Perfect timing!

Yesterday. First of all, it was Darren's timing. In the morning, when the wind wasn't too bad and the sky was only cloudy, he took Cream Cracker off to Foxton Locks, his intended overnight mooring on the way to Debdale Wharf to have the hull zinc plated.

Then, perfect timing, the sun came out and the wind dropped significantly, so we put the finishing touches to the waxing of the starboard side of the hull. We'd not done the tunnel stripes at the back or the bowflashes (at the front!). Having finished those, we pulled Kantara across into Cream Cracker's space and tied her up there. The port side of the cabin had been at least in part in full sunlight from the moment the sun had shown itself, and I was amazed how hot it was to the touch. Nonetheless, applying the wax in such a low air temperature wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. I applied the wax with my bare hands, and they soon began to feel like slabs of ice. Grace came along behind with cloths to buff where I had waxed. That job was slower, too, but we finished the whole job before the weather changed. There had been huge, black clouds forming, and a few moments of fine drizzle. But we'd finished. We went in for lunch, and to warm ourselves in the heat of the Bubble stove.

Just in time! It rained! Poured! Blew up a gale, too. But by the time we'd finished lunch, it had all cleared, and the sun shone in a friendly, blue sky.

Now we can be confident that the paintwork will be well protected from the worst of the weather over the winter. We're really impressed with the carnauba wax. A couple of applications each year should be more than adequate, we think.

There have been so many good films on offer at the cinema recently. So many, that we're never going to get to see them all on the big screen, and several titles have been added to my "buy the DVD from zoverstocks" list. But we did get to see The lady in the van the other day. The story is described as "mostly true".

"In 1974, the homeless Miss Shepherd moved her broken down van into Alan Bennett's garden. Deeply eccentric and stubborn to her bones, Miss Shepherd was not an easy tenant. And Bennett, despite inviting her in the first place, was a reluctant landlord. And yet she lived there for fifteen years."

I think it goes without saying that it was immensely enjoyable.