14-01-2012
Second week into 2012, and other than a couple of cyclonic blasts of foul weather it’s been a pretty pleasant start to the year, with stuff of interest going on all around me. I had a message from the Herald letting me know they’re interested in running my ‘Brief Maritime history of Shoreham’ story, maybe next week, so hopefully that may help the cause of the Shoreham Fort project, as that was the focus of the story, and the reason for me researching and writing it in the first place. Also, Ray, the Landlord at the Marlipins in the High Street, has agreed to put up copies of ‘Bangkok to BC’ for sale, by donation, in the pub, all proceeds going to the RNLI, so that’s three pubs now doing that, he said there were three sales on the first day, one punter putting eight quid in the Lifeboat box for his copy, which is nice.
Work on the Fische all got done in time for Sams fortieth birthday Science Fiction themed party, creating a toilet cubicle under the stairs which just got finished on Friday evening, even utilising one of the original mine sweeper doors for it, which was a nice touch. I left them to the pre party tidy up, with the parting shot of, “see you all tomorrow”, for the actual gig, before going off to meet up with my brother Stig, and a few mates for after workers at the Waterside that Friday evening. The night ended up with me going back to Stigs and knocking back a few ‘Dark and Stormies’, end result being me hammered and staggering home in a blur. It’s a dangerously tasty drink, and should have a health warning attached to each glass, maybe it’s the ginger beer in it, taking you psychologically back to your happy childhood, and that Enid Blyton world of, ‘lashings and lashings of ginger beer’, either way, it may not feel like drinking alcohol, but it certainly slays you. The upshot of all that was that I didn’t fancy another night of drinking on the Saturday, as is usual with me after a big session, or big at least by my ageing standards, so I didn’t get along to the party I’d been helping Fred prepare for.
I went along Sunday afternoon, to check on the aftermath of the party, and apparently everything had gone fantastically well, I even had the last bottle of beer, which Jake had just discovered, so I took part in spirit if not in body, and hung around for a while enjoying the acoustics of this newly expanded gig area amidships on the Fische. So with the pressure of getting everything ready for the party, now out of the way, I figured now would be a good time to have a go at the old mans boat, the Devils Advocate. She’s been out of the water for a few weeks, and the old boy is keen to get work moving on her, so unbekown to him I slipped along to the yacht club to see what I might be able to get on with. As it turned out, it was all quite easy, sanded down the hull, taped the waterline, scrubbed back, sanded and treated the rust on the keel, and two thirds of the anti foul done before running out of the stuff, we’re now waiting on a delivery, then it’s a couple of hours work to finish off the Devils bottom and get her back in the water, followed hopefully by some racing action again.
One of the great things about working at the yacht club, is being alongside the river, I always have my camera with me, because I just know at some point there will be something worth taking a picture of, be it sunrise, sunsets, wildlife, or boat moving stuff going on. Once you’re immersed in the marine environment it’s simply a different world to the rat race outside, I can see perfectly well why people seek to escape there, it’s not quite as good as being on the water, but I can think of plenty worse places to go and forget any worries you may have. I call the boat the old mans ‘Garden Shed’, the place he likes to go, put on the kettle, pump the bilges, check the instruments, tapping the barometer and resetting the needle, listening to a radio station he complains about at home, but apparently is ok if it’s on the boat! I know it’s important to Squire to have his boat time, and once you spend a bit of time around a yacht club, you can soon see he’s not alone. I often used to look on in bemusement at these people that would sink years of their time into working on, or building, a boat over several years, decades sometimes, wondering at the madness of it, but eventually I think I’ve grasped a little better understanding of why they do it, and ‘Escape’ seems to me the word that best sums it up.
So it was nice to see the smile on Squires face when we rolled up at the Devil and he could see the anti foul was all but done, it would have been finished but the chandlers didn’t have enough of the stuff in, it’s been ordered though, so I’ll finish the job once the gear turns up. While I was working on the Devil, I had a call regarding the possibility of work, a loft conversion in Worthing, then maybe some timber frame new builds on Shoreham Beach, working with some lads I’ve worked with before. We’ve met up, pored over the drawings, and it looks very promising, so I may actually find myself gainfully employed this year, and on interesting jobs too, which would be a bonus.
Today the Albion are at home to Bristol City, so I’ll be off to that game shortly. I have no idea what to expect after that wonderful, yet surprising result against Southampton, followed by the crash back to earth result against Wrexham last Saturday
Tags: 2012, adur, Bangkok to BC, books, shoreham, Yachts and yachting
