Remember this, well I am back in my least favourite yoga cupboard!The forward toilet has been liquids only for most of the trip, now it has broken completely. Just another little job, I HATE MARINE TOILETS!!! Oh well, some spares are on their way. 

I am breaking off here for a while. I have had a chest infection for several months that has not succumbed to 3 courses of steroids and a course of anti-biotics. It has been 5 months now and if I don't beat it soon I will not be fit to go on my Himalayas trip in October. I am going to leave the boat for 2 weeks, go to hospital to get some tests done then go and join Melanie for a week somewhere warm and dry with a fist full of the right drugs to beat this thing! Melanie is going out to Fuerteventura to see Tim for a week so I am going to join her. She is staying in a yoga place; they asked if I wanted to join in the yoga but I'm afraid yoga has too many associations with boats toilets!

I will sign off now for 2 weeks. I expect to be back on board around 5 Aug. Paul is leaving the boat too and is cycling back across Ireland. Bye for now.

A week of remarkable cooking and culinary delights, Chris creates..... 

first it is roast beef with ALL the trimmings (those yorkshire puddings were made on board from base ingredients)

then roast gammon, all in a little camping oven with 2 top burners













....and Pete enjoys!!

During our first days heavy sail out to an island called Inishboffin, Pete was thrown by a wave whilst down below into the side of a bunk and broke two ribs. The hazards of sailing I'm afraid. Happily they were the ribs round the back and not too painful except when he laughed or sneezed, with Chris's sense of humour on board Pete had to have a bottle of medicinal red wine permanently to hand! You can't tell from the photo but Chris has just had a face full of Irish Sea.













Inishboffin is a beautiful island, part rugged and part soft with beautiful beaches.














On our way in we landed a bucket full of Mackerel; Pete had some very interested visitors when he filleted them.

Pete has recently got his Yachting Association day skippers qualification. As part of his broader yachting education, not satisfied with just some broken ribs, I felt he ought to have a taste of the 'other side' of yachting. Guessed? The second toilet packed up (you may remember that the first  'forward' toilet packed up a while ago with blocked piping and was relegated to liquids only), this made the second 'aft' toilet pretty important! That is the pump casing that Pete has in his hand, note he is still smiling!

Unfortunately the fix has not been an easy one and not yet succesfull. I tried to get a spare part in time for Paul to bring it out but being friday afternoon we couldn't make it happen in time. The problem is with an internal rubber valve which is out of shape and is currently in the vice being left under pressure in the hopes that it will re-flattenand become serviceable again. I think it will work, until then Messrs Bucket and Chuchit are on hand!




There are Atlantic Salmon on the west coast. In order to preserve numbers up the estuarys they have to fish the old fashioned way. Nothing has changed here in hundreds of years! On a bad day they will get none, on a good day 100.

 From Inishboffin we sailed back to the coast and up one of Irelands fjords, stunning scenery, these mountains rose 2500 feet straight out of the water on all sides

Here I dropped Pete and Chris and spent a day walking in the mountains whilst I wait for Paul.

We are back on board but my lovely wife is keeping me company for a week, Paul will be back on board in two weeks time. We had a nice week at home seeing Olly teaching surfing in Newquay and we saw Tim off to teach kitesurfing in fuerteventura. Its Volvo week in Galway; the Volvo round the world race finished in Galway this week after 38,000miles the world. Most of Ireland was in the marina having come to watch, 

They say that an epic race deserves an epic party!

Thin Lizzy turned up and took to the stage to warm every body up.

The boats arrived on the final leg from Portugal, reaching the line at 2am, it was quite a sight; sadly the photos didn't work but there were a sea of fairy lights on the flotilla of spectator boats following a single red light at the top of a huge mast steaming in at 10 knots.

Whilst Galway partied waiting for the in bay racing at the end of the week, Mellers and I headed to the Aran  Islands. We stopped in the bay and Melanie had her first go at fishing, with some success


The fish heads went into the prawn pot in the drink over night and low and behold... well , not the prawns we had hoped for but we got a starter!

Unfortunatly we had already caught enough fish for 3 days when this chap was hauled aboard so he lived to fight another day

We even had some sunshine and the boat saw its first real yoga

 From Aran we headed back to Galway for the Volvo in bay race, the ocean boats raced round the bay for an hour for the sake of the public, quite a sight, after which the overall winner 'Groupama' came into the harbour with flares burning in its rigging

The boats parked up in the marina for all to see, the trophy is handed over  and the real party begins!

On Sunday morning I dropped Melanie to catch a flight home and headed off to pick up Pete and Chris.....