Qualification junkie!

Collected qualification number 2 today following last week's diesel course. One to one First Aid was excellent and below you can see me duly posing in front of the marina - certificate junkie! An MCA certified course and 3 year renewal of my first aid. Have entered 112 in to my phone as the emergency number which was recommended over 999 for calls from mobiles; apparently it helps with triangulation location anywhere in Europe!

Met the very friendly crew this afternoon, stowed all the food, changed a battery, and had a great supper on board (freshly made curry, fresh coriander and almonds etc - way beyond typical sailing quality; not a bad gastronomic start!). Will introduce folk later - spent evening with safety briefings and passage planning. Expecting to set off at 0900 and get as far west as the fair SW winds allow before a front blows through Monday morning. Can't be sure of blogging tomorrow whilst we may sail on watches overnight Easter Day. So, if I don't get a chance then warmest greetings for a Happy Easter and your celebrations as I will be running west at about 7kts.

As I wondered, the really tall mast I saw last night is 'Mirabella V'; world's largest single masted sailboat at 247ft long, beam of 48ft (wider than 'Wheal Go' is Long!) and a mast height of ... 292ft! Built by VT (Vosper Thornycroft) and fitted out in Southampton. Hmm! Why? I'll see if a photo is possible when we sail past at 0915 in the morning.

We've all been given crew T-shirts and caps; a map of UK on them. Perhaps a crew photo in the morning and then, after all the anticipation, we shall set off.