Nelson Mandela has been elected deputy president of the ANC after being freed
Nelson Mandela has been elected deputy president of the ANC after being freed

After breakfast of toast and marmalade on another cold and frosty morning Steve and I attacked the engine maintenance in earnest, replacing the final fuel filters, and insulating the hot-water tanks and feed pipes. Jack came around and will bring his chain-saw to help remove the willow trees.

To Wroxham for lunch after which Steve set off for Wroxham to return his boat to his moorings and I resumed work on the Paxton Princess after which I returned to Wroxham to collect Steve and brought the boat trailer for the "Jolly-Boat" that had come with Heronshaw, loading it on to his boat's trailer and towing them both back home afterwards.

The government is in serious political difficulty as new opinion polls over the Poll Tax and the figures on inflation show the government in disarray. Sterling fell sharply as city financiers began to realise that the Tories could not get the economy right before the next general election.

Nelson Mandela has been elected deputy president of the ANC and the organisation is to move its headquarters back to Johannesburg, in South Africa, from its exile in Lusaka without delay. The Forth Road Bridge completes 100 years of existence.

We awoke on a very cold and frosty morning and there was a layer of ice on the slipway. The water level was still high but dropping now that the wind had changed direction. I got us up quite early and made a breakfast of toast and marmalade with tea to drink and warm us up. We cleared away the things and then decided to attack the engine maintenance in earnest. We took off and replaced the final fuel filters and got away without having to bleed the fuel lines which was a relief. We had finished this by 9.00am and then I got under cockpit floor and insulated the hot-water tanks and feed pipes which was quite a job as well.

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My caretaker, Jack, came around and I gave him another £20 and chatted for a while. He is going to bring his chain-saw down some time and help remove those willow trees. Steve also had a look at his boat and, at lunch time, we broke off to drive to Wroxham and have lunch at the cafe there. Once we had come back, Steve set off for Wroxham to return his boat to his permanent moorings and I resumed work on the Paxton Princess. I finished the insulation job and then tidied up and vacuumed the boat. The new miniature vacuum cleaner was very effective.

I then had to do a few things before leaving the boat and property and so it was after 5.00pm before I returned to Wroxham to collect Steve. I had brought the boat trailer for the "Jolly-Boat" that had come with Heronshaw and we lifted in on top of his own boat's trailer and towed them both back home afterwards. I phoned Mum and told her that I would not be dropping by this time and it was quite late that I arrived back in Paxton and put the trailers in the drive.

These last two days have seen the government running into serious political difficulty as new opinion polls over the Poll Tax and the figures on inflation show the government in disarray. Sterling fell sharply on the foreign exchange markets as city financiers began to realise that the Tories would be hard put to solve its difficulties and get the economy right before the next general election. Nelson Mandela has been elected deputy president of the ANC and the organisation is to move its head-quarters back to Johannesburg, in South Africa, from its exile in Lusaka without delay. The Forth Road Bridge completes 100 years of existence.