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Where did 2004 go? After we returned from the Baltic we spent the winter aboard Barrique again, in St Katharine Docks, pondering what to do next. If we were to have another cabin boy or girl then there wasn’t time to return to the Med’, and with the typical British weather we were getting port-rot hiding down below. So we rented a house nearby. We still had all the advantages of living in the centre of London, but we also had a bit of space for Poppy to learn to crawl and walk. In the end we stayed for a whole year and even contemplated selling Barrique at one point – right up until we showed the first prospective customer around – which made us realise that even if we were offered the asking price we were not willing to sell. As the months passed our plans focused more and more on a return to the boat. At first it would just be for the summer and we would rent a place in France with a marina nearby. A few more weeks contemplation and we were planning to cruise Normandy and Brittany and a few more weeks and another cabin-girl brings us to our current plan – which we have now started to execute – of sailing back to the Med. We enjoyed living ashore again for a while, but in comparison with previous years we have achieved so little – a year has gone by and all we have to show for it is a new baby, the year before we had our first baby and then took it with us on a cruise to the Baltic and back.
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We move into 50 Waterman Way on January 17 2004, 5 weeks later Poppy has her first birthday – and the manufacturing process begins for cabin-girl number two!!!
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12 weeks later we get our first view of Chiara. We missed out on this stage of Poppy’s development – we were too busy bringing Barrique back through the French canals and didn’t see her until she was twenty weeks.
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One of the highlights of 2004 – was not surprisingly a return to the liveaboard life – but for just one week, with our friends Ian and Jo aboard their yacht ‘Zephyrus’ berthed in Kemer, Turkey. Hannah and Jochen off yacht ‘Lycka’ were also wintering in Kemer and we had a fantastic reunion dinner, so reminiscent of evenings on our first year traveling down to the Med, back in 2000.
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For Poppy’s first birthday treat we walked along the Thames to the London Aquarium, next to the London Eye. Poppy still loves fish – both to eat and to view and she also enjoyed the new aquarium in Cherbourg when we spent a few days aboard Barrique just before Chiara’s birth. Chris also enjoyed a trip aboard the retired French nuclear submarine based at this aquarium – missing only the reactor and missiles.
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Now that we planned to keep Barrique, we had to get her ready for next season in France – we hadn’t yet decided to sail back to the Med. Chris’ Dad helped him to sail Barrique down the Thames and back up the river Crouch to Burnham Marina where she was hauled out. This was our first experience of British workmen for five years – and of British boatyard prices. The last yard we used for La Premiere was Monaco Yacht Services – you would think it would be hard to pay more, but we did, considerably more. Unfortunately for us their competence did not match their hourly rate. Our yachtie friends Rod, Margaret and Hazel helped Chris sail Barrique from Burnham to Cherbourg, enjoying some excellent sailing conditions. |
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Chiara Jasmine finally joined us on 6 December 2004, four days late – as was Poppy the previous year. Fellow liveaboards Bob and Cindy looked after Poppy for the night while we went to hospital. This birth was a great deal faster than Poppy’s – who wasn’t slow. The midwife’s notes record the second stage of labour – the pushing bit – as lasting just three minutes! Elaine didn’t even have time to get into the birthing pool that the midwives had prepared for us. As Chiara made her exit the midwives were saying ‘Deep breaths, deep breaths, hold on – we haven’t got our gloves on yet.’ |
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