The convoluted trip

i left norwich on thirty first jan and took three trains not via london saving eighty quid but costing half an hour to go to warwick for an interview after which i very briefly met up with richard before taking three more trains to beeston where i stayed with neil and sarah for one night also popping in on sean and maureen. next morning damo picked me up and we went to get me a minibus license before getting steve and going to ashbourne to get minibuses in which we would later convey thirty members of mps to kingussie. the winter skills trip was a good laugh and despite being useless at ice climbing with damo i had a good time meeting new mps members philippa and kat and also chris' friends rob and paul who took us out to a nice meal in dalwhinne. did raeburns gully route in creag meagidh with vince jim steve and damo leading in total thirteen of us were in the gully all at once whilst chris and lou had sensibly decided to take other people up to the window by an easier route given the discussions of the night before where all the ice climbing fever started my mid munro crisis - on the way back already late mps then made a detour to aberfeldy ostensibly to get chips but really to drop me off for my winter mountain leader course with stuart johnston. the course was with a great bunch of people who all discovered just how long it takes to dig a palatial snowhole through solid ice and how wet you get so doing and how tough it can be accurately navigating in the dark and snow on the cairngorm plateau in minus thirty windchill and how awesome the indian restaurant in aberfeldy is. my bro then came up to aberfeldy although we actually stayed in weim hostel which seemed to have a lot kids in it and we spent three days bagging munros in glen lyon and kept bumping into this same random couple in a camper van. without a road map we sucessfuly made it to perth where he dropped me to catch a train to dundee to spend a couple of days with jo who whilst i was there passed her driving test first time well done her and we saw blood diamond which i found very hard to watch despite it being a very well made film. on way back from dundee i planned it nicely so as not to have to change trains trains until peterborough only problem was that the whole east coast mainline seized up due to power lines down south of peterborough at one point sat in york station for and hour they announced that we should travel tomorrow unless there was no alternative and i was just on the verge of calling fabian to see if i could crash when the train pulled out of the station but proceeded to spend half an hour at every station between there and peterbro eventually arriving three hours late with the whole of peterbro station jammed up due to trains going nowhere and lack of platforms at this point i decided that waiting for the already delayed norwich train was a bit of a gamble and i just wanted to stop travelling and nottingham seemed like a better bet so i went and crashed at damos and got to meet laura and be absolutely useless at table football. managed next day then to squeeze in a visit to sheffield to lunch with sarah who i had felt guilty about not seeing last time i was in nottingham before finally getting on a train which chris randomly happened to be on so i spent an hour with him trying to get peru in order then chatted to a girl who was on her way back to norwich for a big night out with old friends and had to starting drinking on the train to be in sync when she met up with them and the train did take me all the way to norwich a whole day later than originally planned and arrived home slightly weary and thinking a bit of a normal nine to five routine might be a good thing. apologies mr kerouac for imitating your style so poorly.

The "Limerick" Log

Whilst crossing the Atlantic in a small yacht, I found that writing Limericks was something that I could occupy my mind with. The following are some verses I wrote, often during the quiet night watch hours. Some who have more arts education than me have pointed out that they do not have perfect limerick scansion – but hopefully you can overlook that given the seasickness and the fact that I am a mere physicist.

More details and logs from our trip can be found at:
http://www.safesailing.co.uk/tracking/index.php
http://arc.worldcruising.com

Wednesday 29th November

Black Arrow is the name of our yacht
being steel, she can cope with a lot.
She'll hold firm in a gale;
There'll be no need to bale,
and we'll try for that last extra knot.

Our skipper is called Simon Smith;
for safe sailing, he has quite a gift.
His sense of childish fun
makes him ever so young.
When 'tis rough, he gives us a lift.

Gossia, the Bosun, from Poland,
is glad to be out of the Solent.
In her little black dress,
she can dress to impress.
We get weather from dad in the homeland.

Sandi has plans for her ketch,
to do the ARC the year after next.
When a warped hydrovane rudder
meant we needed another,
her hubby from England did fetch.

FC, the sea got him quick;
on the way down he was terribly sick.
But on stopping in Spain
he worked on weight gain
And found pills that did just the trick.

And Steve, he flew in last week
with three weeks off work as a treat.
He bought us steak in a tin,
nine cans he got in
But his baggage was not at all cheap!

We hope that we will all survive,
and remain a full crew of five.
Now we're pushing on time,
and stretching the rhyme
There'll be more before we arrive.

Friday 1st December

Last night, Roxi called out to the fleet:
"Any boats out there up for a meet?"
"We are!" we cried -
So they came alongside
and their crew took a valiant leap.

Their Swan was alone in the swell
whilst we all got on terribly well.
We circled their mast,
as the light faded fast.
They jumped back with a tale to tell.

Sunday 3rd December

On Friday, we caught our first fish,
not quite as big as we wished.
A quick fillet and fry,
from an expert like Si
and he made an excellent dish!

Then the wind blew up five, gusting six.
with some swell thrown into the mix.
There was a touch of relief,
when we put in a reef,
and knots, we made at least six.

Last night, the sea was quite rough;
waves as tall as two men, sure enough!
With the wind dead behind,
Black Arrow is kind,
but sleeping was a little bit tough.

So we've now been at sea a full week,
the austere ocean is vast, and so bleak.
Many miles from the land,
at least we get tanned!
Our world is but steel, canvas, and teak.

Monday 11th December

As we edge south it gets increasingly hot,
but the auld Mariners' rhyme this verse is not.
No albatross slaughter,
we've plenty of water.
Our story don't follow that plot!

For supper we had a fabulous meal:
Melon, then chips with potatoes and veal.
Dessert was from heaven,
with custard from Devon.
We really must stick to this 3 course ideal!

Friday 15th December

The thick night air, humid and heavy;
pregnant with storms to catch the unready.
A lightening strike
antennas will spike.
We dodged through all this, and held our course steady.

Saturday 16th December

The ominous clouds unleashed all their power;
The tension relieved with a heavy rain shower.
No spirits did dampen,
in the on duty tandem.
Wet though they got, neither looked dour.

Sunday 17th December

As we press on for the finishing line,
for this humble log, it's wrapping up time.
St. Lucia draws near,
with showers and beer.
So thanks for reading our limerick rhyme.