We made it. Valent was relaunched on time and despite the abysmal weather for the second half of March, we managed to get the mast on and the majority of work finished. We hit our deadline of moving out of our rented property in Lymington by the end of the month so back to life as live-a-boards. The bad news is that the inside of Valent is currently a tip. Remembering which nooks and crannies everything went into is proving difficult. Added to that our personal stuff has multiplied, not least because we have ended up being in the UK unexpectedly over winter and have boosted our bulky clothing.
Once in the water we found a number of systems needed a tweak to get them working again, e.g. bowthruster, VHF or in some cases just decided to fail, e.g. relay unit for the anchor windlass. Most are easy fixes but as usual with these things you end up waiting for parts.
Suzy and the girls remained cheerful and enjoyed life in Lymington, and as well are very on top of the home schooling. The girls enjoyed going to some activities run by the home education network in the area, including art classes, forest school and a youth club. Mothering Sunday happened to be a rare sunny and dry day and we had a lovely walk to Mudeford and took the little ferry across to explore the other side. Lucy has cracked the Rubik’s cube and keeps challenging herself to get faster and faster. Sophie is immersed in her books and enjoying her choice of language to learn on Duolingo, Russian. Essential for all aspiring astronauts.
For those of you who like the technical stuff I will do a separate update on the deck repairs and other major works. Suffice to say, we now have a boat with complete deck that appears to be waterproof. Not only that, but you have to look to see the joins.
All that’s left to do now (other than tidy and sort) is to get to sunny and warm climes, (and win the lottery)!