A sunny, windy day so perfect for washing. The facilities are quite a walk over the locks, but are very good and include washing machines and driers. Hi

Observing the visitors’ pontoons, the two British boats are covered in drying washing, the German boat has lots of bunting and flags, and the Dutch boats are immaculate. Avalon is also the smallest!

Flooded gravel pits and ponds on the Crumbles were filled-in or adapted to create the harbour arms in 1993. The Outer Harbour needs frequent dredging to keep the channel from the sea open and deep enough, and shingle that used to move by longshore drift now has to bypass the harbour using lorries.

Feeling fatigued, both physically and mentally, especially as the unpredictable weather means we are constantly changing our plans, it was lovely to have John and Melanie visit. Last time we had supper with guests in our saloon is when John, Melanie and Peter sailed with us from Mallaig, Scotland!

Our German neighbours, who have all the flags flying, are over the moon because the first game of the season in 2.Bundesliga for Fortuna Düsseldorf against Hertha Berlin resulted in a 1-0 victory.