Covid Chaos 2020

2020 will be the year noted in history for when Covid-19 surfaced and disrupted life for everyone on planet earth. No one could have envisaged the scale of disruption this virus could have brought, no one could have predicted the sheer global uncertainty this has created and no one could have ever imagined the dreaded ‘lockdown’ ruling and the sorrow it has caused, not least at Christmas and who would have ever thought that kids would miss going to school !

Tignes

Before all the madness of Covid-19 kicked in, the only thing we were worried about was whether the plane would take off because of storm Dennis ?, the good news we were able to, and we had a fantastic week of skiing in Tignes and the surrounding area.

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We had great fun creating video diaries every day and GCSE snowboarding footage.

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WOnderful CROATIA

One major highlight of the year was the ability to flee the UK and the lockdown confines of our house for a much welcomed break to Croatia. The holiday was an ambitious bare boat charter of a catamaran on a Lagoon 450F for 2 weeks with friends travelling around the islands south of Split.

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Without opening up the much debated Catamaran vs Monohull, I would say as a holiday vessel, nothing rivals a catamaran (apart from a super or mega yacht), the space and the accessibility to go into shallow anchorages. Whilst the boat feels enormous at 7 metres wide and 14 metres in length, it is surprisingly easy to manoeuvre and you quickly get familiar with the tank like controls, working its twin engines to berth where ever you choose. You lose the heel and feel of a monohull but for what you gain the trade off is worth it when you go on holiday, but I do miss the family screams as the boat leans and pulls upwind.

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Freedom

Having the flexibility to go where we wanted was so much fun, we moved to a new destination every day, visiting either a new anchorage, mooring buoy or town quay as we lived the life of cruising around the islands. We discovered some beautiful locations and unanimously everyone enjoyed the more remote anchorages overnight for the peace and quiet.

999 – We need an ambulance

On a personal note this year has been brought much drama, We have had 3 broken bones, a collarbone in August and both Fibula and Tibia broken in November resulting in surgery with a nail inserted through H’s right leg. The road to full recovery will be long, both physically and mentally but ‘H’ is one tough cookie and I have witnessed an inner steel in him that will stand him in great stead for the future, literally !

It might have been the stress of witnessing no 1 break his leg or the work from home scenario or walking 10 metres to the desk for 10 hours of video calls each day for the majority of the year, or probably the fact I don’t drink enough water ! , but it resulted with myself also having a trip to A & E with a kidney stone, only for that then to become stuck a month later and causing the pipes to get blocked and the right kidney to start to misfire, resulting in an operation to unblock it. I will spare you the details but ‘thank god’ I was put to sleep as a hose pipe with a giant claw and laser hammer went on a search and rescue mission via my watering hole up through the pipes to the right kidney and back again ensuring that I could fully function again.

Why we don’t still clap on a Thursday for the NHS is a mystery, they are truly wonderful and I have nothing but sincere thanks & good words to say about everyone who helped us both in our hour of need.

Mans Best friend

One constant throughout the year has been our beloved Baloo. If there is a positive to staying at home so much during 2020 is the fact that I have had the company of my furry best friend every day.

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We have had many great walks locally and he has held the family together and assisted me in my new hobby of searching out new cafes to walk to for tea and cake !

2021

Heres hoping for a better 2021 than 2020, I certainly want less trips to hospital, I would like the kids to return to school and stay there and I would like the freedom to go where I want when I want….

The sailing dream is on hold, so why not try and advance the world of technology and take one step further towards retirement.

The promise of a vaccine seems stronger than a dream but before that becomes reality, there will be tougher times in the first half of the year as we all isoloate again to beat this virus.

If you enjoyed the videos, please remember to ‘like and subscribe’ on Youtube to West Afloat, there will be more to come whilst out on the water really soon.

Thanks for Reading, Watching, Commenting & Following

Best

Dan