The Interlude over, and having just watched the English Rugby team run the All Blacks to a close finish, I have boarded a train from Winchester back to Waterloo, travelling First Class – which is de riguer on a Saturday morning as it only costs a fiver to upgrade – as a gentle step back into the recent past; a reminder of my time in the City, travelling each and every day the 85 or so miles into London. [In an idle moment I have worked out that I have made over 17,500 train journeys, as a commuter, covering a distance of more than 800,000 land miles – not sea miles – and that equates to a total of more than three hundred, yes, three hundred, times Round Britain!]

I plan to be back on the boat by mid-day in time to:
a) Welcome Tank on board
b) Prepare the passage plan for getting to Ramsgate at the start of Leg 4
c) Do some provisioning for the journey ( and here you should note that there is a Waitrose not too far from St Kat’s, so there goes the budget)
d) Meet Edd for a drink
e) Update the blog

From here, St Katharine’s Dock, we travel back down the river taking a right turn, oops , sorry Tank, turning to starboard somewhere around Margate and sailing South to Ramsgate for Sunday night. From there, who knows at this stage? Our newest crew member, Vera, should be skipper for that leg.

I only hope that the weather gods are a little kinder for the final leg. We’ll see.

Tony

June 14th Day 70