A long view

18-00 hrs: I still produce graphs based on how I feel each day (according to my own score system) but I have not uploaded any of late. This one is a long view of this year - the single black line is a 28 day moving average.

I had a review with the consultant today and it looks as if Tarceva is doing the trick. I feel a lot better than I did and the Xrays show fewer cancer blobs. Keep on taking the pills!

The wonder-graph illustrates this and also shows the dip in July when Vinorelbine stopped working. I did get very used to the slight upward curve from March and found it hard to cope with the changes in July. So I am now glad to be able to demonstrate an upward curve again, especially as it has a much smoother trajectory such that I feel a little better each day - rather than having big ups and downs as I did before. The rash is very unsightly but - - I don't see it!

Next stop - rehabilitation - less boredom - more cycling and walking - and learning to like being retired.

First day of winter - geology trip to Orford

13-15 hrs:  Coralline Crag at Crag Pit farm, near Orford. Taken during a short break in the heavy rain on Sunday. It was too wet and cold to get the camera out in the morning to show rain-soaked members of the OU Geology Society (with a few of us from U3A geology group) looking at bits of rock around Orford. The bottom of the picture shows a bed of Bryozoan - which I had to read about afterwards to see their interest and importance. Details of the site - an SSSI

Lunch in a warm and dry tea-room overlooking the rain-soaked river - a good day inspite of the rain.

Last day of summer?

17-00 hrs: Today - cloud and rain - but yesterday - the sun shone warmly and I took the boat out downstream and back for a few hours - in tee shirt and shorts. Downstream - strong wind and tide against me - so used the engine a lot to achieve 2.5 knots. I returned at slack water - speeds up to 6.5 knots - a series of broad reaches interspersed with goose winging - full sail - a lot of wind - fun until I had to slow down to get into Woodbridge but I avoided moored boats - the main mishap was getting a lot of slime and weed in the boat from picking up a mooring. 

I am hoping this will not be the last sail of the year - just of summer-type sailing in warm weather. The boat can stay safely in the water for most of the winter and I have a lot of warm gear.

autumnal foraging

20-00 hrs: picking sloes for various concoctions. 

The boat hook is very useful for foraging - we collected ripe sloes and elderberries along the Deben at the weekend. The blackberries looked nice and fat and ripe, but were tastless - so we left them.

I continue to improve gradually - and the rash continues to look pretty horrid - and I continue to want to scratch it.

update

17-50 hrs: Rodinia broke up over 500 million years ago. 
I was right - rodinia and pre cambrian Scotland has kept me out of mishief this week - and distracted me from clearing up the mess in my house. Also a useful distraction from the main side effect of Tarceva - a rash on my face which I need to leave alone and not scratch! I think it is working - I feel OK - and not breathless. A bit lazy - but that is a side-effect of life.

Rodinia - a pre Cambrian continent

12-00 hrs: Let myself in for preparing a session for the U3A geology group on pre-cambrian rocks. This is the first continental mass (that is known about) - 750 million years ago. Scotland is attached to Canada - marked SC on the turqiose bit between the yellow (the core of ancestral Europe)  and dark blue (Gonwanaland) masses. 

 I think I am going to be beating my brain with this for the rest of the week - keeps me out of mischief I suppose - and also shows that I continue to improve.

Maritime Woodbridge weekend

20-15 hrs:  There were small, traditional beach boats with young people (notice one of them up the mast on the oyster smack beyond) - and larger boats moored for us to admire right along the river, from the marina to the sailing club. Lots of food stalls as well - a pleasant way to spend the days - especially as I avoided the re-enactment of Norman invasions. I spent a lot of time admiring the wooden boats - and trying to take pictures of them. 

I felt a bit better from the end of last week - maybe the Tarceva is doing something useful. Cross fingers, as it is good to have enough energy to enjoy things.

Scammell Dash re-scheduled for October 3rd.

12-16 hrs: The weather was too awful on Sunday to let the fleet out of the piers.  Sara has commented that the Dash is re-scheduled for October 3rd. We require decent weather then please!

High winds here too for days - and not enough sun. I feel slightly less zapped-out and a lot less breathless - cross fingers - - .

The Scammell Dash - good luck to all

12-50 hrs: A view from the sea from Tynemouth to Whitley Bay. Why put it up here now?

Today is the famous 'yellow bouy race' from the mouth of the Tyne, round a yellow bouy off Whitley Bay and back to Tynemouth North pier. I used to run this race and we have some fun getting lost in fog and overwhelmed by wind. Tynemouth Sailing Club renamed this race as the Scammell Dash - good luck folks - the weather forecast shows 18 mph winds - gusting to 36 mph - so if they let you out it won't be boring.

See 11th February 2010 for a better picture with proper rough conditions.

10-50 hrs: Another review with the consultant at Ipswich hospital on Thursday - encouraging too much introspection. I was very anxious and walked around the hospital (to get an xray and a newspaper) like a zombie. The xray showed slightly less cancer than three weeks ago and the discussion was about further treatment. 

I am now taking Tarceva (Erlotinib). This is a different sort of substance which belongs to a group of cancer drugs known as an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors and is supposed to destroy the cancer cells without causing harm to normal cells. It is taken as a tablet every day and is apparently well tolerated - although there is a formidable list of possible side-effects.

No obvious effects or side-effects yet. Yesterday - the gym and a bit of hanging around in coffee bars. Today - the shops and a bit of hanging around at home. And then - less time spent looking inward and more going out - physically and metaphorically; and more pictures to flickr and on the blog.

Chemotherapy details

12-45 hrs: Very confusing - and several of you have asked about it - so I thought I would write it down and hope it lessens confusion.

• Sept to mid Dec 2009 - I was treated with a combination chemo therapy - carboplatin + vinorelbine. By November - the cancer did not show up on the Xrays anymore - although it was still there - just reduced in size and virulence.

• mid Dec to early August 2010- kept under control with vinorelbine, which keeps the cancer cells from growing again. This works for some indeterminate time and then the cancer becomes resistant and starts to spread again - called 'progression'. At this time my general health improved and I generally galivanted about - and got a lot stronger by going to the gym and doing weight training. From March I took this as a capsule once every two weeks - which was a user-friendly way of doing it.

I think it started to resist in late June - but gradually - and in a rather up-and-down manner. It was clear on an Xray in August that it was growing again quite scarily quickly.

• August 2010: I had one dose of a chemo-therapy combination called GemCarbo (Carboplatin + Gemcitabine) to keep further growth at bay (which it did) whilst it was ascertained whether I would be suitable for taking a relatively new substance - Tarceva (Erlotinib).

• From Sept 2nd 2010 - Tarceva (Erlotinib): I take this as a tablet every day. It too only works for a limited period - until the cells become resistant to it - but how limited is not known - it varies from person to person.

20-47 hrs: Out on the river today with Aidan for a few hours. The engine started well and worked fine. Mostly we sailed with one reef in the main and full genoa. Aidan helmed - I pulled a lot of ropes as we had to tack quite a bit. Nice.

Health update - pretty fatigued - sometimes to the point of feeling ill. The worst thing is to be so aware of it and spending too much time managing it and worrying about doing anything. So sailing today was especially good - a jolt out of the comfort zone. And I must fess up to worrying about the future - which is why I have been paying bills and filing papers.

12-00 hrs: Today - a year since diagnosis - no special celebration as being alive in a nice place is celebration in itself.

The picture illustrates part of my regular stamping ground. To the left - the building where I live. The railway station is just behind the boat masts and tree. The boats are in Andy Seedhouse's yard (I nearly bought an old Hurley here but someone put an offer before I did). In the foregound - the reeds are a reminder that part of Woodbridge along the river was marshland and could be again were it not for the sea walls.

Survival for a year - a question - -

21.00 hrs: This week marks a year since I was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Question - do I celebrate - is it the birthday of my life?

About a third of female lung cancer patients survive the first year. (2006 = 30% women. It was 12% in 1975).  http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/type/lung-cancer/treatment/statistics-and-outlook-for-lung-cancer The figures have some meaning for me - they put a rough number to the probablilities of being alive - -  

But how to celebrate - maybe I should spend part of a day being unselfish for once!

A beach with cabbages

17-25 hrs: Looking out to sea over the gravel bank to the north of the mouth of the Deben. Nicest beach I have found - but a bit wind-swept and chilly today. Good cafe for tea and scones - and boats to watch.

Tax and accounts

10-00 hrs: The annual fight with tax and income spreadsheets done and in the post. This will not be the end of it as there are always questions  - - -  but  made easier by nasty wet and cold weather confining me indoors. Hope they don't tax blackberries next.

The side-effects of the chemotherapy have started to show. There is a pattern - of feeling quite good for a few days due to taking anti-sickness and other drugs. Then a plunge - mostly feeling fatigue again. This is very hard to describe - it is a feeling of not being able to do anything - so is very boring - but better than the alternative. Hooray for surfing the web, paying bills and such like mindless activities.

Something different - foraging

18-15 hrs: We spent a bit of time yesterday foraging for various berries - mostly blackberries for which a boat hook came in useful. There are plums, sloes (not ripe), elderberry (not ripe) and  rose hips. I think I might spend a bit more time looking at these if the weather holds out.

Today - measured bits of my boat to see whether I can stow the outboard in a better way - and then sat around in the sun watching a fast and furious dinghy race in lots of wind - fascinating and impressive.

Brief update - chemo OK on Friday

18-40 hrs: A bit delayed with this post - largely through being out a lot day yesterday and today!

Feeding in the new chemo on Friday took until early afternoon and we came back and had sausage and chips to celebrate. How about this - - it seems to be working in that I felt better after lunch yesterday and have felt OK today - with much less breathlessness - with the result I have been walking around at a much more normal pace. I plan to chill out and maybe wander down to the boat and the sailing club - but not push my luck. How very sensible - -

Swallows and - a trip to oncology in Ipswich

19-50 hrs: The best bit about today was taking some pictures of the swallows resident under the roof of the clubhouse balcony - and watching the dinghy racing. A heavy shower and then no wind meant that a lot did not finish and some were towed home.

This morning - a review from the consultant - concluding that the cancer has started to progress again. An appointment made for tomorrow for some different chemo-therapy, this time delivered (as they say) through a cannula in the Day Unit in the hospital. Not nice - but better than the alternative. This is a temporary measure and I will eventually (when some other tests are done) go onto a further treatment with a newer substance. I suspected this but may not have said as much in so many words. It is difficult to know how to keep a balance on the blog - as I say every time I write about anything other than sailing! I have had a good year in many ways and would like the good times to rock on - - and on - -

 - dear friends and followers - I thank you again for reading this and for the support your very presence has given me - I will be in contact - am spending the rest of today preparing my survival gear for tomorrow and then grossing out. xx

Respect river conditions - - -

9-50 hrs:  A bit of fun yesterday -no pics - too wet and scary.

I went down river with the ebb on Monday - very strong winds on the nose and almost sea-like waves in places. Picked up a bouy downstream from Ramsholt and lay around in the sun for most of the day - having removed a warp caught round the keel.

Leaving on Tuesday - the engine (new and not supposed to behave like this) stalled and then did not start. It then made some impressive bangs and refused again. OK - so this is a sailing boat - and the sails were up anyway - so off I went under sail and with the flood tide. There is even one boat on the river without an engine - so it must be possible.  And it was pretty good - except for rather too much tacking through moorings and the need to follow the wind shifts. And it rained very heavily (very light waterproofs)  - and I worried about how to get into the marina - and noticed the radio battery was flat. But it worked out OK as I saw a rib whose owner I know just as I got into Woodbridge - and he towed me onto the pontoon in time for lunch.

Motto (I know all this don't I!) for surviving  -  have decent waterproofs even if  only going downriver.

And be glad to  have a boat that points like a dinghy!

And charge the radio and other batteries

And treat the river with the same respect as the North Sea.

My various pictures

9-50 hrs: I have been uploading my pictures to Flickr - a long but interesting process and not complete.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lornapics/

Enjoy - all stimulated by a new camera I guess. 

(Still in the dip but off to the gym and then to spend the day quietly - uploading more pictures.)

Repairs to sea wall on the Deben

17-50 hrs: The start of the work digging the bank and putting 'revetment' in place - looking downstream. The plan seems to preserve the seats on the concrete platforms.

Dip continues

9-30 hrs: dip continued again after a day or so - shortage of breath with associated feelings of weakness and so on - which is annoying as there are things I want to do. I have not taken the boat out again - tides are wrong and the weather is not encouraging either.  The most interesting thing round here is that they are digging up the sea wall downriver from the sailing club: apparently tidal scour is threatening it. Today's task - apart from shopping and the like - is to take pictures from the land - hard to do as it is fenced off.

A dip in wellbeing

15-30 hrs: I was feeling a bit rough last week. I suspected that the current chemotherapy is ceasing to 'work' - so I fretted and worried, which made it all worse of course. I did get very breathless and tired after I got back from sailing. At the end of the week it all improved and I felt better - 'normal' for how I have felt of late. I had talked it through with the lung cancer specialist nurse in Ipswich on Thursday - and it has also got cooler and rained, so there is less dust and pollen around - and I had a pretty restful weekend.

One result is that I have not kept the blog as up-to-date as I would have liked - and nor have I managed to send sensible to emails to my friends. 

I am probably going to take the boat down-river tomorrow, but the weather forecast here is for rain and I have become a fair-weather sailor (ie wind and no rain sailor). If I don't go - I will try to catch up and pay my bills and live a sensible life - - -

Tidemill BBQ

10-50 hrs: residents and visitors to the Tidemill marina show that they can enjoying themselves at a BBQ on Saturday - drinks, music and lots of wandering around. The rain stopped - and the hungry hoards of gulls wheeled around, waiting their moment to swoop.

Experiment with new camera - mud and birds

19-40 hrs: Treated myself to a new digital camera - and spent the afternoon wandering around snapping a few things. The one above is reduced to about 350 KB. The one below is the original - at 2.34 MB. The first  uploaded at the speed I am used to - without making the quality less bad in this page. (What is the brownish-reddish bird?) Much fun to be had now trying to take better pictures!

The bird - zoomed in using a simple picture editor. Impressive stuff!

Walton Backwaters to Woodbridge in one go

19-45 hrs: at home - not really intended today because I was going to pick up a mooring along the river and gross-out in the sun. However - when I got into the Deben- it started to rain quite hard - so I banged on up river with the tide.

All the pictures I took today were out of focus - so I give you one of my cockpit in 'sailing mode' - the bucket has water in it - green rope for moorings - red seat for comfort.

I had to use a useful technique for getting the anchor up - of driving quite hard in a circle to break it out. I then pulled it up together with a load of mud - all over the deck, the anchor, the genoa, my clothes and gloves. But at least the anchor came free.

I left the Backwaters at 8-15 am - with HW at 12-00 at the Deben entrance I thought I would have plenty of time to get in with the tide behind me in the entrance. This was true, especially as I went on a beam reach with all sails up, although the wind was variable and kept dropping away. When progress got slow - I put the engine on as well - with the result that I made fast passage and was at the Deben bouy by 10-30am. Quite tiring because I had to concentrate to avoid the shipping channels from Harwich harbour but it was much less intimidating than crossing the Tyne in a dinghy! 

The tide picks you up and carries you along the narrow entrance - where there are many swirls suggesting banks of gravel beneath. There was no surf - but I can see why it is an entrance to respect. There were a lot of outbound yacghts and motor boats on the wrong side of the channel - - - which made it harder.

And then it rained - and my idea of lazing in the sun for the rest of the day was scuppered - so I continued up the river helped by the tide and getting to Woodbridge before high water there. Spent the rest of the day lounging around in the sun and clearing up - and washing away the mud. I am, of course, exhausted and out of breath - but have had a shower.

Shotley marina to Walton Backwater again.

19-50 hrs: At anchor since 12-30 in the backwaters.

Awsome sail from Shotley - starting on a beat and then round onto a beam reach. Gusts to 25 knots - speeds to 4.8 k against a small amount of tide. 

Needless to say - pretty hard work to keep the boat going well, especially as I thought the wind was quite light so put the full main sail up. Spray over the boat but not into the cockpit. The rest of the day spent dozing in the cockpit - in the sun. A few birds and seals showed themselves and lots of other boats. I even felt a bit hungry - - .

Shotley Marina and Harwich by ferry

19-40 hrs: A 'lay day' hanging out in the marina, the chandler's and Harwich Halfpenny Pier.

All this sailing around does sound very energetic and hardly in keeping with my claims to feel off colour on occasions. Why don't I just stay at home, where I am certainly less challenged in managing breathlessness and indigestion? (Because that is not how I want to live, incase you don't know this).

It seems that I can do things for several hours and keep going to take down sails and the like. Yet afterwards I feel a kind of exhaustion that is hard to describe - not tired exactly - perhaps shaky and I don't feel like eating and feel some queasiness. Nor can I hit the coffee as I seem to have gone off coffee. I am also liable to get extremely breathless - even just moving around the boat. The inhalers  etc relieve it to a small extent - maybe 10%. A rest on the deck aids recovery - preferably in the sun! 

Thus the 'lay day' in Shotley - lunch in the bar - ferry to Harwich to drink tea. A small amount of clearing up - and a visit to the chandlers.

Walton Backwaters to Shotley via some open sea

19-30 hrs: The sea earlier - now snug in Shotley marina - with loos and a shower.

Upped anchor OK at slack water - one reef and full genoa out to sea and up the channel past Harwich. An awsome sail in southerly winds gusting to 23 knots and more - white tops to the waves - but the waves quite small by North East standards. Mostly a broad reach - surfing a little on the waves and then some hard sailing trying to goosewing in shifty winds. A small amount of spray onto the boat - very little into the cockpit. I only really appreciated the wind strength when I turned up into it to take the sails down.  Few hassles getting into the marina lock and the berth - this being a much easier boat to handle than LA Girl. Just as well as I have been exhaused since I got here. Boat speed at best - 5 to 6 knots - which seems very fast for such a small boat.

Walton backwaters: Wednesday 21st July

18-30 hrs: A view from the anchorage - it is not free of boating - -

I am resting up on the anchorage all day - feeling inactive. Sunny this morning - but wind gusting to 20 knots. Cloud and rain this afternoon. I cannot say I have done anything much, apart from clearing up the on-going mess - and browsed in the pilots for the local area and looked at the charts. Some very nice wooden boats have sailed by; a few seals have come over for a look - this is not the centre of activity. It is, however, a very beautiful place and it is no stress to sit it out here.

Felixstowe Ferry to Walton Backwaters - via the Deben estuary entrance. Monday July 20th

18-25 hrs: Leaving the Deben - the swirling water and the gravel banks.

I left at 8-00 - too early for my recent lazy life-style and barely had time for breakfast and coffee.

I see why the Deben entrance is treated with respect. Not that it was nasty - but the tide runs fast and if you get it wrong - - - . Not much wind and no surf so I escaped the river unscathed. No wind at all out at sea - and the tide was against me - so had the sails up and used the engine for most of the way, apart from about half an hour at the end. Anchored by 13-00 in the main anchorage along the river. The wind then came up and has not gone down since - typical. I was very tired after this -  and slept well and the anchor dragged about 10 meters.

Woodbridge to Felixstowe Ferry: Monday July 19th

18-20 hrs: Moorings at Felixstowe Ferry

The tides control sailing here in a way I am still getting used to. High water at 19-00 means that the best time to leave is at 18-30 - or at 9-00 in the morning. The idea is to catch the ebbing tide down river to the mouth of the Deben - about 9 N miles.

I leave at 18-00 - getting bored waiting. I put the sails up on a mooring and chug downstream against the wind and, for an hour, the tide; variable speed depending on the direction of the channel and the tide.

I pick up a mooring at Felixstowe Ferry - with some difficulty because the tide was strong and I tried to do it without taking the sails down. Too much for my strength, even when I did get a rope round the loop. Dropped sail and did it under engine - - . It felt a bit of an adventure rather than a misjudgement.

Woodbridge at play - regatta day

19-00 hrs: The quayside with lots of people and stalls - and some boats dressed in flags. And mud - the sailing had to wait for the tide to come in - meantime a lot of eating and drinking and making merry. I wandered around - ate too much and finished up watching boats at the sailing club in the sun.

I am planning to leave tomorrow and go down river in LookFar. Then, on Tuesday, to leave the river and go out to sea for a few miles and end up in the Walton Backwaters. I will take the laptop but suspect the connection is too slow for writing blogs - but will try.

Update -

20-50: No picture - sorry - compensates for two last time. Still a lot of wind and rain forecast tomorrow.

I am feeling a lot better. Ups and downs are par for the course. But also I was not taking the medicine in the inhaler - and felt better after taking it again - as advised by the very helpful practice nurse. I am still breathless when I do things like carrying shopping up the stairs, but it seems more bearable now. I have mostly been at home doing work on the U3A website, but have written lists for taking LookFar away for a few days to the Walton Backwaters if the weather improves - and done the food shopping for the Great Expedition. It will probably seem every bit as scary as going to the Shetlands - part of me hopes so.

umbrellas in rain and sun

In Lerwick - Shetland - in 2007 - with Iris May - in rain. The green umbrella blew away in Wick on the way home - sadly.

In Woodbridge - 2010 - LookFar - in sunshine.

14-20 hrs: Don't think it is sunny in Woodbridge just now! but I thought this summed up the differences rather nicely. We needed two umbrellas to keep the rain off for days in Lerwick - but notice that the town is very attractive in the background and a good time was had inspite of the rain. In Woodbridge last week, by contrast, the small umbrella is an essential sunshade - surrounded by dust and brown grass.

How am I feeling - - -

20-40 hrs:

I have not reported on how my health feels since June 2nd. I had then been feeling very breathless - but had improved a lot after getting  treatment from the GP. I have since then written about all the nice things in life - even work on the U3A website. I have - somewhat typically of my behaviour of late - chosen to ignore the innards when writing here. I did promise myself not to do this - but really old gaffers are nicer and easier to photograph.

I did actually feel quite well for a  while and the  breathlessness reduced after I used a Salbutimol inhaler and took antihistamine. I had a spirometry lung function test in late June - which suggested that I might be reacting to pollen etc and I started on another inhaler. I then rushed around on the river (as reported in earlier blogs), went out again all day Thursday (LookFar does sail well)  and did a lot of web site work - - but got to feel gradually worse - even more breathless, with annoying indigestion. 

And now - - just as bad as the end of last week - - . Have I 'overdone' it in some ghastly way -? And also - I wonder whether, maybe, the effect of the current treatment (vinorelbine) is beginning to wear off. This does not - as you might expect - send me screaming round the bend - who knows why? I have a short review at the hospital on Thursday - so maybe it will make more sense then - but probably not - - .

I don't feel very energetic and intend to keep off the river for afew days.

for Nick -

12-40 hrs: Probably too many sails - but it looks good. Troublesome Reach on the Deben.

lookFar is out over night - - downriver - - and sailed like a dinghy

21-00 hrs: This is as far as I went - you can just see the gravel bars at the mouth of the Deben. And notice the sunshine and the sparkling waves - caused by a lot of wind and a lot of tide (coming into the river at 4 to 5 knots. ) You will notice the usual junk on the side of my boat!

I took the ebb tide downstream (leaving at  the back of 7-00 in the morning to get out of the marina) - and finished running in the new engine. I then moored up for second breakfast - which took a long time as I managed to get the rudder caught on a mooring. Escape involved removing the rudder and steering with the outboard. (Rudder replaced after much thought and effort, and after the tide had stopped running.)

I went out to the mouth of the river to inspect the moorings, the tides and the waves - I then retreated to another mooring upriver for an overnight stay. Today - I sailed off the mooring and sailed most of the way back (one reef to keep her uprightish) - until the wind was on the nose whichever direction the river headed. I also got the keel in the mud when I was tacking a bit too close in. She points rather well and will sail even better when I fix one or two annoyances - but the dinghy-inspired set-ups worked well.

It is much harder to sail here than anything I have done before - and good fun too.

dinghy fittings and a new engine - -

18-40 hrs: A laser tiller extension and cleats for the genoa on the deck - inspired by dinghies.

New engine - aquired this morning - inspired by liking new engines!

The plan - to run it in on Saturday and Sunday. Then to sail the boat as if it were a dinghy.

This entry is dedicated to Poppy -

 - - who died of anaphylactic shock on Sunday 20th June - aged 19 - and a truly lovely person.

And to Steve, Marcia, Sunshine and Dave - cry them a river and remember.
I have not known you for long - but grieve none-the-less.

lookfar's third cruise - -

17-10 hrs: still too busy to take pictures - but Aidan may have one.

This time we went out and came back on one tide. What I really want to say is that we sailed downstream and back -  and just got in on the falling tide - hit the rudder on the sill but not the keel. I am probably going to get a new engine - the old one does not work to my satisfaction - cuts out at low revs.

Today - AGM of U3A - and I am now on the committee to represent the web team - sigh -  I think is the right response.

lookfar's first solo sail

20-25 hrs: No pictures because I was too busy to take any.

I went for the first solo sail yesterday - over the tide - in sushine and a decent wind. I had more adventures going downriver for 5 miles than I got on day trips in the north East - I think because it is just harder to sail in a river. On the sea - you point the boat and go in straight lines - but the channel twists and turns so there is not just one point of sailing - and the wind quite shifty.  Only felt the mud bottom (not aground exactly)  three times! 

The tides are stronger than I expected - but I was sailing with the tide and made impressive progress. Until - - a rope round propeller getting off a mooring - so I had to do a lot of manoevering under sail - even anchoring and resetting the anchor. (I got the rope off OK).

When I got towards Woodbridge - I foolishly decided to contine up river under sail, rather than moor and take the sails down.  It was too shallow - so the keel caught in the mud - the boat swung round and I very slowly drifted on the tide onto a moored boat (having avoided about three others!). I picked up its mooring and pretended that I was intending to do this - so it may not have provided spectator entertainment.

I now need to improve the control lines and be off again.

Geology trip to Walton on the Naze

18-20 hrs: The geology group of the U3A in East Suffolk took itself off to Walton on the Naze to inspect cliff erosion, a wave-cut platform and lots of fossils.

This was hugely enjoyable - and I had no idea that Walton beach was such a rich source of geological examples of various kinds. 

There is London clay at the foot of the cliff - which yields fossil wood and teeth - and much else if you know what to look for. Above the clay - there are levels of sand with a lot of coral and shells. The upper layers slump down onto the beach, as the picture shows. There are no signs of attempts to protect the cliffs here - which seems strange but at least leaves good features for us to ponder.

Tomatoes

19-50 hrs: This window sill is supposed to get hot and sunny - thus the tomatoes. The plants are bred for captivity in pots and hanging baskets - and the fruit are the baby variety. I do wonder if the flowers (of which there are a lot) will ever set.

The weather has been cold and windy, so have taken the opportunity to do useful things around the house, to do useful things around the boat, to learn useful things about the U3A web site and wait until the sun shines, in anticipation of which I have bought a very large sun hat.

more on the U3Aes web site

13-30 hrs: No picture - this topic does not lend itself to illustrations.

I have spent much of yesterday and today working on understanding the U3A web site. I have even written a planning document and lots of emails to various interested people. Be impressed - but the sun is now out and I am off to see that lookfar is happy.

University of the Third Age

16-50 hrs: I have spent most of today involved with the U3A - and quite a lot of time lately reading up on the technology of their new web site at  http://www.u3aeastsuffolk.org.uk/ It will not surprise you to know that I volunteered to be their systems admin person - taking over from a member who is moving. The job appears to involve a combination of content management, user support and technical work - just like the University Computing Service (recently ISS) in Newcastle University. It uses Joomla (interesting) and will include a committee meeting once a month (stressful).

In the morning - went to the geology group and looked at the shapes of crystals and some specimins of minerals - as well as planning a morning (next Monday) on the beach under Walton-on-the-Naze looking at mud, fossils and rocks - mostly mud I fear. Afternoon - my first U3A committee meeting - - - .

lookfar in home port

20-20 hrs: this is lookfar on the mooring with the sail up with one reef.

Yesterday we took her out into the river and motored downstream a couple of miles for lunch. It was quite windy and the reefing system was a bit obscure, so we sailed some of the way back with just the genoa - and then motored through the moorings in Woodbridge.

Today I spent happy hours trying to get the reefing system to work smoothly and getting the sails to set nicely. It was quite windy - and I felt quite tired so did not emerge from the marina - and the wind was on the nose - so I could play around pulling the sails up without stressing the moorings. I am not quite used to the limitations of the tides and also the strength of the ebb - which behaves as if a plug has been taken out.

Jaguar 21, sail number 23, is launched - and re-named

21-00 hrs: The Jaguar being launched by the crane on Friday June 11th. Note the rural background to the Tidemill Haven - and  the way out as the tide falls. Also - note the smart grey anti-fouling underneath - very hard work to get it all on and done (yes - I wore overalls and a mask).

One reason I have not written in the last ten days or so is that I felt I did not have much of interest to say until the boat is floating at its berth, apart from the point that there is a lot of pollen around here but I am less breathless as a result of using the inhaler.

I did a de-naming ceremony on Friday after launch. I renamed her today out in the river. 

The name is lookfar -  fair winds and good fortune to all who sail in her.

summer has come - with side-effects

21-00 hrs: Lots of sunshine. Finished putting anti-fouling on the Jaguar and now await, with some patience, the final bits of work before the launch, denaming and renaming of Jaguar 21 sail number 23. The furler was fitted on Saturday and I have just to attach the sheets.

I felt surprisingly ill for much of last week - did I go to the doctor - no! But they caught up with me eventually because the practice nurse noticed that I was stupidly breathless when I was there for a blood test. Eventually - we identified that I was suffering from hay fever which irritated bronchial tubes and bits of lung; so I got an inhaler. Instant improvement  - helped a bit by cooler, wetter weather. So today - back out in the heat and pollen and dust without ill effects. Tomorrow - the beach with sun hats and sun blocker.