HAPPY NEW YEAR

we are back in Korea and freezing cold...it is one of the coldest winters Korea has had for a long time, according to the news,. So we have been hibernating waiting for the storms and snow to pass. Charioteer is snow free, we have filled up with fuel and we will be heading south perhaps Thursday or Friday. Our first stop will be Jeju Island and then it will be goodbye Korea and Hullo Japan......

Home for Christmas

Cuddles, hugs, lots of kisses and that is from the puppy !!!!!!!
We are having a lovely time getting reacquainted with our grand daughters, and that includes lots of hugs and cuddles.

Once the racing at Mokpo was over we did more exploring around Korea, then after making sure Charioteer was secure we left for home.....
Sunshine, blue skies, clear skies, sheep, green grass, family...what more can anyone want.
We have had a lovely time and now our thoughts are turning back to Korea.
Once we get back to Charioteer we shall clear off the snow.....that's right at the moment Charioteer is hiding under a lot of snow !!!!!!!
and continue the adventure.
Thank you all who follow our adventure
May the coming year bring only good things to you all

MOKPO KOREA

ANOTHER WEEKEND OF TRUNDLING OUR HOUSE AROUND A WET RACE TRACK. IT IS QUITE INTERESTING VIEWING OTHER YACHTS FROM THE BACK....AND FROM THE FRONT AS THEY RETURN TOWARDS THE FINISH WITH THEIR SPINNAKERS FLYING.
WE NOW HAVE FORMULATED A RACE PLAN.......AS THE FIRST BOAT PASSES US ON THEIR HOMEWARD COURSE WE TURN AROUND AND TURN ON THE MOTOR. SO WE PASS THE START LINE AND THE FINISH LINE BUT WE NEVER GET TO SEE THE TURNING BUOY........
WHILE THE FAST YACHTS HAVE THEIR CREW HANGING ONVER THE SIDE WE ARE SIPPING COFFEE.....

HERE IN MOKPO WE WERE MEANT TO DO AN OFF SHORE RACE TO JEJU BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE SIDE EFFECTS OF THE CURRENT TYPHOON MEANT THIS WAS CANCELLED ...SO INSTEAD WE DID AN INSHORE AWAY FROM LAND (I KNOW, I KNOW) RACE.

THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME MOKPO MARINA HAD HELD THIS EVENT SO THERE WERE A FEW TEETHING TROUBLES BUT SOME THINGS THEY DID EXTREMELY WELL. EACH DAY WE RECIEVED LUNCH BOXES AND THE OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONY DINNERS WERE FANTASTIC.

WE HAVE HAD A LOVELY TIME MEETING NEW PEOPLE...RUSSIANS, SINGAPORE, INDONESIA,CHINESE,CANADIANS,ENGLISH...THIS WAS TRULY AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT

FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO WE SHALL DO A BIT MORE EXPLORING AND THEN IT IS BACK TO MOKPO TO LEAVE CHARIOTEER AND WE WILL BE HOMEWARD BOUND FOR TWO MONTHS OF HUGS AND CUDDLES ...CAN'T WAIT.

TONG YEONG KOREA

THE 4TH YISUNSIN CUP INTERNATIONAL YACHT RACE

We arrived here yesterday after four days of no wind and often a contrary current. Yesterday I had to don snorkel and flippers and attack rope that had decided the best place to be was tightly wrapped around our shaft and propellor.....

Here in the Chung Mu Resort marina an extra floating finger has been set up between the poles, there are many yachts here for the race...Korean, Russian and New Zealand (thats us)

We are not sure if we will be competitive..surely after four years of cruising we have learnt something about sailing. Okay lets compare Charioteer with some of the other yacht here......

On average it seems as if these yachts weigh about seven ton......

On Charioteer
.....we have seven ton of lead in our keel ......
.....we carry water for showers, laundry, cooking and drinking.....
.....we carry four gas bottles for cooking and we have just filled them up...
.....we carry food for about three months.......
.....we carry winter clothes, summer clothes, southern ocean wet weather gear..
.....we carry a six man lift raft, flares, first aid, life jackets and other safety
equipment
.....we carry souveniers and gifts from four years sailing
.....we carry spares, welding sets,sewing machines,vacumn cleaner,
washing machine,microwave, cruising guides, books,charts....
Actually you name it and we probably carry it.
Charioteers launch weight was (we believe) 25 ton...now it probably a lot more than that.
So the question is .....
will we be competitive against these light weight yachts, crewed by sailors and not cruisers?.
We think not, but we will certainly do our best.
For our crew we have two Canadians, two Koreans and of course us (two Kiwis)....so we certainly are an International yacht...and we will have fun and get to meet many sailors.....