Having got over a severe bout of man-flu I have now contracted a case of “Engineers Foot(1)”

I have s small (French) grease gun  which is perfect for the boat. It comes with a box of miniature tubes of salt water resistant  grease (only available in France) and much more convenient, in tight spaces, than the larger, unwieldy, automotive variety. 

We had a day of maintenance jobs yesterday and a thorough tidy up and reorganisation of the lockers (A’s idea)

It all went swimmingly well until I dropped the box of grease tubes into the depths of a locker, where they disappeared, out of sight and reach. 

I could climb down but there wasn’t enough space to bend over and grab them. The prospect of A lowering me in head first with my feet tied to a halyard  would have tested even the strongest relationship. 

I decide that the best option was to remove my shoes, dreep(2) down, hanging onto the locker lid and see if I could grab them with my slightly prehensile toes (A’s moderately unfair description)

I retrieved all but one which required groping around under a ledge. “Got it” before realising that I had managed to jam my big toe into the tube and liberally coat several toes and my foot with the finest marine lubricant. 

(1) Engineers foot (L. crassus pedis) not to be confused with the more common  Athlete's foot (L. tinea pedis)

(2) Dreep. (Scottish) To lower oneself from a height, hang by the arms, then drop the remaining distance.