Made that trip back to Blighty multiple times back in the 70s/80s during my days as a delivery skipper.. no Orcas fortunately ! Biggest problem was the summer months with the northerly winds blowing steady F6+ 24 hrs a day down the Portuguese coast, usually forcing us well out into the Atlantic.. Beautiful boat ! :>)
Thank you…yes we were keen to get out early in the season before the Portuguese trades kicked in. There was a lot of motor sailing to be fair! But fair play to you doing it multiple times…once was enough for us! 😊😂⛵️
Brrrrr! Sitting here in U.K. looking at that lovely weather back then and thinking you'd probably prefer to be somewhere warmer than the U.K. at the moment. It seems so long ago now. I certainly enjoyed your Mediterranean cruising and videos. I haven't caught up with your new adventures in the U.K. yet although I'm aware of what you're up to. Looking forward to your U.K. videos when the weather gets worse. I love the 'pipes too - farewell Gibraltar. No Orcas so far thankfully. Hopefully in the next episode it's a repeat performance. Best wishes Kate and Ian, P.
Thank you Peter. Overall we’re very happy to be home but, without being a multimillionaire, we can’t have everything we want and yes we miss the winter climate in Gib or the Algarve so still waiting for that lottery win so we can have it all! 😂 We’re fortunate though that we have some winter sunshine booked in January for a few weeks and we very much hope to spend a month or so in warmer climes each winter. Nice to now have a U.K. base but have options to visit warmer places. The voyage home was tough in many ways and we perhaps didn’t film as much as we used to but I hope you enjoy following along in any event. Thank you for your support 😃
@@FollowIntrepidBear I enjoyed every minute of your Med experience. Thank’s for sharing. As I said, I haven’t caught up with your present journey but will in due course. Cheers! P
Worth the wait; must have been emotional editing the video. The drone footage is particularly impressive. Will look forward to the next instalment, but if you haven't finished the final one yet it would be interesting to learn of your future plans. I binned Facebook so regret won't see what you posted there but if you don't mind repeating yourself a wee bit then t'would be good. All the very best to you both whatever you decide to do.
Hi Iain, good to hear from you.. No I haven't finished any future episodes yet. Trying hard to get ahead of the curve as we are away for most of January so I want to get a few in the bank. But to sum up whats going on, you may be a little surprised if you haven't been following on insta or Facebook. We arrived home in June time having not really enjoyed much of this voyage home and being well and truly done with sailing. We sold Intrepid Bear but after a very stressful selling process, due mainly to an incompetent buyers surveyor, pivoted from the motor boat we had planned to buy to a wide beam canal boat! No I still can't really believe it either! The main reasons for the canal boat were that we bought one from 2017 which is basically a small floating apartment. Had we bought the 50+ foot motor boat then we/I would be continuing to deal with an almost 40 year old boat which I was struggling to face after some issue that i had to address on the Bear. Also the inland marina leaves us with lot more disposable cash each month than a south coast marina would. I still need a saltwater fix so hope to get some freelance work as a motorboat skipper from time to time. We plan to continue travelling by more conventional means, we also have a caravan now for UK exploring. We plan to keep making videos of whatever travelling we do but once we have completed the voyage home I can't be sure we'll have enough material for regular episodes but we'll see. We both know that we'll, quite understandably, lose most of our sailing following but we love having the videos to look back at ourselves and enjoy the creative process of making them. So yes that's us in a nutshell right now, happy to be home, happy to have a car and a little normality but still settling back in and working out exactly what we want next. I don't think we are finished with the sea but are taking a break for a few years in terms of where we live.... There you go! Probably not what you expected... it wasn't what I expected just a couple of months ago either!
@@FollowIntrepidBear Many thanks for such a detailed reply, Iain; most interesting. We've pondered the idea of a narrowboat too, and had a lovely long walk down the Kennet & Avon at Devizes earlier this year. The lifestyle seems a world away from the constant stress of dodging weather, finding anchorages and Schengen stupidity with the bonus that you'll keep fit operating all those locks.... I'm glad you're going to keep doing the videos and I wouldn't be surprised if you retain a good number of subscribers. I wrote earlier that you both come across as 'anti-celebrities' - real people who others can relate to against the plethora of others in YT who seem up their own backsides and who are often just fan-boys for whatever gadget some advertiser is sponsoring them to peddle. Far more real than reality TV. I'll ask the missus to weave whatever magic is required to get on FB so we can better follow your progress. It would be fabulous to host you on our boat at some time as we cruise the UK as I bet you've both a lot of untold stories to tell.....a dram or two wouldn't be amiss. I'm pretty sure you'd be welcomed into many an Association or Club as a speaker as well as your style is compelling. All the very best again.
@iainmacdonald1170 thank you. We actually bought a widebeam, which significantly restricts the area we can cruise but gives us a huge (compared to a yacht or narrow boat) living space. We will potter around the local canals from time to time but a lot more of our adventures will be land based for now or flying somewhere etc. Nothing is set in stone but we’re enjoying being stationary without the worries you list for now! It would be great to get together to swap stories sometime so if you can find your way onto Facebook (or Instagram) you’ll know what we’re up to in much more real time to see if we’re in the same area. It’s also easier to get or stay in touch via messenger etc. We have our caravan as well so maybe, next year, we can pitch up somewhere near wherever you are and catch up for that wee dram! Cheers for now 😊
Thanks!
Oh wow…thank you Roger, that’s really kind of you. Much appreciated 😃
Good to 'sea' you back,
I ‘sea’ what you did there 😂….very good! Hope you enjoy the voyage home although it was a challenge. Cheers 😊
Very pleased to see you back. Very enjoyable
Thanks Roger, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊
Been looking forward to seeing this passage - a great start 😊
Thanks Richard 😊
Made that trip back to Blighty multiple times back in the 70s/80s during my days as a delivery skipper.. no Orcas fortunately ! Biggest problem was the summer months with the northerly winds blowing steady F6+ 24 hrs a day down the Portuguese coast, usually forcing us well out into the Atlantic.. Beautiful boat ! :>)
Thank you…yes we were keen to get out early in the season before the Portuguese trades kicked in. There was a lot of motor sailing to be fair! But fair play to you doing it multiple times…once was enough for us! 😊😂⛵️
Brrrrr! Sitting here in U.K. looking at that lovely weather back then and thinking you'd probably prefer to be somewhere warmer than the U.K. at the moment. It seems so long ago now. I certainly enjoyed your Mediterranean cruising and videos. I haven't caught up with your new adventures in the U.K. yet although I'm aware of what you're up to. Looking forward to your U.K. videos when the weather gets worse. I love the 'pipes too - farewell Gibraltar. No Orcas so far thankfully. Hopefully in the next episode it's a repeat performance. Best wishes Kate and Ian, P.
Thank you Peter. Overall we’re very happy to be home but, without being a multimillionaire, we can’t have everything we want and yes we miss the winter climate in Gib or the Algarve so still waiting for that lottery win so we can have it all! 😂 We’re fortunate though that we have some winter sunshine booked in January for a few weeks and we very much hope to spend a month or so in warmer climes each winter. Nice to now have a U.K. base but have options to visit warmer places. The voyage home was tough in many ways and we perhaps didn’t film as much as we used to but I hope you enjoy following along in any event. Thank you for your support 😃
@@FollowIntrepidBear I enjoyed every minute of your Med experience. Thank’s for sharing. As I said, I haven’t caught up with your present journey but will in due course. Cheers! P
We just visited Gibralter a few days ago. We are in Spain for a month. Strange to see the names were you have been. Keep up the good work.
Cheers Jim…glad you got to see Gibraltar…hope you enjoyed it? Great that you’re seeing some of the places we’ve been 😍⛵️
Worth the wait; must have been emotional editing the video. The drone footage is particularly impressive. Will look forward to the next instalment, but if you haven't finished the final one yet it would be interesting to learn of your future plans. I binned Facebook so regret won't see what you posted there but if you don't mind repeating yourself a wee bit then t'would be good. All the very best to you both whatever you decide to do.
Hi Iain, good to hear from you.. No I haven't finished any future episodes yet. Trying hard to get ahead of the curve as we are away for most of January so I want to get a few in the bank. But to sum up whats going on, you may be a little surprised if you haven't been following on insta or Facebook. We arrived home in June time having not really enjoyed much of this voyage home and being well and truly done with sailing. We sold Intrepid Bear but after a very stressful selling process, due mainly to an incompetent buyers surveyor, pivoted from the motor boat we had planned to buy to a wide beam canal boat! No I still can't really believe it either! The main reasons for the canal boat were that we bought one from 2017 which is basically a small floating apartment. Had we bought the 50+ foot motor boat then we/I would be continuing to deal with an almost 40 year old boat which I was struggling to face after some issue that i had to address on the Bear. Also the inland marina leaves us with lot more disposable cash each month than a south coast marina would. I still need a saltwater fix so hope to get some freelance work as a motorboat skipper from time to time. We plan to continue travelling by more conventional means, we also have a caravan now for UK exploring. We plan to keep making videos of whatever travelling we do but once we have completed the voyage home I can't be sure we'll have enough material for regular episodes but we'll see. We both know that we'll, quite understandably, lose most of our sailing following but we love having the videos to look back at ourselves and enjoy the creative process of making them. So yes that's us in a nutshell right now, happy to be home, happy to have a car and a little normality but still settling back in and working out exactly what we want next. I don't think we are finished with the sea but are taking a break for a few years in terms of where we live.... There you go! Probably not what you expected... it wasn't what I expected just a couple of months ago either!
@@FollowIntrepidBear Many thanks for such a detailed reply, Iain; most interesting. We've pondered the idea of a narrowboat too, and had a lovely long walk down the Kennet & Avon at Devizes earlier this year. The lifestyle seems a world away from the constant stress of dodging weather, finding anchorages and Schengen stupidity with the bonus that you'll keep fit operating all those locks.... I'm glad you're going to keep doing the videos and I wouldn't be surprised if you retain a good number of subscribers. I wrote earlier that you both come across as 'anti-celebrities' - real people who others can relate to against the plethora of others in YT who seem up their own backsides and who are often just fan-boys for whatever gadget some advertiser is sponsoring them to peddle. Far more real than reality TV. I'll ask the missus to weave whatever magic is required to get on FB so we can better follow your progress. It would be fabulous to host you on our boat at some time as we cruise the UK as I bet you've both a lot of untold stories to tell.....a dram or two wouldn't be amiss. I'm pretty sure you'd be welcomed into many an Association or Club as a speaker as well as your style is compelling. All the very best again.
@iainmacdonald1170 thank you. We actually bought a widebeam, which significantly restricts the area we can cruise but gives us a huge (compared to a yacht or narrow boat) living space. We will potter around the local canals from time to time but a lot more of our adventures will be land based for now or flying somewhere etc. Nothing is set in stone but we’re enjoying being stationary without the worries you list for now! It would be great to get together to swap stories sometime so if you can find your way onto Facebook (or Instagram) you’ll know what we’re up to in much more real time to see if we’re in the same area. It’s also easier to get or stay in touch via messenger etc. We have our caravan as well so maybe, next year, we can pitch up somewhere near wherever you are and catch up for that wee dram! Cheers for now 😊