“The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place.”  

Arthur Ransome (1923) from “Racundra’s First Cruise”

How our attitude has changed since starting this blog!

Seventeen years of living this journey and experience, we have met many people, made some amazing friends, enjoyed different cultures, lifetime experiences and stunning environments.

Our final resting place for Amelie started with a winter in Port Townsend and ended up very close to downtown Seattle, on Lake Union, tied to a dock.

The last two years have been our busiest to date with visits to the UK, Grenada, catching up with the Babes, staying with various friends in the NW Pacific, enjoying Thanksgiving and an Italian Christmas in Port Townsend, visiting several San Juan Islands for the last time, attending our first rodeo and keeping Amelie in tiptop condition for viewings.

It has been a emotional rollercoaster with the loss of a father, a cherished aunt, shipping our life possessions in twelve boxes, finding a rental property in the UK and furnishing it, together with Stephen returning to work. It has showed how strong and resourceful we are.

The highlight of this time was the birth of Rosalie Mae (Rosie) on the 31st of January and spending time with our six other grandchildren and family.

We will finish this blog by announcing the news that we have made a life changing decision to leave Amelie and return to the UK, as many of you already know.

This was an emotional and an extremely difficult decision to make as we will be changing our entire lifestyle to embark on the next chapter of our lives together. Stephen found this easier than Debbie but we are both excited about our next adventures, hopefully including some travelling of the land variety.

Amelie has been a wonderful home and looked after us well. We believe that we have given her the life that she was built for. Amelie has allowed us to have adventures that most people only dream of. We have enjoyed meeting people from different cultures throughout the world and feel we have become more humble human beings, from these interactions.

Our dream is for Amelie to be loved as we loved her; to continue exploring this wonderful planet that we live on and to give happiness to Jonathan and Amy, the new owners of this beautiful yacht.

Amelie, we leave you with huge sadness but take with us loving memories of our time together.

This is the Skipper and First Mate saying farewell to our ocean girl.

Amelie crew out!