Catching up with Freda about our Mum Grace
Catching up with Freda about our Mum Grace

Preparing The Paxton Princess for her first sea strip and my RYA Day Skipper Course in the company of Freda, Alf and Chris at Heronshaw and catching up with Freda on family memories whilst being fascinated by our old family furniture she had kept. Tom Phillips, the Royal Yachting Association instructor from Wroxham came round and we planned in outline the trip to the Wash and back, stopping off at Blakeney.

Poor news from home about Daniel skipping school and nationally about a growing rift over the possibility of British clubs being allowed back into European Club competitions. The British lorry driver caught up in the Iraqi Supergun shipment is still being held in Greece and capital is flowing out of Hong Kong at ten times the historical rate due to the colony's uncertain future.

I slept well enough on the boat and then most of this day preparing it for a sea voyage. It was nice that Freda, Alf and Chris were there as I could alternate my working sessions with a further opportunity to get to know them again. Freda kept on making me meals and cups of tea etc which made up for the working time that I was losing as a result of our socialising and so the arrangement was perfect. We chatted about our childhood days and the problems of being brought up under the neurotic influence of Mum and the passive and escapist influence of Dad who was always working shifts and overtime to get away from it all.

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Whilst talking, I was amazed to notice that Freda still had the tables and chairs in use that we were brought up with at Napier Road and they were still in excellent condition. Mum and Dad had bought them at a second-hand shop and they were the family's prize possessions at one time. They are nicely-proportioned oak-framed chairs with turned legs and straight backs which are decorated with a carved foliage and fruit pattern which to this day had defied our best attempts at identifying what the species is supposed to be! I got to know Chris a bit better and realise now that his shyness is mainly limited to family members. He gets on well with people generally and Freda has cut his hair much shorter and he looks more the part now. He spends much of the time on his computer and is looking forward to the shop as something to get his teeth into.

On the boat, I greased the propeller shafts, checked the gearbox oil, topped up the batteries, glued back the echo-sounder sensor and mended the windscreen wiper. Chris helped me to clean off the outside of the boat with me scrubbing and him hosing and then Alf helped by carrying round of all of the equipment that had to be stowed and secured aboard ship for the sea trip. I telephoned Tom Phillips, the Royal Yachting Association instructor from Wroxham, and he came round and we planned in outline the trip to the Wash and back. We can make Blakeney all right for the first night's anchorage and we shall attempt to do so as the weather seems fine. Earlier today, Di called me and told me the bad news that she suspected Daniel of missing school today and going off with Jason Chambers instead. All this at a very critical time just before his "A" Level exams. I advised her to wait until he got home and then to tackle him about it and I would talk to them both when I got back.

The news today is of a growing rift over the possibility of British clubs being allowed back into European Club competitions. The British government is at last standing up for the clubs and expressing dissatisfaction over the possibility of UEFA taking an adverse decision before the World Cup Finals, where British fans were supposed to be on trial. The British lorry driver caught up in the Iraqi Supergun shipment is still being held in Greece and bail is still being refused. Capital is evidently flowing out of Hong Kong at ten times the historical rate due to the colony's uncertain future.