Friday 2 March 2018

Toucando is back - and looking for crew

Hello! It’s been a long time since I posted. The last few years have been dominated by boat maintenance. But Toucando is looking forward to sailing again. There’s a big change coming. After seven years based on the River Itchen in Southampton, we are relocating to Ipswich on the east coast. I have been spending more time in Harwich for family reasons, and it makes sense for Toucando to come round here so I can get to her more often for both maintenance and sailing purposes.
We’ll leave Kemps Quay on Saturday 31st March, probably for a short trip on day 1 to a Solent destination. In the week following we will head up channel with possible stops at Brighton, Eastbourne, Dover and Ramsgate, before heading across the Thames estuary to Harwich Haven, up the Orwell to Ipswich. The itinerary is flexible and will take account of the conditions at the time. I intend it to be a pleasant, relaxing passage - 200 miles in a week. A regular crew member is already signed up, but there are spaces for one or two more. Please get in touch if interested.
Ipswich is a great harbour. The docks have been developed a lot in recent years, with bars and restaurants and the University of Suffolk surrounding the locked dock - once a busy port exporting east anglian grain and importing baltic timber. Once installed I hope we’ll be joining in east coast gaffers events - and maybe popping back to the Solent or over to the Lowlands from time to time. I’ll keep you posted on Toucando’s progress... and if you want to join us, drop us a line.