Rain stopped play - nearly. Tarpaulin to the rescue.

Arrived Antwerp early a.m. Saturday. The now customary disappointment followed. Little progress on the cork, but entirely new anchor well hatch - built from scratch.Rain Thursday & Friday was the explanation. Water under the bridge - sun's shining now. Let's get cracking.
By Saturday evening the entire cockpit was done - bar the sanding down. Tomorrow the hatches - forward and aft.

This morning - torrential rain. Not now! Fuck! Job to be done down below - install the new(ish) cooker. All done by lunchtime. That took longer than I expected it to. No change there then.

Then... It stopped raining. First for a bit, then for longer spells. In the mean time we'd gotten the entire boat under tarpaulin. Not exactly ideal circumstances, but do-able (only just). Leaks in uncomfortable places - crew moral at a low. Just when I was ready to write off the day, the skies cleared.

Renewed crew vigour. And a true miracle - both hatches as good as finished. Corked, glued and caulked in the blink of an eye. When did that happen? I still pinch myself from time to time - unbelievable.

What's left to be done? Sanding of the cocpit and forward and aft hatches. Fit the last of the deck fittings (granny bars, spi pole, hinges and locks of the hatches), cork about 500 cm/sq and the aft deck, and application of some silicone around the hatches and toe rails. And that's it.

Forecast for tomorrow's not brilliant, but Tuesday and Wednesday are looking (very) good. Either way, all to be done and dusted not later than Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening the sails go back on. Thursday morning... Guapa sails.

The 'plan' is to get to Breskens, lay over for an hour or two (wait for the tide to turn) and head for Ostend. Arrival Ostend around midnight. No doubt followed by the 'big sleep'.

Friday the engine gets it's annual service. There's a suspicion she's not firing on all four and/or air in the cooling circuit. No doubt Cedric will sort it - as he always does. And there's some other bits for him to look at too. Same old, same old...

Friday evening the rest of the family's due. I'm counting the days. There and then this whole adventure/nightmare will be well and truly behind us.

Barring any major disasters, Guapa should be sailing up the Orwell this coming Saturday.