Have you missed me? Let’s be honest. Probably not! I can confirm it was April 2026 when there was any Grace Of Longstone activity.

A quick précis then. We stripped Grace bare and left her in the capable hands of our friend Noa. We’d had a truncated sailing season in NZ for a combination of reasons. That’s okay. It didn’t tarnish our view of South Island. 

We flew to Oz and avoided being bitten by anything crawly, although there was a red bellied black snake on the path outside our bedroom window when we arrived the first evening. We like a memorable welcome.

Dave and I hired a couple of bikes and cycled the Brisbane Rail trail. 160km over 3 days. Not too strenuous. To get to the start we took a three and a half hour Queensland train journey. It cost us each 27p. Yes you did read that correctly. 27p each. Any trip on Queensland public transport….bus, train, ferry is 50 cents in a drive to get people off the roads and onto public transport. Brilliant idea. Big pat on back for the authorities.

We didn’t see any slithery creatures on the trail but a wallaby did bound across the trail just a few short meters in front of us early one morning causing a modicum of alarm. No green cross code etiquette amongst the Queensland wallaby population.

We’ve been in the UK since late May. Summer was long and hot and lacking in green. The vegetation shut down and went brown. Dave worked the tents again. I tried to find us a house to buy. We had two trips to Devon to look but so far haven’t found our special place. We’ll head back down again in October for another look. That’s after a week in Croatia. There is a boat connection but they’ll be small ones. Dinghies on the ocean in the late Mediterranean summer. 

We’ve had time in North Wales, the Lakes, Northumberland and the Cotswolds. Plus a trip to the Brecon area where two very special people decided to have a party which they attached the briefest of ceremonies to and made some commitments. It was attended by about 25 people and at least 5 dogs. Happy days.

It’s the equinox tomorrow. Summer is on its way in the south. And we’re off to a film premiere. Red carpet here we come.

Today it’s pretty miserable. Squally rain greyness, gusting wind, Grace squirming across the water on a mooring as the blasts of fast moving air skitter across the surface. The boat is in constant motion, twirling this way and that. I’m sat in the cockpit, tent is up as I watch raindrops racing down the plastic windows. 

We’re in the Abel Tasman. Last trip before we put Grace to bed for a while. Yesterday the sun shone, the park resonated quietness as most of the tourists are done for the season. There’s a walk I like to do here which only takes about an hour. I’ve walked it countless times but still love what it has to offer.  My loop I call it. Maybe there be one more circuit to be had before we leave. 

Nelson calls. Our lives over the next few days will be filled with engine and generator maintenance, bundling sails and trips to the rented storage unit before we fly to Auckland. Good friends Brian and Sue live out on the Coromandel. The area got blasted recently by the fringes of a cyclone so no doubt we’ll see land slips and road damage on our visit. New Zealand does fall apart in bad weather. 

Then up to Oz for 10 days. We will cycle the Brisbane Rail Trail as well as goat herding and helping with pig maintenance. And finally into the UK via Bangkok, assuming the world hasn’t run out of aviation fuel. The rogue lunatic may have fresh madness dreamed up by then. 

I’m realising that actually what I’m doing here is writing a flowery list of things to do in the next three weeks or so. Well that saves me a job. Apologies for the diatribe. You’ve been suckered into reading Helen’s list here.

We spent some time recently sailing / motoring in the Marlborough Sounds. It’s beautiful and can feel detached and occasionally remote in its outreaches. The views of Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Sounds from the main trail are breathtaking. But boy, it’s a tricky old place to sail and to find good quality shelter. One minute you have 10 knots from a particular direction, then the wind dies instantaneously and comes back at 20 knots in a completely different direction. Even if you’re not a sailing person, hopefully you feel my frustration. 

Overall it’s not been a straightforward season this year. Plans changed for a number of reasons, me breaking my arm didn’t help. That’s all good and mighty now. Seeing friends and family back in the UK is to the forefront of my mind now. 

The birdsong in New Zealand can be a full on avian symphony. Mostly melodic, sometimes trill. I’ve heard birdsong that’s both jubilant and cheery. The chorus welcoming warmth and light each morning. There aren’t many indigenous mammals here so the birds are greatly valued.

So why do so many people choose to walk around the countryside like DJ Snoopety Slim, wired for sound with headphones the size of monster Krispy Kreme doughnuts? It saddens me that the natural song is ignored. There’s a time and a place for blocking out nature or listening to music or podcasts. Take time to listen to the birdsong. Who knows how long it will still be there. And it’s more heart warming than a whole heap of the human noise thats out there at this time in history.

We’re currently in the Marlborough Sounds. Hands up if you’re sailed here before. It’s bloody difficult. That’s our assessment.
Not just the sailing but picking a protected spot for the night. In our experience it feels almost impossible to predict which way the wind will blow. The forecast says southerly 20 to 25 so we pick a place to stay overnight which everywhere else in the world should offer good protection. The wind will blow from every which way. Strong gusts followed by eerie calm. The geography of the Sounds creates funnelling, localised intense winds that seem to come from random directions, blast their worth then disappear as quickly as they arrived.

As beautiful a place it is, we’re finding it hard to love as it’s flipping hard work being so erratic. We’ve moved around 4 mooring balls in one hook of a bay this morning, thinking the one we were on was getting particularly splatted. But in checking out the others, they too were blasted, but from different wind directions. Tricky.

Last weekend we took a road trip south to meet up with friends in Canterbury. We stayed in an off grid cabin, walked up a big (ish) hill, Little Mount Peel, swam in the river and had a campfire. Some might say primitive. I prefer wholesome.

We travelled back across Arthur.s Pass, having a night in the village. It’s a pretty small one street place but back in the early 1900’s the village exploded into life as an 8.5km rail tunnel was constructed through the hill. Digging and blasting was from both ends with a reported mismatch of just 29mm when the two ends met each other. Impressive.

Through goes another windy blast. The boat has just twirled around, We’re hunkered down here in Ketu Cove in Pelorus Sound. Can’t hear any birds. It’s too noisy.

A brief update.
Our visitor arrived. A bit later than planned (she dumped us initially because she had a better offer!). Still, she’s forgiven as we loved having her to stay and had a top time together.

I’ve enjoyed just playing back in my head what we got up to while she was here. I’ve included a few piccies although they are just a snapshot of a few of the adventures. There are no photos of the storm that came through the marina when Dave and Linnit headed off to try to rescue a sail on someone else’s boat that had worked its way free or the quirky little film we saw at the cinema about New Zealand Tramping Huts.

Our trip to the newly fixed Via Ferrata about an hour’s drive from Nelson was great fun. The fishing trip with a retired fisherman friend and his wife was pretty successful. Mucho snapper….lots to share, freeze, give away. And the swimming and walking around the Able Tasman was just lovely.

We are back to just me and Dave now. But plans have been delayed after I cracked a bone in my arm coming off my bike. We’re hopeful it will heal in 3 ish weeks.

There are some basic requirements for a traditional British Christmas dinner. Turkey, sprouts, cranberry sauce. Having an oven helps too. And it’s in the oven department that we are lacking ….to the tune of one. 

Ours went on a trip to North Island to be refurbished with hopes of a return that was bright, shiny and fully functioning. A new ‘like for like’ marine oven retails at over £2,000. Sod that. Problem is, the oven hasn’t returned and New Zealand likes a long Christmas break. Even though it was booked in for courier collection on the 19th December, it’s still waiting on a workshop floor in Auckland. Many miles from Grace on Christmas Eve.

Chris, a kind man who runs Nelson Sailing School lent us a two burner gas stove to supplement our camping stoves. But there’s still no oven. So roasting, baking and grilling are not possible. Steak will be on the menu for us on Christmas Day.

We’re currently motor sailing towards Bark Bay in the Abel Tasman National Park. The wind is due to fill in so we’re pushing to get anchored before the headwind join us. Christmas will be by the beach. 

Our time in Nelson has been occupied by a major varnishing project…Grace has oodles of teak which keeps on giving. And Dave has been installing a new drip feed Dickinson diesel heater. Some of the stages include buy tank, modify tank to fit in the lazarette, run fuel lines, buy fuel filter, mount fuel filter but first need to reconfigure cupboard, tile surround, find someone who can fabricate a stainless steel chimney and so on. It’s definitely not a plug and play option. It’s going to look great when it’s all completed. Clever boy.

We have a friend coming to stay in the New Year. That’s an event! The last people who stayed on Grace came to the Bahamas. I hope we remember how to be good hosts.

So here is wishing you all wherever you are in the world, a happy time as you pig out on roast turkey and home-made mince pies. If only…

We went to Australia and I got leeched. It wasn’t the only thing to happen in the time we were there but it was memorable and unpleasant in equal measure. It took 36 hours for the “attachment point” to stop bleeding fully. 

We were treated like VIP’s by our Queensland chums. And were entertained by their chickens and goats. We hopefully reciprocated their generosity a small amount by doing some work on the land, clearing trees from a recent storm and also the gutters on their drive way. 

Andrew is a Middlesbrough fan so he and I talked North East football. Carolyn has the energy of a fleet of Duracell bunnies. She is awe inspiring. We walked in the bush, swam in swim holes, had campfires, walked the goats, moved the electric fence goat pens and celebrated the Melbourne Cup with their neighbours. I think we had 5 nights in Australia. I like the area around Kenilworth.

Then on to North Island to near Whangārei first, then the Coromandel peninsula, Tauranga and back to Auckland. All to catch up with sailing friends. Cyril and Janine have 80 acres of bush and paddocks, an impressive lake, a self-built house, endless fruit and veg and a warmth and generosity to impress all although their pet water buffalos are disappointedly no more.  

Brian and Sue continue to inspire. They are about to build a house on a steep section overlooking the ocean.  In decades they are closer to their 8th than than their 7th. We all need to be more B&S. I got to have a go on Brian’s digger. It was a fun but my lack of computer game joystick experience meant I felt consciously incompetent as I nudged piles of earth about.

We’ve been back on South Island for a couple of weeks now. Arriving to the marina, many people said, “welcome home”. Grace was in great shape after six months on her own. Engine started first time, outboard second pull, and the generator wobbled into life after a little persuasion. It’s a Fischer Panda and I think their marketing strap line is ‘Temperamental’. We put Grace back together, sails, running rigging, life raft etc. Dave refreshed some engine parts and our cooker has headed to Auckland to be refurbished. Back to two camping stoves.

Not moving for six months, Grace’s hull had become a minor mussel farm. We hired some dive kit and Dave spent a couple of hours brushing away slime and bivalve molluscs. I bought bright yellow fins as part of his birthday pressies this year and it’s certainly easier to spot him underwater now. 

We had a great summer in the UK. It’s good to back in the NZ summer. 

I asked the AI (Artificial Intelligence) app, ChatGPT to write 200 words to summarise the blog, Graceoflongstone.com. About two seconds later, the following appeared on my screen.

“The blog Grace of Longstone is an intimate sailing‑adventure journal and personal travel chronicle, maintained by a couple (Helen and Dave) who own a Hans Christian 43 yacht named Grace. 

From the “About” page, Helen explains that the blog began as a way to share their preparations and progress in transforming Grace into a live‑aboard vessel for extended voyages.  Helen tends to the narrative, while Dave handles technical and mechanical work, and the posts often blend their roles. 

Throughout the blog’s entries, they document the realities of life aboard: refitting and upgrading the boat, navigating challenging sea passages, dealing with mechanical issues, anchorages in remote bays, and exploring islands and coastal terrain around the globe.  The posts often mix anecdote and humour (for example, stories about sea lions, sail repairs, or the logistics of getting the mast back up) with more serious reflections on values, adventure, and travel. 

Geographically, their journey is wide and shifting: they have spent time in New Zealand, the Pacific islands, the southern seas, and they reference returning to the UK for intervals.  The writing is personal and conversational, addressed partly to “a few select family and friends” (rather than aiming for a wide public audience). 

In summary, Grace of Longstone is a heartfelt and ongoing log of life at sea: the joys, challenges, repairs, travels, and everyday moments of living aboard a sailing yacht, narrated with warmth, honesty, and a sense of adventure.”

All generated by a computer. Electrons scanning online text and “learning”. No need for me to write anything. I think I feel astonishment and concern in equal measures.  I then looked up one definition to try to begin to understand what it’s all about ….”AI aims to replicate and ultimately surpass human capabilities.” Was that definition written by AI or a human? No idea.

Dave and I had a holiday to Cornwall. We were plain humans, walking, climbing, mostly camping but also treats in a lovely pub. It was fabulous. The sun shone and air clarify was sharp. We stopped and called in with a myriad of friends and family on our journey south then north. Thank you, one and all.

I can guarantee that this blog will continue as a human. Maybe with limited capabilities but I’m not having a computer surpass me! 😀

The radio show, The News Quiz is a satirical look back at the week’s news. It’s been off air for its summer break but was back on the airwaves in the UK this week.

The host started the show with a monologue. What with AI and the massive computing power that’s available today, he asked the question of the new BBC News Condenser AI robot, “What’s been happening in World for the last three months while we’ve been off air?”

The sound of a printer chundered away in the background and out came a picture of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream.’  His next comment was…..AI technology has got seriously good now. 😂

I’m not a journalist or a high profile commentator but the World mood is sadly, in my opinion, currently coloured by hyperbole, lies and high profile egotistical men. And I deliberately say men and not women. I won’t name names. I don’t need to.

This intensely concerning situation could not have been further from my warm and uplifting hedgerow walk last weekend. All the photos above were taken on my two hour stroll around a Nottinghamshire Nature Reserve. I know hedgerows aren’t everyone’s pleasure outlet. I will encourage you however to reflect on the richness and amazing thing that nature is. The human race has designed and built amazing things but raw nature will always win in a head to head competition, if I’m the head judge.

I stopped and chatted to a fisherman who was placing battered plastic bottles he’d pulled out of the riverbanks into litter piles by the track. He said “There are piles all the way along the path. I’m going to put them in my car when I drive back and get rid of them appropriately.”

I want to live a world where people are kind and care. I want this man in my club.

60 years or 21,915 days. That’s how long I’d been living here on planet earth on 3rd August this year. My lovely husband took me to a traditional Derbyshire pub. We walked, drank alcoholic beverages in the setting sun and ate well. Turning 60 was supremely tolerable.

Celebrations started the previous weekend when the girls I shared a house with back in student days, reunited as many of us are turning 60 this year. We had a truely fabulous time with cocktails, amazing food, lots of laughs and I had a whizz on Sally’s Batman bike. Those girls have provided me with a background sound track that will hopefully play on for many years.

I have one more week of work left. I’m ready for it to finish. Work gets in the way of life. We have actually been away the last 7 weekends in a row. Can’t miss out now I’m 60. Lots to do, people to see, The UK summer has delivered with many warm sunny days, other than the few days we spent walking part of the Coast to Coast path. 99% of the UK was basking in 28 degrees centigrade but a heavy mist and rain corridor dominated the path. It was the Yorkshire equivalent of the character Pig Peg in Charlie Brown. We planned to camp but the weather was so dire we retreated to an indoor pub option. It’s an easy decision to make when you’re almost 60 and not 20 anymore. 😂

I was asked one day by an eleven year old if I was 75? I wasn’t even 60 at that point!

Once again, there’s been a geographical shift. New Zealand feels forever ago and England has swiftly ensnared us.

Grace is resting quietly in Nelson with a couple of kind friends keeping a watchful eye on her. Her precious possessions are in a lock up where they will await our return in November / December. Sails, running rigging, anchor, canvas, dinghy, outboard etc are all gently stashed, avoiding the southern hemisphere winter.

Dave and I arrived into the UK via JFK airport in NY (still hideous queues, possibility the same one from 1986 so do avoid at all costs). We did a quick whizz to visit family before I started work, 6 days later. I have a 15 week contract working for charity that organises breaks for kids whose lives arn’t as straightforward as perhaps yours and mine.

The money for the sale of our Derbyshire property eventually materialised. So we’ve been looking at land / land with knackered properties. We bid on one at an auction. The auction was in London and it was on a day when we were both unavailable. We wrote our ‘top dollar’ number on a piece of paper and waited to hear. Dave managed to find the auction on line and watched it on his phone, sat in the car on a garage forecourt. They zipped past our number very quickly with the hammer falling £65k beyond our bid. We decided that was a positive. If it’d been £3k we might have felt differently.

June and July are money making months, then after that we will have more time for fun and games. We’ll be ready to catch up and see people. Do please invite us. 😀