This party`s over I`m going Home.

It is very strange
to have been back home for a week and open up the computer to write up the final
web diary, the two worlds are so Completely
different from each other. I feel as if the sailing experience is all a very
long time past, but I am in no way sad to be home
in Fact it is great
to be here and I am full of energy
Jacky on the other hand has been working hard keeping everything
together and is in
Need of some chill
out time so lets hope that we can achieve Synchronisation soon. I also need to
be able to get in the right mind set for Me to remember
this part of the Penguin diary. We
arrived in Yacht Club. Our
little Johnson outboard pushing us merrily up to the pontoons, an easy to access
berth was located it also had two
guys Standing on the
pontoon perfect for catching lines, Penguin`s Luck was once again with us. We
then went ashore to sign in with club manager This
was the first time Niamh had set foot on her native Irish soil for 18months, the
last time being after we had arrived in
Had come home with
a broken wrist. The excitement of having her daughter home was obviously getting
to Niamh`s Mum and whilst on the phone She decided that
she would drive down to meet us the following day and take Niamh back home the
day after. I was looking forward to
Jo, Nick And Jacky arriving
and Ed was looking forward to his Mum and Dad coming all on Wednesday, this was
to be a real meeting of the Clans. Sunday night was our first chance to
enjoy the local brews and with the Town full of Traditional boat`s and their crew at the close of the
local Regatta a pleasant
evening was spent at the pub, drinking in the atmosphere, beer, and friendship
of the place. The View up the
River to the Royal Cork Yacht Club. On Monday at midday Niamh`s mum Deidre
arrived and we all went of to visit Kinsale for the afternoon, Tuesday saw Niamh
and her Mum set off with one car load Of gear
for Athlone, they where also going to try and get a few things sorted out for
Niamhs future work and life back in To get
a hire car so that we would be ready for the Hannifan,
Roots, all very
deeply buried in the dark depths of
Irish history. Wednesday morning arrived and I
meet Jacky, Jo and Nick, with a big bunch of flowers, this time I
managed To get
to the airport and hand them to Jacky on my last attempt to achieve this I had
only managed to get the flowers onto the Bus in The seat beside me
when I got off at the airport stop.
But with my minder Eddy at hand the flowers where successfully delivered
to Jacky as she came out of the arrivals doors. It was as if we were going back ten
years and the two families where meeting up for a summer holiday but this time
Jo, Nick , and Ed were in their twenties. That evening
Jane And
Peter arrived , leaving only Ollie back in
Away and putting
faces to the names that we had all
heard so much about. The highlight
being Friday the 20th Niamh birthday and the reason for Penguins
visit to the Emerald Isle. By the end of the
weekend the whole Collins family had assembled including the young nieces and
nephews and Shane, Niamh`s youngest brother had also flown over from the
UK, He had volunteered himself to be our
final victim on the sail back onto the South Coast of England. On Sunday the
real World begain to encroach and people had to disperse back
from Where they had
come from, Niamh`s Mum and Dad leaving around lunchtime with the second car
filled to the brim with two and a half years of accumulated treasures. Jacky Jo
and Nick Had caught an
early flight back to the UK, the Hannifan clan had also left, it was time to get
back out to sea and get ourselves to Lymington and Finish the tour. Our
intention had been To sail
out of We left first thing Monday and had a
good couple of days sailing finally choosing England
and know that what is within easy sailing range is amongst the most stunning
sailing areas that you could wish to sail in. What a little gem
Everyone is keen to take money from you but I
suppose that was not the first or last time we would get asked for cash to
Anchor Penguin, At least in the At 7 o clock we
set Shane ashore in Dartmouth, he was setting out to travel half way up the
country by coach and train a distance of 350miles, Penguin would also be sailing
the 70 miles From
Off
across Pleasure of
sailing in just superb conditions, the wind building until we finally reached Durlston head and we
were sailing with 25 knots of breeze directly behind us. With just two of
us To take the
spinnaker down, it goes without saying that it was not the most prettiest
manoeuvre but we did finally succeed in taming the beast although Niamh did have
to donate some Skin for the
cause, She also has it logged as the 6th and final time that I had
tried to finish her off. By the time we had rounded Swanage and then Old Harry
entered Studland and anchored it was 4 o clock, we had covered the 70 miles in
9hrs, and for a good deal of the time had been covering the round at over 10
knots but would it be enough, Shane was due To get home just
after 3.30. He finally rang through to us at 4.15 his train had been delayed and
was late he had just got in through the door. So nothing had changed at home,
The Railways still did
not always run to time. The Flying
Penguin had done it again. But more importantly Penguin was parked in
Studland 25miles from Lymington it
was Thursday the 26th of june and we were expected to
be sailing up the leaving
Friday the 27th of June dawned grey and windy but the sheer
pleasure of showing Niamh around my home patch was enough to keep things bright
and cheerful. We picked up The
anchor and sailed along I had been given
strict instructions not to be
early and defiantly don’t be
late. So we made another stop at Highcliffe beach for lunch, this allowed Jacky
and her Brother Chris to Come down to the
beach to wave at us and get their wobbly emotions out of their system. As we
were picking up the anchor we got a phone call to say that Conor and
Marion Where
bringing their boat out from The bay
to escort us into Lymington, and so the final sail around
Connor and Marion
Boat Tou Can and Crew. So at exactly
17.30, not to early and not to late and after spending the last 2 years and 10
months wandering around theWorld Penguin arrived at Lymington Yacht Haven.
A gathering of
friends and family had assembled to see us home and it was great to be back
amongst them and share such a special moment. Pretty soon we were all
enjoying A glass of bubbly
and then it was down to the nearest pub, because the weather was crap and it had
started raining. The pleasure of an English Summer! As is the way whilst chatting with Jay we
managed to get Niamh sorted with a spot on White Mischief sailing in the Round
The Island Race , The oppertunity being just To good to miss
out on. So her plan for a lie in and a relaxing day for Saturday went out the
window. So that was it Job done obsession dealt
with, back to dreaming up new ventures.
We had sailed over 40000 thousand miles and enjoyed the most amazing
experience. And if you have been thanks for reading
and all the encouragement. Cheers Rob
PS this is now week five of the reintegration process and I’m still
smiling. |