Sunday 21 October 2012

High Tide02:55 (2.50m)
Low Tide09:14 (0.70m)
High Tide15:45 (2.40m)
Low Tide21:30 (1.00m)
Sea temperature: 13.4 yesterday - not taken today 
Sea conditions: deceptive, got in and realised that The Pirate was crutchless (as in had no one to hang onto, not, you know, without - oh never mind) so went to drag him in as it was all over the place.
Weather: 50 shades
Joined by Sara and the Poet and Abs
Topics of conversation:
Welcome back Abs after such a long time away. She returned on a high, having come straight from an overnight meditation and was on flying form, but very hungry! She's had a really busy time recently and has been driving all over the country, one of the results being a speeding ticket, which she felt was only fair. She was so excited to be back that she ran to the shore with her red cashmere cardie still on over her swim suit, so we all called her back in chorus, apparently she was only going to test the water.
The happy camper - a few days ago I got down to the beach and realised I'd left my gloves in the beach hut and so went over to get them only to find a tent blocking the way. A young woman had found the sheltered spot in front of it ideal to pitch her tent as it had been so windy overnight. I'd had to step over her to get to the door and she had woken and been so embarrassed that she'd 'taken a liberty' in her words. She was very sweet and so apologetic and I'd assured her that I'd have done the same in the circs and then I'd had to apologise to her as the dogs tried to get into her tent with her. I told her that we really don't mind campers like her, it's the ones that destroy the fences, pull bits off the beach huts to burn and leave 45 smashed bottles in a pile on the beach that cause us grief, and showed her where the wood had been snapped off the side of the hut. Yesterday, when we had used the hut to change in because of the lashing, I'd found a tiny scrap of paper stuck to the door. The snails had eaten most of it but I was able to make out "... enjoyed your swim...thank you so much for being.... very much appreciated... the night!" I can only suppose that it was from her, I only wish I'd found it before the snails and that I'd seen her the evening before and offered her use of the stove.
The sauna's progress - it's nearly done and The Pirate's granddaughter's father has done a great job so far, he lit it for the first time on Friday and I kept it burning nearly all night to see if I could break a sweat, but as the door hasn't been fitted yet it wasn't easy. I also discovered that I don't get a mobile signal in there because it's so well insulated, which is a bonus. It's based on the shed in the mountains owned by our Sami friend Per Nils, so is very basic, we've clad the inside of an outhouse with cedar (smells amazing) and the woodburning stove is made from an old gas canister. I found a DIY sauna blog and TPGF has adapted it a bit, even giving it a monkey tail handle to match the window fittings.  Once it's finished I think he should patent the design.
The beach clean - today was the day and the weather got much worse as the morning progressed so we returned in full waterproofs an hour later to scour the sand and dunes with bin liners and pick-up sticks. As usual DK took the whole thing with a pinch of salt and came dressed as Paddington bear. The tides have been so hight that there wasn't nearly as much rubbish as usual and most people found they didn't even fill a bag. I found a strange fossilised bone, which seems to be tooled to form its shape. I'm going to see if my archeologist friend can shed any light on it.



No comments:

Post a Comment