Southampton for the Boat Show

A real pleasure to host Cliff and Heather on our boat for a change!

Our four nights in Town Quay Marina in Southampton was a very busy time with numerous boat show and boat maintenance tasks and a social schedule. Cliff and Heather managed to fit us into their busy holiday plans and joined us for a couple of nights.  It was great to see them and catch up with news from home.  

Raising our pennant

Cliff also delivered our 'Wing Commanders' pennant which is now flying and reminds us of our previous life - thanks!

At last we have a cat!

Cliff & Heather also generously added to our crew with the gift of Freddy the Ship’s Cat.  Freddy is pretty cool and looks quite comfy curled up behind the sofa.  He is low maintenance though we don’t think he will be very effective in keeping rodents out of the boat.  However, Freddy make Sabbaticus feel quite homely seeing him when we open the hatch on returning home.

 

Bigger is better!

With the growing shopping list for Sabbaticus we were ready for the boat show with us ending up spending three days there.  The major purchase was a Rocna anchor - at 40kgs this should give us more flexibility in choosing our anchoring areas and allow (hopefully) a worry free night knowing the anchor will hold.

Paul and Paul from Dolphin Sails

The boat show was a good chance for John to speak with the different manufacturer’s on the equipment and ask any technical questions - of which there were many (who would have thought!). We also caught up with Paul and Paul from Dolphin Sails during one of their quieter moments.  A company with a real focus on quality.

 While at Southampton we also purchased an Ocean Safety life raft which John installed. This life raft is installed on the stern rail and is a huge improvement as previously the life raft was in a valise stored in a locker.  The valise life raft  would have been impossible to deploy as Leanne can’t lift it out of the locker let alone deploy it in an emergency situation.  

Karen & Chris trying out the helm

We then enjoyed a social evening onboard with Karen from Ocean Safety, and her husband Chris, who did a fabulous job in assisting us with purchasing numerous safety related equipment upgrades for the boat - which we hope to never use!

We were also fortunate with a visit from Kerry and Tracey Cousins and their boys which was great to see them and hear about their exciting European travel adventures and lifestyle in the UK.  We had forgotten how a 2yr old boy will find every switch that was left on - note to skipper to turn off all winches next time!

The Cousins Whānau

Next stop is Yarmouth, the Isle of Wight.