We are now back home in Tarbert and have temporarily swallowed the anchor but fully expect to re-gurgitate it in late 2009 .

Since being home we have rapidly come to realise just why we love living on the beautiful Kintyre Peninsula. The weather has been, mostly, pretty good, very cold but with the air gin clear and the winter sunlight giving drop dead gorgeous views of the frosty hills and shores of Kintyre.

It was re-assuring for Rob to wander into his favourite bar in Tarbert, warm himself by the log fire and be greeted with, slaps on the back, warm handshakes, and comments like; "Have you been away somewhere then?"; "I ken the face but cannae put a name tae it"; "Why the feck did you come back to this weather?". Yes, it's good to be back.

We have seen many old friends and close family which has helped the time absolutely fly by. We have also been busy preparing the house for the arrival of the builders, building a shed and even doing a little bit of work on the side.

The credit crunch is in the process of decimating many small businesses here in Argyll. The banks are behaving towards small businesses like the Mongol Hordes in a brothel - i .e screwing everything in sight and pillaging everything else. It is not a pretty picture but the situation seems to be calming down now that the banks realise that they are no longer invulnerable to public opinion.

Whilst it is undoubtedly good to be back home among old friends and family it has also made us realise how much we miss the simplicity of the liveaboard lifestyle and the friends that we made during our sojourn down to Greece and Turkey. We will always recall the thrill of dropping the pin in a new anchorage and then seeing a boat and crew that we recognise. We have indeed been very lucky.

We hope that the photos in this blog give you some notion of why we love being here in Kintyre. Should any of you be passing we would be delighted to see you. Please keep us up to date with your progress and plans. We will be back in Aegean waters next year and would love to bump into you.

We wish all our yottie, liveaboard friends , whether on the water or on the land, a truly magnificent Christmas, a Prosperous New Year and Fair Winds at all times.
 
                                                                   Bob and Gina