The Wanderer Returns

When John was a commercial fisherman catching lobsters and velvet crabs for the Spanish market, he did so from The Wanderer, a tiny 19ft Orkney Fastliner. When he retired from fishing, he kept the boat and it has become a toy, a play thing, a................................pleasure craft........................of sorts,.........................................so to speak.

Don't get me wrong - it ain't posh and it's not a floating gin palace, but it has brought us hours of fun and pleasure especially in the summer months when we have gone out in the boat and cruised the hidden bays and coves, exploring the white sandy beaches, enjoying sausage barbecues and letting the kids have fun in the sun building sandcastles or burying each other!

The Wanderer has provided us with a fantastic means of 'getting away from it all' - especially as it allows us to get to places you can't reach by car or on foot and this very often means we are the only folks there. Yeeha!

Yesterday was a big day on our calendar - getting The Wanderer out of the water and on to dry land where she will remain over the winter months! This year this task has been later than usual - we've had to wait for a calm day and schedule it between tide times (which are big at the moment with the full moon), the ferry runs to Iona, the swell of the sea and of course the weather.

Yesterday was perfect.

The three of us tramped over the hills and across the moors to Bullhole where The Wanderer is kept moored whenever there are strong westerly winds - John marched on ahead, a man on a mission, Megan was in her element snuffling backwards and forwards in between belly flopping in the peat bogs, and me.....................well, I followed up the rear huffing and puffing like a wart hog

Having arrived at Bullhole, the next stage was for John to row out to The Wanderer in his wee dinghy - Megan and I watched on the hillside entranced as this ritual was performed.

This is how it goes:

1) First of all a pair of 'sexy' yellow waterproof trousers go on over the normal trousers and yellow wellies;

2) lumps of granite are tossed out of the dinghy - these keep it weighted down in the event of high winds blowing it away;

3) the dinghy is baled out using a battered old plastic tub;

4) a foot pump is then put into action to ensure the dinghy is fully inflated (accompanied by an impression of a snorting bull - his sound effects not mine);

5) and for the grand finale - the dinghy is then hoisted onto the head and back (again accompanied by sound effects) and the trek across the rocks towards the water commences............actually it's more like a waddle and it reminds me of the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles.

Check out the photos - what do you reckon?

Megan was completely bemused as she watched this spectacle as you can see from the expression!

The good news is The Wanderer is now out for the winter and on dry land; we managed a final sail in her and Megan is now officially a young Sea dog having earned her place as First Mate on her maiden voyage aboard The Wanderer (albeit in my arms, on my lap and sloppering all over my face just so she could see over the side!).

Two Worlds

I spent the weekend with my delightful 14 year old stepdaughter Amanda celebrating our birthdays together in the grand city of Edinburgh.

It was a truely girlie weekend - posh city boutique hotel, fine food and dining, cinema, shopping, cocktails at lunchtime at Harvey Nichols, pampering sessions with facials and manicures, thai cuisine and a fabulous dance musical called The Car Man (music from Carmen, story line based on The Postman Always Rings Twice).

We had a great time together doing what girls do in a really packed 2 days and as much as I enjoyed it and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to spend time with Amanda, it was also a timely reminder of why I'm so pleased I don't live on the mainland.

Congested traffic, pollution, lots of people(!) most of whom seemed to be walking about in a zombie like state with angry faces and gritted teeth spending huge amounts of money I'm sure they could ill-afford; shops galore full of clothes that are extortionate in price and never really going to be worn and vast quantities of food thrown away from restaurants and other eateries because folk order more than they can eat!

We didn't see much change from £1,000 for those 2 days away.

In contrast, I spent yesterday and today with John and our 12 week old pup Megan enjoying and appreciating so much more, the rather simpler things in life - the views from the breakfast room, the stormy weather, walks on the beach, the antics of Megan and the love of a good man.

Priceless!

I know where I would rather be and I wouldn't swop it for all the tea in China.