Dunkirk (Early 2013)

Crew: Adam Dunlop, Maria Dunlop, Lisa Jones

Predicted weather: S/w 20 knots to help us get back to Ramsgate.

That all sounds fine until there is a sharp change in the weather and the prediction goes out of the window with a force 8 on the nose!  Our Dufour 455 was being thrown around but she was fine, the crew weren’t too happy but we were safe enough.

However, there were a number of lessons learned:

1. Check, recheck and check the weather again from any number of different sources!
2. Always make sure the fuel is full, don’t believe the fuel gauge
3. The boat can handle a nasty sea but it isn’t fun

At the end of this experience, we spoke to Martin Hubbard about his thoughts on whether we were mad contemplating going round the world in a Dufour.  He reassured us that the boat was more than capable but that after a number of days of storms at sea the crew may be strung out.  A heavier boat with better sea-keeping would handle it well and the crew would probably be fresher if the worst happened.  Maria’s interpretation of this: in true “Jaws” fashion – you’re gonna need a bigger boat!

Clearly we couldn’t afford a brand new blue water boat so we started the process of looking at what we could possibly afford in the future.

So during the early part of 2013 we started the search for our new boat.