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Today had been cloudy but fine and at least the rain had stayed away which enabled me to collect The Paxton Princess after its repairs and learning lessons by writing up the ship’s log for the recent Horning to Paxton trip. After tea, we cycled to Paxton School hall to see Della's enrolment as a new Brownie with her friend Naomi. Later on, writing up a plan for the current Eaton Socon by-election and then meeting the other Liberal Democrats to brief them.
I was up on time and beavering away at my chores to be able to go and overview the repairs to the Paxton Princess tied up at White House Marine. Breakfast with the others and then along to Eaton Ford for 9.00am to await the arrival of Michael Carrington, the engineer. Time dragged on and he still had not arrived and so I settled down to write up my log for the passage from Horning to Paxton which was quite illuminating. The computer log showed that we had strayed badly from our planned course up the Yarmouth Road and were quite close to the Scroby Sand but had not realised because of the high water and adequate depth. As the voyage went on, we were in better control but there were lessons to be learnt. The main problem was the miscalculation of time which meant that the tide was going in the wrong set. The standard of Steve's fixes left much to be desired and so there was not very adequate information on which to base a log but I did my best.
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After a family breakfast on a sunny and fine day, with still a fresh wind from the west., I spent this morning working on my journal and then helping John Roscoe with a computer printing problem as Daniel and Angela hosted friends swimming, watching satellite TV and playing croquet on the games lawn.
The news is still of the economy where the ramifications of the recent bank failure are still sinking in and as Bank of England reduced the interest rates again as they try to keep the pound on parity in the EMS.
Having gone to bed on time last night, Diana joined me later and then I slept until around 7.00am this morning. There was one disturbance at 11.45pm when the telephone rang and somebody, Daniel presumably, answered it. I dressed in shorts, sandals, and a tee-shirt this morning, hoping for fine weather as it looked hopeful with the sun shining. First, I had the chores to do and tended to the fish, doves and conservatory and then I enjoyed a lovely fried breakfast with the family; that is most of the family, except Daniel who was late to rise again. After this, I spent the morning updating this last few days' journal that I had not time to do whilst being in the boat.
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Taking the Paxton Princess through the Paper Mill Lock to White House marina and then back to Paxton to officiate at the Village Hall Fete on a windy and changeable day
I was up quite early doing the outside chores as the gardener away for the weekend and Daniel still in bed. Diana had been looking after the fish and plants reasonably well, but the swimming pool had been left while I was away and I had to get Daniel to maintain that. I prepared the boat for the trip to White House and drove down there to see if Michael Carrington, the engineer, had arrived but he was not yet there. A carpenter and other boat-owners were very helpful, and I established that the gantry was capable of handling the boat and that Michael was expected and so I decided to move the boat round on the strength of that. Driving back, I collected Daniel and Angela and we set off in the boat, locking up through the Paper Mill Lock and arriving at the White House service bay in a strong wind which made mooring tricky.
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Leaving Erith and cruising up on The Paxton Princess to arrive at The Hayling View after spending overnight at Erith and a late breakfast time at the St Ives Harvest Bakery. We had stopped at Buckden Marina for fuel and water on the way.
After washing down the boat I drove to White House Marina to arrange them to look into the noises emanating from the port shaft. Then the most delightful hair wash and shower after feeling tired mentally and physically with aches and pains to go with it.
We slept the sleep of the just and I awoke to find that Steve had been up for some time but could not find a shop open for breakfast materials. With hire cruisers coming in for the turn-round day, we made our departure and cruised up to St Ives to moor at the Town Quay intending to do some shopping. To save the time and effort, we went to the Harvest Bakery and had breakfast there before getting back on board and leaving for home. It was very windy from the South West today and quite a problem in and out of the locks but we negotiated all of them without a bump. There were also a few showers but the wind kept them from being more than brief as the clouds raced over the sky.
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