What's going on with the boat?

After ten years living on Tarquilla we have moved to land. I'm often asked if we love the house or miss the boat and the real answer is - both. We still have Tarquilla and we are open to all options at the moment as far as her future is concerned. We will carry on working on her, it would be great to be able to sail her again. The Scilly Isles, Portishead marina, Bristol harbour and Falmouth are all places we have talked about as well as many others further afield. But, on the other hand, if a family was looking for a boat, ready to do the preparation she needs and wanted to take her on then we would sell her. She is not ready to sail off into the sunset but has a lot of life left in her. If you or someone you know would be interested then please contact us. She is 3 ply cold moulded, 42 foot long, one off design built in the 1960's. She has 2 double cabins and 2 single berths, a good size saloon, a decent size galley, head and a covered cockpit. She has two engines and a full suit of sails. We have lots more photos and can provide more details or answer questions. In the meantime, this blog has come to a natural pause for now as we take on new adventures.

End of term at boat school.


“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela.

The Autumn term always ends with a roar – a shower of glitter, singing and general positivity. This term has been no different.

The deckhands have worked really hard at many things and rose magnificently to the challenge of writing and producing an end of term Nativity play. From writing their own story, designing scenery, learning new songs, making clay figures to putting the whole thing together and finally recording a short film. There was a lot of research into how a census works and what it is for, what the landscape en route from Nazareth to Bethlehem would have been like and even what a carpenters bench from Roman times would have looked like. Hopefully the Grandparents will enjoy it.


Clay figures for the Nativity drying out.

In this marina we have good (and free!) internet. This means we have a new toy in the form of a computer programme for numeracy learning. Called IXL (http://uk.ixl.com) it generates questions and as they master different skills they achieve various awards - small pictures representing things as diverse as an alley cat, a skyscraper or a pineapple (each year has its own theme). The deckhands are really enjoying it.
 
A rare moment of peaceful writing from all 3 together.

We’ve had some interesting trips out this term. The best was possibly to Brest castle which also houses the maritime museum. We’ve also covered some very random bits of learning such as the gunpowder plot, Nelson Mandela and his legacy, the history of Christmas trees and done some interesting science experiments. Looking into the French Christmas traditions led to an interesting discussion about Santa’s ability to understand and deal with all the different customs around the world.
 
Brest castle - still an active service base and a museum.

Since setting off we have tried to loosely follow the British curriculum to help with the transition back to school when we return. Although we were aware that change was due, we were quite surprised to discover recently that the new system is being introduced from September 2014 so the curriculum as it stood was suspended from September this year to allow schools the opportunity to prepare for the new!
 
Scenery, characters and props all ready for action in the Nativity.
 
Having expected to return to England a few weeks ago, until the weather and the engine problems decided otherwise, there had been a possibility of the boys starting formal schooling in the New Year. This will obviously not be happening now so we have the pleasure of continuing boat school for a while longer. We're looking forward now to the Christmas holidays then back for more fun and learning in January.
 
Happy Christmas to you all – thanks for following the blog.
 

For more boat school blog posts use the tag cloud on the right – if you want to find out more about how we use the British primary school curriculum whilst travelling, want to chat about home education on the move or about anything we have tried in boat school please feel free to contact me via the comments.
 
 
 
 

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