When will this end? Ep 17

The world of Tanya and Gary has slowed down somewhat! A few months ago we were doing what we set out to do and now we are once more tied to the dock but this time in Scotland and in a small town of Ardrossan.

Ardrossan is a sleepy town and it is a town where we know no one and where lockdown has been in place since our arrival. Which means much of our days are spent in the cosy and compact space of Sandpiper. So self-drive is essential and finding daily motivation to continue to maximise this fantastic opportunity is something we must deliver. Not always that easy and our days have fallen into a routine of get up late and burning the midnight oil. Note to self - must break that habit!

We are focused on our travels commencing again in the late spring and we are keen to make them bigger, better and bolder than last year. So early on in our arrival here in Ardrossan we decided to look for the wins, where could we invest our time and make a real difference.

· Boat Maintenance

· Keep fit

· Learn more – Improve upon Navigation, Weather and Sailing related skills

· Find a way to make the money go further

· Widen the network and be connected

I realised writing about our journey and sharing it with you, our family and friends was enlightening and which in deed brought new thinking and understanding to why we were doing what we were doing. In some way it allows us to celebrate what we had achieved so far and also to be honest with ourselves with regard to what we could do better in the future.

From this was born an idea to share our journey with a wider audience and so I applied to be an author for the sailing community and luckily Boats and Outboards UK and Sailjunky took me up on my offer. It is a great feeling to have interactions with such a wide audience and it made us realise just how much our story is inspiring others. By taking this editorial opportunity it has enabled us to widen our network and engage with many more likeminded people.

Writing also made me realise how much I missed supporting others and coaching was my method of doing just that, so I have decided to weave coaching in to my daily routine. Once again I find myself active on LinkedIn, listening to webinars and podcasts, thus enabling me to reach out to others with purpose, whilst also continuing my own learning and of course continuing to widen my perspective on life.

Gary on the other hand is enjoying sifting through all the miss information regarding sars cov2 and how the government has come to the conclusion that locking up healthy people could ever be a solution to a virus. He is fascinated by the smoke and mirrors, and annoyed that our liberties are being eroded. I will leave Gary to this as it is all too political and negative for me. As he says, I will bury my head and carry on regardless in my own positive crazy way. Good job we understand each other, we are just different, not right or wrong, just different 😉

Other than writing and learning we have embarked on a new activity - Boat Yoga, not the type that Gary did in Whitehaven whilst preparing Sandpiper, AKA squeezing yourself into impossible boat spaces with a screwdriver in one hand and a torch balanced on your head but the type that stretches your limbs further than you think possible. Daily we gently coax our bodies into many poses in abide to stay flexible and it does indeed aid as a stress buster. Finding the space on-board is a challenge and the constant sway of the boat adds a whole new dimension!

We have also taken the sails off and sent them to be cleaned locally. Having no sails on-board created an emotion I didn’t expect, one of feeling trapped and all together bare. Never mind they will be back soon and then we will be able to sail in the Clyde on days where weather permits.

You will not be surprised to learn my cooking skills have not improved, but I have learned how to improvise, only yesterday did I serve Gary a fried breakfast with peas instead of beans – poor bugger he has a lot to put up with!!!!

My tying knots blindfolded is coming on very well and the mast climb which i have said i would one day achieve is on hold for now. As for the Spanish lessons we are persevering!!! Luckily my dear friend Rhona is learning Spanish so we text each other daily just to add a bit of competitive spirit. Although both our other halves shake their heads in disbelief as they say just use Google translate!

All in all it would be fair to say I am bored. Times like these that you really appreciate your friends ...................

However all that said, the end is in sight and May will be a very exciting month as we set sail again. Yippee!!!!

Clyde Marina and Ardrossan views to follow

Until then keep smiling

Tan xxx