Here we are, Sunday morning and we’re just back from our walk with Skipper. The wind is blowing at about 6 or 7 from the Northwest. They are giving force 8 again for tonight. Yesterday proved to be yet another milestone. Not long after they had told me I had cancer I sold my boat, Scarlett Queen. Well I was already going to do that this year, however, the news that I had cancer sort of speeded things up a bit. After all I wasn’t going to need a boat. It’s a long time since I have been boat less though and to be honest it just didn’t feel right. I felt incomplete, disabled. For a boatman to be boat less is like a cowboy without a horse or a bolt without a nut. Now that the chemo appears to be going well and I do honestly believe that we are going to get on top of this cancer lark, I have to prove that I believe that to myself and the best way of doing that is by doing things for the future again, thinking of tomorrow, next week, next month or whatever. Well I found myself wandering around the Balthane industrial estate and there was this little boat sitting on a trailer all alone. She didn’t even have a name. a phone call later and a cash offer meant that she is now mine. I will call her Silverburn. I have had so much joy over the years walking the banks of the Silverburn. Silverburn needs very little work on her; she is more or less ready for sea. My boatman young Chris Callow is going to be busy once again. Chris has looked after my boats since he was 15 or so. He lives about half a mile up the road. He fell in the harbour when he was 11 badly smashing his legs up. He is now fully recovered and still spends every spare minute of his time mucking around on the harbour. I simply bang off a text message like, “boat at the steps in 10 minutes please we are going fishing” or “boat ready in 15 minutes please, we are all off to the Albert in Port St Mary” and it happens. Well I hope to be blogging about our maiden voyage on Silverburn in about two months time.

I have been reading with great pleasure many of the comments left on the forum regarding the blog. I am able to read comments that have been left. However, I have difficulty in replying through the forum website. The website is not really very user friendly towards talking software and Braille displays, there are too many boxes and things to tab to and my software which is called JAWS, is nit very co-operative . I suggest if anyone wants a direct reply that they email me directly tomglassey@manx.net

Bye for now

Tom