The run up.

In the last few days our funds have cleared into the brokers account and we are officially the owners of a fifteen year old yacht!

This plan is now very real. Until now I've kept fairly quiet about the whole idea. It's not a good idea to announce you are buying a boat and going sailing for six months when there are so many factors that could wreck the plan and leave you to crawl back with your tail between your legs.

The first active step towards this plan was taking my RYA day skipper course on the Solent back in November 15. We had fairly extreme weather the whole week but I loved every minute of it. I appeared to be the only one not to suffer from sea sickness, which until proved wrong I will optimistically believe I am immune to.  I had prepared for this week by taking the theory course and reading every book and magazine I could get my hands on for months before. In my head I knew it all but in practice I knew nothing! I can recommend Sea Jays Sailing School in Lymmington and our instructor Rupert was great.

Prior to this I worked hard to get my day skipper theory exam.  I used an online course from Splasheasschool.com that allowed me to choose when to study instead of spending 5 solid days in a classroom.  I had to get these qualifications without Julia as she was busy with work  but I'm sure she will pick it up pretty quickly once we're out there.  It is only necessary for one of us to actually have the paperwork.

Next up was the SRC VHF course and exam. It is a legal requirement for one person onboard to have a license to operate the radio but we both had fun learning the Phonetic alphabet an concocting far fetched mayday practice calls.