My new friends by Ella 24/11/08

My new friends are nine and seven and their names are Josie and Clemmie. I first met them in Porto Santo and played with them on the beach and on their boat. They waved me off when I set sail from Madeira to Tenerife and then I have waved them off from here when they set sail for La Gomera and we have a date to meet in Barbados for Christmas.

They are really nice and fun to play with, we draw, blow pens, DS, listen to story books, play imaginative games, usually about dogs, talk and read. The best thing we did though was that they invited me for a sleepover on their boat called Starblazer. I slept in their cabin, their boat is much much bigger than Brimble. I would rather sleep on Starblazer than Brimble because they have duvets and not sleeping bags and their beds are much bigger and they have two heads with showers in them! Jo and Jim, the parents were on Brimble, drinking and having a good time while we watched the St Trinians, we used the VHF to talk to Brimble when we realised that I had forgotten to bring the Pringles and my DS. Then they also asked us to switch off the oven so that the dinner would not be burnt. It felt fun to be able to talk to Mum and Dad on the VHF, we felt grown up!

Arriving in Tenerife by Ella 4/11/08

It was really exciting to see land for the first time after such a long sail, so what we say is 'Land ahoy, where so? Fine on the starboard bow. Friend or foe? Foe! Sound battle stations!'

When we arrived, Bestefar had already been in Tenerife for a day. Seeing him was such fun as we had not seen him for a month maybe, since Spain. He had bought lots of goodies with him, like two boxes of chocolates and many books to read. I have become a bookworm on this trip and read whenever I can. Thank you to everyone who sent stuff with Bestefar, it felt like Christmas.

When Bestefar came the best thing we did was to hire a car and go to the highest peak, it was a volcano crater, that was over 3000 meters, it even had snow on it, here in this hot heat, that was such a surprise to us and we felt cold up there, we had to wear jumpers for the first time in ages in the middle of the day. We were so high up we were above the clouds, it was like being on an aeroplane but even better.

Bestefar took us to a Morrocon resturant for dinner one night, the food was fantastic, I had chicken on a spit and it even came with chips. The surprise of the evening was that a lady came out and started belly dancing! It was good, she wore a two piece dress, a bra and a long skirt, she kept coming up to me and smiling, it was fun.



When Bestefar left we all felt lonely again, Jack ran after the coach that Bestefar was on and as soon as the coach was out of sight he burst into tears. My new friends and I have been laughing at the company name of the coaches, they are called TITSA.

Jacks Video Night

One of my favourite things at Tenerife was when I met new friends, I have been playing on their boat lots and lots, they are called James, Martin, Peter and their older sister Michelle, she is twelve years old: they come from Belfast in Ireland (– thought you would like to know this Charlie!) I rowed over to their boat because to walk there would take too long and I told them do you want to come to my boat for a film, the choices were, Cars, St Trinians, Back to the Future and Herbie goes bananas. The boys all chose St Trinians.

They arrived at 3 o’clock, Daddy made pancakes for everyone with Ella’s help. Ella was helping because she had already had her treat of a sleepover, so she was not included in this and was my servant. The pancakes were delicious and I only had two though! I think my friends really enjoyed it. Daddy made us popcorn too and we ate lots and lots. Ella was ready to leave the boat when we settled down to watch the film, but I said she could stay, I think she was pleased.
The computer went on top of the engine so that everyone could see the screen, in the fore peak lying down to watch the film were Martin and I, Peter was underneath us in the space under the bunk. Ella, Michelle and James were in the main part of the boat called the saloon. There was no room for Mummy and Daddy down below so they sat outside in the cock pit doing something else. I really enjoyed it and we had even more nibbles to eat and things to drink.

Naming the Dinghy by Jack (18.11.08)

We do not have a name for our dinghy and you need to have one to stop other people taking it away, like stealing. Everyone in our family chose a name they liked for the dinghy, the four choices were: Nettle, Stinger, Flash and Poppy. We all voted for our favourite name but could not vote for the name we had created. The name with the most votes was Poppy, it was my choice. I felt fantastic and proud.

Daddy, Ella and I found a shop that made sticky letters and Ella chose the style of writing that she liked for Poppy. We came back to the boat, pumped up the dinghy and then we put the name on the dinghy. We put on two names to make it more difficult to take them off for anyone to steal it. We did not call the dinghy Brimble like lots of boats do because Mummy had read somewhere that when you take the dinghy ashore people can see who is not on their boat because the same name is on the dinghy and then someone could row out to our boat and steal from it, so that is why we have a dinghy now called POPPY.

Maderia - still here! by Ella 31/10/08

We are waiting to leave Maderia after nearly three weeks here because we need to see my Grandad, who we call Bestefar, in Tenerife, he arrives in 4 days time! But the problem is that the weather is really bad in that it is really windy here. Two boats have been out, one broke it´s mast and the other one had a knock down, that means the mast touches the sea, this is not a good thing to happen. So we are being safe and waiting for the wind to die down a bit before we leave and Bestefar will have to stay in a hotel till we can get there!

We have been busy and having fun though as there is another boat called Starblazer with two children on called Josie and Clemmie, we have had great fun with them and hope to keep meeting up with them in different islands too.

Look below as we have added new photos! 21/10/08

Porto Santo by Jack 21/10/08

Porto Santo is my favourtie place that we have visited yet. I think it is smart and old, clean and modern, because they have Wifi and they have fantastic ice creams. We have been on the beach a lot and we made friends with some other English children for the first time on a boat called Starblazer, we were sad when we left Porto Santo as we wanted to play with Jo and Clemmie more. It would have been even better if there was a boy to play with...





We hired quad bikes here in Porto Santo, they were fantastic. We were not suppossed to drive them ourselves as you had to be over 16, but I did. It was really fun driving them because you got to go where ever you like. I drove all over the place and off road too, it was a little bit bumpy, but excellent. Policemen drove past us but they did not mind. I love Porto Santo!









The only thing I did not like was that on sundays they shot rabbits and so I had to hide Kane down below in the boat so that he did not hear the other rabbits being shot! Here is a photo of a man who had shot some rabbits, can you see them hanging from his belt?

Funchal - Capital of Maderia 21/10/08

Today we went swimming with our new snorkel and flippers. We swam around the boat in the marina. Daddy dived down and cleaned the bottom of the boat. It was really cool watching my dad dive under water. Swimming with the snorkel was really exciting, the water was really clear, you could see all the rocks down on the sea bed. I also rowed today and could see so far down in the water, I could see a boats chain and anchor, I did not know the water could be so clear.

After lunch today, we drove to the capital of Maderia, which is called Funchal. We looked around for mum´s birthday presents as it is 4 days till her birthday, I am really pleased with what I have bought for her.

The most exciting thing of the day was travelling in a cable car to the top of the volcanic mountains of Funchal. The view was amazing we could see nearly everything, the banana trees looked so small from so high up. At the top we walked a little bit and we found the tradtional tobboggan sleighs of Funchal. These are like baskets on skis, the men push and pull you down very steep narrow roads for about a mile. they go so fast, it was great fun. I rode with Dad and Jack was with Mum. Afterwards we had to walk down the rest of the way, the roads were so steep, Mummy even got a blister on her foot.

We like Maderia and think we will stay another 3 days before we leave for a three night sail to the Canaries, we have not decided exactly where to go yet, but we have to be in Tenerife on the 4th of Nov as Bestefar is coming out to see us.

Thank you to Sean and Olivia for sending us a parcel to Maderia it was so0 exciting opening it up. I have already read Bill´s New Frock, I think I am now a book worm.

A tour of Brimble by Ella and Jack (03.10.08)

This video was made by us, Ella and Jack when we were in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. We thought you would all like to see our boat and home for the year.

We chose the music at the beginning. The island you can see is called Porto Santo, which is in the middle of the Atlantic and is where we are now.

We have just arrivedanto in Porto Santo in the Atlantic Ocean after 5 days sail from Lisbon.

The sail was quite wavy but fun. We both felt sick for the first day when it was most rough. The boat was rolling and the waves were very high. I (Jack) was sick, on deck, below deck over the side and in the washing up bowl, Ella was better and was only sick once. After the first day we felt fantastic and Jack was only sick once because of too much Coca Cola.

We both did nightwatches and star gazing. The first nightwatch we read about Cassiopea, The Great Bear, The little Bear, Polaris the North Star and the Northern Cross and saw all of them. Have you ever seen the big 'w' in the sky at night ... that's Cassiopea. Your mums might know and show you. Cassiopea was the beautiful queen of Ethiopea but she boasted about it and was punished by the gods who made her sacrifice her daughter Andromeda to the sea gods who would eat her. But Perseus saved her on his horse Pegasus and Andromeda and Perseus fell in love. The gods were still sad so they put Cassiopea in the sky where she would never be allowed to set. We learnt lots more stories.

It felt really amazing when we saw land for the first time in 5 days. Ella spotted the islands first which are very pointed and high. I (Ella) shouted ... 'land ahoy' and Daddy shouted 'where so' .... and I shouted 'fine on the starboard bow' and Daddy shouted 'friend or foe' and I shouted 'foe ...' so Daddy shouted 'sound battle stations' and we all did a drum roll; it was excellent.

We are now in Porto Santo

The End

Food by Jacobus 02/10/08

There are some sweet foods called churros, they are Spanish and they are eaten for breakfast. They are bread like with lots of sugar on them, you dip them in any kind of chocolate, melted usually and you eat them. they are very messy to eat but they are very nice. they are my favourite. I even managed to find some in Potugal.

There are custard cakes called natas which are daddys favourite and I like them too, they are beautiful. the last one I had though I dropped half of it on the floor, I was very sad. These are very Portugess, everyone eats them.

There are sausages here a bit like salami and they are really really nice. I like the spicy ones the best, they are a bit like chillis. The Portugesse word for chilli is pimento and that is what I ask for.

There is a drink calle cola coa, it is exactly the same as hot chocolate and you can choose to have it hot or cold, we sometimes have it for breakfast. Someties they sprinkle this chocolate powder on the churros.

Daddy makes the best cheese on toast that you could ever imagine, they are beautiful. You have to try them if any of you come to the boat. Sometimes he hides chillis under the cheese so you do not knnow if you are going to get a hot one or not! It makes me feel spicy.

I like trying all the different foods in the different countries.

My day by Ella 02/10/08

I wake up in the forepeak, it is the front of the boat. This is my area of the boat. It has two bunks ( this is a boat name for a bed) which can turn into a double bunk, but we usually keep it non double. Under the mattress is a sheet called a lee cloth, you tie it up to two little ring holes and it stops you rocking and falling out of the bunk when you are sailing. When I am in a marina I do not put it up. I keep my books on two wooden shelves which makes the forepeak really cosy and my toys are kept in my rucksack on a hook near my head where I sleep. It is really snug and cosy.

I pretend to stay asleep and not to wake up when mummy calls me in the morning, but then I have to get up and get dressed. We then have breakfast, which is usually either ceral or crossiant and occasionally a drink called cola coa which Lydia and Ines introduced me to in Spain, it is like a chocolate milkshake drink. I love it. It is my job to wash the dishes, I do not mind doing it, it is more fun than at home because we put all the dishes into a foldaway washing up bowl, get off the boat and walk along the pontoon to the water tap and hosepipe. Sometimes Jack gets me really wet with the hosepipe when we wash up, it is great fun as the sun is so hot, so it cools me down.


We then have lessons with Mummy everyday inless we are sailing or sightseeing, this means if we miss school on a week day we have to have lessons on a Saturday or Sunday. We get homework too, but not as much as the European school I do not think! We usually have English, Maths and German with Mummy. Daddy teaches us geography, mental maths and science. Daddy is stricker than Mummy. He has made up lots of games though which are fun where we can earn points towards prizes, one maths game is called ~10 in a row for a cornetto. It is hard and we have to answer straight away with no pausing!

After lessons we have lunch on board the boat, we usually have this outside in the cockpit, it is so warm here in Lisbon and hot, I am already a dark brown colour and Jack is still very white! After lunch we can play, our favourtie can is to put the hosepipe in the cockpit and plug up the drain holes and then we can have a splash about and have a fun type of bath.

We then head off into the town and buy the food for the night, we take it in turns to choose the evening dinner, my last choice was for daddy to make us a Mexican. We love going to the internet cafe and playing a few games and writing the blog and checking our e-mails. I look forward to thie very much as I miss all my friends, please write to me or make comments on the blog. Mummy has fixed it now so you can all add comments on to each of the posts.

At night we have our dinner and then we play family games or listen to talking books. This is a lovely time of the day. Jack and I go to bed at the same time as Mummy and Daddy!

A Two Day night Sail by Ella

I was a bit shocked because we had to sail two days and two nights without stopping, I thought we would only be sailing at night again when we crossed the Atlantic! We sailed from the north of Portugal to the capital city of Lisbon, it was 250 miles away.

To keep myself busy I liked to count how many seagulls there were and watching the dolphins, this time we saw eight sets in one day. We tried to video them but they are so fast, if it comes out ok, we will post it on the blog soon. I also played on my DS, read a book or two. Before dinner we always played charades as a family, I nearly always won, Mummy says she is going to try harder next time.

At six o´clock Jack and Daddy went down below to sleep and Mummy and I were in charge of the boat. We played a brilliant game, called 20 Questions, but we kept forgetting to look out for the lobster pots, so we almost hit one! Luckily I spotted it in time and we were able to miss it. We carried on playing the game, but we still kept forgetting to look out and we nearly hit more lobster pots, so Mummy decided to stop the game, I was a bit sad as I loved the game. It got really dark at eight pm and we still had one hour of our night watch left! Looking for lobster pots in the dark was even harder. It felt great to go off watch and to bed at nine o´clock. But Jack was sleeping in my bunk and it was not time for him toget up so I had to sleep in the specailly made child bunk ontop of the chart table. It was a squeeze but I loved being cosy like that.

My next night watch was with Daddy and we saw this green stuff called phosperessence. The green stuff are little animals that if they gat banged on the head they turn a shiny green in the water; daddy said it only happens when the water is at a certain temperature; it was exciting to see this green light in the water; it helped the time to go quickly.

To Lydia, Ines and Maya, I really, really, really miss you, wish you could be here, I would love you to leave some comments.

Night time sailing in Spain by Jacobus 10/09/08

I was really excitied about going sailing for the year. People who are sailing on Brimble are me, my sister, Ella, someone we know called Jack (not me), we call him Big Jack because he is a grown up, Daddy and Mummy.

I felt a bit sea sick and thought I was going to be sick because the waves were very bumpy, they came all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from America. I went down below, that is what you call the bottom of the boat when you go inside, I went there because I was feeling sick and went to sleep, I was really upset becasue I wanted to stay up but I was not well.
I felt much better when I woke up, still a bit sick, but not much any more. One hour later I felt better. I shouted out at the top of my voice, I could not beleive it, 'DOLPHINS', they were the first dolphins I had ever seen in my life, I was very happy. We saw four dolphins that time and more later on.
I really want to know what all of my friends are doing in Cholsey and the European school and I really want to see Sean and Olivia. I miss you all very much. I would love all my friends to be here with me.

My first night sail by Ella 10/09/08

It was the beginning of our sailing year and I was so excited. We were leaving La Coruna, a town in North West Spain, it was very nice there. It had the Tower of Hercules, we went there, it had 165 steps to the top! The view was fantastic, you could see the sea bashing against the rocks, it was so exciting.
After the tower we went to the aquarium, it had a tiny octopus there, a bout 5cm long and a genorunous shark about 4m long. My favourtie was probably the seals, they were so cute bobbing their heads up. The worst thing was that there were no dolphins there.
We set sail for a little south from where we were called Sanchenxo, whilst we were sailing we saw a whole pod of dolphins surrounding the boat, had I put my hand out I could have touched them. It was the most exciting thing of my life, they were jumping up in the air and splashing the water, it was such fun. Two of them jumped together like in a heart shape. It made me feel better because I had been feeling sea sick.
At night time we did not stop sailing, I was quite shocked because I thought we would! I took the second night watch with Daddy, which means you sail at night while the others sail the boat. It was cold so I wore my thermals, oilskins, life jacket and life line which you clip onto your life jacket and then onto the boat too, it stops you falling off the boat and over the side.
Daddy and I watched the stars, we sawthe Milky Way and Casseopia, it looks like a big 'W' in the sky. We also saw the Big and Little Dipper. I enjoyed the night watch so much but it was tiring, it felt great to come back onto land though.

In Spain, by Ella, 03/09/08

I flew to Spain on a plane as a U.M, this means you go on a plane all alone. I felt very nervous before I got on the plane but when I was on the plane I was not nervous at all. I was so so so happy to see Lydia and Ines. It was brilliant!

Spain was great because there was loads of things to do like going into the swimming pool at the grandparents house, pick raspberries in the garden and swimming in the nearby village river. The best bit was probably by the edge of a waterfall because it felt like you could be sucked in, but you couldn't really!

Not everything was so great because we had to go to a water fountain every day and fill up two water bottles because we could not drink from the tap water!

I went to a swimming party on the last day, it was such fun because you could go on two slides. At the end I had to say goodbye to Lydia and Ines, it was very sad to say goodbye to them but I did not cry, I had stayed with them for twelve days.

I am now in a hotel with my Mum, Jack and my Bestefar (this is Norweigian for Grandad.) We are in Spain in Santiago becasue we have to wait for my Dad and the boat called Brimble.

Getting ready to go away for a year. By Jacobus. September 3rd 2008

I have been staying at Bestefar's house because we do not have a house anymore because we are going sailing for a year. Our house is being rented out to someone else. I have been playing with my new Lego that I got for my birthday from Robin and Ella and visiting Stuart and Lukas, I miss all the European school friends.

We had to go to pick up Ella from Spain, because she was there with some friends. We are in a hotel in Spain in Santiago with Bestefar waiting for Daddy and Brimble. Brimble is my boat.

Sailing on Sumara

We are in Norway and we were racing, me Alasdair, Daddy and Alexis onthe Good Ship Sumara. We were racing against Colin Archers, if you want, I can write down the story.

Colin Archer was an English man, all the fisher men got sunk in their boats because of the thunder storms. Colin Archer was sad because all the fisher men had died, so he invented a massive strong strong boat, that could never break. Look at this picture, it is one of the Colin Archers. Colin Archer is dead now, it was over a hundred years ago now. This is the end of the story.

We were racing at the Wooden Boat Festival in Risor at the side of the harbour in Norway. The water came onto the boat because Sumara is so thin, I was down below and the port hole was covered in water, Alexis got wet by the water as it got even higher. We raced really well and came third! Alasdair won a jacket as his prize and I had six puddings that evening!

By Jacobus Halsall

I miss Dylan, Luke and all my friends.

Sailing in Norway

I went to the wooden boat festival in Risor. Alexis and Alasdair with Jacobus made a map of where Brimble will be sailing, Mummy is going to make it into a flag to fly from Brimble.

I was left on my own to go sailing with Daddy and his friend Gordon, Jacobus and Mummy drove to Oslo to try and get us an American visa. It was very very windy, so the waves were very very high. I went to the front of the boat (it is called the bow) you go higher, it is really fun. It makes you go higher because the waves go underneath you and bobbing you up in the air. At last we got to a lovely place called Lngyor on the south coast of Norway and it was not really like a town because there was the sea between the houses!




On our second day we saw great big dolphins and some were jumping in the air, I felt so happy when I saw them becasue I had never seen them before. The dolphins were grey. I went to one of my friend's cottages on the coast, it was a white wooden painted little cottage and it looked really pretty, we had a barbeque there and I left Brimble and stayed ashore for the night.



Mummy collected me from a small town where we said goodbye to Daddy and Brimble becasuse I will not see them until we meet up in either Spain or England.

By Ella