Hi: we're cheating a little as we haven't left home yet, but are still in Taverners, while final preparations for the trip go on.

 Currently Cath and Benj are on the last days of a week's babysitting with grand-daughter Grace, but managed one day off to put up the sails on Vega and have a couple of hours' 'shakedown' sail out in the bay at Dover harbour.  All systems seemed to be working well, and although there is plenty left to do before our departure in less than two weeks' time, Vega is almost fit to go and straining at her leashes.� For anyone we have not yet bored with the details, we are setting off from Dover to circumnavigate most of Britain in a clockwise direction, via Falmouth, the Scillies, Cork and the east coast of Ireland, the Clyde and the Western Isles, the Caledonian Canal to Inverness (I know, that's cheating), then turn right and back to Dover by mid-August.

The next week will see plenty final preparation, both on paper and down-and-dirty on the boat, as well as settling details of the many crew changes during the next 3 months, including the logistics of getting 6 different crew members at different times to and from the Classic Malts Rally around the distilleries of Oban, Skye and Islay - not easy I can tell you!

OK, bedtime now - more details as we near our departure.

Friday April 27th, Dover
Friday now and we leave on Tuesday 1st. All serious work on boat complete, and two shakedown sails around the harbour with Cath with all in working order. I've spent a few hours gathering all the charts and pilot books and (at last) working out the crew change logistics for Scotland, based on Oban in July.