Not a lot to report. Still sitting on our mooring and still going nowhere fast.

Engine: lots of things could be wrong with it, no way (for me at least) to tell what it is exactly. If indeed water has gotten into the engine through the sump, there should be evidence of water in the oil. If that was the case I was advised to carry out a complete oil change and give it a go.

Trip up to Ipswich, stop by the chandlery - bloody hell! Oil's not cheap (even after discount). Dinghy trip to the boat. Outboard engine behaved suspect (splutter - cough), but got us there (only just).
As I had skipped breakfast I was famished. Lunch, and be smart about it. My other half did not disappoint - delicious sandwiches in no time. Eat on deck, and watch the world sail by. Bastards! Jealousy rearing its ugly head.

I checked the oil dipstick. Nice, clean and black. Not a trace of water. What good would an oil-change do? Not much as far as I could workout - mindful of just how expensive that oil had turned out to be. The more I think about it and fiddle with it, the less I'm convinced it's water in the cylinders. My best guess is an electrical fault. Or maybe not.

So, we left Guapa as we found her. I had just tightened the stern gland nuts a bit - 10ltr of water, not exactly the swimming pool we found in Ramsgate, but still ....

Over to the experts. I had asked around if anyone knew of a good diesel engineer in the neighbourhood. Two names were suggested; one was very busy and about to go on holiday, the other one's available and has promised to have a look at our engine this week. Fingers, and everything else, crossed.

Trip back to shore proved a 'challenge'. Two minutes out the outboard died on us. Paddled back to the boat. I'm getting used to stuff breaking down, so I carry spares for just about anything. Including a spare outboard. One off, second one on. Hadn't been used in nine months but fired up second go. No problem.

On the way home I reflected on how far we had come as a family/crew: not so long ago the dinghy breaking down in mid river would have been cause for some minor panic; now it didn't even warrant a raised voice. All done and dusted in less than half an hour.
A few weeks ago I confided to Brigitte about the way I felt after the eventful and disaster-prone trip from Antwerp to Ostend and she had little time for me: 'This family does not do breakdowns'. That was me told. Just what I needed, a good mental kick up the backside.

There we are then, hopefully some good news by the end of the week.
Plans for the rest of the season? Even if the engine comes alive again, I'm never really going to trust it again. An extended summer cruise would give us ample opportunity to break down in far away and expensive places. Not something I'm looking forward to. Holidays are supposed to be free from worry, not give you something different to worry about.
I think we'll stick to some pottering about locally (the kids and I mostly) for a week or two and then have 10 days or so visiting the outlaws in deepest France.

There's always next year. And the next, and the next...