Where did the last two and a half years go?

Oh my! Even with COVID bursting over all of us with its indiscriminate attacks, it feels as though Lin and I haven’t stopped for a moment. So what’s been going on?

We bought a house!

Someone we knew asked if we’d like to see his house which was up for sale. The agent took us to see the centuries old granite farm house. Yes, it was lovely but not ‘us’. Listening to our comments, the agent suggested another, even though we’d made it clear we weren’t looking. We agreed.

The next morning, we drove into the driveway and to say we were taken aback would be an understatement. We walked the grounds and even before we were shown into the house, we knew it was ours. Within a month, we owned La Porte, an 1890, five bedroom Victorian house with its separate barn.

Our children said, ‘But Dad, at your age you need to downsize.’ Thank you so much for that comment I thought, whilst responding, ‘We have. We’ve downsized from six to five bedrooms, and 2 acres to one and a half…’

Having sold all our furniture when we left the UK and lived on our boat for 6 years, we had to start from scratch which we did with great excitement, as well as organising some building works and tending the gardens. Hey ho!

What of Play d’eau?

Thankfully, COVID barely scraped an effect in Guernsey. With the island’s drawbridge firmly up and the portcullis heavily down, the island isolated itself. With no boating allowed our annual cruising plans were out but on the other hand we had now had time to work on both La Porte and Play d’eau. Win, win, although we sorely missed the cruising.

For Play d’eau, we set about a mini refit:

• A new battery voltage panel was created, detailing the state of each battery and battery bank
• A main engine alternator paralleling system was installed to double the battery charging capability
• New flybridge covers were made for the helm seat, console, hatchway and dinghy
• New mesh covers were fitted for the pilot house windscreens and side doors
• A Plastimo Transocean liferaft with hydrostatic release replaced the old Zodiac
• The 220v LEDs on the DC and AC Services panels were replaced with 240v – all 89 of them
• The main engine sea-cocks were replaced with far superior bronze Groco
• Two additional cleats were installed by the aft fair leads
• The two lifebelts and lights were replaced and sign written
• New matching carpets were added for the guest cabins
• The shafts were pulled and all four cutlass bearings replaced
• GFO (Gortex) was used to re-pack the stern glands
• The davit (crane) was removed to be re-powder coated and have new stainless gas springs fitted
• We had the trim tabs reinforced
• A Doppler transducer for speed and depth was added
• The cap rails re-sealed
• The external fresh and sea-water taps were refurbished
• Pressure gauges were fitted to the main engine Racor filters
• New plexi-glass was fitted to the main cabin hatches
• We bought a superior Dock-side Dockpure filter system for filling the fresh water supply

…plus many more small changes made to bring her to a full and sparkling spec, ready for cruising the gorgeous west coast of France in 2022.

What of La Porte?

With furniture bought, paintings hung and most of our long and short term storage units empty, work started on many refurbishment and building projects likely to take us to the end of 2022.

As Lin says, ‘Piers likes a project’, to which I reply, ‘Only one?’

Meanwhile

We can’t wait to see the children, grandchildren, and our sisters in the UK. Let’s see what happens.