Wild and Wet

We were trying to figure out how to have fun and not spent a lot of money. Stonehenge was fun but hiring a car and driver gets pretty pricey. We got an invitation to go sailing. This can not be that expensive. 

This may seem simple on the face of it but we are in England in the middle of winter and going sailing on a Blusail 24. Wet racey boat.  We could not say no. Taking public transportation was out of the question, 4 hours both ways, probably get there and not be able to get home. So for the love of sailing we rented a car. I got one with a pretty good discount through work, so hopefully this was not going to be too expensive. Kirk went to pick it up they only had a manual. Yep you got it, shift with your left hand, and stay on left side of road. Good news , the foot pedals are in the same place. This is the wild part, the drive to Swindon, this place is know for its magical round abouts, five in one go, you can really end up going the wrong way and not just because you are an American. What they don't tell you about round abouts is that they also have stop lights in the middle of them, go figure out that one in a hurry. Why Swindon, outlet mall with sailing gear. We spend all day Saturday navigating round abouts and saying stay left stay. This was the trial by fire. left..... Sh*t....no your other left. Alls well that ends well, purchased our wet gear, this is not going to be a cheap weekend. Made it home by dusk, although we did drive on some pretty sketchy back roads. 

Spent a nice and quite evening with our neighbor at a jazz concert at the local Norman Church, built in 1100 or so, a bit chilly, getting us ready for the big sail tomorrow on the Solent. Pretty drafty inside the church, was frost on the grass when we left. 

Woke up the next morning to blue sky and sunshine, good start for the day. Made it to Hamble with only a few miss directions. Pulled up to the harbor and there it was, looks a lot like a Melges 24. Nice breeze and a great couple, Elaine and Derek. The picture perfect day, I do love sailing. We sailed over to the Isle of Wight dodging freighters and ferries as they were coming up the Solent to South Hampton.  Ended the day at the pub, could not have been better. 

Doesn't Kirk look flashy in his new dry suit! 

You could not get me off the helm, I had way to much fun!

This was a little pricey day trip, more than Stonehenge but if I average the price of the wet gear over each outing I can justify it. Right now it is about at $1,000 for the day. That just means we have to go sailing a lot more. 

Thank God UK is an Island!

Long Day for Kirk

Up early and off to the train station, trip to Birmingham today. Get to the station, 10 minutes bus ride from house, show up at train station and no wallet, no money, lucky for for him he had a round trip bus ticket, or he would be walking home.  Back on bus, get wallet, let dogs out, run back  and catch next bus . Only 1/2 hour delayed, make the meeting on time.

Good day at  Birmingham, but need to leave around 4 to get home at a descent hour. Get to train station, then pop on bus to Oxford. No,  he has a train ticket to Didcot so, change trains in Oxford to get to Didcot. 

 Rule number 1, never hurry when changing trains!

Get to Oxford and have a look at the board, says Paddington, has to be right, how many trains are go to Paddington(a lot!) 6 minutes early, get on. It takes off early, bad feeling.  Whoosh , off and running, announcement next stop Reading. S**! or rubbish, as they say in England. The announcement is made as the train whooshes by Steventon and Didcot in seconds of boarding. Bye bye Izzy and Jelly. Opps!

Now it is a mad dash to figure out how to get home. Txt home base and we both are furiously trying to figure out return. The txt from Kirk read like a Monty Python script, I can not stop laughing, I do feel his pain as I am snuggled warm in my favorite chair, sipping hot tea and biscuits. Almost at Reading, phone going slow,  Oxon  time says there is another train back to Oxford, but does it stop at Didcot, hummmm! Arrive at Reading. Buy another ticket, nooooo. They will never know and there is no time. Another train going other direction, should I get on, leaves in a minute, hell why not(because I may end up in Oxford, the yo yo effect! ) Jump on the train and just hope, fingers crossed....saved, it stopped at Didcot!

Thought I was in the clear, oh no, X2 comes in 2 minutes, mad run through the station, dig through my pockets for my ticket to get through the turn style, and out to the stop. No bus..... Check the times, should of come. X2 approaches, but going wrong way. Check OxON time, no bus. The good news is the Prince of Wales is across the street, pub time,Kirk heads for a beer, (horse to barn), just as he was about to cross the street, X2 appears, runs back to the stop, and makes it just in time. 

By the time he got home he did not loose but a 1/2 hour but it was the most stressful half hour of the day. 

Thank goodness England is an island so the trains can not get you too far lost in any direction. 

Bus  Etiquette 

About time I figured this out. It starts with correct change in pocket for trip. The proper colored jacket and a pink umbrella, so they can see you in the dark. The dark blue wool over coat with black umbrella is definitely not ok. Get to the bus stop, keep phone in pocket, not txting at stop, bus could fly right by. When bus approaches, take one step into street, wave hand until flashers are on , slowly bring hand down. And hope bus will stop.  Give driver correct change and he congratulates me. I think I have got it. It has not passed me up in a week! The fact that it is getting lighter in the early mornings helps quite a bit.

Solution

Hopefully I will be writing another blog next week, we are letting a car this weekend and going sailing. If one does not kill us the other will freeze us. Stay tuned!