The day in Wells-next-the-Sea, first taking advantage of Paxton Princess being dried out to clean the hull, check the propellers, removing some fishing line, and then freeing off a log impeller from the rope tightly wound around it. A rush to get aboard with the incoming tide flooding the sand bank and then being able to moor back at the quay for the night after an incoming ship had grounded until the next day. More shopping and maintenance today.
I was first awake at 6.00am on to find the Paxton Princess high and dry as I had calculated. I was soon up and, after a cup of tea to wake me up, I sorted out the tools and cleaning materials that I would need and then climbed down on to the sand. The boat was sat up with both propellers out of the water and first I checked them and removed some small amount of fishing line etc. The anti-foul seemed to be in reasonable shape as well. Then I got on to the main task which was to free off the port (cabin) log impeller which had not been working for some time. It was plainly visible and was fouled with a piece of rope tightly wound round the fins and vane. By excavating a trough, I could get under the boat and cut at the rope with a Stanley knife lashed onto the end of a boathook.
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Once this was completed and the impeller seemed to be moving freely, I got Diana and Daniel out of bed to help me as we cleaned off the sides and stern of the hull and then polished it to save it getting so dirty again. The girls also came off on to the sand bank and made sandcastles until all of our activity ended in a feverish rush as the tide swept back in and quickly engulfed the sand and soon had the boat floating once more. I just had time to get the job finished and take some video pictures for posterity. After the ships had entered and left the harbour, we resumed our position at the quay behind a new arrival - the sailing yacht Java Moon. We then did some more shopping and had lunch before the tide had fallen so low that the boat was not accessible.
Then Debbie went riding for a couple of hours at a riding stable, the rest of the family went swimming and I stayed on board to do some boat maintenance. This evening, Diana went to Pinewoods again to do some laundry, but I stayed on board again to complete my maintenance and also to write up the ship's logs with details of our voyage thus far. I patched and reflated the inflatable dinghy, fitted some coat hooks and used the on-board generator to re-charge the fridge battery amongst other things. I also made a number of telephone calls to check our answering machine and to reply to the resulting messages.
Our housekeeper, Joan, tells me of how Debbie's bedroom and my office are coming along. There have both completed their decoration phase and have new carpets and curtain rails. The family joined me aboard later and we waited up late with the engine running ready for a large ship to come in to dock but it got grounded and its arrival was postponed to the next day. It actually showered on and off today, but it was quite fine and warm really.