Yearly Archives: 2020

First we thought we’d be leaving the marina at the beginning of April, but after COVID, that idea was pushed to mid-May. Well, while day sails were allowed, it wasn’t until July 4th that cruising became permitted again and we were let out of lockdown to begin our season.

As we’re released from our marina, we wanted to keep close and see all the sights of the Plymouth area that had been off limits to us as cruisers for the past few months. Heading up the Tamar River, we branched off into the Lynher River where we found a nice secure spot just before Dandy Hole to drop our anchor.

And although there is a lot to see by boat and by dinghy, before we could get too far away from Plymouth, we had our friend Alasdair (@bongo_sails) drive us into Dartmoor National Park for a hike around the reservoir. It was the perfect summer day in England, and walking through some of these trails, we could have sworn we were in a story book.

We hope you enjoy!

Much love from England!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

It’s time to get a real feel for sailing on a performance catamaran in the size range we’re looking at – between 42-45 ft. This week we find ourselves on something just slightly larger, a Dazcat 1495 named Hissy Fit.

For our day on the water, we try to find out how we feel with the size of the living space, how the boat handles vs the monohulls we’ve been cruising on up to this point, and what we think of the motion of the boat under sail.

Suffice to say, we’re pretty smitten, and once again, very much looking forward to our catamaran build so that in a few years we’ll be out cruising the waters just like this.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Simon and Darren of Dazcat Multihull Center for taking the time to bring us out for the day and answer the large number of questions we had about catamaran design and building. Your thoughtfulness and hospitality never ceases to amaze us!

https://www.multihullcentre.com/dazca…

Enjoy!

Much love from England!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

The good news is, our boat has been released from lock-down, and we are now able to cruise full time on the coast of England. The bad news is, for all the plans and back-up plans we’ve been making for the year, we can’t seem to achieve any of them.

What we had WANTED to happen for ourselves in 2020 is that we’d spend the spring and early summer enjoying England, and then move ourselves down to Spain or Portugal where we would list her for sale, and hopefully and American or Canadian buyer would scoop her up, and we’d be on our merry way back to the US to begin our catamaran build.

But as it stands, as of today, Americans and Canadians can not get into the UK to see the boat, without having to go through a 2 week quarantine period first. Our next thought was, “Ok, we’ll sail her down to Spain/Portugal, where they’ll be able to view the boat there”. But…currently, residents of the US are not allowed into the EU. Which means that potential buyers can not get in there, and neither can we.

The last option is to sail Elements to the US to sell her, but now we’re entering hurricane season, that can’t be done until Nov/Dec. Long after our UK visa has run out. So many unexpected issues, but we’re trying to make the best of it all! And considering the beautiful cruising grounds we have at our fingertips at the moment, that isn’t too hard.

Much love from England!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Full time cruising still isn’t allowed yet in the UK, but that won’t stop us from enjoying the water.

Hearing there was a race on the Plymouth Sound, we jumped on our bikes and cycled out to see the action. We didn’t have enough notice to get on a boat this week…but maybe next time?

Ending our day early due to weather and a pants mis-hap, we save the rest of our adventuring for another day.

When we do get out though, it is to the stunning River Yealm and the town of Noss Mayo. Hiking from the picturesque center of this posh town, we walk the waterfront to see the place we thought we’d be for half of May. Walking up the bluff to the river entrance we also spot a popular anchorage used just inside the harbour, and one outside that is permitted for anchoring now, but usually exposed to a swell.

So many things to explore in the area, and hopefully soon enough we’ll be traveling to visit them by boat!

Enjoy!

Much love from England!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Since we can’t sail anywhere, it’s a perfect time to finish some of those NEED TO DO project on our boat. Including keeping water from getting into our bed.

Welcome to lockdown in the UK. On March 23, 2020, we were effectively restricted from leaving our primary residence. For us, that happened to be Sutton Harbour Marina, in Plymouth England. Through the month of April we were content to hang out on the boat, getting some projects done around the ‘house’ and editing videos to catch up to real time.

As part of our restrictions we were allowed one hour of exercise outside per day, and the two of us would occasionally take walks along the harbour of Plymouth Sound and the Plymouth Hoe. Effective May 13th, we moved to phase two of restrictions, which includes as much outdoor activity as you like, as long as you adhere to the social distancing guidelines. Good news for us, this meant sailing was now allowed as a form of outdoor sports!

Getting ready to begin our cruising season, we started to prep the boat for departure, only to find out just a few days before tossing off the lines that we are not yet allowed to anchor out on our boat. Day sailing is permitted, but many harbours are not allowing visiting yachts.

What does this mean for us? We’re still trying to figure out all the rules and regulations, but stay tuned for future episodes when we hope to have more answers

After arriving back to Elements after being away, it was time to begin thinking more seriously about a catamaran in our future. And not something off a production line, but something a little more on the performance end and tailored to our needs.

While there are unfortunately not any Grainger, Schionning, or Oram boats nearby for us to look at, we had the next best thing…Dazcat Multihull Center! A boatyard in a quiet town in Cornwall, not too far from us, and we were extended an invitation to come visit.

Take a look with us while we explore these catamarans which are built for speed, and even built for special needs!

Enjoy!

Much love from England!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Activities in the Canary Islands are completely put on hold when a HUGE Sandstorm blows in from the Sahara!!

We have so many plans with our last few days in Tenerife, although they do get shaken up a little bit just before we head back to England.

Taking another trip up to the northern part of the island, we check out it’s famous auditorium, with a roof in the shape of a crashing wave. Although beaches were of course a big reason for coming to this island, so we show you one of our favorite spots, as well as check out the famous Los Gigantes.

But, just as we had beaches out of our system and were ready to head up Mount Teide and take in its great views, a sandstorm hits the Canaries. And not just a light little dusting, but the worst one they’d seen in 40 years!!

Thankfully it only had us stuck inside for one full day, and our very last day on Tenerife we were able to get up the volcanic peak. A very great trip for sure, but it also made us extremely excited to get back to the boat and begin planning out our next season of travel.

Enjoy!

Much love from Tenerife!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie