The start of 2018 was a busy one, London Boat Show then straight onto a weekend visit to Boot, Dusseldorf. That certainly was an eye opener for me, and 20,000 steps in one day was not what I expected.
We had a busy time at the yard, with five new boats being built, two going to New Hampshire and one going to New Mexico.
Then in June my beautiful daughter Lauren married Jamie, a very proud mummy moment, I was and always will be so very proud of both my daughters, and I am so very proud that they have grown into such wonderful, caring young ladies.
July was a fun month of excitement and adventure, I was approached and asked to supply five Drascombe Luggers for filming in Kings Lynn, well it didn't take me long to find five boats as well as willing crew. So off we all headed to Kings Lynn for a few days, the weather was fantastic, probably too warm, but we couldn't complain.
Luggers in the water and all dressed for their part, I was then asked if I could supply two willing volunteers to be in the film, oh how I enjoyed this bit, young Will and Dick were then sent off to the dressing room, and suited and booted to the 1840's era.
I am so looking forward to seeing the film next years, The personal life and history of David
Copperfield.
Also in July, my youngest daughter Hannah was 21, a real day of celebrations (well a couple of days as it is Hannah), a family meal and then a party of friends and family followed.
August come around so quickly, and it was Kyle's 4th birthday, my gorgeous, little soldier had left pre-school and was already to start at big school.
Drascamp 2018 was my only event of the year, 35 boats and 105 people joined in a Cleavel Point in Dorset for six days of sailing, BBQs, horse racing, games and plenty of beer and wine.
On September 2nd, I handed over to its new owner Will Coombes, the very first Drascombe Lugger "Katharine Mary", Will so wanted to buy her, and it was lovely to see this beautiful boat go to her new owner, at 23, Will now owns a piece of Drascombe history.
September was a very difficult month for us all, my lovely father in law Stewart (Brown) was admitted to a local hospice, Stewart was told at the end of 2017 that there was nothing else the
doctors could do for him, so to go home and enjoy what time he had left. With two fantastic sailing trips, and a surprise pub lunch where I arranged for Dick Pizey and Brad Bradshaw to join us all as a family, sadly Stewart's health deteriorated.
I visited as often as I could do, even taking Kyle with us on two occasions, I'm sure those visits helped him through the worst.
With Southampton Boat Show about to start, we exhibited a Drascombe Lugger and the Drifter 22 which Stewart sailed in for eight years.
Sadly on the last Saturday of the show in the early hours of the morning, Stewart Brown passed away peacefully. A difficult day for us all, however we carried on as he would have done so, for me, holding back the tears when talking to customers.
In October, we had a week of sadness and joy, over 110 people attended Stewart's funeral service, what a fitting tribute to a man who was known by many in the Drascombe community.
The following day, sadly no sunshine, but I was a very proud mummy to see my youngest daughter graduate from Winchester University with a Degree in Marketing - Grampa may not have been there in person, but we know he was with us in spirit.
Brad organised a lovely weekend for the Drascombe people, we had a tour of the RNLI lifeboat station at Poole, and saw all the working and going on at their deopt, even seeing where they fit out new RNLI boats, in the evening nearly 40 of us met for a lovely meal, it is always lovely to have these socials to catch up with everyone.
The winter months are usually our quietest, however we have been very fortunate that we have been busy with winter refurb work, insurance claims and a new Longboat to keep us going well into the new year.
I am wondering how I managed to work between all of this going on, but I did. The only down side was less sailing this year, even though it would have been nice to be out on the water, other things always crop up, however I have had over 21,000 page views on my blog in less than four years.
I have learned a lot this year especially, make the most of every day you have, live life to the fullest and never give up on your dreams.
I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Happy sailing
Sharon x
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| "See you when I'm older" Stewart Brown who sadly died this year. |
