Family commitments have pushed back the start date and pulled back the end date, so our brief  September cruise is rather briefer than originally planned. However, after a glorious summer of almost unbridled sunshine, Heydays sets off from Lymington bound for Southampton, in what started as a fine drizzle, but quickly turns to something which old Noah would find disconcerting. The Isle of Wight (just a couple of miles away) is nowhere to be seen and we settle in for the ride, telling each other that this is what we have been looking forward to!

As it happens, the downpour passes very quickly and soon we are in occasionally sunny spells with a following breeze around 10kts. Behind us the sky looks threatening once more, but we ride our luck and it passes by with not a drop falling on us.

We are flying the flag at half mast as this is the day after The Queen has died bringing an end to the second Elizabethan era. The various bulletins and announcements seem rather surreal, especially those referring to The King (most of us have not had one of those in our lifetime!).

We have chosen to book into Ocean Village again with the intention of walking to football at St Mary’s on Saturday, but inevitably the premier league has been cancelled and so we will have a day of leisure to look forward to in Southampton…at least it will be a day without the usual Saturday afternoon anxiety or even deep depression. As we are often reminded, supporting Saints is a lesson in learning to live with disappointment. Dinner on the boat is a treat, with oysters to start followed by (sustainably sourced) skate in a simple brown butter sauce with capers and fresh new potatoes. Chris has no regrets about missing this…she’ll be joining us tomorrow!