The day dawns with barely a breath of wind and little swell so there is no escape for Mike today. A couple of hours later though, when Kev arrives, both have picked up a little and Mike is not quite as happy. However, once he is securely strapped in, and he realises how much sturdier the chair is than ours, he is more confident. I have every faith (and I’ve checked the insurance policy!)
Kev pulls him up with the electric winch, I take up the slack at the mast and up he goes. It’s a bit hairy standing underneath, wondering which tool he could accidently drop on my head, but he manages to hold onto everything as he dodges lazy jacks, spreaders and the rest of the obstacles. The photo really doesn’t do it justice – it’s well over 60’ high and the slightest movement at sea level is magnified enormously in sway at the top. At one point, a local guy races past in his speedboat, and the wake causes Mike to sway precariously. Kev and I both shout to him to slow down, which he does immediately and apologises for not having noticed Mike all the way up there.
When Mike finally reaches the top, he realises that he can’t actually see over the top of the light to fix it (there are no footholds to boost him the last foot or so) so he just dismantles the thing blindly and we bring him back down.
Photo: Mike up the mast – rather him than me!
Amazingly, we hear the sound of hammers on wood and realise that at long last, the dinghy dock is being repaired, something that apparently started yesterday. I wonder how many dinghies had to perish to get that process started?
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