More effort today scraping and sanding The Lady as Mr Larkin proceeded with the river frontage work. The US ‘Irangate’ hearings have begun with its first witness Major General Richard Secord and, on the eve of the South African ‘all-white’ polling day, there have been black protest strikes, expulsions, and stoning attacks, which have involved an estimated ½ million blacks
Slept well and awoke quite quickly to my morning tea, getting to the table with the others for breakfast. Just cereal and fruit juice, then out to The Lady in old clothes to resume my task of scraping and sanding the other half of the starboard toe rails. Interrupted by the progress of Mr Larkin, who wanted dry material put down behind the camp-shedding, so that the wet dredging silt could dry out on top. Got Pete to barrow a quantity of clay clods, then helped him bring across all of the old stumps from the riverside land clearance and put them in as well. Larking was welding sheet anchors to secure the piling and also did a little dredging as well.
Joan made us coffee, but I had to make my own salad lunch. Di took Daniella to Cambridge and then on to ‘Tumble Tots’ in Comberton afterwards and they had a good day. I got on reasonably well, varnishing the new rails and filling the rotted holes with filler. Also put on the rubbing strips to the starboard side with mastic. Today I took an estimate from Mr Larkin across to Eddie and Stella and they decided to have their frontage done as well. I worked on after tea until dark and then cleared up wearily and came in to write my journal and listen to the news. The US ‘Irangate’ hearings have begun and the first witness, Major General Richard Secord, accused the Reagan administration of abandoning these people implicated in the affair and he felt betrayed. He says that his actions were approved by the administration. The White House had contacted Britain to help with the supply of rockets to the Nicaraguan Contra guerrillas and a British firm was contacted to provide a flight crew. There will be hundreds more police and troops provided to help quell the rising violence in Northern Ireland. On the eve of the South African ‘all-white’ polling day, there have been black protest strikes, expulsions (5) and stoning attacks, which have occurred across the country and involved an estimated ½ million blacks. A new charity has been launched to fight AIDS and launched with initial donations by the government and Robert Maxwell its first Chairman. More revelations of inefficiency and incompetence in the Herald of Free Enterprise enquiry, as the Chief Officer left the loading deck and failed to check the bow doors being closed. A sad and distressing tale of the death of a 4-year-old girl, brutalised by her mother and stepfather, after being returned to the parents from a foster home.