And they are off.....
Location: Flamenco Marina Amador, Panama (Yes still here, but the end of our stay is in sight)
Weather: Overcast with sunny intervals, wind force 5+
Quote of the day: “The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer”.
Hey everyone we are still here in the marina its Sunday night and
we’ve just finished our dinner of spag bol yummy!! Well done to the
mummies today! We went to the shopping mall again today to get the last
big shop for the trip ahead Woohoo I cant wait!!! We did really well
and worked as a team to get the shopping done really quickly Maria and
I even got one of the mini shopping trolleys that the kiddies use, it
was the perfect size for Maria ha ha! Over the last five days I have
been making a list if all the items of food that are in the lockers in
the whole yacht and to day I was getting out of the hatch from my bunk
and I sat the notes I had made on the deck and from the weather report
you’ll know that it was windy today so my notes went flying off towards
the water and I don’t think I’ve ever moved so quick in my life, I
jumped down on the pontoon and started to grab the pages from the water
and then… (now would be the perfect time to say I fell in that would
give ya’s a laugh but I didn’t) they started to sink. I managed to get
all of the 24 pages but 3 of them died a watery death. So it was back
to the note pad for me for about an hour. It’s totally finished now at
long last. Well I hope everyone is doing great. I love you David n miss
you loads. Hi to everyone in Drumglass high school, hope your all
working hard!!! Hi Kelda I’m missing you loads hope your getting on
alrite with the beavers babes tell them to be good.
Barbara xoxo
Hey everyone, today was a hard working day with an added bonus that
consisted of a shopping spree at the end of the day. This morning I had
to go and finish off the painting of the bow of the boat where there
was some damage I also made some phone calls home to my family and
friends in Northen Ireland it was really nice to catch up with them,
glad their all keeping really well. After that we went to a huge mall
in Panama and also went to the supermarket to get more food for our
10day journey to Galapagos Islands. Our day was very fulfilling, when
we went to the mall the first shop we (being the girls) wanted to go
into was a formal/ball dress shop. I tried on a pink princess dress it
was $120 it was beautiful really pretty, I really wanted to buy it but
there would have been no way of getting it back on the plan and I don’t
think it would have been a good idea or very practical to keep it on
the yacht. (Ahh man! At the moment we are preparing to leave for
tomorrow therefore we are flat out cleaning and fixing things on the
yacht making sure everything is ready for our departure tomorrow.
Before I go I would like to give a shout out to phillip miss you loads.
My new re-founded mate Andrew,To all my friends and my little prefect
class 8c at Assumption Grammar miss you all so much hope your all
keeping well. Hey Mum, Dad, Eoghán and my lovely nice Catilín love you
all and I miss you so much. Nite nite talk to you tomorrow I’ll be
telling you how our first day at sea went ekkk.
Maria XXX
Today was my second and final day of only being allowed to do light
duties (Doctors Orders), so I phoned my wife Fiona and children Jack,
Emily and Lucy to find out the weather back in the UK, sounds like we
still have the better end of the stick even though the wind has kicked
in and the sun has hidden for a few minutes today. We are all getting
exited as we are going sailing tomorrow, yes!! My foot has been much
better today, my thanks goes to Simon Hay who has helped out with some
of my duties today, and to Sam the skipper and the Ellen MacArthur
Trust crew for their help and tolerance. I have however been able to
read about two of my Heroes Peter Blake, and Sir Francis Chichester
(Most Appropriate!). I hope my friends at Sea View Yacht Club are all
well, as tomorrow we embark on the bit of the journey they are
interested in, Gipsy Moth IV sailing! I know I’m about to learn lots,
as my friend Peter Hunter always says “Anyone who says he knows
everything there is to know about sailing is a b****y liar!”
Jon Curtis (mate)
Boy these guys are in for a shock! Were going to clear customs,
final bunker fills and stock with fresh produce and then slip. Forecast
is looking windy 30 knots of wind and 2.0 meter swells, expect some
green faces and some peuking!(on camera) According to Sir Frances
Chichester she rolls like a pig! Weather is looking like it will drop
off in about three days. I will place bets on these logs becoming a lot
shorter!!
Skipper Sam Connelly
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