From Erith back to the St Ives Waits Quay after Debbie was ill in the night too in more poor weather and then a rest and some takeaway food aboard as 50 more die in South African riots, overwhelming Durban hospitals and an IRA show funeral takes place in Ulster. Clive Sinclair loses his backing from Maxwell and tries to go it alone
Yet another poor night. This time Debbie’s cold turned into an attack of her asthma during the night and she had to come and sleep with Diana from 4.00am onwards and we all suffered the disturbance. At least Della gave last night a miss. As it was a rather dewy morning we gave the twenty-pence playground a miss and set off fairly early for the start of our long trek across the Old West River. The air was warm, but the conditions cloudy and breezy and I was a bit too brave in deciding to cruise with the sliding canopy back. We saw three Herons in our cruise today, two having just caught fish, and this was very reassuring. The first lock was the Hermitage at Erith and we were lucky to go straight in.
The lady lock-keeper was bemoaning the weather and, even with the improved day yesterday, there was little movement, which means poor tips. The tidal section was at a low ebb and the bank protections exposed, which made an interesting comparison one with another. The best effort was a neatly stacked and tied wall of old railway sleepers. By now we had given up our brave efforts and drawn the sliding roof. Only a small wait at Brownshill and, noting the keeper’s doubts about us getting through St Ives lock before the start of the keepers lunch at 12.30pm, we pressed on at over 6 knots to just be the last cruiser through. Straight to the Waits Quay and, after waiting at the section marked, ‘no mooring’ for a while, we moved into an adjacent space vacated by another. The familiar drizzle had returned, but I stepped out for takeaway meals from the Chinese for me and the Kentuckian for the others. After this lunch, I rested on The Lady, read my FT, and filled up with drinking water using our hose and the Waits tap. At 3.30pm the others returned from shopping and, after a cup of tea and a small crisis of lack of energy and sleep, we struggled up to the St Ivo pool for swimming and ended up clean and refreshed after all. Diana made us all tea of tomato soup and fresh raspberries to follow, which were delicious. A quiet evening reading my books on The Countryman and Water Naturalism, where I leaned more of the upland sphagnum peat bogs, that added relevance to my recent observations at Thormaid. After, to my journal and then the television news. The main story is of 50 dead in the South African riots, which leads to the firmest call yet from the US government for apartheid reform. The latest trend is for blacks to attack Indians, who are now armed to the teeth. Injured victims are threatening to overwhelm Durban hospitals, with the blacks the main casualties. The banned US Noraid fundraiser, Martin Galvin, appeared in an IRA funeral in N. Ireland today with Martin McGuinness also acting as a stretcher bearer. After visits to customs stations today, Mrs Thatcher promises more money for the interception and prosecution of hard drug dealers as a memorial service was held in Liverpool for the young lad, Jason, who died from heroin drug addiction. Sinclair claims that his company can stand alone after Robert Maxwell drops his takeover plans. It was Nagasaki’s turn today to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the nuclear bomb.