British Petroleum chartered American Trader has shed 320,000 gallons of oil off of a sensitive part of the Californian coastline
British Petroleum chartered American Trader has shed 320,000 gallons of oil off of a sensitive part of the Californian coastline

Struggling on with my foot wound, Di and Della helped me bathe and then propped me up so that I could work and helped me water the plants and feed my fish and I managed to chair a Liberal Democrat activists meeting this evening. Strangely mild temperatures up to 15degC and strong winds during another storm with West Coast fishing vessels harbour-bound since Christmas.

A tanker chartered by British Petroleum has shed 320,000 gallons of oil off of a sensitive part of the Californian coastline as mutually arms and troop reductions agreed in Vienna make the Warsaw Pact becomes less of a threat to the West

A reasonable night's sleep with my foot wound. It was strangely mild last night, with temperatures up to 15degC and strong winds during another storm. We have had almost continual storms since Christmas and the West-Country fishermen are facing hardship through not being able to go out; and the price of fish is increasing as a result. Despite the harsh forecasts of the weather-men, there was little damage last night. They cannot win. If they cry wolf, they are criticised and if they do not cry loud enough, they face equal criticism! I was bathed by Diana and Della again and then we went to the conservatory to water the plants and feed the fish. I was then propped up at my desk and managed to start some work in this sitting position. I used the computer again to draw the equipment installations on the Princess and the positions of the hatches that open for maintenance.

** PRESS "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **

This took most of the day and then it was time to prepare for my meeting this evening. I had invited a dozen or so Liberal Democrat activists to a co-ordinating meeting for next May's elections. It was a successful event and we made quite a bit of progress. I closed the meeting at 9.30pm, but many of them stayed on until 10.00pm and chatted about the arrangements. I survived the evening quite well but put a bit of strain on my foot as I had to hobble around a little to be sociable. The news tonight is of a U.S. warning about a possible terrorist attack on a European target to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. A tanker chartered by British Petroleum has apparently holed itself with its anchor and shed 320,000 gallons of oil off of a sensitive part of the Californian coastline. NATO have now offered further troop cuts in the Vienna talks and we may be on the threshold of a new era of arms and troop reductions as the Warsaw Pact becomes less of a threat to the West.