Oh my goodness it has been a long time since I have blogged…SORRY! I guess at least you can be guaranteed it is me rather than my ‘people’ churning them out, as so many of you suggest in your emails. It is me, I have very few people, and that works fine with me!
Right, I have been living on a boat for the last three weeks for a new ITV1 series called Britain from the Sea. I was on the boat with Richard Madeley and Nick Hancock. There was also another boat with Rosemary Shrager, Mark Durden-Smith and Bradley Walsh on it. I didn’t see much of them unfortunately as they covered different parts of the South Coast, which was the part of Britain this series was about, but three weeks with Madeley and Hancock was a lot of fun.
Actually, it was SO much fun! It wasn’t the usual kind of TV that I do, as in I usually hog the screen all to myself for an hour and have never really worked on screen with anyone else, but when I was offered the chance to live on three different boats for three weeks with two people who I liked I couldn’t say no. SO I didn’t, and what an AMAZING experience.
Take the TV part away from it for a minute and just let me tell you about what I got out of it on a personal level first. I love boats; my dad is obsessed with them so even though I don’t know a huge amount about them they have always excited me. I also love traveling and learning about places and people, so starting in Penzance and sailing all the way along the south coast and up into London saw me visiting loads of places I had never been before, and meeting a huge number of brilliant characters. We sailed up into the Thames yesterday, and although the rest of the coast is much more impressive than I ever knew it to be, sailing into London was the most electrifying bit for me. I dunno, I just think London is beautiful and exciting and being on a boat on the Thames always gives me Goosebumps and fills me with pride.
We swapped boats every week to get as much out of the experience as possible. The first week we were on a gorgeous gentleman’s cruiser called Wando Lady. She was very retro and very cool but there wasn’t much for Nick, Richard and I to do apart from sit around and eat and drink…which was fine by us! However, the next week we got our butts worked hard on a beautiful tall ship called The Pheonix. All I can say is WHAT AN HONOUR! My goodness she was the dream ship. I got to be captain while Nick and Richard took on the roles of navigator and Bowsan. I think I can safely say we all loved it. Then for the last week we were on a 52 ft Sunseeker. This would have been amazing if the weather hadn’t stopped us being on it for a few days. In fact, while we were on the Sunseeker we had a really frightening experience in 20 ft waves and gale force 7 winds. I will tell you about this another time as I am on a high right now, and if I am really honest the moment we all nearly ended up in the drink was genuinely really terrifying. So like I said, that is a story for another time…

I don’t want to give too much away, and will write much more about it when the show comes out, which I think will be around January, but I just wanted to explain where I had been.

Also, I know you are probably wondering how I got on with Richard and Nick? Well I have known Richard for years and knew we would get on great, but he really blew me away on this. He is the most caring, honest, kind and good spirited person I have met in ages and I absolutely adore him. He drove me nuts a couple of times because he insists on interviewing everyone from the local harbour master to the seagulls that poo on their heads, but I was driven nuts with pure affection. It is a lovely quality of his and only comes from his genuine enthusiasm and interest in people. What a great man!
As for Nick, well I thought I was in trouble when I met him. There I was just as excited about my nautical outfits as I was about the boat when we first met, and I could tell he just thought I was a total tit. However, luckily we quickly bonded and spent most of the three weeks taking the piss out of each other and laughing our heads off. I really really liked him and I bet he hates to admit it, but I think he liked me too! A very unlikely friendship indeed but a really good one as far as I am concerned.
As fun as it was hanging out with them I think we all missed home loads. It is very romantic out at sea, so we all spent a lot of time talking about and missing our loved ones. Me especially. I just got home to 400ish emails from all of you and loads of them were asking me why I am still single. Ladies and gentlemen I am not single and haven’t been for some time now. I am actually very much in love and plan to be for as far into the future as I can imagine.
After us being in London for the summer Chris (my love) is currently in LA. I haven’t seen him for the whole time I have been at sea, which is around a month now. I miss him soooo much it is crazy. I fly back to LA Thursday and can’t wait!!!
That gives me five days to shift the rubber ring buoyancy aid that seems to have welded itself to my waistline. I don’t know how it got there, I must have slipped….
OK, truth? I did nothing but eat and drink and now I can hardly see my toes. Oh well…what do I need to see my toes for anyway!
So that is me…how are you lot? I LOVED reading all your emails, thanks so much. I have replied to a few…so sorry if I haven’t replied to yours but please know that I have read every single one and really appreciate them. The good and the bad…but mostly the good!
Shall write again soon

Love Dawn x