Odysseus I presume....


The heroic bronzed adonis boards the good ship Granny Knot to set sail for New Zealand after becoming wildly frustrated with shipping agents and the prospect of airline food. Obviously things may take a little longer over sea, especially with the lure and temptation of sirens, mermaids, ferocious giant squids and meeting the mighty Poseidon on an off day.

Undaunted we set sail with our good friends and skippers Mel and Nick on Saturday morning from Portsmouth. After beating into strong winds and straining sinew to keep Granny on tack we finally made it all the way to Bucklers Hard. Much joyous drinking and celebration ensued. With a foggy head and after an extended lie in the next morning, skipper sat us down to consider the following: Wellington is 11,119 miles and 93 days away. The Ewer family ski trip is a mere 21 days away. We had just covered the least perilous 16 miles to Bucklers Hard and Mel was keen to get back to work on Monday.

Dissapointment was evident from the crew but reality took precedent as we headed back home, enabling us to start packing for the more conventional plane flight south.

Travelling by Granny Knot all the way to Wellington, although a romantic idea would also be very stupid. I start to get cabin fever after two days and it also takes at least a month to acquire sturdy enough sea legs to go below deck. However, sailing is considerably kinder to the environment than 747's burning tons of fosil fuels that have serious environmental consequences. So with an environmental conscience Lisa and I decided to carbon neutralise our flights, which is cheaper than you would think to invest in excellent carbon reducing 'grass roots' projects.

Even if you're just on your way to Torremolinos for a knees up, be aware and try to stop global warming turning Kilburn into Death Valley (....hmmm, hang on a second!..)