Just to explain who everyone is.  Mike’s sister Lesley, her husband Philip and their great friends David and Susan.  Lesley and Philip live in Morristown, New Jersey; David and Susan live in Ithica.  David and Susan sailed with us for a few days in Greece and Turkey a couple of years ago.

Lesley had found a fabulous house overlooking Falmouth Harbour and booked it for our expected TransAtlantic arrival in December.  Then, showing astonishing lack of consideration, Lesley and Philips son Adam and his wife Jessica (who had sailed with us in Greece a couple of years ago) announced that the first grandchild was to be expected at the same time.  House booking duly changed to March.

The lovely Hannah Rose arrived on her due date and continues to flourish.  We are looking forward to meeting her in May when we reach Chesapeake Bay and visit them in Washington DC on our way back to the UK.

Right, now you know who is who, here is the story of the week in question.

The house was gorgeous with a great view of the harbour……

and the sunset.  Rum punch on the balcony anyone?

We had a lovely week and made the most of access to a big house; the sun loungers and the laundry room were used in equal parts.  What a treat to have a decent washing machine to use.  Everything, but everything on the boat got washed.

We were particularly delighted though when Lesley and Philip said they would like to do a short sail.  Neither particularly likes boats and both get very seasick but they were game for a try.  Suitably loaded with sea-sickness pills they joined us for the move from the dockyard back to anchor in Falmouth Harbour.  This meant some manoeuvring  at the fuel dock followed by a calm motor through the harbour with Philip at the helm.