Drama Queen to Melodrama

In June, when the weather in the North West corner of Ireland has a chance to be fine, we set off for our annual cruise on the West Coast of Scotland, with a plan to undertake some refit work on Drama Queen, our Elan 31, now 12 years old. It rained, incessantly, and we spent a lot of time in ...

As we deliberated over the final specification for the new boat, a worrying factor emerged. Every time the government made a move, the value of Sterling against the Euro fell, and the price of our new boat rose!! So before Mrs May, Boris and David made our new toy (not to mention everything else) unaffordable, we had to jump. In ...

The end of August marks the end of the summer, and the traditional pursuit race to Portsalon, one of the highlights of the year. This was to be our last event in Drama Queen, and we were lucky to have the old crew on board - Nev, Diane and Gary along with new crew Deb over from Windsor for our ...

Our last ever cruise on Drama Queen was a complete contrast to the June trip. Fair winds, sun, and some great sailing all the way to Kip to deliver the boat for sale. We passed by Largs on regatta day and watched the fleet beating down the channel, then swung across to watch the skiff racing - supporting the winners, ...

We found a local Kip business that looks after the boats in the marina when owners are not there. So we asked their man Mark to drop down and check that the boat was still in the good shape that we'd left it in. He reported that the interior smelt dank, and mould was starting to form!!!!! He also thought ...

I know, I know, but I couldn't imagine having a boat without a spinnaker! So we've ordered one from Saturn Sails. Yet again, following the tradition of the last four sails for Drama Queen, it's my birthday present 🙂 We've also had to spec a pole and all the fittings, so this is the most expensive birthday present ever, by ...

Last year, way before we decided to buy a bigger boat, we booked a sailing holiday in September in the sun.  Thanks to our wonderful adventures sailing in America with Hope and Howard on board A-la-Mer, Second Wind and Timing, we have logged a huge number of sea miles, in all the varied distances and conditions that are needed before ...

After two fun-filled and exhausting weeks, the weekend of reckoning came. We had shared our first week with Veronique, a Swiss sailor with a yacht in St Tropez, and Richard, a retired surgeon. They opted to defer their exam after a frightening incident when we were rammed on the quay by an out of control motor yacht three times! Our boat ...

On a wet Wednesday in October, we flew to Berlin from Dublin, and took the train to Greifswald where the Hanse Dehler factory is based. Greifswald is a delightful university town with cobbled streets, cafes, students on bikes, old barges on the river, and a huge factory making boats! Once we signed a non-disclosure agreement, our host Henry took us ...

AIS is a wonderful piece of technology which is fitted to all commercial boats, and to many non-commercial craft too.  It transmits the current position of the boat, its speed and direction, and often its port of departure, destination and cargo.  This can be seen by all other boats in the vicinity, which is a great safety feature. Approaching boats ...

I have been working with hull graphics specialists Grapefruit Graphics to design the logo for Melodrama - this is the (almost) final cut (maybe), which they have cleverly superimposed on a picture of another Dehler 38. We know this boat does well out in the Whitsunday Islands, so hopefully we will too! ...

Our boat is a boat! Today we took delivery of our new Dehler 38 in Griefswald. It has been shrink wrapped to protect it from the rain and snow during the Eastern German winter, and is in the yard at the factory, waiting for us to arrive in April to complete commissioning and handover. The wrapping has two vents to ...