Broadsword
John & Lucy Strachan
Sun 30 Aug 2020 09:45
This is my first ever blog entry ....so please be gentle!
It has been a busy 2 weeks since arriving in Cherbourg and dealing with the hand over of the boat.
A mixed bag of emotions... excitement, elation, proudness, information overload and general nervousness.
I think the only way I can compare it is..... to having a baby, ...
You are so excited about it happening, you deliver said baby and then you are flipping terrified...but at the end of the day, you are the responsible adult who will be taking that baby home with you and you just have to get on with it!!
Poor John has been hard at work getting to know all the new pieces of equipment on the boat, organising the tech room. His OCD has been working hard. This has been made very hard by the fact that the lovely Mattheas (who has been looking after us) speaks very little English. So
It has been a busy 2 weeks since arriving in Cherbourg and dealing with the hand over of the boat.
A mixed bag of emotions... excitement, elation, proudness, information overload and general nervousness.
I think the only way I can compare it is..... to having a baby, ...
You are so excited about it happening, you deliver said baby and then you are flipping terrified...but at the end of the day, you are the responsible adult who will be taking that baby home with you and you just have to get on with it!!
Poor John has been hard at work getting to know all the new pieces of equipment on the boat, organising the tech room. His OCD has been working hard. This has been made very hard by the fact that the lovely Mattheas (who has been looking after us) speaks very little English. So
John's french has been improving extremely well. In fact I would venture to say that he has progressed from Del Boy's 'Mange Tout Rodney, Mange Tout!' to the undercover resistance officers of 'Allo Allo!'
And, me? Well have been pottering around Cherbourg in my Breton smock, with the subtle baguette sticking out of my wicker basket, oh and maybe a beret worn at a jaunty angle! Occasionally, I have been a bit more daring and I've taken my sketchbook and camera. This, I assure you, really does complete the whole french look!
Here are some pics for you to see a
Jaque Cousteau? At last...out at sea!
While we've had some down time, waiting for the boat, we went to Utah beach which was a lovely day. Long walk, (saw fishermen taking boats into the sea with their tractors) checked out some german bunkers, nice lunch.
Our plan was to leave on Monday and go to Brighton where the two boys...Mark and Dougie...will be waiting to jump on the boat. Due to Covid, we won't be getting off. Then take the boat to Bergen, Norway.
Then the news came through that we won't be allowed anywhere near Norway due to Covid spikes in the UK!
So we then decided we would go to Jersey and winter the boat over there (just John and I) and cancel poor Mark and Dougie.
Then.... the other day Norway eventually got back in touch with us and said they would let us in and let us count our journey on Broadsword as our quarantine! So everyone is now rushing about trying to get back on track with the original plan.
So we hope to leave tomorrow at some point (still waiting for a couple of things for the boat!!) and hope to be in Brighton on Tuesday.
We'll keep you updated....
Loads of love
Loads of love
Lucy
xxxxx
xxxxx