welshbird.com

Ocean Tracker.

2008-04-02T07:57:00.003Z

If anyone wants to track the position of the ship or see any new updates posted to the web, then to save time both of these things can be found at a new blog:

Follow My Trip

Baby Thomas

2008-03-31T17:01:00.004Z

Do you remember this?

Well, now this:

Awww....

20 years of hurt

2008-02-04T09:02:00.000Z

WOOHOOOO!

I've waited what seems like forever for this.

Well done lads. (But what on earth were we doing in the first half?)

For ever more Welsh people will grin and just say 19-26. No more detail will be necessary.

John on Lord Nelson

2007-10-23T22:28:00.000Z

The Peter Snow Appeal

2007-10-23T19:46:00.000Z

The 30th Anniversary Ball for the JST

2007-10-07T20:05:00.000Z

The JST recently held an event to celebrate 30 years of the Jubilee Sailing Trust. I was invited to attend with the ship's cook, a very good friend of mine called Graham.

So, this is us ready to go:

And a fab time was had by all!

My new girlie shoes

2007-10-02T09:16:00.000Z

I know these aren't my usual type of footwear, but hey!

Track Chart for the last trip - (TNS205)

2007-09-28T09:21:00.001Z

Tenacious during the Tall Ships Race

2007-09-28T09:15:00.000Z

This was filmed by a Sky News reporter during the Tall Ships Race 2005.

Golden Wedding

2007-09-10T15:21:00.000Z

'Twas the 50th Anniversary of my parents' wedding, so the whole family gathered together to celebrate.

It was a really lovely time.

And Sis - If you find this - then email me! Ta muchly...

Jubilee Sailing Trust: Sponsored Mast Climb

2007-08-06T09:20:00.000Z

The Jubilee Sailing Trust are holding a Sponsored Mast Climb in West India Dock in London on the 23rd of September 2007.
The above is a view from part of the way up, so the view from the very top seems a little higher than this!

If you would be interested in taking part in this event, then please email me for more details and I can forward the relevant forms.

Each climber must raise a minimum of £250, and the climber which raises the most money can win a free trip on the ship!

Pictures of me

2007-06-11T14:48:00.000Z

My chum at the sailing charity has just sent me my volunteer polo shirt and badge. And she enclosed a picshure wot she drawed.

I'll let you pass your own judgement.

I hope that isn't my hair. (Nice to have skinny legs for a change though!)

Sat on their park bench like book ends

2007-06-07T19:30:00.000Z

Some people you have known almost for ever. Way back when you were the back two desks of second violins in a youth orchestra.

And you don't speak to for years on end, but when you do; it's just like yesterday.

So, Andy - hopefully you've found this in order to email me. It was really nice to start catching up. I've not been aware of missing you, but when I speak to you again I realise that I have.

The Transatlantic

2007-05-29T18:25:00.000Z

Well, I've booked it.

And now I look it seems like a REALLY long way!

(Thanks to Google Earth for showing me just how far it is.)

So, if anyone needs me next April I'll have run away to sea...

A Voyage on Tenacious

2007-05-21T09:11:00.001Z

We went, we sailed, we got wet and cold, and we absolutely loved it!

Thanks to everyone on the Forward Port watch - you made it so easy for me.

Feed me 'til I want no more!

2007-03-17T22:56:00.000Z

We've had a dreadful six-nations championship. Right up until today, and even then we tried very hard to give it back to England for a while.

But we WON! 27-18 will go down in history at home. We do love a bit of a win and especially against the old enemy....

Dydd Dewi Sant

2007-03-01T09:01:00.000Z

Happy St David's Day!

You can find more information about St David here.

New Year's Eve at the Seaside

2006-12-31T17:56:00.000Z

My view of these wasn't quite so good (New Year's Eve was much more cloudy and windy that this). Exhilarating still though!

(Speedymax takes fab photo's! - Thank you)

Ice skating at the Tower of London

2006-12-16T17:47:00.000Z

I'm kinda part of another family apart from my own. It's really very lovely.

Our Christmas day out this year was to go and visit the Tower of London, followed by Ice Skating in the moat of the tower.

(thanks to Dave for taking this excellent photo)

The Ravenglass Railway, Cumbria

2006-10-02T19:50:00.000Z

I recently visited the Lake District for a holiday, and went on a steam train for the very first time. It was a very wee train (and I got soot in my eye at one point too!)

But, it was very pretty and a lovely experience. I'd recommend it.

Heritage Weekend

2006-09-11T14:17:00.000Z

It was just Heritage Weekend. I didn't realise until it was almost over, but I did manage to visit one site in Woking which I hadn't previously seen.

I went to the Shah Jahan Mosque, which I have now learnt was the first purpose-built mosque in the UK.

It's very small, and is sometimes not big enough for prayers as it only holds 60 people.

But it's a beautiful building, and the Imam (by the name of Mufti) was incredibly helpful in explaining not just the history of the building but also some information regarding the basic principles of Islam.

There is restoration work going on at present, so we weren't able to see inside the mosque, but I fully intend to make an appointment and go back again to see it in more detail.

Sailing through the sky

2006-08-03T19:34:00.000Z

This cloud was in the sky over my house this evening. It just reminded of good times.....

The Wedding

2006-07-19T12:56:00.000Z

They did it! Mr and Mrs Thomas have now left the country, and are honeymooning their socks off in more exotic climes.

Porto Pollensa

2006-06-11T16:24:00.000Z

Sunset over the mountains in Porto Pollensa.

Fat Face Socks

2006-04-26T13:14:00.000Z

Everyone who knows me know that I have a small obsession about socks from Fat Face.

So, these are one of the oldest pairs I have, and also one of the best-loved pairs.

The colour hasn't come out so well on this picture - they actually look like choc-mint-chip.

Uffingham White Horse

2006-04-03T08:22:00.000Z

This is White Horse Hill near Uffingham.
Click here to see other photos from the surrounding area.

Witney

2006-04-02T20:17:00.000Z

This is a picture of the Butter Cross in Witney. Historically this is the place where the hosuewives used to market the butter they had churned. Sounds like a typical welsh village, where people survive by taking in each other's washing.

Happy birthday to me....

2006-03-05T11:28:00.000Z

This is Axel. He was a birthday present, and he's just too cute, too cuddly, too soft not to share his picture on the web.

Bless 'im...

Well, he has 'Axel' embroidered on his bum, but I'm very partial to call him George instead. He looks like a George.

(BTW: I'm still in my early thirties - I'm not listening to ANYONE who tells me that I'm now in my late thirties - especially when they aren't in their thirties at all!)

So my parents came for Christmas

2005-12-25T20:55:00.000Z

I love them dearly - but do you know? This wasn't exactly how I had envisaged Christmas Day, but Dad's will be Dad's, and will always want to look after their daughters....

Mum managed to relax some more I think. She even let me cook all of the Christmas dinner, and then wrote me the most lovely letter after that telling me how much she's enjoyed both the dinner and the rest.

Mousehole, Cornwall

2005-11-20T20:07:00.000Z

At last - a holiday! A week away, in one of the smallest cottages in the world.

Mousehole is a tiny village, in which most of the roads are not wide enough to drive along. If two people chose to drive through the village at the same time then that's gridlock.

Why do we do it?

2005-11-20T18:11:00.000Z

Lands End... I really thought it would be an incredible experience to visit here, but sadly not the case. I wish it could have still been unspoilt.

Weekend in Wales

2005-09-09T07:43:00.000Z

Bank holiday weekend, at the end of August - I decided it was time to take my friends and introduce them both to my folks and to the bit of Wales I still think of as home.

So, we wandered off to Mumbles to stay with my folks and then to the Gower for the day starting with my most favourite place - Rhossilli.

(BTW - you do know of course that Wales looks like a pig with one ear)

Worm's Head is supposedly the most photographed place in Wales and is the very end of the Gower peninsula in South Wales. (The pig's chin in fact)

The photo you see is of Worm's Head (from the Norse 'Wurm' for Dragon).

St Cuthman's Retreat

2005-08-06T10:54:00.000Z

Do you know, sometimes you just crave peace.
I felt just that way. Work was obsessively busy - life was a little stressful generally I guess, so I chose to take myself away from it all for a little while.
St Cuthman's is a retreat - and like nowhere else I have ever been. It was silent enough to almost be scary. There was even silent dining, and it was a very strange experience. I felt regenerated by my time there, and I would honestly recommend it. I was reminded of the beginning section of the Desderata
"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there is in silence"
This seat summed it up in an odd way - it's created out of living willow, and sitting there is an extreme way of feeling at one with nature.

Lazing about in the lower mess

2005-07-11T20:45:00.000Z

Well, racing or not..... sometimes you just need to join in with the 'craic'. In between racing hard (obviously) there just had to be time for guitars, singing, drinking, more singing and more drinking...

Tall Ships Race First Leg 2005

2005-07-09T23:37:00.000Z

Wow. Sailing on a tall ships is always an incredible experience, but the site of traditionally rigged ships heading toward the start line is enough to make the neck hairs on even the most hard hearted amongst us to stand on end.
Just for a change, I sailed on SV Tenacious and wonderfully enough we managed to come second.

Oyster Tasting

2005-05-29T13:41:00.000Z

Introducing someone to the dubious pleasure of Oysters sometimes works, and sometimes clearly isn't what they thought! (Sorry Jen - but these pics were too good not to post)

The Nutmeg Restaurant

2005-01-01T23:48:00.000Z

I have no idea what this restaurant was called - but my abiding memory of the place was the nutmeg shells all over the floor. It was the most amazingly georgeous smell imaginable.

New Years Day

2005-01-01T10:35:00.000Z

The Aquarium at Grenada.
This was the first time we got to the eastern side of any of the islands, and its true to say that none of us had the benefit of very much sleep. Maybe that contributed to the problems people had fighting against the ocean tide to get out of the water. One of the lasting memories of that trip for all of us I think!

Photo's of anyone trying to fight the current back up the beach will NOT be posted.... purely to protect the guilty!

Working Aloft

2004-12-31T13:18:00.000Z

You can see already by the fact that I took this picture, that I wasn't one of the brave guys who went aloft on this particular occasion. This was just after lunch on New Year's eve, and the guys were working aloft, neatly stowing the sails away, so that when we entered the harbour in Grenada we looked the very epitome of 'ship-shape'.

Lying on the beach

2004-12-29T10:30:00.000Z

It's not often I just lie on a beach, but when the view above you is just like this, then even I can think about it.

This is in St Lucia, in one of the few moments I was awake. Happily snoozing away in the shade.

Sunrise on Christmas morning

2004-12-25T06:10:00.000Z

Sometimes offering to stand harbour watch is a really easy decision. I can't imagine having too many opportunities to watch the sun rise through the rigging of Endeavour who was moored alongside us in English Harbour.

Just magical...

The view from Shirley Heights

2004-12-23T21:30:00.000Z

Wow.
Christmas and New Year in the Carribean.

This is a shot from Shirley Heights, looking out over Monserrat, while the sun is setting, and the beginning of one of the most incredible holidays of my life.

We watched the sun set whilst listening to the most fantastic steel band, and eating rice and peas.

People use the phrase 'life changing' far too easily I think, but this trip truly was.

More posts to follow with more pictures of the trip!