Heavy skies all day

Strong winds and downpours all day apparently didn’t effect the cricket too much but certainly had us running for cover. Repairs finally started coming together as the dinghy engine was returned, the halyards are back and up, and we have the right colour coolant! Getting the dingy engine back on while it bounced around in the wind was pretty tricky. Rowan has tackled a whole lot of DIY chores with vigour, each one completed is a celebration. A busy day with lots achieved.

Around 5pm there was an almighty cacophony of boat horns blasting, all at different pitches and intensity, lasting a good 10 minutes. I guess the Superyachts have mega horns. It was an incredible sound very mournful somehow and rather goose bump inducing. We subsequently discovered it was because someone had been killed on the Superyacht race which was rather sobering. Sailors will understand the terminology, it was a pad-eye that broke loose from the boat that was holding an enormous sail, the block on the end shot out and hit the man on the back of his head. He was medevaced to Florida but did not survive. Ugh not the kind of sailing story I like to hear.

Wet grey heavy skies

In the evening Pete and Tom, Rowan’s ex Virgin Money coworkers took us out for dinner at Nelson’s dockyard at the Admiralty Inn. Rowan and I picked our timing to leave the boat, we were halfway down the pontoon when there was a deluge of rain that absolutely soaked us. All the seating was outside under cover but we still got wet when the rain was blowing in. Martin (husband of Cheryl our old tennis friend from Rudgwick) joined us with a friend as Cheryl has returned to the UK. Turns out the friend, Thomas is from Austria, I was sitting next to him and we got onto the subject of Ukraine. He is adamant the West is doing the wrong thing with sanctions, I disagreed and we got into a lengthy discussion. Turns out he has a business in Russia and has met Putin a few times, he claims he did the latest biggest refurb of the Kremlin under Yeltsin. No wonder he doesn’t want sanctions! He obviously has a whole lot of businesses around the world, including South Africa. I told him that I thought Putin’s tactics were just like Hitler’s and he was adamant that was not the case. Pete and Tom had invited a friend who is chief engineer on a Superyacht, the yacht he is working on just changed hands two weeks ago, he confidentially admitted that the previous owner was an oligarch. I guess the oligarchs had a pretty good idea of what was coming. It was a good evening and good to be out socialising again.