Today started very early – I got up to watch the first practice session of the first Formula One Grand Prix of 2016 at 2.30 and the second session at 6.30.  Unfortunately, Ian was not interested and complained that I totally ruined his night’s sleep.  But he snored a lot while I was watching!

When he finally started working (at 8.00, instead of 7.00 as he planned) he first of all put another layer of varnish onto the companion way ladder, then the second layer of blue onto the stripes. 

This afternoon Ian was obliged to do his duty as a member of the Ijzervaarders Yacht Club.  This is the club we have joined here in Diksmuide where we now have a permanent mooring. And the members are required to do one hour per year in service to the club – which boils down to pressure washing the pontoons, and was booked in to do from 2.00 to 3.00 this afternoon.  So after an early lunch we both set off for the club.

A side note about the weather: since the snow about 10 days ago it has been really nice. Cold and frosty in the early morning but rising to maybe even double figures in the afternoon, with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.  Well, today that changed, it was heavily overcast and warmer in the morning   - in fact it was 8C at 10.00 when I set off to go shopping and I thought it was so warm I didn’t bother with beanie and gloves!  But after that it got colder and just when Ian went to do his stint with the pressure washer at Ijzervaarders it was even threatening to rain.  

That was quite an interesting experience – we arrived well ahead of time at the office.  Willy, the vice-president, and Pol, the harbour master were there with soup, meat balls and chocolates.  We had a friendly chat, got out Ijzervaarders sticker that has to be stuck onto the transom, and burgee, which must be flown from the bow, and at 2.00 Ian set off to take over the pressure washer from the previous worker.   And that’s where it all fell apart a bit.  Sort of total disorganisation.  There was another member also waiting to take over, who thought it was his turn.  No, it was definitely Ian’s.  After 10 minutes we got that sorted, then the next thing was where does Ian start and end.  What?  We thought you just turned up and cleaned as far as you could in 1 hour.  No – you clean the section of dock alongside your own boat. Great!  But because we don’t have a boat there yet Ian had no idea where our piece of dock begins and ends.  That took another 10 minutes to work out.

At last Ian got his hands on the pressure washer (and I must say I’m awfully glad our boat was not alongside with all the pressure washing going on!)

The view from our “box”, as the say here, across the river to the Ijzertoren.

So Ian actually only started his turn at 2.20 – and then the guy taking over from him never turned up so he just went on till 4.00. 

He was freezing cold by the time he got home – but the next job to take the masking tape and paper off Njord.

And here she is in all her finery

After that we got our pressure washer out, the one we bought last week, and washed off years of grime and green grunge from the duck boards of the swim platform and the “carpet”  from the aft deck.   That was mostly my job, with a bit of intervention from Ian, and by the time we were done it after 6.00, and I was also wet and cold .  But the duck boards looked a whole lot better, except now they are so clean you see all the paint that has been messed on them over the years!   The carpet looks brand new.

And so to bed, with tummy full of pork/mushroom casserole, rice,broccoli and butternut.