วีดีโอ

@@NotAFanAnymore thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. If you look at our later videos I’ve done a full version on deck with Gibraltar in the background 😍

Hi there. Yes we would. Can’t imagine covering the miles that we did having to sit sideways! They can get in the way a bit sometimes esp when healing and they fall off the cockpit seat but worth it for the forward looking sitting position most of the time. Those blue ones were made by a company called Trem and did wear out after 2 years of daily use and we replaced them with “Comfort seats” same principle but better quality and they are really good. Seat pad is not super thick so it worked well for us to use them on top of the cockpit cushions but anyway yes we would definitely recommend them 👍🏻😊

@@FollowIntrepidBearthanks very much, will search for them right away, appreciate your help and wish you the very best for 2025 🎉

You’re welcome. We have no link to this company and don’t know if you can get any better price but this website shows the options…we bought ours in Greece but the same brand… www.cjmarine.co.uk/products/marine-upholstery/comfort-seats/

@@pauldent7067 agreed 😊⛵️ Although cruising the Med would have been different if we had a home to come back to. For us the boat was our only home whether we were in the U.K. or abroad. We’ve chosen to pause sailing for a bit now and have moved to the inland waterways (the videos lag behind time due to the time taken to make them) but you are right about U.K. sailing ⛵️🇬🇧

@@FollowIntrepidBear Canal boat diaries looks interesting tbh.

Cheers Peter, and a happy Christmas and New Year to you and yours 🎅🏼🎄😊

Definitely a slog and not enjoyment. It didn’t help that our state of mind was simply wanting to be home at that stage. Once we’d made the decision that we were done full time cruising it stopped being an exciting adventure and just became a delivery trip. It doesn’t get much better as continue north either unfortunately but you’re right we didn’t have a Biscay storm for which we are very thankful! 😬⛵️

I hear you @@FollowIntrepidBear, and it was in your voice. Hope the GU is working better for you 🙏

Thank you, yes we’re loving the settled life for now, excited for a coming trip to Thailand and looking forward to some road trips in 2025. We’ll be back to the sea in some form one day but very happy in the here and now 😊

❤️ @

Thanks Richard. You’re not wrong and we wouldn’t/didn’t base our decision on just the average of our scores because you’re right that the good days count for a lot of bad days but there is a tipping point somewhere. For us it was multiple factors but recording our daily ratings just helped crystallise things a bit 😊⛵️

The way you went is the way it’s meant to be sailed! Going north against the prevailing winds is not ideal. I think many sailors, certainly full time ones have the “why am I here?” moments and the loving it moments but it’s when the balance tips that you know it’s time for change. ⛵️😊 Glad you’re enjoying the memories…there’s more to come in future episodes but there’ll be a little break until the end of January as we’re off to Thailand at the end of the month so I won’t be able to make any more videos until I get home. Thanks very much for you support and the superthanks. Very much appreciated 😊

Hi Nick, best anchorage we found although it might be busy in July is St Helens Pool. Protected all round from the worst weather although can still suffer from some swell in bad weather. Central for several islands and stunningly gorgeous! The south side of St Agnes and Gugh is also nice in northerly conditions. There are lots more stunning spots but those were a couple of our favourites. The islands are stunning..enjoy 😍⛵️

@ Maany thanks for the information 🙏 really appreciate you getting back to me on this. Cheers and have a good Christmas 🎅

@@svgabrielle I think any impression of a place is moulded by your experience there and we had a great first winter there. Loved the beach, Ferragudo and the Algarve cliffs but even in October there was thumping music in the marina and I imagine it all being quite crazy in high season. I’m guessing your first experience was the strip up above the beach? That was super touristy up there with several Irish bars! Irish bars pop up all over the world it seems! 😂 I’m glad you at least found the better part of Portimao eventually 👍🏻😊

@@svgabrielle thanks guys…We do love the Algarve and were sad to leave it behind. Once we turned north that was when the real slog began. I’m excited for your journey into the Med…coming home was always going to be tough as, once the decision was made, we just wanted to get it done…your med exploration is all ahead of you and you’ll love it I’m sure 😍⛵️

@@richardhall7822 thank you! Missing the open sea a little at times but sails not so much 😉😂 Very happy with our inland floating apartment but already scheming ways back to the ocean but without living on it full time. Glad you enjoyed the start of our voyage home but it does get more challenging!

Thanks Guys…it’s nice that you’re enjoying what we put out and it will be a shame when it ends as I really enjoy making the videos but I guess we can’t keep sailing just to get video content! 😂 I do actually plan to carry on documenting the adventures that we do have but obviously it won’t be of interest to sailors anymore. I think we will return to the sea one day but it’ll be a few years when the budget allows us a home AND a cruising boat to use when we want to rather than full time liveaboard. Anyway that’s for the future. Your plans for Scotland sound amazing! I guess you watch sailing yacht Florence? Matt and Amy have just done Scotland and made some great videos 😍 Anyway I hope you have a fabulous trip next year 😊⛵️

@@iainhunneybell thanks Iain, something I use quite a lot. Used think bow thrusters were cheating but if you got it use it eh?! Useful technique though that you can almost go sideways with coordinated bow thruster and helm turned opposite the thruster ie thrust to stbd, helm to port will walk the boat to stbd. Just wants gentle engine inputs though 😊⛵️

Too long for us but different strokes for different folks and a degree of guilt at not loving what to some is a dream life. We’d had a blast but once we’d made the decision to come home it was a slog from Gibraltar to the U.K. so we were soooooo ready to be home! We “were” based in Poole and had intended to move onto a motorboat in Poole but we pivoted to the inland waterways. I don’t know if I already mentioned it or you knew but we sold Intrepid Bear shortly after we got home and now live on a widebeam canal boat in the midlands! No one more surprised than us but when we got home we’d had enough! We do have unfinished business with the sea though and are already scheming ways back to sea but probably under power not sail and hope to be able to keep the canal barge as our home and have a smaller sea boat elsewhere. We’re a few years off the finances to do that though so I plan to get some motor boat skippering work next spring. All change! 😬⛵️🛥️

No need to feel guilty @. The grass always seems greener. I can quite understand. If you’re in a wide beam barge I guess you must be on the Grand Union? I guess if you’re not travelling much, the beam is lovely, but if you’re not want to tour, so much of the network is narrow … but wonderful to wander. Clearly I have a lot of catching up to do!

@iainhunneybell correct! Yes we’re on the Grand Union. It was a discussion on cruising freedom or space and space won! We’re not really interested in continuous cruising at the moment and are loving a spacious home in a fixed berth with a car etc! We will go for a few trips but at the speed of a canal boat we can have a lovely change of scenery without going too far! We plan to explore a bit more by road this year and will decide what we want to do after that. Just taking it a season at a time at the moment 👍🏻😊

Enjoy @@FollowIntrepidBear 🙂

A real sailor might have gone non stop but I’m a motor boater on a sailboat!! 😂 You’re probably right and, looking back, going offshore and smashing it out would have been the way but Kate wasn’t 100% well and neither of us was in the headspace to go offshore for that leg. Probably a mistake in retrospect. Our passage up the coast wasn’t the best but we did get to sleep properly each night so swings and roundabouts ⛵️💤💤

Oh, I'm not sure I'm suggesting going offshore and "smashing it out" @@FollowIntrepidBear. I think keeping inshore, able to dart into 20m at a moment's notice, was a wise strategy. There have been orca interactions well offshore, so No, I was more thinking of making the most of the southerlies ... or maybe more accurately, the 'not northerlies' ... and the overnights being less bad than enduring more time against the predominant northerlies. It can be unpleasant pushing north up that coast and so it's a balance of which is 'less bad' ... but I quite understand about Kate not really being in the right place and just needing the rest

Ah yes sorry…should have updated that a bit more…fuel was good after the DIY fuel polishing in Portimao. The engine cutting out issue wasn’t related to fuel (as far as we know!) the dirty fuel/diesel bug was a separate issue ⛵️

Hi Robert, thank you. It’s nice to have people understand. There’s a degree of guilt that goes with wanting to quit what is a dream to many people but it is a hard life and not for everyone especially with no home other than the boat. I feel you may be due an update! We returned back to the U.K. in June, sold Intrepid Bear and now live on a widebeam canal barge in the Midlands! A bit of a change and no one is more surprised than us but we’re loving the settled life with a fixed home, car and local area etc! We do have unfinished business with the sea and will return one day but, confession time, it’s the sea I love not sailing…I’m not actually a great fan of sailing but couldn’t afford the fuel to have our adventures on a motorboat. But anyway, yes, back in the U.K. away for most of January but after that maybe we can share a beer one day. We plan to roam the U.K. in our caravan (did I mention that we have a caravan now as well?!) so maybe our paths will cross one day…All change eh?! 😊⛵️🛥️

Thanks Iain. Yes we had to be smart on that windward stern line but Kate got it on nicely. Always had the bailout option of dropping, well gendered, onto the leeward boat if it went wrong. Would have then warped ourselves back into the correct spot. But yes we enjoyed Vauban, nice marina and town 😍⛵️

It is a 30kg Mantus anchor with 10mm chain. I think the depth was around 6 metres and with that wind I imagine we were on 6:1 scope on all chain so probably had 40 metres out. The anchor has always been awesome even in nearly 50 kts in Ria Cedeira on our way south…always slept well (with an anchor alarm of course!)

Thanks, useful @@FollowIntrepidBear. Yep, I'd be on 6 or 7:1 in those conditions, and in some Meltemi I've been on even greater scope and moved ... which shows how much better your Mantus is vs Delta pattern (not real thing!) in these conditions. 'Mantus' duly logged 🙂

@@iainhunneybell You should definitely check out the Camanito and Lower Caves if you are in the area. Both great experiences. Bear in mind that to go from Gibraltar into Spain the border guards are sometimes being difficult and won’t let you in to Spain without proof of accommodation or onward flight. Those are the rules at any Schengen border but they are, sometimes, applying them strictly due to the ongoing Brexit border negotiations around Gibraltar. I carry a lot more than just Kilt and Argyle jacket around with me, I have full number 1 piping uniform as well (You can see what I mean in a burns night segment in ep 46 titled 100 knot storm!) We don’t have a house or anywhere else to keep things so all our worldly goods were on Intrepid Bear! You’re right Almerimar is not a port of entry so that’s why we popped in to Alcadesia. Some cruisers get the bus to Almeria from Almerimar where you can check in or out but, apart from anything else, we still had our French 6 month visa until early January so were in no hurry to check out and Alcadeisa was much easier than getting a bus into Almeria etc 😊

Many thanks for the tips @, but yes, you did mention a French visa. A Brit can get some kind of visa from France? I’d been told that due to the 90/180 concession it was impossible to get a temp visa from a Schengen country…that’s what the 90/180 rule is there for??

@ the Schengen rule is 90/180 but countries are still free to issue their own visas. The only ones that will issue visas for tourism purposes are France and Sweden (there are various wriggles others have used by applying for residency but with no intention of taking it up but that’s a grey area) The French visa is, of course, primarily intended for time in France but within that you are still allowed 90 days in other Schengen countries (as far as we were told any time spent on the visa does not count as Schengen time but some say any time outside France does…hard to get straight answers!) You have to apply in your home country and they hold your passport while processing so you need to time any application with a trip back to the U.K. We had a wedding to return for in June 2023 so it worked out well for us in that regard. On our return we cruised the south of France for a while before going across the Balearics and on to Almerimar all covered by the visa until early January. We could then have remained in Spain and used our Schengen 90 days but we went to Gibraltar not so much to reset the clock but to preserve the Schengen time to be used when we set off in the spring. We used a few Schengen days on our trips into Spain but kept plenty to get home! 😊

Very, very interesting @. Yes, I was advised by Italy so not one of your two countries. So… depending on the interpretation of the law, almost all your time was under the French visa and so didn’t count towards your 90/180? I presume time outside France but inside Schengen, is just part of a single 90/180 bucket? i.e. you can’t have French visa 90/180 Schengen days, plus ‘regular’ Schengen days? As you say, getting _clear_ unambiguous advice on this kind of thing is all nigh impossible. I used to travel to Italy every week on work and had to get down to ‘what counts as a day’ … and the bad news was landing in Italy at 23:40 counts as one day … yes, those 20 mins count as ‘1’ in your 90/180 calculation. Ahhhh

well….our understanding after a lot of research is that whilst you are travelling on the visa they are not Schengen days regardless of what country you are in (some others do take a different view of that and it’s hard to find a definitive answer) so we could, in theory, have done 3 months in France then 3 months in Spain under the 6 month visa which leaves our Schengen time intact to then have a further 3 months in Spain (or other Schengen country) if we’d have wanted to. As far as we’re aware you could even, with some very precise time management spend 3 months in Schengen on you normal Schengen days then 6 months on the visa which puts you effectively outside of Schengen so you’d reset and then follow up with your 3 months Schengen again giving a total of a year in Schengen. Matching up when you have to apply and precisely butting the various periods together would be nigh on impossible but in theory you could. That is though just our understanding you’d have to take your own advice and be comfortable with it. In reality once you’re in Schengen there are no border checks between countries so the 3 months outside France would just be something you’d record yourself…we may not have got the split exactly right! The trouble is there are so many people out there giving wrong advice that it’s often hard to find the truth. Lucinda Heikell (of the Heikells who write all the med pilot books) stated in a PBO article a year or more ago that Gibraltar was in Schengen when its categorically not (yet!) So if PBO and Lucinda Heikell are, I daresay unintentionally, putting out incorrect information then it’s gonna be a struggle to get the facts! And yes I was aware the even five minutes to midnight is a Schengen day…that really sucks! 😬😂

@@iainhunneybell haha…I’m really sorry to disappoint Iain but I’m not a left hander, not sure which bit made you think I was but alas just a normal right hander I’m afraid! Hopefully you’ve seen my reply on your other comment about Gib. It’s definitely not Schengen but there is a chance that that could change…hopefully not! And no absolutely no time limit for Brits in Gib as it stands right now. Marina prices were not terrible either, we were paying around £600/month in Queensway Quay and that gets discounted further if you stay 6 months. They do get quite booked up though so contact them well in advance for space if you head that way 😊🇬🇮

It was you gluing in the wood plugs on top of the deck screws @@FollowIntrepidBear. You were using your left hand, although I see you were putting the screws in with your right. i was thinking you'd use your dominant hand for the precision of getting the glued plug neatly into the hole. But never mind, you are a 'real Iain' 😃

@@iainhunneybell hi….i tried all I knew at anchor to resolve the engine issue, raised the idle a little and made sure the fuel filters were clear but it took a mechanic and diesel specialist to take the injection pump away to discover that it was gummed up inside which was causing fuel rack issues. It was all sorted and good as gold once we left Almerimar bound for Gib. Yes that’s a preventer line on the port side however we’d hardened up onto the wind a bit but hadn’t de-rigged it so it’s just slack in that clip. It wouldn’t be any good pressing on the rails like that under tension. Once we go more downwind then we can tighten it up.. 👍🏻😊⛵️

The 'gummy fuel pump' was bad diesel, or just age @@FollowIntrepidBear? Just a useful lesson on what to watch for and try and prevent 🙂 And yes, quite so re the preventer 😁

@ as far as I know mainly age. According to the Spanish diesel specialist it’s not uncommon on Yanmars of that age. However I have my suspicions about the brown goo at the bottom of the tank because it didn’t look like your usual diesel bug. There is a relatively recent phenomenon call “sticky diesel”, give it a google, which could gum up an injector pump. I’m not saying we had sticky diesel necessarily but the brown goo in the tank was a mystery and didn’t look like what I understand diesel bug to look like…who knows! 🤷🏻‍♂️😬😂

Hi Iain…yes that was a grim night for both of us but Kate felt it even more than me. Your lightning experience sounds scary! We were running from thunder storms in crossing the Tyrrhenian Sea and feel real exposed as the only high point on a flat sea fortunately it didn’t get as close to us as it did you! 😬⚡️

Yes, we had a few days of it @@FollowIntrepidBear . I don't know how well you know the southern Peloponnese although I see you have 'done' Montenegro, so maybe. On the first day of our run back it was another near calm ... truly the calm before the storm which we'd been experiencing for day making our progress 'out' slow. Then mid-afternoon on day 1 of the run back, a little breeze, so sails out, but within 10m it was 40kn and so instantly shortening everything. It turned foul really quickly. Got into our anchorage, hook down, take a breath and then ... instant 'biblical rain' and lightening, only not directly over us. But enough for us to watch a bush fire start on Kythira to the south of us. Next day back around Cap Maleas heading north for shelter. Not great, but not to bad. Into Yerifa ... shopping, back to the boat and ... biblical rain again! Next morning was ok, calm, came out to run up to the next forecast quiet anchorage, sail up, out past the rock of Monemvasia and into instant F7. Horrendous. The obvious thing to do was to turn back, except I knew what was coming and so it was a case of staying out to avoid even worse weather. Finally got onto a making tack, the boat settled, short sail, engine plodding, and storm and yet more biblical rain. Then the lightening came. Distant at first, but closer and closer. We ran north for 10 hours, although thankfully only about 7 in storm. I have one video clip of the rain, which more a moment bleaches to white with a strike behind us, but we had a later one even closer off our port quarter. Tremendous noise! Meanwhile you are running through what you might need to do any second should our 'waving lightening conductor' attract the wrong kind of attention. Apparently something to do in such circumstances is to trail the kedge chain in the water with it also wrapped around a backstay. Helps to give the lightening a direct path to water without going through the hull and keel. Thankfully we were spared a strike ... but yes, no worry dear, everything will be fine ... all the time wondering if I should get the raft out ready for launch should it be needed ... only to do that would spread panic! 🥴 Happy not to repeat this experience....

@ we didn’t do the southern Pelopenese, we went through the canal both ways. Eastbound the canal was by choice but then, having changed our minds from Turkey to Montenegro, the weather around the Peloponnese wasn’t conducive to getting out of Schengen in the time allowed so did the canal again on the way back. Your experience down there’s sound horrific and reinforces our reasons for coming back through the canal. I know there are some stunning spots down there too but sounds like you had a rough time of it. Lightning close by must be very worrying, we’ve been fortunate to avoid anything too close! Glad you got through it 😬😊⛵️

Hi Iain, nice to see another correctly spelt Iain! We were quite strict about the 20m contour as much as possible certainly as far as Cabo Sao Vincente. The last thing we wanted was to have our rudder taken out by an orca with the subsequent logistical nightmare of getting repairs abroad so we took the advice very seriously. Some people scoffed at us but each to their own as there have been many boats damaged. As you’ll see if you keep watching, we do start to loosen the rule once north of Vincente based on the historical data for that time of year. Interactions tend to be focused down towards the Gib straits and Algarve in the spring before spreading north towards Galicia as the season progresses. At the time of year we were there there was virtually no history of any interactions above Vincente but as I say that only relates to the months of April and May. Hopefully I’ll show a bit more of the data in coming videos. Regarding post Brexit time in Portugal we had only left Gibraltar, having reset our Schengen clock, in mid April so we were still well within our Schengen time. We stayed in Portugal in winter 2021 for more than 90 days but that was because they allowed a blanket extension due to Covid backlogs in the immigration system which was a bit of luck for us at the time! We have heard that Portugal are quite amenable to granting sailors Schengen extensions purely based on the fact that it’s not safe to sail on in the winter and, in fact, friends of ours were granted an extension before the blanket extension was announced. We were also working towards that at the time but the Portuguese immigration system was in a state of change and it was near impossible to get hold of them to even apply! Not sure how their system is now and whether they’re still friendly to cruisers in that way but it’s not something you can be certain of. Anyway thanks for your comment, hope you find value in the videos going forward and feel free to ask any questions if you think we can help 😊⛵️

Many thanks @@FollowIntrepidBear ... and another 'real Iain' 😃 Yes, I think you're wise to be strict on the 20m rule. Yes it's a faff sailing along the contour line, but better that than an 'interaction'. Guess you'll pass inside the Lisbon TSS, but I'll no doubt get to find that part of the story 🙂 Does Gib ( _loved_ the cap by the way!) reset your Schengen clock? I've seen conflicting info on this suggesting on Morocco, Tunisia, Montenegro and Turkey offer the only 'time out' options. Having Gib as an 'out time' location would be of huge benefit. Looking forward to watching more ... and love the Najad. Good solid Swedish boat 🙂

Hi Iain yes, as it stands, Gibraltar is most definitely outside Schengen. We were stamped in and out every time we crossed the land border. However do keep an eye on the news/google as negotiations regarding Gibraltars status following Brexit are ongoing and it is possible that it will come under the Schengen zone in the future. I’d like to think there won’t be a time when Brits can’t go freely to Gibraltar but that’s not guaranteed but at the moment it’s definitely a Schengen escape and I’m not sure why some commentators say otherwise. It may change but hasn’t yet! If you haven’t yet seen it episode 72 sailing out of the Med shows our checkout from Spain and arrival into Gib at the end of 2023. We loved Gibraltar. If you do head there give us a shout for info on joining the Heritage trust to save a LOT of money if you’re there for for a while and want to access the upper rock…I think we touch on it in the video I mention 😍🇬🇮

Have been, but not done some of the better parts you show. And thanks for the offer @@FollowIntrepidBear ... much appreciated ❤

Thanks for your opinion and as a shipwright I respect it however this is a scoop through hull with a large hull contact area sikaflexed to the bottom of the boat as well as the normal screw flange so there is very little chance of it spinning. In fact every through hull I’ve ever come across has been so tightly secured that it won’t come undone without some serious brute force but that’s maybe because my boats have always been older I don’t know. I was well aware that lift out was my worst case scenario and, in a perfect world, that I should lift out to do the job but in my assessment at the time in the situation I was presented with I decided that rather than start with the expensive and time consuming (because the yard had a long wait) option that I was pretty confident I could change it as I did. I knew that worse case scenario would be a thru hull failure which would require a lift out. As it was I saved that expense based on my experience of dealing with quite a few through hulls although I’m not a shipwright like you. With regard to the paddle wheel log analogy I’d stand by that as even pulling a paddle wheel log risks a failure, the housing can split, drop the plug any number of issues. Ok it’s not the same process as the paddle wheel log but I’d say the risk level is very similar. Each to their own, I value your opinion but it is your opinion and an industry expert such as yourself will always have higher standards than a cruiser who often has to make do. I am happy with my experience telling me that I could do it but with plugging and lifting as a last resort if it all went wrong. In the event we were back up and running in a day rather than weeks and saved probably €600. Worst case scenario I’d have plugged it and waited and paid €600 so would have been no worse off. You call my method “stupidity” some would say you’d be stupid to go straight to the expensive option but maybe we should keep our opinions respectful and not call each other stupid eh? Thanks again for your input 😊⛵️

Cheers Geoff, glad you enjoyed it 😍⛵️

Hi Peter…thank you, yes the fuel clean was successful sorry I didn’t say that clearly enough but we got home without further issue. There should be a couple more videos before Christmas if I get time to make them 🤞🏼🤞🏼 Thanks for your support 😊⛵️

I've no idea where the muck came from Tom, it was like a resinous substance. You can get dirty fuel from a bad supplier or you can get diesel bug if water gets in the diesel. There's also a thing called sticky diesel but I don't know if that's what we had. As for the hull fitting replacement, I agree, I wouldn’t try and change a thru hull in the water, just the valve 👍🏻...cheers 😊⛵️

Thanks James…yes I was amused by all the comments and things people thought I should have done differently! We will be snug on our barge with the log burner on for Christmas. There’s a bit of a gathering of berth holders on Christmas Eve and day so it should be very chilled. Hope you have great Christmas and new year too 😊⛵️

There were plenty of them! Going to sink the boat bad spanner technique, shouldn’t use an adjustable spanner (cos of course I should every tool for every job onboard and never improvise!) should have had the valve open as I did it (despite the fact that would have covered the engine bay, including shore power charger, in sea water…we did have a chuckle at many many comments! Cheers guys 👍🏻😊

Thanks James….we are well settled back into the U.K. for winter and beyond. We have actually moved onto a widebeam canal boat now. You see more up to date info on our Instagram or Facebook although we will complete the story on TH-cam as well…it just takes a bit longer as the videos take some time to make. Thanks for following along..😊

Thanks Peter, glad you enjoyed the video. There are no more insects in coming episodes but quite a few more challenges! Thanks for your comment 🙂

@ Why can’t life be simple? Doesn’t work like that I guess. P

Thanks Jayson, yes they are incredible Islands and we only scratched the surface. I don't know if you've got to the next episode yet but Sa Calobra on Mallorca is mind blowing! 🙂😍

Thank you Peter.. really nice to be back with a band and these guys are great so, yes, I really enjoy it and I'm glad you did too :-)

Yes, totally understand how individual insects can be carried out to sea by an offshore breeze and even by a sea breeze circulation but how they manage to maintain their swarm is beyond me. What was also incredible was that when they'd had enough they all left, bar a few stragglers, almost at the same. We remain very grateful that the bees seemed to have no intention to sting and the mozzies weren't biting... that would have been a whole lot worse!!

Thanks Iain. Not sure this is or will ever be a favourite video of ours, mainly because the journey home wasn't our favourite time of life!, but best/favourite is very subjective so I'm glad you found it so and thank you for saying so. If Kate and I operated any kind of "shoe" fund we'd both have an awful lot of shoes and no money!! I have to confess that I fear the video quality will be on a bit of downward trajectory as this journey progresses because, as mentioned, the less we're enjoying it the less we film... which is not great as a video maker but it is how it is with us. I am still keen to keep making videos when we do have adventures in the future though and hope that the quality will come back up with those. Anyway thanks for your ongoing positive support it is much appreciated.🙂

Thanks Roger, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊

Oh wow…thank you Roger, that’s really kind of you. Much appreciated 😃

Kate is much better thank you although it was part of a sinus issue that’s still not fully resolved but it manageable at the moment. Diesel bug seems to be an increasing issue for sure and your polishing system is a great thing to have 😊⛵️

Hi, glad it was useful to you. The swarms were strange, we didn’t get them on the way south in 2022 so who knows what caused them. Our boat is a Najad 391. 12m long by 3.5 wide. We have 800w of solar in total and it is plenty, we very rarely have to top up in the Med or indeed in the U.K. between spring and autumn but it would need some help in a U.K. winter. Hope that helps? 👍🏻😊

It certainly was 😍

My, sorry

Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. You live in a beautiful village 😍

Thank you…yes we were keen to get out early in the season before the Portuguese trades kicked in. There was a lot of motor sailing to be fair! But fair play to you doing it multiple times…once was enough for us! 😊😂⛵️

Thanks Richard 😊

Cheers Jim…glad you got to see Gibraltar…hope you enjoyed it? Great that you’re seeing some of the places we’ve been 😍⛵️

Hi Iain, good to hear from you.. No I haven't finished any future episodes yet. Trying hard to get ahead of the curve as we are away for most of January so I want to get a few in the bank. But to sum up whats going on, you may be a little surprised if you haven't been following on insta or Facebook. We arrived home in June time having not really enjoyed much of this voyage home and being well and truly done with sailing. We sold Intrepid Bear but after a very stressful selling process, due mainly to an incompetent buyers surveyor, pivoted from the motor boat we had planned to buy to a wide beam canal boat! No I still can't really believe it either! The main reasons for the canal boat were that we bought one from 2017 which is basically a small floating apartment. Had we bought the 50+ foot motor boat then we/I would be continuing to deal with an almost 40 year old boat which I was struggling to face after some issue that i had to address on the Bear. Also the inland marina leaves us with lot more disposable cash each month than a south coast marina would. I still need a saltwater fix so hope to get some freelance work as a motorboat skipper from time to time. We plan to continue travelling by more conventional means, we also have a caravan now for UK exploring. We plan to keep making videos of whatever travelling we do but once we have completed the voyage home I can't be sure we'll have enough material for regular episodes but we'll see. We both know that we'll, quite understandably, lose most of our sailing following but we love having the videos to look back at ourselves and enjoy the creative process of making them. So yes that's us in a nutshell right now, happy to be home, happy to have a car and a little normality but still settling back in and working out exactly what we want next. I don't think we are finished with the sea but are taking a break for a few years in terms of where we live.... There you go! Probably not what you expected... it wasn't what I expected just a couple of months ago either!

@@FollowIntrepidBear Many thanks for such a detailed reply, Iain; most interesting. We've pondered the idea of a narrowboat too, and had a lovely long walk down the Kennet & Avon at Devizes earlier this year. The lifestyle seems a world away from the constant stress of dodging weather, finding anchorages and Schengen stupidity with the bonus that you'll keep fit operating all those locks.... I'm glad you're going to keep doing the videos and I wouldn't be surprised if you retain a good number of subscribers. I wrote earlier that you both come across as 'anti-celebrities' - real people who others can relate to against the plethora of others in YT who seem up their own backsides and who are often just fan-boys for whatever gadget some advertiser is sponsoring them to peddle. Far more real than reality TV. I'll ask the missus to weave whatever magic is required to get on FB so we can better follow your progress. It would be fabulous to host you on our boat at some time as we cruise the UK as I bet you've both a lot of untold stories to tell.....a dram or two wouldn't be amiss. I'm pretty sure you'd be welcomed into many an Association or Club as a speaker as well as your style is compelling. All the very best again.

@iainmacdonald1170 thank you. We actually bought a widebeam, which significantly restricts the area we can cruise but gives us a huge (compared to a yacht or narrow boat) living space. We will potter around the local canals from time to time but a lot more of our adventures will be land based for now or flying somewhere etc. Nothing is set in stone but we’re enjoying being stationary without the worries you list for now! It would be great to get together to swap stories sometime so if you can find your way onto Facebook (or Instagram) you’ll know what we’re up to in much more real time to see if we’re in the same area. It’s also easier to get or stay in touch via messenger etc. We have our caravan as well so maybe, next year, we can pitch up somewhere near wherever you are and catch up for that wee dram! Cheers for now 😊

I ‘sea’ what you did there 😂….very good! Hope you enjoy the voyage home although it was a challenge. Cheers 😊