So what is all this fuss about storms then?

Most strange. Everyone mails to ask us if we have survived the various storms that swept the UK in the last few weeks. Well, Penarth Marina is very sheltered - a big hill behind us that breaks the prevailing South Westerly winds (and breaks the spirit of the crew when she has to walk up it into town). The marina is in an old dock so the walls are pretty high too and there is housing built around it. All in all, as sheltered as you could hope for.

Have a look at the slide show here: http://www.quaymarinas.com/Marinas/PenarthQuays/ and you will see what we mean.

Others have asked if the flooding in Wales was an issue. Funnily, if the water level rises, the floating pontoon and the boat tends to as well. Kind of handy that!

Now, the aforementioned hill that causes much whimpering upon ascent (actually no, there is no breath left to whimper, the crew tends to do that before and after the climb) caused us to reassess things yesterday. As we walked down, a guy was running up. He had one foot and one of those Oscar Pistorius style blades and boy, was he travelling fast. Kind of humbling really.

We are preparing for 2 weeks in (hopefully) the sun now - The Canaries beckon. Flying from Cardiff could be fun. As you can see, it is a little quieter than Heathrow:

We don't expect to be waiting too long for a take off slot. The plane will probably be full of Welsh holidaymakers too. Wonder how they will behave. Lots of "lush" we expect. Of course, Patrick has been sulking - big time. As soon as the case came out of the lazarette to be packed, he looked grumpy. Two more weeks as guard penguin. Any messages of support or sympathy for him gratefully received as he needs cheering up.

Finally, we feel cheated. Alison (as in the better half of Stephen who is addicted to good chocolate) brought us some "Broons" fudge that she bought in Glasgow. For the non Scots amongst the readership, the Broons are a Scottish institution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oor_Wullie) and the tin of fudge was cute:

However, it cannot be original Scottish stuff - on the back it says "contains no hydrogenated oils or fats". What is the land of tablet and heart attacks coming to we ask ourselves, when you cannot rely on traditional Broons fudge to mess up your arteries. The Scots will start drinking diet Irn Bru next. Oh, I think we saw that last summer too. The nation is going soft....