Thursday comes

Survey booked for Thursday, she'll get hauled out and hung in the slings
for a short while to give us the chance to have a good look underneath
her. So glad Kathy has agreed to do the survey for us. Whilst she may
have suitable qualifications coming out of her ears, and years and years
of experience to back up her opinions, some people you just
instinctively know you can trust with a job.

It's not so much a question of safeguarding any investment, but more a
case of wanting some certaintly that the mast isn't going to fall down
or worse, the keels fall off in the middle of the Bristol Channel.

So survey Thursday, and if all well, sea trials to be confirmed, then we
commit.

I think we're determined to keep her at Portishead. It's a lovely
marina, 45 minutes down the road from us, with better than 50% tidal
access, which is the important bit. A good place to get used to her and
a new stretch of interesting water to learn. I can't pretend I don't
feel just a little bit intimidated. But that's a good feeling.

It's 60 miles from Swansea to Portishead; Dad's been talking to another
friend at Frampton in the hope that we can persuade him to help us get
across. Like I said above, some people you know you can just
instinctively trust with a job. I've been pouring over the charts of the
Channel between Swansea and Portishead. Whenever I spend any amount of
time looking at a chart, I'm always struck by how many wrecks they
inevtiably show, especially around these parts.

Each one must have a story.

Bringing the subject back away from wreck and ruin, I almost didn't want
to jinx the whole process by posting too many photos of "Calstar" ahead
of her being ours. She may still yet not be the one.

But I couldn't resist.