To my distinguished advisors,

I promised chocolate, and there shall be chocolate! New Zealand made, not necessarily to your specs, but delicious. I'll need your address by email, if it's not in your JRA profile.

The Coromandel 'minim' will wait for me in Suffolk, as Walter & Estelle well knew, the rascals. I chose that area as a good place to start UK cruising, perhaps even inland through London, and with a straight shot towards the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Thanks David & Annie, although my 'crazy' may not be your 'crazy.' Scotland? maybe after the South of France. Thanks Nicholas for having me consider the West Coast and Ireland side of things. To Antoine for not hesitating to praise his own country. And Eric for a realistic reminder about trailer logistics. Oh, and to Walter & Estelle for the fine dinner, and the loan of their superior fids, which I intend to keep forever, in exchange for extra chocolate.

The next time I offer chocolate, it'll be to the person who offers to store said boat trailer for nothing, indefinitely, and available when I need it. In... (or near...) Suffolk?

Cheers, Kurt

Presented with several choices in Scotland, one in Wales, one in the Netherlands...

I'm pretty much sold on Suffolk.

I was far too vague when I said 'to base' the boat. My intentions, which I maintain are crazy and honourable, will be to start with some sailing and inland water travel in England, but to be poised with a view to the Continent.

I'm thinking, what to do about the chocolate.

Cheers, Kurt

Forget about the UK.
Move to the Netherlands.

Frisian Isles / Waddenzee is prime Coromandel water.

SO:

make a deal that she can stay in Leeds;
put her in the water somewhere in Norfolk;
cross the North Sea;
keep her in Lauwersoog.

Me too: organic @ 80% please.

Best regards,

Antoine

Hi Kurt. I sent you a direct message with some ideas and options. Nick

Kurt, do I understand that you want to find a boatyard with storage space, in an area with good cruising suitable for a 21ft boat, convenient for you to FIFO for a summer cruise?

The south coast of England is now hideously expensive. The west and east coasts don't have much sheltered cruising, except for the southeast, which again is expensive, being near London.

I suggest that you consider the west of Scotland, with a summer climate not dissimilar to that in BC, but not as warm as NZ. I would look at Ardentrive boatyard, Kerrera, Oban, and Arisaig Marine, because they are at the ends of train lines from Glascow. Plockton is accessible by train from Inverness. I would have added Craobh Haven and Ardfern Yacht Centre, but they would be difficult to get to by public transport.

Dark, 80%, organic, please.

PS Trying to think of crazy and honourable reasons, and summer cruising wouldn't be top of the list. Jester Challenge 2018?