Not a day for the perfect swim

Southeasterly gale for the last two days, and that brings heavy seas crashing into the ramparts, with wave-propelled boulders and uprooted trees acting like battering rams. This is the little beach where we swim in the summer. Not survivable today. The trough to crest height is about twelve feet, and the spray is shooting forty feet into the air.

This unfortunate tree was on its way through the postern gate, and about to torpedo a yacht in the harbour, when it got abruptly stopped by the stout iron gate. Mind you, it made a brave attempt at smashing that, too.


Needless to say, we decided not to do lifeboat exercises yesterday. High chance of breaking bits of the boat off. So it was out with the dustpan and brush down below. The lifeboat was really heaving at its moorings, which made balance below decks a mite comic.