Dignity Critique

We’ve been asked by a few folks for a critique of the boat. So here I go with what we liked and what we didn’t. The context of this critique is our needs for our boat. Those with different requirements will have to take this into account. It’s personal. So before we get to my pros and cons I want to recap what we were looking for in a boat.

First and foremost, our boat will be our home. We wanted a boat we would be comfortable living in at anchor, on a mooring and occasionally in dock. Second, while we originally weren’t thinking about an ecological boat, the Lagoon 420 appealed to us in a very big way with it’s great potential for regeneration and platform for solar power. Third came performance. It doesn’t matter too much to us as when we finally move aboard, time will not be our problem. We’ll be in no rush. But to be fair, nor do we want a bus.

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Lagoon 420 wins Eco award

Congrats to Lagoon for winning the Royal Thames Mansura Eco award. Follow this link for story.

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Back Home

We’re back home now after an uneventful journey home. Blogs will be brought up to date shortly. I also intend to review the blogs already made, fill in the gaps, add pics and make corrections. Watch out for changes.

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Day 8 – Going Home

No rush to get up this morning. Eventually we picked ourselves out of bed and picked off some of the remaining food. John and I took the dinghy round to The Caves to get some last minute wet time. The fish were abundant and we even bumped into Bert the Barracuda who is a pretty big guy and known to frequent the area.

As we arrived back at Dignity Bonnie and Brian showed up so we were happy to again show people around Dignity including opening up covers to show motors, electrics, etc.

We then set sail to cross the channel back to Nanny Cay where we docked at the fuel dock and then again at her resting place. The fun thing about docking in a marina is you always get an audience. When docking in our final berth we had the CatCo and another set of guest all watching. The guests made a point of letting us know they were watching just to add to the pressure – all part of the fun. No bumps fortunately.

We had lunch at the cafe in Nanny Cay and then showers in the hotel. Eventually it was time to leave which was sad. The taxi ride back to the airport follows the coast so you get to see the islands recently visited but now receding. We checked in quickly and had just enough time to visit Trellis Bay for 10 mins before boarding.

The flight home was uneventful. New Jersey was cold.

Upon arriving home we were presented with a few mysteries. Why was the pipe wrench in the kitchen? Why were the plants moved? Why was our older son’s Carmen Electra poster under our bed? Simple answer. We are now back to life on land.


 Day 8 Google Earth Track

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Day 7 – Norman Island – Part II

We all headed off to Pirates for dinner. Appetizers was a round of Painkillers. Do we sound like a stuck record? We had a perfect seat facing the bay which we put down to an early booking. The food was good and I seem to remember ordering another round of appetizers.

After dinner we went back to the boat to share a bottle of wine and stargaze. The sky was magnificent.

Anne and John were a little tired so they left Helen and I to head off to Willy T’s to join the crowd. Upon arrival we found Bonnie and Brian, the owners of Radio Flyer, sitting in the very same bar seats we found them in when we last went to Willy T’s. (Note – they have repeatedly since claimed they don’t go to Willy T’s that often). They’re a fascinating couple. They live half the time in Canada and half the time on their boat in the BVIs. He spent 22 years in the Canadian Mounties and since moved onto other projects. They spent many years in Costa Rica helping build a new hotel. Their story in Costa Rica is reminiscent of “Don’t Stop the Carnival” by Herman Wauk. Only on a bigger scale. He is now writing a book about the experience which I’m looking forward to reading. We spent most of the evening chatting with Brian and Bonnie and vowed to stay in touch.

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