Yes, wishing one was actually out on the water and not merely sitting upon it are two different things. Both can be pleasurable for two reasons … sailing – puttering along if a motty boat – or sitting back with a pot of tea… neither of those were ours today: it was time to get down to more work!

So, instead of our usual Sunday afternoon long walk in the countryside of Essex, we headed down to our creek and settled down to an honest bit of sanding aboard our Whimbrel. First I set the good mate too below, sanding the white work in our hanging and clothing locker. She just loves those tight spaces! Then she joned me out on deck to sand dopwn the varnished cabin sides…

The mate comes outside to join me…

Many boats passed us by as we worked away, ranging from a Dutch barge, motorised, a varied selection of motor boats, ribs and a dinghy with a dad and young child reaching out in light conditions… The job was done though. Now it is all ready for coating later in the week.

The mate has moved forward … nearly done!

Going ashore we bumped into a chap working on his Finesse 24 too. We found David Parsons running masking tape around his deck paint edges ready for recoating … he’s been out for several weeks and is due back in shortly. His boat, Gypsy, looks very fine indeed!

It was so different last weekend: we had a day up in town (London for us…). There were a couple of items that we’d spotted in the press worth going and looking at.

The first was a display at the British Library about the North West Passage: it was excellent. From there we did a ‘London walk’ from the St Pancras area down through to St James’ area, then down to the Thames and along to the Embankment Gardens and the last surviving watergate… Finally we made our way up to the National Gallery (of England??) for an exhibition about the Impressionists – brilliant!

A beer or two was needed after all of that … then a light supper before heading for home. A great day out.

During our wanderings we happened to pass in Shaftesbury Avenue the open door of Arthur Beale, yacht chandler, established over 400 years ago as a ship chandlers.

Front page of Spring Watch 2015 – Arthur Beale…

I was able to make a purchase too: I needed some whipping twine! This emporium, stocked with all a boater needs has the unmistakable scent of stockholm tar about it… This is from ‘tarred’ twine carried for those that need it. I have some in my locker: it has its uses – not least for making grommets to go under the heads of keel bolts!

If passing through, this place is well worth looking into.

Oh yes, we both have sore fingers…