We are back !

OK so we have been back a week so why didn't I post this earlier ?

Well, trying to restore some semblance of normality to a garden which thought it was part of the Amazon rainforest had something to do with it, along with trying to find gainful employment in the worst economic downturn since the 1930's.

For your information the garden is now looking semi-normal but we are still both unemployed so if you have any well paid work in Berkshire then please don't hesitate to get in touch ;-)

So here are the numbers

We spent 88 days away comprising

3 nights at sea (Newtown Creek to Brixham, Scillies to Kinsale, and Glandore to the Scillies)

1 night on a buoy (Hugh Town, Scillies because of a medical appointment the next day)

1 night on visitors pontoon at Fowey

3 nights on a wall (1 * Hugh Town (to fit a battery) and Cape Clear Island which was free)

80 nights at Anchor 

For this we paid a total of mooring/anchoring fees of £75.10 comprising

Hugh Town wall £20

Hugh Town Buoy £16

Falmouth Anchorage £25.60

Fowey  £13.50

We never paid anything to moor/anchor anywhere in Ireland - thank you to the Irish people !

This worked out at an average of just over 85p a night - even with oncoming doom of a financial depression I feel I can live with this.

We got through 4 bottles of butane (Calor Gas) - costing a total of £67.14

(We managed to change one UK bottle in Baltimore but I wouldn't advise planning to change them in Ireland)

We spent £142.24 on Diesel - mostly for motoring in and out of harbours but some battery charging.

We spent £104.97 on Petrol - mostly for the Generator to charge batteries and some for the outboard engine for the dinghy.

We spent a £79.94 on Laundry - what can I say, we like to be clean.

This makes a total of "attributable" costs of £469.39 - just £5.33 a day.

All other costs I don't have an individual record of but during the the period we were away we spent an additional £3212 which would mostly have been on food & wine with many pub meals/beers thrown in. This makes a total expenditure for the trip of £3682 which includes the cost of buying two new batteries, losing £70 when I lost my wallet and buying some pressies whilst we were away and as many pub meals as we felt like. This is £41.84 per day

Food shopping in Ireland was expensive and this would have pushed this figure up quite a lot as did significant consumption of alcohol!

I worked out the "unattributable" costs by looking at my bank statements - it cost more to keep a empty house at home while we were away than it did to pay for us to cruise !

We covered a total of 1179 miles during our trip. Averaging just over 13 miles a day - a bit fast really we should have taken it slower !

We ran our engine for 169 hours. We used it a lot more on the way out against the prevailing winds and much less on the way back.

We ran the generator for 198 hours. Over two and a quarter houres a day not counting days when the main engine charged the batteries on passage. A Wind Genny is on our Xmas list. 

Favourite Anchorage: So many to choose from but it would be difficult to beat Tean in the Isles of Scilly. (Glengariff would come a very close 2nd)

Best "Craic": The Pier House Hotel in CourtMacSherry - Hello to John the barman and owner if you are reading this.

Best Meal: Sunday roast at The New Inn, Tresco, Isles of Scilly

Most Useful passage Anchorage: Falmouth, it's got everything you need

Stormiest Passage: Dartmouth to Poole (by a long shot!)

Easiest Passage: Tean to Falmouth - zoomed along average over 6 knots the whole way.

Most Beautiful place: Glengariff (from a boat)

Friendliest shop - Cape Clear Island - just don't mention the mice in the crisp section that Pippin helped the owner catch

Worst place - Castletownshend - a shocking exception for Ireland but an unfriendly and rude pub that wouldn't let dogs in, a dingy and overpriced local shop and a water supply infected with Cryptosporidium. 

Favourite Radio Station: Radio Scilly - go on listen, it's an antedote to modern life - http://www.radioscilly.com/live.php

Most Stupid Mistake : Losing my wallet on Porth Cressa Beach

So would we do it again ?

Too right ? (but maybe with some better weather)

Spain/Portugal 2009 anyone ?