Moving to a life on deck

​After many years of dreaming and a week of finally being live-aboards, its nice to find that we are settling into our groove really well. Its seems strangely comfortable and perfectly like home, this small space. We have spent our every day learning more about Inelsamo and the etiquette of sailing and entering new harbours, along with fixing things and doing odd jobs.

Last night we had yet another fabulous British summertime sunset. We were sitting on deck planning our passage over the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, feeling anxious and daunted by the possibilities, when into the berth beside us came this lovely little old sloop under a Netherlands flag. We got chatting with the guy on deck who had just completed a passage from Spain, to the Azores and into Lymington, single-handed. It took him 12 days in total. But more importantly, he went on to tell us about the history of his boat, which he had just purchased in Spain.

Turns out this little boat was in 1977, the one on which a young woman from New Zealand, with only 6 weeks of sailing experience, went on to be the first woman to circumnavigate the world via Cape Horn, single-handed. Dame Naomi James was a farming kid - a land locked sheep farm was her stomping patch! So after a week of firsts for us in many ways, it was lovely to finish out our first week living on Inelsamo, by sharing a glass wine beside Express Crusader. Here's hoping some of her sailing fortunes and adventurous rubs off on us and Inelsamo!