Wildflower was named after a Tom Petty song which I think is just perfect for her and Paddy, but it is another Petty song that’s haunting me right now. The first question I get from people I haven’t seen for a while is ‘so when is the book coming out?’ If I had my way the answer would…
There’s nothing like being ripped out of a dream by a blaring alarm to remind you you’re not sleeping in a house. Paddy and I had a 4am wake up call today courtesy of the bilge alarm (an insistent shrieky siren that lets us know when there’s water in the boat that shouldn’t be there). The alarm was a little…
Getting a reasonably sized boat down from the hard and back into the wet stuff is challenging at the best of times – add a typical Wellington gale into the mix and its even more so. Complicate it further by having to reattach the forestays (wires at the front of the boat that hold the mast up) while you are…
Last night Paddy and I sailed into the middle of Wellington Harbour and let off explosives – all in the name of boat safety. Having completed my Boatmasters certificate through the Wellington Coastguard and done a keel-boat sailing course at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club I still get the odd email from both organisations and the other week one caught…
Weighing in at a sturdy 18 tonnes, Wildflower is built for comfort not speed (kind of like me!) – so we generally don’t take her out racing The other weekend however, before the weather turned to custard, Paddy and I found ourselves right in the middle of the action at the Evans Bay Yacht Club regatta. After a beer or three…
February began with Paddy using Jif to clean anti-foul out of my ear and ended with me cutting paint from his hair. March started with a giant crane and finished with paint stains on my favourite jeans. Lord only knows what April will bring… Wildflower has been out of the water for the past couple of months, but it’s been a little more than her…
To use a Paddyism, I am the queen of Catastrophising. Give me any situation and I will find the worst, most ridiculous outcome and start worrying about it. If a building creaks in the wind it is going to fall down, if I’m driving down the road I’m going to flatten a pedestrian. When we were sailing every splash I…
Apologies in advance for what I suspect will devolve into an excited squeal of a blog. It’s just that I kind of GOT A BOOK DEAL!!! It’s official, Which Way is Starboard Again? the book is actually going to happen. I have been grinning like an idiot since I got the call on Friday and still can’t quite believe it….
It’s become pretty trendy at the moment to bag the America’s Cup for being a drag race between rich gits with ridiculously expensive toys. Normally I would be right on the bagging bandwagon. People who know me know I am the last person to get excited about sport – it’s really just not my thing, so when they see me…
Paddy likes watching crab fishing shows – the type where rugged fisher-folk battle monstrous seas at ghastly times of year for that last big catch. Paddy’s Dad has Sky TV and in between the recordings of documentaries, motor-racing and engineering programmes sits a lot of crustacean catching – courtesy of sonny boy. It’s become a bit of a running gag…