Hythe, Toddling and more HUGE Nordhavn time

We escaped from the polishing and general "catching up on neglected boat maintenance" thing when the Toddlers needed some help for hospital trips etc. So, we headed down the wonderful M4 - at least it is wonderful once you get past Newport, the stupid two lane tunnels and the looooong 50 mph limit section. Thanks Mr Drakeford for yet again canning any improvements to the M4 in that area which is the cause of daily traffic jams........

Some nice weather allowed a whole bunch of hot air balloons to be out near Bristol but getting a picture of one through the car window at speed was tricky, as you can see:

It was a beautiful sight though and it felt almost summer like and rather tranquil..

After some taxi jobs, we made a point of seeing Anne and Izzy again for lunch. As you would expect, Izzy did the usual looking cute and optimistic thing, charming the waitress into cuddles and treats:

She even made friends with Basil the daschund on the table next door, tried to scrounge food from them but when we  all moved onto the coffee and cake course, she gave up:

On the way back to Penarth, we made the kind of diversion that only people with no sense of direction would consider. A trip to Eastbourne to see Alex, Gisele and to spend a night afloat on their HUGE Nordhavn 55. I think we've mentioned how huge it is once or twice before and you've seen the pictures. Many moons ago, before becoming an airspace design supremo in Brussels, Alex was a 737 pilot for Transavia and this mug was very suitable:

although we do think that having pilots who can read and spell would be an advantage in some situations. The drive back to Wales in torrential rain around the M25 was less joyous than than the hot air balloon spotting trip we enjoyed when heading east.

As the boat hadn't been run since our return and because the forecast was for a calmish and dry morning, we decided to do our usual up and down the bay trip. A chance to warm up the engine, wing engine and all the electronics. Departing the berth we were careful to do it properly and not use the thrusters as the weed around the berth had grown almost to the surface. We didn't fancy sucking that into the thruster propellers and then trying to repair the damage. Our bay trip looked and was rather uneventful / almost boring:

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but it did the job. Upon return we had a boat that did not want to turn through 180 degrees and drop nicely onto the berth. The copious amounts of weed just grabbed the keel and stabilisers and tried hard to prevent anything other then forward motion. Yes, the Indian summer we enjoyed had caused other issues. Since more autumn weather had descended upon us, polishing was put on hold and the little Brompton bikes had several outings for leisure / shopping. A little exercise felt good after time in the car. On our rides around the bay, we spotted this rather opulent cruise ship:

It is really an example of how the other half live. 228 passengers, two helicopters on board and a submersible too. Quoted as "6 star luxury". You do wonder why it schlepped up the Bristol channel to the less than beautiful Cardiff docks. 

The bikes are very good news now - the aforementioned Mr Drakeford and his mob had introduced the 20 mph limit on nearly all the old 30 mph roads in Wales. The one benefit is that you have more time to avoid the multiple potholes and admire the cyclists overtaking you. Fine in dangerous areas but it seems to have been overcooked.  As an ex car company service guy, the lunacy of making most ICE cars run at a speed where they are less efficient and hence producing more CO2 over the journey is beyond the captain's comprehension. As are far too many things these days. We are proper dinosaurs.

Maintenance News:

The rather warm engine oil got sucked out and the main was spoiled with a fresh filter and nice clean oil, for the "not doing much" part of the year ahead. The new wiper blades that we fitted in the summer got taken off to preserve them and some older versions refitted. Then the sad bit - removing the flybridge seating and bimini cover, treating the remaining bits with Boracol to stop them going nice and green during the Welsh rain and generally trying to tidy up. Our now topless look was snapped by the same local photographer who shared the images of us arriving through the barrage locks: