Aleria's Adventures

Amel 60, European Yacht of the Year, Luxury Cruiser, 2020 Fortunately, both Alex and I had worn hiking boots the day before and we were both feeling excellent - no foot pain, no back pain, just a bit tired. We slept in just a little leaving enough time to have breakfast and to get to our first appointment aboard the new edition of the Amel cruiser. They had a 60 on display. It looked like it might involve significant design changes and we wanted to see it first hand. Breakfast at the hotel was a zoo. Breakfast bar with nice breads, cold cuts, cereals, yoghurts, and boiled eggs if you could get one. Coffee and tea were self-service - the first day, no plates, no cups, no cutlery, one slice of salami and two of cheese, no eggs -- while the staff all took a break during the busiest period. Alex actually walked into the kitchen and told them we needed everything. That took a bit to sort out. Somehow, we had plenty of time - more than an hour - to get to the Messe Nord. We had taken ...

Fixing the Raymarine BOAT: Break Out Another Thousand is Alex's theory of boat ownership. My theory is that Alex is conservative. The truth is that the BOAT theory is directly proportional to the size of the vessel multiplied by the number of gadgets it can fit.  Naturally, a bigger boat can hold more gadgets. In addition, everything is bigger and heavier and, therefore, costlier.   Aleria is 57 feet LOA.

Lovely Sheephaven Bay anchorage at Portnablagh on the north side of Donegal, Ireland Bloody Foreland Alex attempting to fish  It was a beautiful “shocking hot” sunny and still morning as we motored out of Arranmore in no wind.  What a difference from when we first arrived here. This time we could see all the perils that were invisible in the fog on the way in. Maybe it was better that way! We were now a motor boat, as we’d used the last of the promised wind. At least now we had an extra week and could take our time cruising rather than delivering Aleria to Scotland. We motored all of about 25 miles in flat calm waters past the charmingly named Bloody Foreland, all the time searching for signs of basking sharks, whales and dolphins. Alex even tried fishing with no success. Despite the glass calm surface, we didn't spy any sea life other than vast numbers of birds. Perhaps the cetaceans and the fish moved into cooler waters, as this hot weather was rather unus...