Dear gentle readers, it is 5.58 am, dark, cold and wet outside in the South East of Amsterdam. The alarm goes off at 5.59 and we know it is time to get out of a warm bed and prepare for the day ahead with a short drive and a pile of luggage to Schiphol airport.
It is the beginning of November and we have been in Europe for the past 3 months, watching a wet summer depart and an autumn progress with misty days that get shorter and shorter. The biggest shock being the change in hour for the “Daylight Saving” when it suddenly became dark at 17.30 and “aperitifs” start an hour earlier.
The changing colours of the leaves on the trees are always beautiful to observe as they progress from green to rich reds, browns and yellows. Then the next gale blows them off the trees, leaving a tangle of dark branches, like a bad hair morning, that reminds us that winter is only a short breath away.
The richness of the autumn harvest results in an above average number of tractors and combined harvesters that trundle down narrow roads that have hardly enough space for 2 cars to pass. I don’t know how I managed to avoid having the paint scraped off the car or ending up with a wheel or two in the soft and muddy rain filled ditches.
But survival with a smile is our philosophy and we survived these minor traumas on the French rural roads as we headed to the markets to buy our delicious wines, cheeses and a host of autumn delicacies to make the best of our time and enjoy the good things in life.
Our trip to Europe was mainly to leave the Caribbean Hurricane season behind and use this as an opportunity to visit friends, family and to do a little work along the way. The Hurricane Season was predicted to be above normal in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, so we left our ship in a safe land location at Curacao Marine Zone (CMZ) with the sails down and the hatches sealed.
Although we left our Ocean Deva behind, she was very much in our minds as there was a plan for our continued maintenance, upgrades and improvements during this period of time.
At the boatyard, we had planned a verification of all the seacocks – and replacement where necessary. Hull waxing, prop speed on the prop & bow thruster and 3 coats of anti-fouling to protect us from marine growth and to keep Ocean Deva looking good.
The ever-strong Caribbean sun had degraded the stitching and UV protection on the jib so we used the opportunity of our baggage allowance to bring the sail back to The Netherlands for re-stitching and a replacement of the UV protection strip. We would have had it repaired in Curacao, but unfortunately the only sailmaker (with an excellent reputation) had recently sailed onto to another life in the heavens. His business, though willing to do the work, lacked the necessary experience for what we consider an important job. We thought that using the car park as a working space was not optimal for a sail and the indoor area was a little small for the work that needed to be done.
Our friends at Dekker Watersport (10 minutes from my mother in law) said that sail repair and UV protection replacement was their core sail making business, so we dropped off the sail on arrival in The Netherlands and picked it up a few days before departure.
From Neptune (near Medemblik) we ordered a luxury mattress, slats and a topper to replace our well used bed as we do like our comfort. This was shipped along with 4 x 220-watt solar panels and a number of small items. We discovered that we can buy VAT free in The Netherlands, ship it to Curacao and receive it duty free as a “Ship in Transit”, thereby saving a considerable amount of money that we can spend on other items for the boat that result in no savings whatsoever, but makes a happy boat.
The last item we needed to organise was the swimming platform for the ship. Our local woodwork specialist designed and built a lovely teak swimming platform as the scoop at the back of the ship was just too small to have 2 lovebirds sitting comfortably together and enjoying each other’s company whilst dangling our feet in the turquoise Caribbean waters. From the photos, all looks good so we look forwards to a season of canoodling in comfort.
In all, we have had quite a ride for the last 3 months with 6 countries visited, over 21 different places to sleep and seeing more than 30 friends and relatives. From The Netherlands to the UK, onwards to Germany, Norway and Portugal and with 4 weeks in France we have had a blast by mixing a little work with the pleasure of seeing friends and relatives.
We have walked on Dutch beaches, climbed Norwegian Mountains, seen snow on the Pyrenees, walked around vineyards, enjoyed hikes in the British countryside and had rare encounters with wildlife in my mum’s garden.
While visiting and playing the tourist in London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Den Haag, there have been cultural moments that include museums where we rub shoulders with Vincent van Gough, Monet and other Impressionists as a change from last years mainly modern art gallery visits. I think that my last encounter with the feminist who painted a lot of scalpel blades in a soft and delicate location still makes me feel a little squeamish when I remember the image.
A large part of our program was to look towards the next steps in our adventures in life. Having decided that 6 years on a boat was sufficient for us, we thought that it was time to return to Europe so we can be closer to our friends and family, who we actually miss not seeing on a more regular basis. The big question for us, with few ties and roots to any specific country, was where to live – the world is quite large out there! After a serious deliberation, our conclusion was that France was probably the best place for us as we both speak a little of the language and it is (probably) less rainy and cold than either The Netherlands or the UK.
France is quite a big country in itself and so there was the problem of deciding where in France we should look. What we did know was that we wanted warmer than colder, not next to a bar or restaurant and not in the middle of nowhere. These are quite broad criteria, so we added that we wanted to build our own house, no more renovations and their inherent risk and we wanted a warm eco house (i.e. no damp or humidity), we wanted comfort, views, quiet and yet close to commerce so it was not necessary to use a car every time we needed to go out. Now these new criteria were tough and we found that it was almost impossible to find the ideal location ! We looked along the coast line from La Rochelle to Les Sables-
d’Olonne, then further south in the Dordogne at Périgueux, Bergerac and still did not find what we were looking for. After a series of disappointments our next hope was Sarlat-la-Canéda, a small town in the Dordogne that was reputed to be one of the most beautiful in France. Well, we took a look and fell in love with the medieval town and now hoped that we could find a suitable plot in the region. There were more plots here than anywhere else we looked and eventually found exactly what we think we were looking for.
7000m2 may sound like a lot of land, but when you have some big ideas, a beautiful view, a town with all facilities within walking distance and no bars or restaurants opposite, we think we have nailed it. With some thoughts, we will have a wooden eco house, swimming pool and sufficient land for a small vineyard, fruit trees and enough space to grow all the vegetables we need. We are excited !!
An offer for the land was made and accepted, so we will officially sign on the 21st November and start with our architectural plans. If all goes well, we should be having our house warming party in 2026 – Ingrid thinks around April whilst I think later in the year, we shall see, but in any case, if there is no room in the house then there is plenty of space for camping on our plot or B&B in the area.
From everyone we have talked to, there seems to be a unanimous welcome back to Europe that we did not really expect, but are looking forwards to re-integrating back into our family and social life.
We noted that there are a significant number of expectant mothers within the immediate and close family, so the roll of “grandparents” (Oma and Opa) seems to be a part of the new package. We are therefore looking forwards to spoiling our “grandchildren” and being able to give them back once we have had enough. At least until they are ready to tread the grapes and be a part of the hard work of the family farm.
The hurricane season in the Caribbean seems to have been less intense than expected after the initial storm that blew through Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines. I still cannot understand why any skipper chooses to take the risk of having his ship in the hurricane zone, but those who did have some stories to tell ! I think I prefer to have memories of calm turquoise waters, big fish on my line and enjoyable days at sea.
The Sahara dust has contributed to reducing the hurricane risk this year as the dust seems to dampen down the hurricane development. Many storms that begin to form off the coast of West Africa have headed for the Caribbean, but been deviated up the coast of the eastern USA, so the small islands have fared better than expected this year.
The hurricanes that drift up the USA’s east coast come around back to Europe as depressions and have dumped a significant amount of water over France, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. We therefore maintain the need for a good British or Dutch Umbrella as a part of our travel kit.
Blue skies and warm turquoise waters await our return to the Caribbean. We are looking forwards to our last season here before we start our voyage home via Bermuda and the Azores which is planned to start at the beginning of May. We don’t know whether to head for Jamaica, back to Los Roques or to head back up to the Virgin Islands – what choices we have to make !
Follow our blog and see where we end up and what plan unfolds.
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