Toucando

Now on BBC Politics South - CPC-CG Director Professor Jane Falkingham discusses ageing populations and falling birth rates, and what this means for the region

A cartoon by Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby.
See more from this week’s issue: http://nyer.cm/JjV1bJ8

After a long period lying in Ipswich Haven doing nothing, I am hoping I will get Toucando back into decent sailing conditions this spring, with a view to sailing in the summer. We’ll start with some local trips and then build up to a trip to the Netherlands in August. That is likely to include some canal sailing as well as offshore. I’ll be trying to build up a crew again. Two is the absolute minimum, three or four spreads the load better. I’ll keep you posted as the scrubbing and polishing progresses once the weather is a little better. Ahh-haaarh!

Ahoy m’ hearties! You haven’t heard from me for a long time, because there has not been much to report. For some years now Toucando has been resting in Ipswich Haven, while I was looking after my aged parents, and then had the constraints of Covid.
Unfortunately it is sad news that prompts me to write now. One of Toucando’s longest-serving crew members died last week while on a sailing trip with friends in north Devon. Colin was one of the first to sign up when I acquired Toucando in 2011, and I saw him only a few weeks ago when he had arrived in Ipswich crewing on a large Ocean Youth Trust vessel.
Colin enjoyed sailing, and clocked up many miles on a wide range of boats. He was an excellent cook. If conditions allowed he would cook up a first rate meal at sea, which we would enjoy before coming into harbour, allowing us to go ashore for a pint with minimum delay. He was also very happy to help out with maintenance. He had had heart problems for a few years, but did not let these interfere with his sailing programme. He will be missed by the many skippers and crews which benefited from his company.

Dear crew and friends, Ah-harrh! I had hoped to do some sailing this summer, however I am now working full time until early September and I’m doing a PhD, so it is completely implausible that I’ll be able to get the necessary maintenance done before the autumn. I’ll keep you posted. A

Before and after pictures of my deck. Job still not quite finished, but the cockpit is looking much better. It’s Sikkens Cetol HLS Light Oak.

Ahoy, mi hearties! In case you were wondering, Toucando is undergoing a major face lift. She has not had the sailing nor maintenance she needs for the last few years as a result of my caring responsibilities. Now she is being spruced up. We’re starting with the deck and external woodwork, and will move on to the hull and interior. It’s just possible that we’ll get in some sailing in the early autumn, but maintenance has to come first. We’re shifting the balance away from varnish to paint - not entirely of course. The paintwork done in 2014 is still solid... whereas varnish needs redoing every year or two, and a ridiculous number of coats. The deck is returning to a Sikkens wood stain. I’ll keep you posted on developments. Ah-haargh!

We did some sailing and then found this excellent mooring on Loch Ness. 22/06/2013

Toucando is being cleaned and sanded.

20th June 2013... sailed up Loch Linnhe and entered the Caledonian Canal

It was only a short lunchtime visit... but our stop at Easdale was very memorable. 2013.