Annual Update 2021 & 2022

 

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This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella - just click on a title to see the blog:

SIRENA IV 2022 - Channel Islands and France

SIRENA IV 2021 - Coastal in the South-West

SIRENA IV 2020 - a train dash to Germany, dodging COVID-19, to bring her to her new home in Plymouth - a weather-driven combo of seas and canals.

SIRENA IV 2019 - cruising from Fehmarn tbc - this time interrupted by a slipped disc.

SIRENA IV 2018 - a new blog for a cruise from Fehmarn, touching southern Denmark then interrupted by an accident, resumed with gentle cruising around eastern Denmark and back to Fehmarn again.

SIRENA IV 2017 - a summer cruise to the Baltic via Holland's northern canals & meers and around western Denmark, ending up in Fehmarn, Germany.

SIRENA IV @ Medway - occasional news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2016 - 4 weeks cruise across North Sea, through Holland's southern canals, return along the coasts.

SIRENA IV 2015 - 4 weeks cruising back and forth across the Channel to France (Dieppe, Cherbourg) and around the Solent.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association.

Annual Update 2020

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This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella - just click on a title to see the blog:

SIRENA IV 2020 - a dash to Germany, dodging COVID-19, to get her in the water ... then we'll see

SIRENA IV 2019 - cruising from Fehmarn tbc - this time interrupted by a slipped disc.

SIRENA IV 2018 - a new blog for a cruise from Fehmarn, touching southern Denmark then interrupted by an accident, resumed with gentle cruising around eastern Denmark and back to Fehmarn again.

SIRENA IV 2017 - a summer cruise to the Baltic via Holland's northern canals & meers and around western Denmark, ending up in Fehmarn, Germany.

SIRENA IV @ Medway - occasional news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2016 - 4 weeks cruise across North Sea, through Holland's southern canals, return along the coasts.

SIRENA IV 2015 - 4 weeks cruising back and forth across the Channel to France (Dieppe, Cherbourg) and around the Solent.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association.

Blog structure annual update 2019

Previous | List | Random | Next

This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella - just click on a title to see the blog:

SIRENA IV 2019 - cruising from Fehmarn tbc - this time interrupted by a slipped disc.

SIRENA IV 2018 - a new blog for a cruise from Fehmarn, touching southern Denmark then interrupted by an accident, resumed with gentle cruising around eastern Denmark and back to Fehmarn again.

SIRENA IV 2017 - a summer cruise to the Baltic via Holland's northern canals & meers and around western Denmark, ending up in Fehmarn, Germany.

SIRENA IV @ Medway - occasional news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2016 - 4 weeks cruise across North Sea, through Holland's southern canals, return along the coasts.

SIRENA IV 2015 - 4 weeks cruising back and forth across the Channel to France (Dieppe, Cherbourg) and around the Solent.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association.

Blog structure annual update 2018

This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella - just click on a title to see the blog:

SIRENA IV 2018 - a new blog for a cruise from Fehmarn, touching southern Denmark then up to the east coast of Sweden, dancing with the rocks to Stockholm (and further if we have time), returning the same way.

SIRENA IV 2017 - a summer cruise to the Baltic via Holland's northern canals & meers and around western Denmark, ending up in Fehmarn, Germany..

SIRENA IV @ Medway - occasional news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2016 - 4 weeks cruise across North Sea, through Holland's southern canals, return along the coasts.

SIRENA IV 2015 - 4 weeks cruising back and forth across the Channel to France (Dieppe, Cherbourg) and around the Solent.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association.

Blog structure annual update 2017

This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella:

SIRENA IV 2017 - a new blog for our cruise to the Baltic via Holland's northern canals & meers.

SIRENA IV @ Medway - occasional news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2016 - 4 weeks cruise across North Sea, through Holland's southern canals, return along the coasts.

SIRENA IV 2015 - 4 weeks cruising back and forth across the Channel to France (Dieppe, Cherbourg) and around the Solent.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association.

Blog structure annual update 2016

This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella:

SIRENA IV 2016 - a new blog for our North Sea cruise

SIRENA IV @ Gillingham - rolling news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2015 - a new blog to cover our cruising back and forth across the Channel to France and around the Solent, frozen.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association, frozen.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association, frozen.

Blog structure annual update

This give you the latest state of play in the blogs 'underneath' this umbrella.

SIRENA IV 2015 - a new blog to cover our modest cruising in the summer of 2015.

SIRENA IV @ Gillingham - rolling news of maintenance, additions and small trips.

SIRENA IV 2014 - 1,000 mile cruise along South Coast to Isles of Scilly and back, contributed to Cruising Association, frozen.

SIRENA IV 2013 - 1,200 mile half-circumnavigation of UK from Fleetwood Lancs via Scotland and East Coast to Gillingham Kent, contributed to Cruising Association, frozen.

Blog structure updated

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the updates is?

Aside from this blog, which sits 'on top' as an umbrella commentary and explainer, there are three blogs with content:

SIRENA IV 2013 - half-circumnavigation of UK, contributed to Cruising Association, frozen

SIRENA IV @ Gillingham - rolling news of small trips, maintenance and additions, updated May 14 with lots of yard work pics

SIRENA IV 2014 - intended cruise along the South Coast of England, started May 14 during prep

We do hope this segmentation helps people to find what they want.

Blog aspirations - all sorts of sailing

Scroll down for two blogs below giving links to the authors, and to the existing 'experience' blogs sitting under this master.  This master blog is a 'note to ourselves' really, plus an aspiration of the other history that might be added here, a reminder of the style and content that we are trying to pursue, and a way of pulling all the other blogs together as they build up over the years.

The histories then that could be captured here one day, for context and posterity, are:
- Nic's sailing history including SIRENA I and II - dinghies in Dorset and some passages
- Lesley's sailing history - from Greek idyll to dinghies on the Thames
- SIRENA III - Jaguar 25 at Greenwich and Gillingham
- SIRENA IV - Nicholson 35 - the first year: purchase, Fleetwood, Irish Sea and IoM adventures.  This yacht is everything we want - strong, safe, go anywhere and manageable by husband and wife co-skippers.

As to the style and content, when  we read other blogs and articles we are often left feeling we have a surfeit of land-based information at the expense of sailing information. Therefore we aspire to write about passage plans, weather, sea conditions, sail plan, navigation and breaks & fixes.  Because this is what we find interesting to read from others, and we imagine some others at least will be interested to read it here.

Please add comments to our blog entries - we really welcome them, and will respond.

Expanding blogs

We've been a little remiss in pointing out a re-organisation of our blogs.

There are now two blogs 'under' this Master (and perhaps more to come).

The new one is all about SIRENA IV based at Gillingham Marina in Kent, and local trips from there.

We decided, despite it's name, to leave the SIRENA IV 2013 blog as a record of us sailing (& motoring!) half-way round the UK to bring her from Fleetwood where purchased to Gillingham near(ish) where we live in Greenwich.

Start-up announcement

This is the master for a set of blogs by Nic Vine and Lesley Curwen, relating adventures various on their Nicholson 35 yacht called SIRENA IV (built 1978 by Camper & Nicholson, number 155 out of 228 in total).

We start in catch-up mode because it's 1 May 2013, and we bought the boat on 4 Apr 2012.

The trigger for this blog is our plan to set off in about a week to spend about 10 weeks doing a half-circumnavigation of the UK.  To read about this trip, and the preparation, you need to go to the SIRENA IV 2013 blog (click on the text).

If we ever find time we'll create a retrospective blog for 2012 and for SIRENA IV's history (she was known as Petanya before us).  Assuming we survive and enjoy the trip in 2013 there will be blogs for following years.