14 August 2008
Day 1 at sea
At 10pm last night (Wednesday 13 August 2008) we were just off Portland Bill. By 6am this morning we were passing Bishop Rock, the traditional start of transatlantic races. And what a lovely day to go sailing...
14 August 2008
Fascinating facts about the QM2: #1
The QM2 is almost a quarter of a mile long (that’s longer than 36 double decker buses or twice as long as the Washington monument is high). Inside there is 150,000 cubic metres of space for guest use (most of which must be taken up by our bags).
13 August 2008
Boarding the QM2
As the time arrives to board a large Cunard ship destined for a trip from Southampton to New York across the Atlantic, its natural to look back at history and see how others fared. On 10 April 1912 the Titantic left this very port and sank 5 days later with the loss of over 1,500 lives. Fortunately for us they seem to have worked out the problem with lack of lifeboats.
13 August 2008
Reasons why sailing is better than flying: #1
Just think how much more interesting it would be if the airlines made all passengers take part in a real safety drill before taking off, especially if you get to wear your lifevest (sadly nothing to inflate on this design, but it does come with a light and whistle).
12 August 2008
How many men does it take to load a 40ft container?
Despite the valiant efforts of Rob and Chris, our (now) resident removal men, they were unable to make up for the fact that another two men didn’t turn up on time to load the container before the deadline. So after getting to half full it was time to unload it all and start again tomorrow...
Clearly no pet is going to be keen on being left with strangers for 20 days, even if it is in a very nice professional kennel facility near Heathrow called AirPets. However Mia seemed to settle in reasonably quickly, claiming her spot for the duration as quickly as a German in Costa Dorada. Just before we left Oscar tried one last-ditch attempt to avoid being left, using the famous look that Puss In Boots uses to great effect in Shrek:
09 August 2008
Start of the big move
After deciding back in April that we’d like to try living and working in the USA, we have finally arrived at that point where the packing starts. It only took a few hours to turn our house in Epsom into something resembling the final scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark: and they aren’t finished yet. In case you ever do this, make sure you don’t sit still for too long or you might find yourself in a box.