So at last we’re back at home on Riccall, in Ghent. After four weeks away we were feeling really homesick, and also a bit apprehensive as to whether everything would be OK on our return this time (bearing in mind our findings when we got back last time!)
On entering the wheelhouse, the first thing Alex noticed, with a sinking heart, was that the mains power was not ‘on’. Were the batteries going to be completely flat, or what? Well, either the trip in the supply had only recently cut it off or the solar panels on the wheelhouse roof were dong their job, but the batteries were at a healthy 25v so that was OK. As was, it would appear, everything else. Phew!
During our time in the UK we have finished the kitchen in our pied à terre, visited most of the people we needed to see including doctors, dentists etc, Alex has helped our friendly mechanic replace the clutch on the new car, and Alex has had a 60th birthday. He had been going to have a non-event for this momentous milestone (at his own request – Louise), but when sister Julia found this out she took things into her own hands. Not only did she arrange an informal buffet afternoon with friends and family dropping in from all over the country on the Sunday, but on the following day she had arranged as a birthday present a couple of double lessons on ‘Body Flight’. This is a simulated free fall, which takes place in a 5m-diameter shaft with a 140mph wind being sucked up it. You have to adopt a free fall position, then effectively you float on the stream of air. The instructor keeps you in position and gives basic signals to keep you where you should be and how to adjust your body shape to keep stable.
This facility is one of the biggest of its kind in the world (only 15mins from Julia’s home in Bedfordshire) and host to free fall practice teams from all over the world. We had fun watching several 4-man teams from Germany, Italy and Spain perfecting their routines for when they actually jump at 12-15,000 feet. So each of the ‘sessions’ lasted only about a minute because that’s how long you would get before you had to deploy your chute in the real situation.
In addition to the Body Flight Alex’s kind sister had also arranged for something called a Vertigo jump. This it turned out, involved going up to a platform on the outside of the same tower, about 300 feet above the ground, attaching a thin wire to a body harness and jumping off. The wire allowed you to free fall two thirds of the way down, and then slowed you down until you reached the bottom at virtually stepping-off-a-chair speed. That part was fine, but stepping off the platform went entirely against the grain. Alex would rather step out of an aeroplane with a parachute than do that any time. But a great set of experiences for an old man. As far as flying goes, however, we think he’d better stick to the day job!
There are a few things to do on Riccall, like swap over to the higher rated inverter and fit a changeover switch for the generator and then we can be off. We might even manage a bit of painting if the weather continues fine.
Alex’s daughter Emily and her partner Ric are motorcycling over to stay for the weekend, which is great, then we propose to sail away from Ghent in the middle of next week around the 25th. So the next blog should be when are finally on the move again!
Only photos of Alex’s birthday Body Flight on this one.
