I’ve come to a decision regarding my little fork in the road.

I’m currently in Dorset, having just got back from one of the local chandlers in Christchurch. I returned with a fishing rod, and a 22m of 8mm rope, which will be whipped into a new halyard when I get back to the boat.

I’m going for it. I’ve already told the marina that I’ll be cutting the length of my stay short by a month, so I’ll be setting off from London on the 2nd of May. I need to get some charts sorted, which is an annoyance with them costing £45 for each portfolio (and I seem to need three!!).

The plan is to pass the Dover straight and head into the Solent, eventually landing back here in Christchurch. I’ll have a bit of a break and then continue my journey around the coast until I reach the Ribble estuary, before heading inland to Preston docks, and marina. After that, I have no idea what I will do, but that’s the nature of the beast that is Nathan

I expect this little Spring cruise to take me about 6 weeks since I’ll be doing little hops and taking my time to explore a bit of England.

I’m happy that I know have something to aim for on my horizon, but yet quite nervous about the whole thing. The dover straight looks like it’s going to be a right bastard of a sail single handed in a boat that does 5 knots, on a good day. 

I must remember to keep turning right too, my little boat isn’t quite built for Biscay… yet

This week has been fantastic… almost.

The weather has been amazing in London, especially for mid March. Since Sunday I’ve been wearing t-shirts, and yesterday, inspired by the marina moving Kudu to a new place on a smaller finger berth (not sure I like it yet), I decided to get a load of jobs done on the boat.

I sorted out my droopy spreaders, and tightened the rig properly. I’ve sanded down the cockpit coming and woodwork, ready for a dose of “deks olje” wood oil today. I’ve riveted a couple of blocks to the boom for the single line reefing system… she’s looking good.

I, on the other hand, am not looking so good. I’ve not done any real exercise for ages and I was beginning to feel crap. I woke up at 0650, this morning and went for a run.

The trouble with my running is, I only have two speeds, and that is flat out sprinting, or really fast. I just can’t seem to get into a slower pace, but after this morning, I am going to have to learn. I had been running for 15 minutes and pushing myself hard past an awful feeling derived from minimal exercise for 18 months. I pushed and pushed, far too stubborn to let feeling sick stop me. I won’t stop. Then it happened. I was sick. Oops. I think I pushed a bit too hard.

I had a short walk and then continued to run back. I’m going to run more often from now on. I’m even going to get haircut today!