Sailing Genevieve…

After November and December hunkering down in NY we made off for the wilds of Ireland, the soft underbelly of West Sussex England, and the tony streets of Richmond, all while Genevieve waited for us patiently in Scotland. Read on…

With Genevieve all settled in her now familiar winter berth in Largs, Scotland, in November we returned to NY.  We were given shelter (with heat and hot water!) at the old, but now new, Kiriluk family house while we spent daylight hours painting and preening our old shack.

Come January we were back across the Atlantic (via air) to Ireland for a five-week stay with delightful doggies Elsa and Saffron and their pals Tiddles the cat, Barney the donkey, and two ponies.  We enjoyed winter fireside warmth in a lovely old hunting lodge and took to the local serpentine roads to explore the stunning Irish countryside, friendly pubs and wide open, wind-blown sandy beaches.

After a fun-filled stay with old pals Jacqui and Matt in Richmond to get our London fix, we decamped to West Sussex to entertain two more doggy friends, Lola and Alfie, driving them around the south of England to revisit many of the haunts from Martin’s youth.

A quick stop in the Cotwolds followed, but before we knew it we were back to Genevieve to get her ready for another Scottish sailing season. Her newly-installed Generator was all ready to go! The get-ready-work was made easier when  pal Jonathon joined us for a couple of weeks to assist with the heavy lifting, up-the-mast inspections and polishing (yes, we polish the rigging!).

Soon we were off, rounding the Mull of Kintyre and into the heart of the inner Hebrides.  This sailing season we were joined by some of our UK-based pals who could not wait to pile on the layers and experience wet and chilly highland sailing.  We circumnavigated Mull, Skye, Jura and discovered some amazing anchorages: Tinker’s Hole, Plockton, Iona, Puilladobhrain, Armadale, Gometra, Tobermory, Oronsay, Loch Teacuis, Canna, Muck, etc. Too much isolated Scottish beauty for words to describe, with plenty of seals, otters, whales and eagles for punctuation.

Every morning we were streaming our local NY radio station. Once John heard about the lovely warm weather starting to bathe New York, he was off!  Following, I had some great alone time with Genevieve honing my single-handed skills (mostly without incident!) and doing some much needed maintenance between sojourns around the islands.  But soon the end of June was looming and I settled Genevieve on a big mooring and left her to fend for herself for a couple of months.  We will be back on board by the end of August to prep her for more Scottish adventures this Autumn.  

Enjoy some of our meanderings in pics….