A nice start to the day at Waits Quay and then an outing to the St Ivo Pool for a family swim after which I polished The Lady as we cruised back up the river and carried on once we arrived to moor at Huntingdon where the boys went off to the cinema and the girls played in the playground as the day ended milder and more humid. Then to my journal and to catch up with the election news; which showed the Tories running the campaign like an American one with banners waving and people on the platform as she also tried to turn the main debate back on to defence. Labour are coming back in the polls and are not to be deflected and his deputy Roy Hattersley tackles crime and the City of London scandals and issues a writ in the High Court over lies in the Tory Press. The Pakistan test match ended in violence from English National Front supporters, Alan Saunders is stepping down from Guinness, Klaus Barbie is being identified as a prison camp Nazi in court and the US grieve the casualties of the Gulf attack and doubt the wisdom of allowing Kuwait tankers to fly the American ensign. Lastly, the result of an Irish EU referendum is awaited after a low turnout.
Another sound night’s sleep and I was the first to wake and got the morning drinks and put the heating on. Even so, it was quite a mild morning by recent standards. Di got washed and dressed first and I played with Daniella quite a lot and then Debbie. As I was in the bathroom washing, the girls started playing up and I had to go out and sort them out, as Di can only do one thing at a time and this was making breakfast. In come Daniel and Gary and we all had our morning meal as per our routine. I took the girls out to play on the Waits Quay lawn after and then settled them down in front of the TV for half an hour to watch a cartoon. The boys took the dinghy over to Jason Chambers boat and let Jason know that we were to go swimming later and then we all did a bit of shopping in St Ives, until it was time for coffee at The Welcome Cafe and then to set off on foot for swimming at the St Ivo pool. A nice swim and then the walk back to The Welcome Cafe for lunch. Della has taken to having piggy-back rides on my shoulders at last and will hardly get off, even if I go into a shop! Back to The Lady and straight off up river.
By this time, the hazy start to the day had given way to quite hot and humid weather. We put the sliding roof back and, whilst Di drove, I started the process of applying polish to the woodwork. In my shopping this morning, I had fussily selected a large tin of wax polish and aimed to protect the varnish work whilst I had the opportunity. A pleasant trip through Hemingford and Hartford locks and then we moored at the Round Table moorings in the Huntingdon riverside park and the girls played in the playground, whilst Di cooked us a nice meal of sausages and vegetables. The girls played again as Di did the washing up and Daniel and Gary went into Huntingdon to watch a science fiction film at the cinema and thoroughly enjoyed it. They had hoped that Jason Chambers and his boat would arrive, so that he could go with them. Jason’s mother had gone into Hinchingbrooke Hospital today, with bowel troubles, and it seemed logical for his father to bring Dawn Treader back from St Ives to Huntingdon to be within visiting distance, but it was not to be. I worked for several hours polishing all The Lady’s varnish and sweeping the decks, doing the chore most particularly. The mist had screened the sun this evening again, but it was still mild and humid and we had no need of the heating. At dusk, I wrote my journal by the light of the sunset. The election news coverage sees Thatcher trying to turn the debate onto defence and the Tories join the Alliance in attacking Labour, who have edged up in the opinion polls. Thatcher’s rally has much of an American atmosphere to it, with banners waving and in the audience and on the platform. David Steel of the Alliance quotes a list of over 100 Labour candidates claimed to be of the hard left. Neil Kinnock says he is not to be put off his own topics and issues by these attacks. Labour’s deputy leader, Roy Hattersley, has issued a High Court writ over allegations by the Tory press and has taken up the issue of crime and the City of London as his latest speech themes. The latest poll from Marplan shows 42:34:20% as the Tory/Labour/Alliance split of votes. Much concern over the international cricket match between England and Pakistan yesterday. The match itself was thrilling in the extreme, but the crowd trouble between Pakistanis and National Front supporters led to hundreds of arrests, many injuries, of which the worst was a supporter having his throat (windpipe and jugular vein) cut by flying glass and needing emergency and intensive treatment. There are calls for more policing, but stopping ground sales of alcohol will only help. The Guinness Chairman, Alan Saunders, has given in to calls for his resignation ahead of tomorrow’s shareholders meeting. Former Gestapo Officer, Klaus Barbie, has been forced to go back into the defendants stand in the trial and was identified by five former concentration camp victims. The American dead from the surprise Gulf attack were taken home today, amongst public grief and bewilderment. The US policy of allowing Kuwaiti oil tankers to fly the US flag for safety has come under attack from within Congress, as putting US vessels at risk. Only 50% of the electorate in the Republic of Ireland have turned out to vote in a referendum that is being seen as a vote to stay in, or come out, of the Common Market.