Tacking The Lady again on a cold and blustery day and then watching Nigel Mansell win a Grand Prix and go top of the drivers table whilst hail here was covering the ground like snow and the UK unemployed were protesting from London to Liverpool as more stormy and wild weather is forecast
Awoke at 7.00am in the normal manner, even though Di insists on trying to have a lay in each Sunday. Eventually Della came in at 7.20am and unsettled Di and we both got up on a cold & blustery morning. The wind is now coming from the north and is quite blustery, with low-level clouds scudding over the area, but at least the weather started dry. Whilst Di got showered and dressed and then made the breakfast (for I showered and got ready quickly) I sat in the kitchen/breakfast room and wrote up yesterday’s journal. I had weighed in at 13st 4lbs this morning, which is a good reduction on recent weights and so I felt quite justified in tucking in to a nice fried breakfast this morning. Out to feed the doves and, wrapped in two jumpers, a cap and an anorak, I then started work on The Lady. I used tissues and white spirit to clean off the excess mastic from the iron rubbing strip and then, turning the boat round, I started planing the mahogany gunwale on the starboard side.
A difficult job again, planing a vertical surface and the struggle was brought to an end by a downpour of rain. We had hail as well as the rain and cold northerly winds to make life nearly unbearable. Under cover and, lacking enthusiasm to tackle office paperwork, I settled in front of the TV with the Sunday papers and rested. All of the jobs on the rubbing strakes and toe rails involve a lot of kneeling and bending – you really need to be below water level! The side of our cutting for a boat harbour had collapsed overnight, which was a shame, but Mr Larkin can remedy the situation. Daniel had Stephen Hicks over for the day. They washed the Daimler this morning, earned a tank (£10) of fuel for this and the Range Rover yesterday, but fell foul of me for coming back late for lunch and walking around on the mud in the riverside gardens, instead of keeping to the paving stones! Boys! I had laid up the dining room with our best silver and china and Di had cooked nice roast lamb with soup to start. The washing up after and then, with the weather still bad in the afternoon, with the hail almost covering the ground like snow, I lay on the settee and watched televised sport. A thrilling motor racing Grand Prix, with Nigel Mansell winning and going top in the drivers table, then the final of the world snooker’s opening stages. This tranquillity brought to an end by the advent of a buffet tea in the lounge, of very poor fare. By now the sun and wind had dried things up and so I went out again and finished planing the starboard gunwale, stripped and sanded a section more, and applied a coat of thin varnish to protect it from the damp overnight. I also stopped and filled some holes in the port toe rails and protected those likewise – particularly necessary, as I seem to have used interior filler (!) which should be alright, providing that I cover it well with varnish. The ducks away, the doves fed and in at dusk to lock & alarm the house. Sat with Di in the lounge writing up this day’s journal and listening to her music on the compact disc stereo. The main news today was of an unemployment protest that attempted to get people to link hands from London to Liverpool. Though support did not reach this level, the organisers declared themselves satisfied at the publicity effect of highlighting the plight of the unemployed. In the United States of America, President Reagan has been speaking out against ending US aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. In this violent society of ours, a body of a 12 year old boy has been found near High Wycombe, and a murder hunt launched, and in Highgate, London, a gang of four men threatened the life of a 3 year old toddler at knife point, so that his family had to hand over thousands of pounds of jewellery. The behaviour of opinion pollsters has come under attack by the introduction of a Bill by a Labour MP, who claims that by selecting samples and using questions carefully, that they produce the results their sponsors want and aim to influence the outcome of a general election. One such poll reports today that Britons fear the chances of nuclear accident more than invasion by the Russians and a majority would be against ‘pushing the button’, even if we were on the verge of a land and sea invasion. More stormy & wild weather forecast, though gradually moderating.