John's Travel Blogs

Category: Guest Blogs

Blog posts by past and current guests aboard Lady Cindy

  • What’s been going on and surprise reveal.

    Right then, where do I begin. Well since my last blog we have been quite busy.

    Lady Cindy was lifted out of the water so that John and I could do some work on the bottom of the boat.

    Working on Lady Cindy.

    We went for a walk on Aberystwyth pier head and decided to take some pictures. There were quite a few takes but these were the best ones 🙂

    The house move is slowly getting closer, my room is fully packed and ready to go. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor isn’t too bad.

    We’ve had some guests aboard which has been lovely because it has allowed me to spend time with my friends and we have also had good times with friends ashore having barbecues and going bowling.

    It has been lovely to be ashore for sometime spending time with family and friends.

    While all of this and more has been going on, I’ve been doing some planning and thinking about the surprise.

    For a while I’ve been debating whether or not to carry on with John on his journey and I’ve had a lot to think about like my family, friends and my animals.

    With John mentioning more and more often about finding crew, I decided to give it a go before I lost the opportunity.

    So yes, I have been aboard Lady Cindy with John and Dotty for a while now and we’ve found out that I can get over my seasickness by sleeping. For everyone who knows me, they know I really like my sleep and I’m really good at it. Haha 😂

    I still don’t know how far I’ll get but we’re taking it day by day and we’ll just see how it goes.

    My brother, sister in law and their children came over to my parents house to see John and myself before we left for Southampton and we had a Chinese takeaway and some drinks which was a lovely time.

    I needed to go back home for a bit due to needing to find a new home for my boa constrictor but I’m happy to say that I have found him a new home with someone experienced with big snakes.

    I also needed to go back to see my dog who has been unwell recently but he is doing good and is still happy and comfortable 🙂

    This is only some of the things that’s been going on recently so I might write another blog with more of the things that’s been happening but that’s all for now 🙂

  • Better late than never. Haha 🤣

    It’s been a while since I’ve written on this but I guess it’s better late than never.

    As you all already know, John spent Christmas and New years with my family and I which was absolutely lovely. I can’t speak for anyone else but I definitely ate and drank too much. Haha 🤣

    Dotty and Jack 🐾

    There was lots of singing, dancing and laughing over Christmas and New year. Oh and how can I forget the carrot c*ck fish bowl and playing with nerf guns drunk. Haha 🤣

    Some of you may be thinking “what is a carrot c*ck fish bowl?” well I’ll tell you now.

    My sister in law and I decided to have a fish bowl.. Okay maybe 2 or 3. Haha 🤣 and we came up with the idea of carving a fish out of a carrot to put in the fish bowl but John had other ideas and he carved a penis instead so that’s where the name came from. Haha 🤣

    • New Year’s Eve fish bowl 🥂🥳
    Christmas Day jam 🎸🎤🎶
    John and I on Christmas day 🙂

    January really just disappeared, I really can’t believe that it’s mid February already. At the end of January it was my dad and my sister in law’s birthday so even more food and alcohol was consumed. Haha 🤣

    For dad’s birthday we had booked tickets to see a rock band so some of my family, John and I went and it was amazing. It made my family and I realize how much we miss gigging.

    The UK Rock Show in Aberystwyth 🎸🎤🎶

    It’s all been a bit crazy recently John needing to prepare his boat ready for when he sails off, with my parents and I along with my brother, sister in law and their 2 kids moving house. Even with this John and I have still managed to see eachother nearly every week with me either going to see him or him coming to see me.

    I’m hoping to go to Aberystwyth on Saturday to help John with some jobs on the boat so I really hope these storms pass quickly and that everyone stays safe.

    I am planning a surprise for sometime in the future but only time will tell if it actually happens.

    Keep checking back regularly to see if the surprise goes to plan 🤐🙊

  • Will the adventure continue – part 2 (About time 😂)

    Finally managed to do the second part revealing what I chose to do (even though you all probably already know due to John’s blog. Haha 🤣

    After thinking about the pros and cons of going back to Lady Cindy with John & Dotty and speaking to my friends and family I made the decision to return 🙂

    On Wednesday 7th John and Dotty came over to the house to help me with some jobs up in the field. Poor Dotty was also given a hair cut by myself but I am far from being a dog groomer. Haha 😂

    On Thursday we returned to Lady Cindy but due to not being aboard for some time I was a little bit wobbly but I quickly got my sea legs back. We chose to just relax so that I could take time getting used to being aboard again.

    On Monday we needed to go ashore to New Quay to get some more things for our trip and that’s when I went for an unintentional paddle. Haha 😂On approaching the Dock on the tender I offered to get into the shallow water to pull the tender closer to the steps because I was wearing shorts and John was wearing trousers  so I took my shoes and sock off, stepped out into the water and then fell over. Haha 😂 I’m glad it was a warm day because I didn’t get too cold but I did walk around New Quay dripping. Haha 😂

    When we returned to Lady Cindy I climbed aboard, lost my grip on the shoes I was carrying and one of them fell overboard so John kindly went to get it with the tender because it had started floating away. Haha 😂

    We planned to start making our way to Ireland on Monday but due to the change in weather we’ve ended up in Milford Haven for a couple of nights.On our journey we saw some dolphins which was amazing. They were swimming alongside the boat, changing sides, jumping out of the water and a variety of different things. We even saw a cow and a calf which was absolutely beautiful, the calf always stayed very close to its mother’s side.

    Also on our travels we also saw some puffins which was amazing, they were diving under the water and they flew very close to the surface of the water. We decided to give them a new name of  f**king chuffing puffins which has now stuck so everytime one of us mentions puffins the other one of us says “those f**king chuffing puffins.

  • Will the adventure continue?

    After an amazing 2 weeks on Lady Cindy with John and Dotty I needed to go home to sort out some things.

    These past 3 weeks have been filled with laughter, singing, chatting, dancing and a whirlwind of emotions.
    Meeting new people and going to new places has always been very difficult for me due to my autism and anxiety but with the support of John and lots of cuddles from Dotty I managed to do it.

    I’ve had so much fun and experienced something I never thought I would.
    Singing on deck out in the open sea is amazing because I can sing as loudly as I want and no one apart from John can hear me. Dotty is definitely deaf because sleeping through my loud voice is pretty much impossible. Haha 😄


    We’ve been swimming in the sea multiple times which was really nice but I definitely need to work on my back flips and front flips off the boat, they reminded me of something you would see on You’ve Been Framed. Haha 😄

    I’ve got some serious thinking to do now because John has very kindly said that I can go back to continue the adventure if I want to.

    I need to think about my family, my friends and of course my animals that my parents have kindly looked after and cared for while I’ve been gone.
    If I only had a couple of pets it wouldn’t be too bad but I’ve got 3 dogs, 2 horses and 2 turtles so it’s a lot of work and pressure on my parents.

    Only time will tell if I am to continue on this adventure or not but if it doesn’t, I will always remember the amazing times we had and the adventure I never in a million years thought I would go on.

    Just to finish I’d like to say a massive massive  thank you to John for giving me the opportunity to have this amazing experience, for being so kind, caring, understanding and welcoming.

  • New adventure

    Saturday 19th June – 3rd July

    Well that was a change of plan that no-one expected would happen.

    The original plan was to do do some driving with my ex driving instructor one day in preparation for my driving test but then I was offered the amazing opportunity to see the boat and possibly do some sailing.

    After speaking about it with my parents and John and thinking about it for a while I finally decided to just go for it.

    Getting on a bus is a really scary thing for me especially to go somewhere new on my own and to see someone I haven’t seen for years.

    I had mentioned it to my parents but due to my autism and anxiety neither of us actually expected me to go.It’s safe to say that mum was definitely shocked when she came home from work and realised that I had actually gone.

    I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help and support of my parents and of course John.

    My Dad came with me to the bus stop to make sure that I got on the bus okay and bought a ticket to the correct place.

    John suggested that I shared my location with him so that he could see where I was and when to come to meet me at the bus station. This really helped me because I could also see myself getting closer to my destination.

    John has and continues to be very caring, always checking that I’m okay and helps me through the times when I get anxious about something.

    Due to being around animals all of my life it has also really helped me that Dotty is here, there’s something really calming and relaxing about cuddling a dog and it also reminds me of home.

    Dotty and I enjoying a cuddle

    I’ve always loved swimming so I’ve been swimming in the sea (not sure if that’s bravery or just because I’m crazy. Haha 😂)

    Me having a swim in Aberystwyth

    While we were out sailing I also managed to actually catch some mackrell which was a new experience for me and I even learned how to tack (changing the direction of the boat and the sails) which is amazing.

    Caught my first fish

    We sailed to New Quay and back on the 27th which was lovely, however on the way back I started to feel a bit seasick but I felt much better after going sick and having a good sleep.

    On top of all these new experiences we have also managed to fit some driving in. I had never driven to Aberystwyth before this week but I managed to do it with the help, support and guidance of John. I’ve driven in twilight and in the dark which was new to me but we safely arrived to Aberystwyth Marina the 2 times.

    About a week later I am still here, we are taking each day at a time and we often check how each other are feeling.

    It has been an amazing experience so far and I really hope it continues but even if it doesn’t I will always remember this amazing experience.