Position           36:55.33N 076:11.34W

Date                1500 Friday 24 May 2013

My recollection of the past 8 days since we arrived back in Norfolk is that it has been non-stop wet and windy.  Certainly the weather has been such as to make antifouling and polishing difficult.

There was at the least the satisfaction of having, for the first time, painted the hull myself.  I managed to get half the hull polished as well before rain finally stopped play and I ran out of time, the Yard fortunately bailed me out on that one.

The really good news is that the boat has survived the winter very well with no apparent frost damage and with the inside smelling sweet and dry.  We must have got the winterisation right.  The Mate was gainfully occupied restoring the interior to home comforts, provisioning and acting as a runner for the constant demands for bits and pieces from the skipper.

Whilst the boat was out of the water we have once again been staying in the Best Western Hotel, some 3 miles away, and which has again served us well.

Everything was completed in time to launch as scheduled on Friday afternoon.  The weather did its best to confound us and provided the entertainment of 30 knots winds, plus gusts, and torrential rain.  The good news was that the engine started up without problems as did the generator, the refrigeration systems and the air conditioning; the latter being rather unnecessary as diesel heating was more the order of the day.

Having moved back onto the boat is our intention to have a quiet day tomorrow, a recovery, and then to motor round to Pilot House for a couple of days courtesy of Gary and Greta before heading “up the Bay”.