Tuesday 10th Sept I feel a bit Boris after today. You tackle a job that you thought you could solve by shear force of personality and superior knowledge and you are surprised the insolvable problem remains unsolved. In my case it is a question of working out which is the defective part of the wind measuring system- the mast head unit, the mysterious black box, the  chart desk monitor or the  cockpit instruments. For Boris the EU, the commons, the backstop or John Bercoe.

I consulted all the right people- B&G technical sent me a document telling me which coloured wires do what and David at the local chandlers told me to look for the black box. Unfortunately the local B&G service centre which is not too far away in Humpty Doo was too busy to help.

I have hunted for the black box everywhere, following the wires into inaccessible hollows but it remains elusive. I have also been up and down the mast like a dunny seat at a vindaloo party trying different combinations of the mast head unit and an older unit that had been stowed in a locker.  The orange wire at the bottom of the mast should be suppling 6.5V to the mast head unit but was reading barely 2V. I was warned against connecting it to the 12V battery so with extreme patience managed to rig up some AA batteries with short bits of wire and rubber bands but still no response from the instruments.

Wind instruments are non essential -the wind in your face tells you most of what you need to know, so  just as Boris may decide to do without the commons, John Bercoe, the backstop and the EU, I may proceed  alone into unmeasured winds. 

I listened to an episode of Reasons to be cheerful- a podcast that Esme introduced me to- about Empire- interestingly suggesting that Boris, Gove, Rees Mogg etc are of the mindset that Britain is great and can go it alone  because of the completely skewed view of Empire that a certain class of people persist in holding.

The arrival of hundreds of Charles Eldreds drawings and watercolours courtessy of cousin Hilary was quite an eye opener. The quality I had seen before with occasional sightings of  drawings on  Grandmothers, Parents, Aunts and Uncles walls but never really apreciated the skill and talent he had. The quantity and range is amazing.