29 July, 2009 - Stonehaven, Simon and "The Carron"
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27 July, 2009 - Inverness to Stonehaven via Buckie, Whitehills and Peterhead
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29 July, 2009 - Stonehaven, Simon and "The Carron"
We arrived in Stonehaven early in the evening on 27th July but, for the first time, I was cold, wet, tired and in a huge amount of pain. We'd had a tough sail, with rain so hard at one point that I could not see the front of the boat. It was difficult for everyone, and a tough initiation for Richard who drove beautifully, despite the fact that he had been up since 4 AM to catch his flight.
The following morning Jo and I went round to our local Lion contact, Richard Gibson , for a cup of coffee. Since it was Simon's last night on the project we wanted to go out for a meal. Richard suggested "The Carron" , a beautifully restored Art Deco building which is run by husband and wife team Robert and Jackie Cleaver. After what had been an incredibly stressful afternoon, we were treated to the most wonderful meal, for which we must thank the Stonehaven Lions. Robert even gave us 5 panacotta and some of his handmade bread to take home. They treated us royally and even gave the team a tour of the basement where there was a coal-fired boiler which the building had actually been built around! Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. It's one that we will all remember and will certainly pass on your details to any friends coming anywhere near Aberdeen.
Richard also managed to arrange for stickers to be printed to go on the deck of Arty and on the Land Rover for Golf South Ayrshire, who have very kindly offered to sponsor us. With any luck they should be on the boat for the next sail.
Saying goodbye to Simon, who has looked after the RIB incredibly well for us and has been particularly good at looking after me, was sad. He has family commitments which we always knew could take him away before the end of the project. It also made us realise that we have been on the road/water for 3 months now. With just 12 sails left we are all keen to push to get home before the end of the month. Life is certainly very different without you around - especially at meal times :-) - and there is a bit more of a squash in the caravan these days as no one has volunteered to be the one to tell the volunteers that they could sleep in the Land Rover! We all hope to see you in Dover before too long.
Page last updated on 13 August 2009 at 07:43