October is

a month for soup, of more gigs, of clocks falling back and long dog walks in the dark. There are still bats and the moon remains huge and beautiful, hung low in the sky. It's not yet cold, but it is beginning to get wet.

My youngest son turns 28, my eldest son turns 32 and my youngest grandson 1. It's a month of remembrance. Mum would've turned 78. And it's 25 years since we lost my cousin David in a bike accident.

We finally sold the Albacore to, I hope, a good home. Amanda and I are getting on well racing the GP14, with a young friend of ours called Alex occasionally standing in for her as crew when she's not around. I've had so much fun racing the GP14 that I haven't actually sailed the Laser at all this year. Although Alex has raced the boat a fair bit in my place. 

Petrella has, sadly, continued to languish in her berth. I try to get down to Plymouth every couple of weeks to check on her, but even that has slipped with the competing commitments on my time. We're hoping to get back down to her for the first weekend of November. If the weather's kind, we may even sail.

Nik finally had the delayed operation for her hip a couple of weeks ago. It went smoothly, and she's recovering well. We have a holiday cottage booked in Fowey for a week in mid-November. It'll be five weeks after her operation, and the week before she's due to return to work from her convalescence. 

Just Nik, our dog Lottie and me. I'm really looking forward to it.