We had our first doctors appointment last week and went in not very concerned as Joshua's words were 'Don't worry, its just a consultation. We won't have any jabs today....' 5 minutes later I had 2 needles stuck in my arm and the nurse telling me that I needed a further 15.....!!

So we had typhoid and my first Hep B. I will need a further 2 Hep B's so next appointment is made for the 10th of April. Yipppeeee!

So on Friday the 20th of April, Katherine made her way to ours for dinner ready for an early start on the Saturday morning. We left at 6am and jumped in the car ready for an exciting day of sea skills and rope tying.
We started off with a well earned breakfast at Frankie and Benny's. Katherine ate her body weight in baked beans and I had a little banana..... Only joking. We met everyone at the training centre and got the course underway. It was being run by Jon Barr. I couldn't fault his teaching skills at all, it was information and we all learnt a huge amount. 
The first part was all about life rafts, life jackets and other bits and bobs. 

The second part of the course was all about the life raft, how to turn it over, how to get everyone into it and who gets to eat all of the yummy dry ration biscuits.

After a very long day we all successfully completed the sea survival course and got our certificates. Even though it was quite a fun day we learnt so much and fingers crossed we NEVER have to use any of it! 

On the weekend of the 14th of February, Tom and Derv came down to London ready for our trip to the Dive show. We had a shopping list which I think is very important as you can easily get sidetracked into being sold things that really aren't necessary.
Saturday the 15th of February was the second day of the Excel Dive show, We bought tickets in advance for £10 each. Tom, Derv, Katherine, Josh and I went along to do some buying and research. Below is Thomas looking confused about BCD's. We actually found this really great diving brand called Aqua Lung, if you're a diver and female then I highly suggest you check it out. All the things that annoy us as divers has been thought about and redesigned, about time! www.aqualung.co.uk 

Also if you fancy going to the Dive Show next year then here are all the details you need www.diveshows.co.uk

There was a stand promoting female divers at the show so us girls had our photograph taken and put up on the wall. Scuba diving is seen as more of a mans sport so the more women doing it the better! Im pretty sure we're better at it anyway...

As I mentioned before the Aqua Lung collection really impressed us at the show and there were some good deals on some of the gear there. I purchased the Linea mask in pink, it was only £30 which was a bargain in comparison to the RRP of around £60.

If you click the mask below it will take you to the Aqua lung website.

Yesterday Joshua and I went and registered at the doctors. There are quite a few vaccinations to have so thought we had better get started... Here's the list! 

• Diphtheria, tetanus and Polio.
• Typhoid 
• Hepatitis A and B 
• Japanese encephalitis 
• Yellow fever 
• Cholera 
• Rabies 

I have visited Into The Blue a few times but today we took Joshua. Here he is fiddling around, at least he looks like he knows what he's doing.

Its very important for everyone to see the boat, the cabins and generally how much space we will have on board. There are going to be times when we need some personal space so visiting the boats enables us to visualise this a little better.

The boat is currently located in Ipswich, Suffolk. There is a lot to be done on her before we can start making her our home. Including things to be added such as a dishwasher. (Extremely important!)

Our boat is a 56 ft Oyster yacht called Into The Blue.

 There are 3 cabins, sleeping 6 people. My brother Tom has drawn the short straw leaving him with a hammock. This has nothing to do with his personal hygiene...

A little bit of information about the yacht:

• Length overall 17.49 m
• Beam 4.95 m
• Sail area 19.42 m
• Length of hull 17.07 m
• 3 Cabins
• 2 Bathrooms
• 1 Galley
• 1 Large living area.