We left Blackfriars Station bound for Havant Station, a short ten-minute drive from Littlemead House on Hayling Island, the home of our dear friends Nick and Patsy Danby. Nick and Patsy stayed with us for a week in Den Hague earlier in our wanderings. The train to Havant was about an hour duration on the swift Southern Railway.
Another pleasurable meeting of old sailing friends and a return to the charm and warmth of Littlemead. Spring flowers everywhere and most especially in Littlemead’s gardens. Hayling is not far from Stonehenge or Salisbury cathedral, but with only 5 days we elected to stay close and enjoy our friends.
Besides the usual wonderful hospitality and dinner party that Patsy puts on when we visit, we had a day sailing Nick’s Saffier 10-meter up Chichester Harbor to Manor of Bosham, founded in 1058, for lunch and walk around the village. It was good to be out on this brilliantly sunny spring day.
We also spent more time with their son Luke, a professional captain in charge of a custom Baltic 78-foot sailboat. Luke is an extremely fit, athletic man in his early 50’s with the charm and looks of a media personality, but quiet and kind. Luke has sailed around the world and once made a November passage from Newport RI to Ireland on the great northern circle route to Europe. He faced a 3-day full gale on this trip with 2 other crew, only 1 of which could handle the manual steering during the heavy weather. They made Ireland safely, but the boat had railings bent by the force of the water crashing over the deck. That boat and crew made it safely and unbroken is a testament to the quality of build by Baltic Yachts and strength and skill of Luke.
Our departure from England and return after 5 months away was smooth and anti-climactic. All was fine on arrival home and again we were greeted by spring blooms. A wonderful welcome and end to a trip that took place in a perpetual spring from Southern Italy to Copenhagen, Edinburgh, London and Connecticut. We plan to go to Europe again in February and March of 2025, but only to Tuscany and Provence to explore in more depth those two intriguing areas.
Cheers,
John & Heidi
