18 May 2009 - More visitors and the Arty in the water
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16 May 2009 - From Kent to Plymouth and a new arrival
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20 May 2009 - Not quite as planned
18 May - Launching at Queen Anne's Battery
Yesterday brought with it a huge surprise in the shape of my best friend from university along with her husband, my Godson and his two younger brothers. They arrived in the middle of a downpour and suddenly there were five more people crammed into our motorhome, not the biggest of vehicles even in the dry! We managed to feed them a pretty unhealthy meal and then headed off to the aquarium, where Jo managed to push me, the baby's buggy and keep Lotti under control all at the same time! It was a real treat to see them as the last time we met was when we were stuck in Lymington last year.
The Artemis has been put into her new berth at Queen Anne's Battery ( MDL Marinas) who very kindly lifted her in for us free of charge. Although the sun has come out today it's still pretty windy and it was certainly the most nerve wracking lift I've ever seen. The guys at QAB obviously knew exactly what they were doing though and I had nothing really to worry about as 10 minutes later she was safely in the water. Huw spent some time (Council quite a lot really) under the foredeck of "Me Too", but seemed to come out relatively unscathed. Simon got on with fixing the bow of the RIB, where the mooring line of another boat had rubbed against council during the last two days of stormy weather. Terry seems to have turned his hand to almost everything now and spent the best part of the day making a bracket to hold my navigation lights and Windex on the top of the mast. Paul's day has been frenetic with media enquiries and Jo has had her hands full keeping track of me. As for myself I've been dealing with the results of Paul's media enquiry list and trying to follow on the water progress. The only team member who has had any time to enjoy themselves is Lotti, who went for a paddle in the sea, although there was some very suspicious looking seaweed which kept moving and making her jump! She then found a good sturdy stick about 5 feet long which she insisted on playing with despite the obvious problems associated with a size difference of such huge magnitude! :-)
Well, it's half-past ten and the "wetties" have just got back from stepping the mast. The BBC are coming in the morning to film me sailing the Artemis with Matthew Pinsent on board for "The One Show" to be aired on Friday at 7 PM, so I'd probably better sign off as well. After all, the last thing I want is for Sir Matthew to get wet because I'm falling asleep at the helm! All being well, after we finish filming it will be an early supper and then straight to bed as our first sail, from Plymouth to Falmouth is scheduled to start around 3AM the following morning...
Page last updated on 28 May 2009 at 15:07