It has taken us ages to get Alexia back into commission, longer than expected because of the squirrels.

When we arrived back at the boat a month ago, we were surprised to find them sitting quietly on the boom and it was quite difficult persuading them to leave - they thought Alexia was theirs, having been born there during the summer while she was stored ashore.

We rapidly found the nest inside the boom and saw that they had been busy little rascals: gnawing at reefing lines, chomping away at halyards and chewing through electric cables in the mast.

Much extra work! - You can see William being lifted to the top of the mast to replace the broken VHF and wind-speed cables.

The work speeded up when Brenda (our first guest of the season) arrived and she was worth her weight in gold helping to get things organized.

Thankfully, all the jobs are done and we are now thinking about leaving the boatyard and starting to sail south.