COVID mixing things up. There were five boats racing, two in class 3 ‘white sails’ and three in IRC, class 1. With so few boats a start fro... Read more

Baby Andrews

07 May 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

Really pleased to share that Victoria and I are expecting our first baby! We are unbelievably excited and cannot wait to become a mum and dad (to more than just our fur baby 🐶). We found out in March of this year, just as the COVID lockdown restrictions began to be eased in the UK. We shared the news with family and friends on our birthday, an a... Read more

Travel Optimism for 2021

20 Feb 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

It’s a gorgeous sunny day outside today, which means all I can think about is summer. Since last year was a non-starter I desperately want to get back out into the world and do some travelling. I really do hope that there will be some opportunity to do so and am quietly praying that it will all be fine. The past few weeks I’ve been thinking abo... Read more

Mandatory Leave

14 Feb 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

The COVID situation last year meant that we really didn’t get to go away as much as we usually would have and as a result I had lots of annual leave left. Colliers permitted the carry-over of five days leave to 2021 on the condition it is taken before the end of March. With the current national lockdown we aren’t going to be using those days to ... Read more

2020 - The Year of Prove

02 Jan 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

A double entendre for proving things in the literal sense and metaphorically in the baking sense, allowing things to rest and rise. The years prior have been a flurry of activity and excitement with travel, marriage, a puppy and job changes - it’s been fantastic and exhilarating, but we both felt the need for a year of calm, to “rest in position... Read more

George James Haymon - Prior to WW1

12 Dec 2020 Upnor, Kent, UK

George James Haymon is my great-great-grandfather - he’s my mum’s, mum’s, father’s father. Until recently I didn’t know too much about him, but my late grandmother shared with me some of his documents and what she had been told of his life. We are very lucky to have these documents, they’ve survived many years and while not in perfect condition ... Read more

Software, etc

21 Nov 2020 Upnor, Kent, UK

I saw someone else do one of these posts recently and thought it was a really good idea, so here’s me ripping off that idea… 😈 This post is basically a list of technology-related services/software that I pay for, some of them are fantastic some of them are less good. You Need a Budget I don’t know how I would live without this software, in fact... Read more