by steve, on December 31st, 2011 (
UK)
For some of our friends I know New Year is much closer than it is for us. For all of you reading our blog we wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Despite battling the catch up of two years worth of seasonal colds and drizzly weather we’re having a nice time down here in Penzance. The first night here we went out for a curry in town. We’re staying a stones throw from the center of town which makes going out in the evenings very convenient. We’ve always enjoyed the feel of Cornish towns with their winding streets of stone buildings so even in the wet and cold, the walk to the restaurant was a pleasure. The food turned out even better.
On Thursday Helen’s brother Peter who’s lived here for decades popped by accompanied by his wife Dianne and daughter Rachel. While chatting with them, Lois and Robin returned home and we had a good afternoon chatting. After Peter and Rachel had left the four of us went out to a Thai restaurant in town and had a delicious meal there.
Yesterday we visited Peter at his home and chewed the cud some more. This time we ate in with Lois cooking up a delicious concoction of Asian curries and sides.
Over the last few days we’ve had the time to relax and do a little bit of planning ahead. Not so much the next few weeks which we must sort out but more the next couple of years.
While we have 2012 more or less nailed (aiming for Sydney, Australia by end of year via Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia) we have been a bit loose about our plans beyond.
To think beyond Australia does mean thinking about our whole trip and where we want to finally end up. The situation in the Gulf of Aden off have shifted so dramatically over the last couple of years it really is not an option to sail a boat through those waters. (See this link for latest guidance to mariners). That means the usual route to the Mediterranean via the Red Sea is simply not on. The Med is still accessible but that means going round the bottom of Africa, across to Brazil, revisit the Caribbean then back over the Atlantic and into the Med from the west one year later than we would have done. There are certainly some attractions to doing this but right now we feel this would extend the trip longer than we have the passion necessary.
So although nothing is ever certain and no plan final, we’re not thinking in terms of reaching and sailing the Med on this trip.
Nor does returning to the Caribbean hold any interest to us barring the magnificent feeling we’d get crossing over our own tracks and completing our circumnavigation. That remains something I’d love to do but the reality is that after the delights of the South Pacific, the Caribbean has no draw for us. Furthermore, knowing that we will sell the boat once we’re done, the Caribbean/US is nowhere near as financially attractive as Australia right now.
So our plans right now don’t figure in a return to the Caribbean.
However, we are excited by the blogs from our friends sailing ahead of us having traversed Indonesia and the Far East. This does attract us. There is a rally that leaves Darwin, Australia each July that takes a bunch of boats up through Indonesia. We’ve never rallied before but this could be fun. It is supposed to alleviate the headache of Indonesian beaurocracy but we do know some folks doing it alone and managing just fine.
So the rough idea right now is to get to Darwin by July 2013 and take the Indonesian Rally making our way perhaps as far as Thailand. Then we’d have to make our way back to Australia to finish our trip. That part is not so simple and will need a lot of research. Perhaps we’d return by way of the Philippines, perhaps we’d spend time in Borneo. Who knows. But it’s kind of a plan to hang our hat on and something to flesh out with additional research over the coming days, weeks, months, year.
We do have a sense we are around the half way point of our time aboard Dignity give or take a bit. Life aboard has been and continues to excite. But there will be life beyond the boat and having a plan that now vaguely includes an end point does actually add a new sense of excitement. Somewhere, sometime, three years or so down the line we will have to reinvent ourselves again and start something new. No idea where or what yet and nor are we pressed, just yet, to work that out. Something to think about.
Looking way, way out, perhaps eight to ten years we know we must gravitate and settle down somewhere. We’ve often asked ourselves where, particularly on our travels. One of the places that is on our list is right here in Cornwall. We love the place and we have family here. This neck of the country has a lot to explore and get to know. So we’ve been having a look online at some of the properties in town and, colds permitting, may go out and walk the town looking at a few today and next week, just to get to know the town a little better.
This evening we’re going to see the New Year in in a pub with live music. Brilliant.
So much to look forward to. Life is good.
Here some pics from our walkabout today.