Back in the USA

Hello from Napa Valley, California. We arrived here on Wednesday after spending the night with Simon and Erin in Sunnyvale.

Simon, Erin and me in Sunnyvale.

Two weeks ago in the UK, I had the remains of a tooth extracted. That put me out of action for a day; then it was all go spending treasured time with Emily, Ben and the grandchildren, packing and cleaning the house.

Hever Castle, Kent

One week ago we went to a very special celebration at Hever Castle in Kent. A surprise 70th birthday party for Jeremy’s brother, Gavin, was organised by his four children. 

Back row: Helen and Gavin. Front row: Julian, Amanda and Robin

It was a wonderful evening and we felt honoured to be invited to join Gavin and Eileen, their four children and wives/husbands and their eleven grandchildren, along with older brother, Ritchie and his wife, Catherine. The celebration continued the next day with lunch for everyone at Robin and Victoria’s house followed by a Spencer family tradition, the Pub Game.

Helen made this fabulous cake

 Once we were back in Suffolk we had one day before our journey to Sal Darago in Napa Valley. We still haven’t stopped, except to sleep. We were relieved that SD was in a structurally sound condition, infested with flies outside, but OK inside. There had been huge forest fires nearby but all was well at the marina.

The roof was cleaner than the side decks

 Simon and Erin spent Thanksgiving with Erin’s brother and sister in Los Angeles. We were invited, which was very kind and thoughtful, but we needed to start on the long list of jobs that have to be done before SD can be launched. So far, Jeremy has sanded down SD’s bottom in preparation for antifouling and I have scrubbed the filthy decks. Both sails are on, along with all the halyards and sheets. Unusually, it rained for most of the day today but Jeremy still managed to remove the propeller so that he could replace the cutlass bearing, which was fitted in Gladstone, Australia in 2011. We’ve done a few miles since then!

Cockpit muck

Finally, a very big thank you to Simon and Erin for going food shopping for us, ordering a cruising guide, putting us up and sorting out a new smart phone for Jeremy.