Valmik's Adventures: Adventure holiday over

Summary

Early in 2008 I bought a little, old wooden Folkboat called Valmik. I was going to spend a few months on repairs and begin sailing her around Europe, with Australia being the final destination. As my knowledge of boats improved, so did the thoroughness of the restoration. I decided to become very involved in every aspect of construction, doing almost all of the work myself: making my own sails, doing the fit out and all woodwork, splicing my own rig and wiring in the 12 volt electric circuit. Self-reliance, I suppose, is the goal. Follow the link to my photo albums for a detailed documentation of the work and some videos.

For a long time now, I have been striving to achieve my goals and begin an adventure. I had planned to complete a circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2015 with my wife. Unfortunately, this will not be possible and I went back to work. Valmik is ready to sail, however, and I am finally in a position to start enjoying her for what she was designed for. Of course there is a never ending list of modifications and enhancements with a small section for repairs. I will be sailing as much as possible and documenting my adventures on this blog.

My plan is to build up to a epic solo sailing Adventure.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Adventure holiday over

Well it is sad, but our holiday cruise up the Thames River is now over! We were lucky to have such absolutely stunning weather for the last few days. The cruise down from Henley was really nice. Apart from a eight manned rowing boat trying to place them selves directly under our bow with little warning, all was pretty relaxed and very enjoyable. We then had a pleasant two night stay at the Islands in Cliveden Reach which we both love. Kate's parents joined us for a trip to the gardens and stayed for dinner and a fire. Today we cruised the last leg back to Staines and again the weather was stunning. Bare footed with only shirt and shorts on all day I believe this was the warmest day so far for me. We are about to have fish pie with Kate's parents tonight. Tomorrow we are going to a car boot sale before we pack the car and head back to Devon and the real world.