About us and the boat

About us and the boat:

We were lucky enough to retire early at the start of 2013 so we could head off and "live the dream" on board our Nordhavn 47 Trawler Yacht. The idea is to see some of the planet, at a slow 6 - 7 knots pace. There are no fixed goals or timings, we just had a plan to visit Scotland and then probably the Baltic before heading south.

The idea is to visit the nicer areas in these latitudes before heading south for warmer weather. If we like somewhere, we will stay for a while. If not, we will just move on. So, for the people who love forward planning and targets, this might seem a little relaxed!

If anyone else is contemplating a trawler yacht life, maybe our experiences will be enough to make you think again, or maybe do it sooner then you intended!

The boat is called Rockland and she is built for long distance cruising and a comfortable life on board too. If you want to see more about trawler yachts and the Nordhavn 47 in particular, there is a link to the manufacturers website in our "useful stuff" section. For the technically minded, there is a little info and pictures of the boat and equipment in the same section

Regards

Richard and June

Thursday 20 June 2013

Portavadie / Tarbert

Portavadie was a marina stop off recommended by the Crew’s parents who had visited it for dinner a few years ago. Sure enough, lovely buildings and facilities that were only about half occupied. Calling ahead to check on space for berthing wasn’t really needed!

The marina is on the site of a shipyard that was built as part of a development plan for the area to construct oil rigs. It didn’t get any orders, never built a single rig and so became derelict and then was converted into a marina. Madness, just madness. They even built housing for the workers that was not occupied and now is derelict too.

The marina facilities are excellent:




We took advantage of the nearby Calmac  ferry to visit Tarbert. That was actually cheaper than taking the boat over and berthing there!




That was a busy sailing, we went back with one car on board…..

The town is best explained by pictures. So, first of all, please Amanda, when you open your B&B do not do this to the garden. As Ikea promote; “Say no to Gnomes”





To their strapline, we would add “mock Egyptian pillars, wooden carved owls, stone figures etc etc etc. A tad overdone for our taste.

Sitting in the harbour was a 98 foot Princess motor yacht. Spookily it used to live in Swanwick marina on the Hamble river where we had a berth.  As you can see, it looks a bit out of place amongst the fishing boats and other older craft. It is registered in the BVIs, must be some tax fun going on with it too. As we walked past, the crew were leathering off the overnight rain to make her all shiny. We have a lot to learn – shame it rained again shortly afterwards:




To make a living, the shopkeepers have to sell a wide range of goods. On the other half of this splendid fascia, it also mentions confectionery, newspapers, holiday items, etc. Inside, it looked like everything that he could buy from a wholesaler had been added to the shelves somewhere.