S-Westerly

Before and after (28 March and today 15 Dec)

Recognise the shipyard on the other side of the bay, officially it's Trogir too.

Having had a total lack of Internet over last few days get back on to discover that my mother had been discharged from hospital without warning but at least to our preferred care home. My dad only found out when he phoned ward to arrange a visit. Bit of a surprise.

Cargo ( WTI crude oil) destination is Indonesia which is a bit like coals to Newcastle. I'll be doing much more than one port but which I don't yet know. 4 months is my nominal tour of duty, may be more, may be less.

I wish. Arrived in hotel 0100. Was on boat heading out by 1400. Big swell and half my sailors hanging over the side puking. I didn't but was really regretting the greasy burger I had for lunch. Probably won't touch land for next 4 months.

Sounds similar to my experience with my mother. To be fair she is on her way out and has dementia. She went in with one condition which they stabilised but ended up in fairly short order with c.diff and a uti. In the meantime they've bounced her around from the main hospital to a community hospital and a nursing home. All of these are about 15 miles from where my dad lives so when none of us are around he's paying £50 a round trip. Last week she was supposed to be transferred to a home only half a mile from my dad's home but she was found to have another infection so its been postponed until maybe this week. Not too happy. On the other hand my middle grandson was found to have a ruptured bowel on his 10th birthday and the NHS did a brilliant job of saving his life. I do think there's quite a lot of variability in the quality of care you get.

Good morning many hours later from a damp Cape Town. Plan on having a long lie in.

Really sad to see the Missenden Flyer has started singing the praises of these chancers on his YouTube channel. Thought he was better than that.

Good morning from T3 at Heathrow where I'm about to commence my journey to Cape Town. Hoping to be home in March/April.

I'm surprised he hasn't popped up on YouTube somewhere claiming his rights had been violated because he wasn't allowed to be on a motorway and this was his way of sticking it to the authorities.

The government have already said EV will be charged road tax from 2024.

Shocking state of affairs in this country. We are so f**ked up in so many ways.

Whenever traffic is slow moving or stationary I'll filter and I'll do it on any road where I can safely do it. If traffic is moving much more than 20 mph I'll probably not unless the road is sufficiently wide. I take it on as my risk and rarely had a problem. Most drivers move a bit, some don't and there's always the risk of a SMIDSY. One week agoavan turned into me and we had a clash of mirrors. Mine lost.

I had the same put on last December also by AYB. Seems to have worked really well and I'll get it done again when I come home.

My experience of the Pirellis was much the same as yours. I really like the Metzler tyres but I've not got 5000 miles on the back tyres yet. I checked them out just before I started a 300 mile run on a filthy wet day and they were okay although starting to square. By the time I got to Northumberland there was a 2 inch wide strip with virtually no tread left. Exactly the same happened with the previous one. Hence my fancying giving the Michelin 6 a go.

And the bloody hare bit back. Jointing out a hare and my super sharp knife slipped and took a goodly slice out of my index finger. Blood everywhere and lots of cursing. Still looking forward to eating it this evening though.

Oh yes.

Good on you. Try to pick your weather though!

This morning I put it to bed hopefully ready for when I come home sometime in March. Looks pretty firm that I'll be joining off South Africa on December 2nd. Will definitely be changing tyres when I get back. I like the current Metzlers but just like the last rear this one has done less than 5000 miles and they seem to go from being okay to not in a very short time. Seriously thinking about the latest Michelin pilots - 6? Anyone got any opinions on them - good or bad?

Hope you get better soon. Have they told you what's actually wrong with you yet? Can be difficult to find out from my experience with my mother this year.

Left the place I got my medical (Oldbury) at 1610 then Tom Tom took me around Birmingham at rush hour in torrential bloody rain. Paddled my way over to the M1 to be met by stationary traffic still in some of the heaviest rain I've ridden in. Filtered until someone moved and bust my mirror and whacked my wrist. Not really hurt but still a bit delicate. More my fault than anyone else so no finger pointing. Still absolutely pissing it down. Rain eased off around Doncaster and stopped by Durham. The monsoon seems to have killed my waterproof Drift camera and my waterproof gear wasn't. Rain seeping down you neck will defeat even the best. Finally arrived at Morpeth at 2200 where my dad, bless him had a hot toddy waiting. Hit the spot I can tell you!

Please not boat! I'm not a submarine! Ship if you'd be so kind.

Well as I don't have a commute that's not an issue for me.

Packed it up for a ride north later today. The weather is absolutely vile. Have to go to Birmingham anyway for a medical so plan to keep on heading north anyway. But the weather is really not looking good.

Personally I'd not want to swap an ICE motorbike for an electric one. No soul and I don't even like spannering. In practical terms, as it stands they are a waste of time - ridiculously expensive, stupidly short range (100 real world miles? ffs) and excessively long charge times. What's to like?