What have I been doing recently?

It's been a while, but here I am again. I haven't been busy since I last wrote here, but nor have I been doing nothing - that rarely happens, I 'm glad to say.

So - last Sunday, I went and saw my old boat and her current owner, Tom. He bought the boat nearly four years ago, took her from Ipswich up the east coast, through the Caledonian Canal, over to Ireland, down to Preston, Lancs, and back again to Ipswich. All the things, and probably more, than I'd wanted to do when I owned her. I'd have been sad to see her again, if I hadn't had my wonderful sail round Newfoundland, and the prospect of buying a river cruiser in France. (Off to France at the end of this month to have a look at several boats, one in particular - a steel boat, Dutch, 10 metres).

For my boaty readers, the old boat is similar to this one:





And yes, I came back home and looked up any boats for sale like this, even though I don't want to sail on my own ...

It was slightly odd, going back in time - I climbed up the ladder, ducked under the cockpit cover (the conservatory), and went down into the saloon, where Tom and his friend Stuart were - and immediately said 'I remember buying those cushions!', or something similarly mundane. And I was rather pleased how well the upholstery had lasted - no signs of wear! Someone had to benefit.

We spent a great afternoon, if you're a boaty person, amazingly dull if you aren't, and then picked up Sue, Stuart's gf, and went to the Butt and Oyster at Pin Mill for dinner. The B&O is famous on the east coast, usually packed to the gunnels, but tonight, almost empty, despite promised live music. We greedily inspected the menu cards, doled out by the waitress, and chose, as she hove to, over our horizon ....