One of the problems about being stuck in the marina is how hard it seems to do very much other than odd jobs around the boat and re-live Cicero’s political rise and fall. There is a blissful hour between 5pm and 6pm when the temperature falls, the sun isn’t scorching and before it gets dark when it is a joy to be outside working on the boat. There is presumably a similar period between about 6.30am and 8am after sunrise but I am afraid that for us this is somewhat academic. Outside these hours it is so hot that we just don’t have the energy to do much other than swim and stay in the shade. This might sound bliss (and has been) but after a while the protestant work ethic comes to bear and we feel increasingly restless and guilty. Apart from two trips over to Nelson’s Dockyard, an overnight sail to Deep Bay and a day trip into the capital, St John’s, yesterday we haven’t left the marina in three weeks!

Three nights a week there is a live band at the adjacent Crows Nest and at other places in the marina on other nights also. As you might imagine reggae predominates. It is a surprisingly difficult rhythm to dance to (unless you happen to be local with an innate sense of rhythm) and in order not to look somewhat wooden you have to combine a fluidity of the hips with a vertical tempo that reflects the beat. There are an awful lot of extremely wooden looking white men around here. The Caribbean musical hero is of course Bob Marley. Every band will include a medley of his songs and proudly play them in anticipation of a thrill from the audience hearing live reggae in the Caribbean for the first time. And it is lovely the first time but there is a Bob Marley malaise in some of the boats here. It may well be “No Woman No Cry” that determines the length of time we can spend in paradise.

Not much to report on the sailing front. I am showing solidarity with Ray who is from Bristol and sailing around the world in very similar fashion to ourselves i.e. with no certain timescale or itinerary but with young grandchildren he is anxious should not feel abandoned. Ray has a similar approach to DIY - once away from the UK you have to do it yourself but sometimes a compromise is necessary e.g. he has just fitted a second wind generator but daren't connect up the wiring without professional help that could delay his trip by a further week. Annie and I have resolved to get a Go-Pro video camera both to record our on deck exploits but also for underwater inspection of the hull, prop and so-on. Ray has confirmed their merit, he is now on his third having dropped two overboard. Of equal interest and excitement is his Hookah battery powered air compressor for working on the hull under water. Sounds like a recipe for disaster but it will be in action later today and he will have a keen audience to watch the drowning. If it does actually work as claimed then it could be added to the list……………

On the subject of drowning, Annie and I are booked in for a couple of scuba refresher dives tomorrow. Annie is a former scuba diver with the BSAC make your own wetsuit brigade through membership in the 1980s of the Putney Sub-Aqua club. Apparently they went farther afield than the Thames and Annie has fond memories of diving in a wetsuit in UK waters in freezing temperatures and zero visibility. Yours truly took the PADI route to emersion and has never dived in water less than 25 degrees celsius. We both did our PADI Advanced in Egypt one winter and have the cards to prove it. Nevertheless we haven’t dived for a year or two and as there is some excellent diving out here we thought we would remind ourselves what a regulator is before taking to the deep.

We have been surrounded by three German boats for the past week with young families and beautiful blond children. There has been no mention of the war and one little boy has been determinedly walking up and down the jetty reciting his one to ten in English (I can’t believe I have left this in but please forgive the intended witticism). However, we have now been joined by Braveheart of Sark. Haven’t been over for a chat and G&T with the owner Tim Aitken (cousin of Jonathan) as yet. Interestingly he and his son sailed the ARC; I do recommend www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053603/Tim-Aitken-tot-yacht.html link to the Daily Mail on line article (and others) that says so much more than I could ever on these pages and hopefully provide you with something to chuckle (or weep) about.