Chilly day in Nieuwpoort Tuesday 24th May


He's been at my masking tape!
It's a funny thing with boats that sometimes it seems easier to keep water from coming in below than from above. Howard had a go at curing a couple of our drips with Sikaflex. The mast step bolt leaks a drip into the footwell of our double berth and the ring for the starboard backstay drips onto what is known as Owyn's bunk. (A nicer name for it than “the after berth” I am sure you'll agree, though Howard's son Owyn himself is nowhere near and the current occupant is Keith).
Howard's also tightened up the screws on one deck prism (drips onto the chart table seat) and the hatch in our berth which drips on Howard's side. It would be very cynical of me to suggest that had it been on my side of the bed this whole operation might have been delayed further.
Only the next bumpy passage (or heavy rain shower) will tell what has worked and what hasn't – watch this space.



We felt rather guilty sending Roland and Rex back to their supper of baguettes with dodgy bacon on Monday evening so to make amends we invited them for supper on Tuesday evening. Both boats stayed in Nieuwpoort for the day as there was no rush and slightly less of this chilly north wind was forecast for Wednesday.
Our wanderings in search of shops took us past the old Nieuwpoort Bank Buoy on display by the river. We had never realised that there were buoys with such deep draft.

Never felt this small beside a buoy before...
And for my Flemish reader...



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