Year Summary 2010 - October, November & December

As the winter months have come along, the golf has reduced and school /work has continued. Isaac had an important role in the school play and did brilliantly :)

John joined the local velo club riders for some 'gentle' rides - only to find out what real levels of pain are all about - these guys are fast! November weather and dark evenings started to get in the way of riding the bike, so a turbo trainer was clearly a 'vital' piece of equipment for the extension; you really can only do an hour before it becomes incredibly boring, but it does work!

The big benefit to the dark evenings was the possibility of night diving (weather permitting) and we had some very clear water :) Night time brings out nocturnal fish like Sole and Plaice, so a fair few of these have been collected:

On one day-time session John managed to spear a huge grey mullet - this one was over 7lbs and 2 chunky fillets were taken:

Also, John has done a bit of surfing on the waveski - on Saturday mornings there's a group of 'paddlers' that meet at Vazon bay for a surf - mostly surf kayaks, but they're friendly to the odd waveski :)
We had one epic day (when i decided to take photos rather than surf) the waves were well over head-high!

Year Summary 2010 - September

September can be quite a varied month; this year we had some good weather. For some strange reason we decided to remove the greenhouse from the garden - John only managed to drop one pane of glass on his face! So the garden has gone from having a delapidated shed, a 6ft deep pond full of koi carp + masses of pond filters, etc, a greenhouse, gazebo, frogs, grass snakes, etc, to what you see in the photo, plus a nice shed tucked out of sight around the corner - and a wood store for our fire :)

Whilst the sea was so warm John managed a few good spearfishing sessions - the picture below is of alagoon that only forms a couple of times a year on extra large (low) tides! It usually has a racing current running through:

The calm weather meant we had a few more trips on the boat, including a trip to the infamous 'Shole' sand bank, which is on the way towards Alderney. John has caught Turbot and Brill on such trips and with their simple bone structure and superb meat, they are our favourite fish, especially cooked as goujons :)

September also saw Isaac back to school for the start of year 6; he has been house captain and has been taking some of the 11+ tests. He is doing very well with schoolwork :)

Isaac also joined the local football club 'Rovers' who meet outside our back gate every Saturday morning so very convenient!

Year Summary 2010 - August

August is usually a windy month in Guernsey - not sure why! We had some great days on the boat, Mary and Isaac played lots of golf, and we had a great day on the Island of Sark when friends Marina and Mark came to visit. Sark has no 'proper' roads and the transport is feet or bike :) Scooby had the most amazing run and was properly unable to walk the next day!!
We use an electric collar for scooby which is amazing - it really works at controlling his behaviour, there is a 'beep' setting which is like a warning, so he very rarely gets a buzz :) as a result he can join us on these trips without worrying that he might do something particularly daft.

The end of August saw the annual Grande Mare Club Golf Championships and both May and Isaac managed to win a trophy! Mary came second in the Ladies competition and Isaac came second in the Mens competition in his handicap class. Then it was back to work and school.............

Year Summary 2010 - July

June was soooo good that it might have seemed like july would be an anticlimax! it was :)
the weather wasnt quite so perfect, and we had to pick good days to get out and play!
In between some busy work days we managed a few days, mary & Isaac playing golf and John in or on the water.
John took part in a kayak fishing competition - a weekend of solid fishing - including a night trip! the only fish he caught was a red gurnard - very tasty! but of 20 kayaks in the event, only a couple of fish were caught - what happened to the fish???

 

We also managed to find a few days on the boat, and Mary was actually seen with a fishing rod in her hands!! much better than golf clubs eh!

Cant get Mary to actually touch the fish yet tho :)

 Isaac had fun rowing the rubber dinghy!

John caught more bass:

We had a long weekend in the UK near Bath; John did a freediving course and Mary and Isaac played golf:

Year Summary 2010 - June

So after a pretty exciting May, we looked forward to more fun in June, plenty of trips out on the boat, Mary and Isaac played lots of Golf, and I managed to catch a few fish :)

We started off the month with our annual holiday to Sardinia - we stayed at a place called Isolla Rossa which is on the North coast. When the wind is calm it is amazing, but we managed to catch a week of Mistral :(
anyhow the food was amazing and we still had a great time.

 Isaac learned to freedive:

John took lots of photos:

Isaac stayed cool:



Back home and warmer waters meant that more bass were turning up:

john had an epic trip in the kayak, quite a long way offshore in the tide, diving to about 8metres to hunt for the fish:



Year Summary 2010 - May

May was really the start of many things for us - the weather really came good, so Scooby got some good walks, Mary and Isaac got lots of golf in, and John ... went fishing!
Here's Isaac getting a golf lesson - he had to re-learn his grip which is quite hard.

I found myself a nice bass when out spearfishing - they do strange things to you!!

 

Here the video:

We had a trip to Jersey to see how the 'Crapauds' live (and to see the boat show where one of my boats was being showed). We had fun at the maritime museum too :)

Another dodgy day in the kayak:

Scooby found a taste for rabbits :) and managed to find his own (a first for him which he has repeated a couple of time since).

Isaac did some mountain bike racing:

And more golf:

Year Summary 2010 - February, March and April

These were the quiet months!
Mary and Isaac went to Plymouth to visit friends at the end of March on a short break. This is the first time they have been back since we left in Summer 2007. Hard to believe it is that long ago!
Finally in April the weather started to improve and John got some more spearfishing going, Isaac and Mary played some golf, and we managed a few trips out in the boat. We had one day several miles off the west coast of Guernsey fishing a wreck for pollack. Isaac found one or two good sized fish!