About Me

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We are Sam and Martyn, originally from Hebden Bridge. We have lived on boats since 1996 and bought Elephant Daze in 2005. She was discovered behind some units in Keighley and we transported her to Goole. For those of you wondering about the name - she was named by Martyn a huge fan of Kirk Brandon / Spear of Destiny who wrote the song 'Elephant Daze' - and the name just seemed to fit. We hope you don't mind Kirk! It is also a great conversation starter!! Many years of blood sweat and tears followed as we took on the uneviable task of resurrecting her, the results were more than worth it! In Febuary 2010 we decided it was time to venture further afield so we left Goole and moved to Hull. This change resulted in us finally deciding to take the bull by the horns and head for the sea. We have left our jobs and will spend the summer having the adventure of or lifetime (we hope!!). We would like to invite you to share in this adventure, I hope you enjoy!

Friday, 25 June 2010

Lowestoft - time for a rest!






We thought we would have a day in port today, actually we decided that yesterday after the epic 10 hour journey! Elephant Daze is not the quietest of boats when cruising and it's actually quite difficult to hold a conversation on route. It's also quite difficult to do anything due to the movement, although I have mastered the art of chopping salad without losing a finger! Making coffee still needs some work.

We have been for diesel at the neighbouring marina - yes the chap that Martyn spoke to yesterday on the very same diesel quay. He was quite polite and friendly and didn't treat us as the complete buffoons we made ourselves out to be yesterday. We were very nervous about entering this marina for a couple of reasons, firstly, yesterdays shenanigans and secondly we had been told that the marina was difficult for access and full of extremely expensive sailing boats. Martyn radioed the Harbour Master for permission to move within the Port and we were off. Upon entering the marina we saw row upon row of posh sailing boats, I think they were racing boats. The wind got up just as we got in there but Martyn held her steady, then around the corner came a sailing boat with a grim faced owner at the helm! We managed to get over in time to miss it and Martyn made a perfect landing on the fuel quay - phew! As we were preparing to leave we heard a conversation over the radio that made us smile. Apparently the owner of the vessel we encountered had left the marina without the permission of the Harbour Master and was getting a right royal telling off! At least it wasn't us for a change - the funny thing was that the marina entrance has lights to tell you if you can leave or enter and the Harbour Master had accidentally put them to red after granting us permission to leave. We had to radio through to double check for clearance and a very apologetic Harbour Master changed the lights to green. Little things, but they make you realise that sometimes other people make mistakes too!

Following lunch at The harbour we are now back on board and Martyn is having a well earned snooze - it's a hard life this unemployment thing!

We will be back out to sea tomorrow - trying to avoid the ferries! I will let you know how that adventure pans out.




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