
I've already been out on the water more this April than in the whole of last summer - mainly due to the easiness of using the Bic Ouassou kayak. And the astonishing weather. This morning in Hillswick it's like summer - genuinely hot in the sunshine. It's flat calm, too.
Bruce (local blacksmith and all round expert in all things nautical) came round for a look at the Kestrel dinghy, and we managed to raise the mainsail, revealing a need for some sewing action. Still, the wee fibreglass boat is sound and this morning's post brought a restored British Seagull outboard for it. Of which much, I expect, later. Bruce also offered me the makings of a mooring, so with that it was out in the kayak for a wee bit of depth sounding.
It was also a chance to try out my new camera. Taking pictures is one of the great pleasures of being out on the sea, but I was always conscious of how easy it would be to damage a digital camera with seawater. So, off to eBay, there to obtain a Vivicam 5399 camera with 15-metre underwater case. How much? For five megapixels? Nine pounds. Not ninety. Nine. Less than 10. Ebay is a wonderful thing.
And this is the result. A picture of Hillswick I've been trying to take for years, showing the red cliffs of the Eshaness peninsula behind the village. Hillswick is basically built on a shingle spit.
When I finally beached the kayak after an hour or so, I was overcome with an unwillingness to return to dry land. Still, work calls!