All week, this week we have had guests on board. To say utter chaos has reined for the entirity of their visit, just does not leave room for the three trips to the Accident and Emergency ward, along with leaving the keys in a car, while they wandered off. Thankfully, the people of Northern Ireland are very honest, and a random sole stayed with the car until they wandered back. Using all the hot water up, which is what Beverley complained about, was just par for the course. It could of been worse, it could of been all the water, which I must admit did have to be filled up as soon as they had left.

So while Beverley was doing the washing up, she discussed "How big a boat should you buy?". Now, when we were looking for a boat, I wanted a 246 boat which means:-

• 2 to live in all the time
• 4 for a short stay, that is the 2 liveaboards plus 2 guests
• 6 for dinner

For us, this configuration has worked out really well for us. It allows us to have guests, but they are never so comfortable that they want to stay for a long time. The one thing that has also worked for us is where the halyard is. With our size of boat, I can just about put it onto the sail. Any bigger and I wouldn't be able to do that. Beverley can put the halyard on a 38ft yacht, but I can't. While I was up at the mast, I also talked about our issue with hoisting the sail. The main reason we are struggling hoisting the sail is that we are out of condition. The other problem is that we have not cleaned the track and the slugs this year. This means that there is dirt on the slugs and dirt in the track, both of these are adding friction. This friction, means that it is harder for us to hoist the sail. The main issue however, is the drop when the track is dirty, as the slugs stop the sail sliding down as it should. Normally by now we would of cleaned the slugs and sprayed PTFE on the track and slugs. this really helps with the drop.

While I was talking, a bird called Aspirin, flew past. This week Aspirin has visited us on a number of occasions and we managed to film it, up close and personal. Seeing as Aspirin perched on our shoulders. we couldn't resist the odd Ah ha me hearties. Apparently the bird is called Aspirin because Parrots-eat-them-all. It's a bad joke, but the owner likes it.

After out little parrot interlude it was back to Beverley and the washing up. So, when thinking about your boat size, a lot of people think about the number of guests that you can have on board. So, you might think, I will have 5 guests, so I need a boat that can sleep 7. Realistically, you will not have these guests all of the time, so what you are buying is a lot of extra space which comes at a cost. There are the marina bills that increase with the length of the boat, then there is the equipment, such as sails etc. The cost of these rises with the volume of your boat. So, be realistic and think about your running costs, and budget for a boat that you can afford, but more importantly enjoy.

The other thing that you should think about, is how big a boat can you handle, if something happens, can you handle the boat on your own. I once got hit on the head and I took a nasty turn because of it. I did recover and I was monitored for a week afterwards, but Beverley had to sail on her own for a bit. Another time, Beverley had a panic attack as we left Baltimore, so I had to sail Salty Lass on my own. Thankfully she had recovered by the time we had reached Castletownsend, so she helped me navigate through a rowing race, but I still had to do everything for a while.

Yacht masters

The rest of the time, we discussed restarting our Yacht masters. For me, it will give us a purpose, and I like purpose