Ozzie came over, correct spelling Aussie, as he was made in Australia, but we have just discovered from our friends John & Robin on Panthera that he is an ex New Zealand Cabinet Minister, such a really nice friendly guy, but he came to ask if we felt the earthquake.

 

He was in a diner and felt it, I have felt them before in Tokyo, but as we were on the yacht we were insulated from the tremor, so if it’s not hurricanes it’s bloody earthquakes.

 

 

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake has rattled the east coast of the United States. The quake was felt in Washington, where the Pentagon and US Capitol building were evacuated, as well as in New York.

 

The Washington National Cathedral and the Ecuadorean embassy were among buildings damaged, although there were no immediate reports of injuries. Federal officials said two nuclear reactors had been taken offline near the epicentre of the quake in Virginia but that no damage had been reported.

 

The quake struck at a depth of 3.7 miles (6km), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, and its epicentre was about 9 miles from the town of Mineral, in the state of Virginia.

 

The quake was most powerful on the east coast of the US since 1897, according to USGS records.

 

Aussie and I in the engine room of his beautiful 57 ft Motor Yacht, cuddling his 2 straight 8 Mann Turbo Diesels 600hp each, which with 3,000 litres of diesel at £1.40 per litre would cost £4,200 and he uses 3 litres per mile, that’s a lot of money for a weekend cruising. But one Motor Yacht has just been on the fuel dock and Michelle the Dockmaster told us he has taken 10,000 litres so that £14,000 – Ouch!!