Living on the water at last

So, we’re off.

Well, really we departed several months ago, but have only now stopped for long enough to think about News.
We’re living on the boat in Brittany, having sailed her across the English Channel in August. A happy month was spent pottering through the Channel Islands and along the northern Brittany coastline. The coastline and villages of Finistere are amazing. We had to leave Pèlerin in Camaret in Sept, as we both had to make travel trips elsewhere for work, but returned mid December so a cold and crispy Christmas and New Year was very much enjoyed in quiet, yet very welcoming, Camaret-sur-Mer. We have moved from our original spot in the Port Vauban as there was an issue with pontoons only been fixed by rusty chains, and the electricity supply was as sporadic as that in Uganda! We’ve found a much more comfortable spot nearer to the town, in Port du Notic – its now only a few hundred metres to the boulangerie/patisserie… “quelle dommage” as the skipper would say.

An interesting weekend was spent in London at the Royal Geographical Society, attending the WildPhotos annual workshop – all manner of inspiration for both budding and professional photographers. Although not having picked up our cameras seriously for months, we’re both now eager to find time to spend experimenting with our new equipment. The end of the financial tax year, however, has restricted slightly some of that free time.

Lou spent November and December 08 working very intensively with Wildlife Conservation Society in Uganda, teaching and facilitating a variety of different courses and workshops. She ran a weeks class and field based course on Environmental Impacts and Oil Development for local government and wildlife agency staff in Hoima. Whilst there, we had the chance to visit the Buffalo well being drilled in Murchison Falls National Park - a very interesting experience... This was followed by a two-day course on oil operations and the environment for EIA Practitioners in Kampala, and facilitation of a workshop to initiate multi-stakeholder dialogue on the development of a Strategic Environmental Assessment for oil development in Uganda. The following week, an NGO capacity building workshop was held to highlight key aspects of oil-related EIA and stakeholder consultation. An exhausting series of weeks, but very worthwhile - it's always a pleasure to work with such a wide variety of people with valid interests in minimising environmental and social impacts.

The London Boat Show calls again this month – was it really a year since Pèlerin was exhibited there herself?! So we return to London this week, to do a bit of extra research, meet up with some old friends and pick up some items we think might work well on Pèlerin. We’ll be passing by The Green Blue stand (B2) on the 15th, to meet with Sarah Black and her team, if anyone is interested in catching up.

Meanwhile we’re weighing up our sailing intentions for the summer – the plan is still definitely to be heading south (Biscay, Portugal, Morocco, Senegal, etc) later in the year, but the dilemma is whether to fit in a quick trip north before that, to revisit some of our most favourite haunts in the west of Scotland. Anyone who knows us, knows the Hebrides is special for both of us – especially as we have a special wedding to attend in Tighnabruaich (Argyll) in June, but then we also have another special wedding to attend in the Perigord (mid-west France) in May – we’re torn where to take Pèlerin (N.B. Another special wedding in Colombia in Feb also requires travel, but we’re definitely not taking Pèlerin there - not just yet).

It will be a disappointment if we can’t fit in sail to Scotland this summer, but the last thing we need is to put lots of sailing-itinerary pressure on ourselves – this is our new world order, after all! We met some very interesting sailing people over New Year, many of whom have/are currently/are planning to explore the waters off West Africa. Definitely all very good food for thought… and absolutely bulging with calories!

More next month.