Well it’s back to work as usual for LUSH and her new crew. After we said our farewells in Antibes the crew got straight onto preparing LUSH for potential viewing at the Monaco Boat Show. Yes that’s right folks LUSH is for sale. A couple of weeks later the crew sailed LUSH back to Palma where Paul had previously booked her into the yard there, to complete all the necessary warranty work with Oyster.

 

Thankfully over our two years at sea there weren’t any ‘showstopper’ issues onboard, however as with any boat, there was a couple of bits and pieces to get sorted along the way. LUSH is the first of the Oyster 885s and normally you’d expect a bigger ‘snag’ list especially with a yacht that’s first of a new design. There are a few reasons why LUSH sailed so successfully around the world. Oyster Yachts Southampton, where LUSH was built have an exceptionally super team of boat builders and craftsmen and women, who worked tirelessly to have LUSH in pristine condition for our departure in November 2012.

 

Eddie got Paul involved with the project a year previous to the launch. Paul and I both agree with Eddie that if you want a boat ready for a trip like this you need the captain, who’ll be running the yacht, involved in decisions of build and more so deciding what systems he wants onboard. I think a lot of issues people have with their luxury yachts is that they don’t get their crew involved early enough. Paul will go into his decisions on the build side at a later stage, he has some very interesting insights on this. Paul and the project manager, Alan Harmer, worked well together and Alan had an excellent handle on what Eddie and Paul’s objectives were.

 

Alan Coker and a couple of guys from the commissioning team sailed with us on our maiden voyage to Las Palmas. We were met by an Oyster team there to iron out any teething issues. Sailing in a Rally around the world also made a massive difference because you had the Oyster Team, Eddie Scougal and Debbie Johnson, nearby if you needed. Alan Canavan, our great engineer, moved to Southampton a few months before our departure, which meant he too was clear and happy with all the systems onboard giving him ample time to get all the necessary tools, spare parts etc for the circumnavigation .

 

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Last month, after two weeks in Palma, LUSH set sail for the Canaries and has just completed another transatlantic. She is now back in the Caribbean moored on our beloved island of Antigua. She is still for sale however Eddie will sail her in the meantime and (drum roll..) she is available for charter over the Christmas and the coming Caribbean season. At the moment the crew are busy getting her shipshape to show at the Antigua Charter Show next week (5^th-11^th Dec) Here’s a link to the show

https://www.antiguayachtshow.com/generalinfo.php

She is a superb charter yacht, with her forth guest cabin meaning she can take up to 8 guests. She stands out from all other yachts her size and up to 120 feet. You would be astonished with the amount of volume she on and below deck. Tim and Sibylla have run numerous charters over the years and will run an awesome holiday for their charter guests along with the deck/engineer Alvie and their new stewardess.  Drop us a line if your interested in chartering LUSH at info@sailingwest.com

 

In the meantime Paul and I are busy writing a book on our epic adventure and have had a few speaking engagements, where we “wowed” the audience with our story inspiring them to achieve their dreams too! We’re going to do a load more speaking in the new year mainly between the UK and Ireland. If you are running an event and are looking for some inspiring speakers, please get in touch on info@sailingwest.com

 

Paul is in the middle of a really cool new project, which will make a massive difference to a lot of sailors and skippers! He will be announcing this to our mailing list over the next month, so if your not on our list, Get on it!!

Click Here to Join Us Now!

One Life … living it, writing it and now speaking about it!!!

 

The taxi honked its horn and it was time to step ashore for the final time as Captain of this magnificent yacht!

I glanced at the log, it read : 38,452 miles!!

“Wow” I thought, 38,452 miles, 22 months at sea and 5 oceans, what an incredible journey we have sailed!

I was thrilled, as all who sailed onboard, had a blast and came home safely with no injuries.

As Captain / Skipper you are totally responsible for not only the yacht but the safety and welfare for all of those onboard. When I am skippering this responsibility is always on my mind and although it may not show, I am constantly running my, “Inner Game” to make sure whatever we do is safe and the risks of anything going wrong are minimised!

“Well Done Paul” my inner voice said as I hugged the new team and wished them the best of luck with their new adventure onboard LUSH!

I then promptly walked down the Passerelle and hopped ashore into the taxi.

As we pulled away, a tear fell from my right eye and rolled slowly down my cheek as I welled up and realised that this chapter of my life’s journey had just come to an end.

All I could feel in that moment, is a total feeling of complete gratitude from head to toe to Eddie and Marie for giving us both this incredible lifetime opportunity!

Rewind 7 Days! 

Tim and Sybilla Beebe arrived at the stern of Lush and walked onboard their new command for the first time!

Alvaro, our Deck Engineer met his new team mates and talked fondly of Lush and how they will enjoy sailing and running her.

Tim & Sybilla have come from a long line of Oysters! In fact only 5 days earlier they had stepped ashore from the Oyster 72′ “Magrathea” they had been running to come and take over Lush from us!

This was the beginning of an intensive week onboard Lush!

The previous 3 weeks had also been full on as I wanted to ensure I handed over LUSH to Tim in the best possible condition and so I completed a full final run through of every system and fitting and fixture of the yacht.

Part of this process included a full on rig check by John Spear who originally rigged Lush when she was built. I arranged for John to fly down from the UK to fully check the mast and standing rigging survey. I have some really interesting insights on this process which I will share with you on a future blog!

You have to imagine how complex a yacht like Lush is, she is a £6M luxury sailing yacht that is packed full of systems that not only power her and propel her but also allow guests to enjoy and relax in 7 star accommodation!

For Tim & Sybilla they would need to become acquainted with Lush and all of those systems and understand how Eddie likes Lush to be run.

One of the benefits of working in the “Oyster Family of Skippers” is Oyster only pick the best manufacturers and keep the systems the same over the whole range.

In simplistic terms, what this means, is all the yachts are fitted with the same Manufactures’ systems and those systems are either spread out over a 90′ yacht like ours or more compact into the smaller yachts in the range!

This means, when you transfer to another Oyster you will have a great grasp on the systems fitted, you just need to learn if its more complex and where the components of the system are located.

So my job initially was to take Tim through every nook and cranny onboard and show him where absolutely every, fuse, relay, pump, control valve, inlet, tank and many other items are located onboard! Trust me there are quite a few!

We spent the first 3 days going through the entire yacht and Tim made notes, asked many questions to get good feel for what he was taking on!

Whilst I was taking Tim though Lush, Audrey was taking Sybilla though the Galley and all  the interior so she became familiar with the interior side of the yacht.

By Day 4 we ready to go for a sail and give the guys the opportunity to handle Lush.

Tim expertly drove us out of our berth and we set sail in a beautiful 12 knots of Southerly breeze and Lush slipped across the Bay of Nice at 9.5 knots!

I could see the new team Lush form their bonds and all three of them, Tim, Sybilla & Alvaro were grinning like Cheshire Cats!

I knew in that moment that this crew transition would be really smooth and Eddie & Marie would be very happy with the new team!

I thought back to when we got Lush blessed in Southampton and considered the words the priest spoke from the, “Mariner’s Prayer” which was, “Guide us safely Lord” and I thought to myself, “Guide This New Team Safely Lord” 

So it was with great pleasure to handover Lush to Tim, Sybilla & Alvaro and I wish them the absolute best onboard!

One Life…Live It!

Paul  🙂

So whats next?

Many of you have been asking us what’s next!

Well….stay tuned because we are working on something right now that is going to be absolutely outstanding and will make a massive difference! I can’t tell you quite yet what it is but I know you will LOVE IT! 

If you want to be the first to know then join us on our mailing list so you will be the first to find out! Just Click the button below now! 

Click Here to Join

 

Our final sail on LUSH was from Corsica back to the South of France and honestly it was one of our most spectacular nights at sea. Even after twenty two months looking at sunsets and then night skies you would think we’d seen it all and that maybe we’d be bored of evening and night sailing by now. However, any of you who have been to sea know there are never two days the same nor two nights. For us it’s even more of a treat to sail along a coast with the amount of ocean sailing we’ve done. All the ingredients were there that glorious evening for a most memorable and marvellous sun set as LUSH ghosted along the eastern Corsican coast in the fading breeze.

Paul and I sat on the bow seat looking out to sea and over the Corsican mountains. We reflected on what has been the most INCREDIBLE, EXTRAORDINARY, UNBELIEVABLE, AMAZING ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!

I know you guys must be fed up of my use of these same few words throughout our blog but the reality is these are the words that describe our trip. In fact there isn’t even a word in the dictionary that encompasses our whole experience on LUSH these past two years. We sang a couple of songs to the ocean that evening and I shed a whole load of tears in my husbands arms, my captain who has taken me and this magnificent yacht safely through 38,000 miles of the worlds oceans.

 

The one thing that kept running through my mind, as the sun finally set was,

“Did I APPRECIATE it all enough?”

Did I appreciate this massive opportunity Eddie and Marie gave us to sail this mighty yacht around the world?

Did I appreciate my fellow crew & my loving husband & skipper enough?

Did I appreciate this wonderful super yacht and all the skilled craftsmen in Oyster Yachts Southampton who built her?

Did I appreciate my amazing galley?

Did I appreciate being part of the outstanding Oyster Rally? All the new friends and islanders we met? My trips to the market? All the sun rises and sets? All the beaches, palm trees, pristine waters and wonderful marine life?

The list goes on…

I had a massive realisation there and then, I thought, “I wonder when you’re at the stage where your life on earth is finally through, will you ask yourself that same question “did I APPRECIATE it all enough?”

Not the question of whether you did enough, had enough or even whether you were enough but just whatever life you’ve had will you wonder whether you appreciated it all?

 

It was after midnight when I arrived back on deck for my final night watch. With a lot less crew onboard we’d been running single-man night watches for a while now and I thoroughly enjoyed that time to myself.  We’ve always been strict on LUSH about not reading or having any distractions while on watch. It’s a perfect time to sit and be still, looking out to sea and up to the stars and on this moonless night they shone brighter than ever. I honestly didn’t want my watch to end. In the morning we would be in France and this was my last time alone with LUSH, the mighty LUSH, our Santa sleigh that magically brought us across the globe over the past 22months. With tears rolling down my face I thanked God and the Universe for guiding us safely through 5 oceans around this enormous planet of ours and looking out beyond the milky way to millions and billions of galaxies I had that chat with the night sky wondering like we all do at times “What’s it all about?”

 

I don’t have the answer to that question but what I can say here and now is

 

One Life… Live it and most importantly, APPRECIATE IT!

 

Appreciate every little bit of it wherever you are, whatever you are doing or whomever you are with, just appreciate it. You won’t have it forever. Change is inevitable.  Life moves on. Paul & I aren’t going too far, we might not be on LUSH but we will be here on this blog for a long time to come.

Lots of love,

Audrey xxx

 

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What Next?

Note to our email followers: We have heaps more info, pics, videos to give those of you on our mailing list!

The next up is an awesome 5 min video of our epic trip!!

 

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Next blog is on “Packing Up & Final Farewell”, stayed tuned for this next week.

My beloved Captain has a few words to share with you all too!

 

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