About us and the boat

About us and the boat:

We were lucky enough to retire early at the start of 2013 so we could head off and "live the dream" on board our Nordhavn 47 Trawler Yacht. The idea is to see some of the planet, at a slow 6 - 7 knots pace. There are no fixed goals or timings, we just had a plan to visit Scotland and then probably the Baltic before heading south.

The idea is to visit the nicer areas in these latitudes before heading south for warmer weather. If we like somewhere, we will stay for a while. If not, we will just move on. So, for the people who love forward planning and targets, this might seem a little relaxed!

If anyone else is contemplating a trawler yacht life, maybe our experiences will be enough to make you think again, or maybe do it sooner then you intended!

The boat is called Rockland and she is built for long distance cruising and a comfortable life on board too. If you want to see more about trawler yachts and the Nordhavn 47 in particular, there is a link to the manufacturers website in our "useful stuff" section. For the technically minded, there is a little info and pictures of the boat and equipment in the same section

Regards

Richard and June

Sunday 23 June 2013

Rothesay and the public conveniences



Yes, it is a strange title. Yes, the public conveniences are strange too. We walked (actually half walked, half got blown by the NW'ly gale) into town - here are the winter gardens (it felt like October):




We also visited the famous victorian toilet block. The fittings are original and (get this ladies) they even run a guided tour of the gents for ladies to see the delights of the victorian urinals and washbasins.

June managed to resist the temptation. Richard spent 20p (plus one later) and went for a look. Well, the good news for you bashful females is that you can now enjoy the victorian splendour without having to join a tour. For women who are a little scared by the thoughts of a gents toilet, please skip to the next blog entry:




















Just imagine how you would feel whipping out a camera in the gents. (And what did you think I was going to say there, Amanda?) Thoughts of arrest, George Michael and other unsavoury ideas spring to mind as you surreptitiously take a few pictures, praying that no one will be caught short and rush in on you (like a policeman...) The shutter noise seemed very loud in there.

Having recovered and praying there was no CCTV inside, we returned by bus. Walking into the gale looked too hard. Bute has the highest density of bus stops to people that we've ever seen. Port Bannatyne is tiny, but has 4 stops along the "main drag". From last night's entertaining Russian Tavern restaurant to the marina, there are 3 stops. The walk takes 2 minutes. Why? We will look for locals with short legs or an island hospital that specialises in amputations and let you know.

A Patrick update:

After the aspersions cast by G&P (they asked if he is the Dangerous Chicken from Wallace and Gromit), John has rushed to Patrick's defence. John, for those of you with worrying memories, is the man with the legs who had a brief period of fame and gained lots of fan mail after appearing on here. John mailed us with:

I am most unhappy with the libelling of Patrick. He seemed a stout but rather small chap to me and totally inoffensive

Looks like there are factions appearing. "Free Patrick" T-shirts and other expensive branded merchandise should be available soon.