Is it worth it?

Is it just me, or do most people sometimes resent their boats? For me it's not hours I spend fixing and tinkering but hours my husband Kit spends and I therefore spend looking after the kids on my own. And, (I confess) at the end of the winter I was beginning to wonder if it's worth it. Last weekend I was reminded of 'what it's all about' during our first trip of the season. We had a great friend Jonah Gouin (our son Jonah's namesake) visiting from the US. Kit, Jonah and I have had some great sailing adventures together in a previous life, filming and researching whales and dolphins in some incredible places around the world. Life is a little different now, for us not so exotic and for none of us so carefree but at least we can still get out on the water all together and have some adventures - and that is priceless and yes, I think it is worth it. (Someone please remind me next winter)!

In again, out again

One of my favourite green alternatives on Calypso is the antifoul - or 'foul release' if I'm to be precise (see Building Calypso). So, when we pulled her out of the water last week we were all really intrigued to see how well it had worked. At first glance she looked pretty much like any boat which has been in the water for six months, but the difference is that after a light spray the paint looks shiny and new. Apart from a few minor war wounds from our eventful weekend at Newtown Creek (see earlier blog "Solent Adventures) she looks absolutely like she was painted yesterday. The manufacturer Hempel say that this new product (called Hempasil X3) should work well for a good 10 years, in which case this is a very, very exciting development - imagine no more copper leaching out into the water, no more annual scrubbing and repainting. Amazing.