A lovely morning and we were up and about bright and early, despite what Ibbling Dibbling did for us. Today was the day that Helen was coming, she was expected during the early evening. All that we had to do today was tidy the boat and make room for Helen, do some shopping and basically enjoy the day, chatting to fellow CA members and welcoming new boats as they arrived. We saw Alan & Christine Williams on 'Osprey', Gerald & Lynda Freshwater on ‘Castaway’, Andy & Pauline Smith on ‘Odile’ and finally Derek & Jean Lumb on ‘Whispered Secret’.

The shops and indeed the town itself is situated over the river from the Passat Harbour . To get there involves a short walk to the ferry that, for the cost of €1 gets you across, a very efficient service with minimal wait times as they run two ferries. We shopped at the REWE supermarket and came back laden like donkeys, largely due to having to replace the depredations made upon my beer stock last night!

At 17:00 there was a ‘bring your own bottle’ gathering in the nearby campsite. Some of the CA members, including the President of the CA Stuart Bradley and back from their travels in Greenland, Fay & Graham Cattell, had come in camper vans, hence the location. All was going swimmingly as we met up with old acquaintances and and started meeting new ones when I looked at my watch and realised to my horror that Helen was due in the station in 20 minutes and I was supposed to be meeting her! I must admit I was pleased at my level of breathlessness by the time I arrived, I’m fitter than I thought and I was only 3 minutes late.

Once back on the boat, it was our turn to host and we had Janet & Horst & Peter over for Julie’s chicken & lemon casserole. As always, the food was good and the company as entertaining as ever. Helen fitted in straight away, as we knew she would and we were now all set for a successful rally.