Map of the disputed Kashmir Region
Map of the disputed Kashmir Region

Up after a restful night to feed the doves and fish on a dry and cool day with a strong north-easterly wind. A long session on my administration and paperwork, council and personal before hosting Alison Gray from L.H. Jones marina who agreed that £15,000 is a reasonable price for The Lady which I then commissioned ready to be taken down to St Ives read for sale. I arranged for a third builder to view the Heronshaw work and spoke to Mum.

Between 80 and 100 people died when Indian security forces opened fire on a crowd of 100,000 in Srinagar, Kashmir after their leader was shot and, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinians have now suffered 18 dead and hundreds wounded after protests over previous shootings and West Bank settlement.

I slept well again last night and was up in good time this morning. The weather continued dry but cool with a north-east wind that had strengthened to force 5 or 6 and so I am glad that I am not trying to go out of Yarmouth or cruise in the Wash! I fed the doves and fish and decided that I would continue with my administration and paperwork. I wrote all manner of letters about my financial affairs, boat insurance and repairs and then reconciled my Abbey National cheque account and credit card accounts and paid a variety of bills. I sent Diana off with a host of transactions to do in St Neots whilst I worked on yet more paperwork. I wrote letters on council business and made several telephone calls to arrange matters for the rest of the week.

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After a nice lunch that Diana cooked for us, I had Alison Gray, from L.H. Jones marina who came to look at The Lady and agreed that £15,000 is a reasonable price for it. He advised me to clean it up ready to be sold and get it down there as soon as possible before the Bank Holiday weekend. After I had done more deskwork before and after tea, I then went down and commissioned The Lady for the last time, reconnecting the engine cooling and freshwater system after it had been laid up. I ran the toilets, water system and engine and they all worked fine and so the boat is ready for a good clean in the morning and then to be taken down to St Ives in the afternoon. I spoke to Mum tonight and then to another builder. I now have a total of three builders coming to see me during my forthcoming stay at Heronshaw which I hope will result in me getting at least one of them willing to do the work.

Civil disturbances lead the international news stories. Between 80 and 100 people died when Indian security forces opened fire on a crowd of 100,000 in Srinagar, Kashmir. Their leader had previously been shot dead and they were protesting at this and the fact that their state had been brought under central rule in January. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinians have now suffered 18 dead and hundreds wounded after protests over previous shootings and now the United Nations Security Council is to meet tomorrow to discuss the problem as Israel keeps allowing more Jewish settlers to exacerbate the tension. Back home, a second cat has been confirmed as having perished from the "Mad Cow" disease which reinforces the fears that many people have that the BCE is crossing the barrier to infect other species. Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson appears to be back-tracking on the idea of supporting the Channel Tunnel project by developing a high-speed rail link.