Tosca

With Dad still using up spare holiday days, we are getting some nice fuss and Quality Time, plus some good walks. Today's for example, in bright sunshine but a bitter wind all down through the boat yard and back through town and the Rec where we met superb brown and grey Spinone "Tosca" whom we have mentioned before. This time she seemed at first to be all on her own and mooching round the trees, very happy to see us, but eventually we saw her owner several hundred yards off chatting. Tosca had obviously gone for an explore.

The walk down through the boatyard turned out to be interesting from a barge-ish view point, when Dad spotted that what had seemed to be a pile of old wooden bits in a hedge, had an oddly familiar structure - like a short section of the bottom and sides of a flat bottomed boat? All the elements were there that Dad now knows from Cambria - chine-keelson, chine, frames, planking etc. Dad decided to ask in the local Chandlery and they guy thought it might be the remains of Sailing Barge "Oak" and could also remember seeing a chunk of transom (flat stern) sticking out of some brambles. This proved to be the case, so we doubled back on ourselves for Dad to take some pics (see future posts)

We also called by the Cambria where Dad stopped to chat to Cambria's Master shipwright, Tim, and to owner/skipper of SB Greta, Steve and , mad fool that he obviously is, volunteered to help tomorrow to scrape barnacles off the dry-docked Greta. Greater love hath no man.

Meanwhile Diamond is indeed home but exhausted and aching from some of the heavy duty medication. Take it easy Diamond, preserve your strength.

Deefski