Back on dry land by JoJo

Summer 2015, back in the UK

After our mad dash to Grenada and a quick pack up of Island Swift (hope we did a good job) we were back in the UK just in time.  Simon's Dad was very ill and sadly died two days after we got back. He was at home with all his family around him.  I am just so very grateful that we got back in time, and that we were not in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which had been the plan.  Simon then spent two lovely sunny afternoons with his Mum, Elsie. Sadly she suddenly got very ill and died a few days later, exactly one week after Ken.  So very sad for us all, but so romantic for them after being married for 67 years.  I loved Ken and Elsie very much and was not prepared for how emotional I became. They had a beautiful joint funeral.

Ken and Elsie

Coming home by Lochlann

Summer 2015

The prospect of coming back to the UK had been hanging over us since we had arrived at the Caribbean. Decisions were made, scrapped and frequently forgotten. In the end we had made the
irrevocable agreement (because mum books the flights) that we would leave the boat at a boatyard and fly back home.

But as we were slowly island-hopping south towards Grenada (the island where we were going to leave the boat) we received an email from Dad’s sister Miranda. My grandfather Boppa was extremely ill and the doctors said he was too frail to operate upon. Boppa had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years earlier, and we had been worried about leaving England in the first place. So now we raced across the ocean straight to Grenada as fast as we could go.

Ken and Elsie