Friday 23^rd March

It is just after 10am and Pete and I are sitting in the cabin, typing away on our computers with numb fingers, drinking hot coffee.   I am wearing Katy’s big purple puffer jacket over my thermals, plus a big woolen scarf and ugg-boots. BRRR!!  A blizzard is raging outside.  We are on a slanty slope again.  The tide came in overnight and, as tides do, went out again leaving us yet again high and dry.  Or high and muddy.  James, Jabba and Michael have gone.  Eric from the green house across the road was waiting for them with his twin-cab ute to take them to Wynyard and I am sure they will have a lovely cosy time chatting on the way.

We will miss our cheery2XS-ers.  They were great company and there was never a cross word.  Well not quite true… Pete did get cross with Jabba for leaving his cabin light on, and the last time, yesterday afternoon, he said, “Jabba do you LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON ALL THE TIME??”  Poor Jabba muttered an apology and said, quietly, that he didn’t think he had been anywhere near his cabin.  Well no; it was me – I had gone in there to look for my skirt, hanging in the wardrobe space, so he was entirely blameless.  And there were a few tense words from our skipper when it was revealed that a bit of fishing line had got twisted around the propeller.  (Fishing line incidents always make Pete deeply unhappy.)  Other than that all was sunshine on board for the whole week we have had Jabba, James and Michael with us. 

Our dinner last night at Tall Timbers (thank you J, J, M,) was fun but…not particularly yummy.  Michael had a great big steak which he enjoyed very much, and James had a pork fillet which was indeed delicious, but the rest of us weren’t too impressed.  Pete had a very small helping of duck in what I can only describe as a pool of fruit salad… My flathead had died in vain, poor things… I love flathead but the chef had not done these fish justice.  Jabba had something which made his eyes pop, and not with pleasure.  But…we had fun.  Our taxi driver came and took us back to the Bridge Hotel.  Pete and I stayed for a few minutes then trotted back to the boat in the icy drizzle, which soon turned into a blizzard.  We sat up and played backgammon but were defeated by the cold and tucked up in our slanty slopey bed.

Michael, James and Jabba stayed happily enough in the bar, although James nearly got belted by a Very Angry Customer who hurled a stool outside where James was standing in the shelter of the eaves talking to Bron on his phone.  The Very Angry Customer then slammed the door resoundingly, missing poor James by a whisker.  Another local lad walked out, looked at James, shaking his head and saying, “So angry!”  They decided it was time to leave and came back to play a very excited game of Oh Hell.  I found the score sheet this morning, with THE WINNER in large print next to James’s name. 

Yesterday we got a lovely long email from Steve, who had played a big round of backgammon games with Pete all the way from Sydney to Melbourne.  He had looked up the actual rules and was lodging a protest, from Flinders Island.  He says:

After exhaustive research I believe the rules were changed on 2XS to suit the Captain….Had we been playing the proper rules, I believe I would have thrashed the pants off you, Pete and the score would be 5/4 and quite possibly at least 6/3.  But maybe it’s the Captain’s prerogative to play whatever rules he wishes on his boat.

Once again…oh dear…it was me… I am the one who taught Pete to play by the dodgy rules Steve alludes to and I accept full responsibility for his unnecessary defeat.  And yes Steve we now declare you The Winner, maybe…Or maybe we need a re-match, between Captain and Crew?? 

We are hoping to get off our slopey slanty mud and to make our way to Stanley today.  Pete is unearthing our gas heater so we can get just a bit warmer.  Stanley is more beautiful than Smithton but not, we assume, warmer…