Our initial problems came from quite an unexpected area, namely the UK Passport office! Skip needed to renew his, and neither of us were prepared for the chaos and time wasted in trying to get this sorted out. Thousands of people were affected, some losing their holidays altogether. At least we didn't have that to deal with, but it did delay our departure for 7 weeks, and meant that our joining crew Clare and Rod from Cape Town had to meet us in Southampton and not Roscoff, and this in turn meant a complete rethink on the plans for the trip to allow for their timeframe.
However, the delay did have a positive side in that I was able to see much more of my Mum and I spent happy times, chatting and listening to her reminisce about her experiences during the 2nd World War when she became a balloon operator, and then an air raid warden in London during the Blitz. All this before joining the RAF and becoming a radio operator, involved in the plotting of the D Day landings. She was particularly passionate about her memories at this time because June 6 this year saw the 70th anniversary of that day. She celebrated by going to a concert locally with friends from Challoner that evening to see the Southampton Brass Band and the Thornden Wind Orchestra play music from that era. She was incredibly excited and thrilled that she, with another couple, were spotlighted and acknowledged by the audience as being the Veterans of the War who were there that evening. All this is relevant to me because having eventually been able to leave the Solent, we had taken a couple of days to get across to the Channel Islands, before heading on to Binic, where we locked in and met up with "Azuree" with Phil and Michelle. Then on June 19, 2 days after arriving in Binic, I had a call from my sister Jen to let me know that she was cutting her holiday short as Mum wasn't well. 24 hours later, I got the call again from Jen to get myself home, so on June 21 Elly and Louis kindly fetched me from Binic and got me through to St Malo for the early morning ferry.. This arrived in Portsmouth at 6.30 that evening, but sadly I was too late. Mum had passed away at 6pm..........
Looking back, I shall be quietly grateful that the Passport office was in such disarray because my extra weeks available for my visits to Mum have now taken on a far more valuable place in my thoughts and memory.
With all the obvious affairs and details to sort out, it became impossible for me to consider sailing further this season, so we regrouped and planned a more local trip, some of which I will detail in the next post.
 |
| Mum with Zoe and Gary when we all met up at The Ship, in Lymington |
 |
| My Lovely Mum 6 May 1921 - 21 June 2014 |
