SV Ostinato: December 2013

A tight squeeze for Ostinato in St. Kat's

St. Katharine's Marina is jammed packed this year. To make matters worse, they are doing a major dock improvement project which has required some cruisers to make multiple moves. Ostinato is now in her 3rd home and is expecting to have at least one more move. I have been lobbying hard to return back to the Central Docks but I'm thinking not a snowballs chance. Ron, the dock master, just smiles and cracks on about Yanks. We are on the north side of the East Docks behind the "Frank Sinatra" boat (another story). We are so far away from the showers, I need to pack a sandwich for the trip. King doesn't seem to care where they put us as long as he can still grab free WiFi off one of the restaurants.

We have quickly picked up where we left off last year. On the repeat list was a flu shot. I felt very brave this year and even reminded King we needed to go. So, on a sunny afternoon we walked to the local Boots pharmacy to make an appointment. When we arrived, we were told that no appointment was needed. They could take us now. With that, the pharmacist scurried back to her office to prepare the dose. NOW? I wasn't ready for NOW! and it wasn't the same pharmacist. I wanted the same lady that did it last year. I wasn't dressed right, I suddenly felt ill, maybe I was coming down with a fever and I'm sure it was a full moon and everyone knows you shouldn't have a flu shot on a full moon. What was King thinking bringing me here? An eternity later, she returned, apologetically explaining they only had two doses left and they had appointments for those later that afternoon. Would we mind terribly coming back tomorrow? I had been given a reprieve. With the fear that I would bolt over, King let go of the death grip he had on the back of my coat. The following afternoon we returned and the minute we walked in I knew all was right with the world. Behind the counter was MY pharmacist. Oh happy day! She remembered us from last year so we spent some time catching up....and sharing with her how to get cheap tickets for the theater. Sigh. I'm good for another year.

Put your name in the drum for Book of Mormon tickets

King tells Ed & Sue he doesn't have to "dump his date"

And speaking of the theater, The Book of Mormon opened last year just before we left London. The show was an immediate sell out but every day they hold a lottery for front row tickets...for 20 pounds sterling each! A total of 21 tickets are sold for each night's performance. You must indicate on the form if you will want one or two tickets. Typically, the last name drawn is only for 1 ticket and if they pull a ticket that wants 2, the winner is asked " will you dump your date?" and the answer is always "YES", sometimes to the date's surprise! We made our way to the theater district four times last April, filled out the official Book of Mormon entry form, placed it into the big gold drum and waited for the 5:30 p.m. crowd count down and drawing.....but no luck. Some might of been discouraged but we were on a mission (ha,ha) so as soon as we returned back to London, a trip to Leicester Square for the lottery was at the top of our list..well, at least mine. First night no luck, 2nd, and 3rd nada. By the 4th try, the staff handing out the form greeted us with a "You know the drill". It was Friday Night Date Night so we had a back-up should lady luck not smile on us once again. We were joined in the jubilant crowd by the crew of Angel Louise, Sue and Ed. It was their first time....I whispered to King that I was going to be very depressed if they won tickets and we didn't. King gently reminded me that our chances did not increase each time. I just don't think that's fair but no matter cause I WON the chance to buy 2 tickets!!!! Not only did I win but King's name was called for the single ticket so Ed and Sue grabbed that one and were able to pick up a second ticket at the ticket counter. Thank goodness, cause otherwise, Ed planned to "dump his date". We should of picked up a national lottery ticket that night. The musical, by the way, is raunchy but hysterical. Since then we have also stood in line for "day of performance" tickets for Mid Summer Night's Dream where we again were rewarded for our effort grabbing 10 pound front row seats. I fear, we are getting very use to being in the front row.

If I had given it a minutes thought, I should of seen it coming. There is no way that King can be forced to repeatedly plunge into the icy waters of the North Sea without some imbalance in the universe being created. It was only a matter of when, not if, the event would occur. We had been invited to play "Joker" on Angel Louise, the other Catamaran in the marina. It had been Hair Day so Mr. Kingsley had put on his hair stylist uniform (rubber gloves and old clothes) and worked his magic to make my gray disappear. Since I haven't had a hair cut since I saw Sumkit last Spring, I then spent the rest of the afternoon doing the drying and flat ironing required to bringing the unruly mop under control. At the appointed hour, I pulled out a bottle of wine I had just picked up at the Waitrose 25% off sale and a package of my favorite hummus. It had been raining, of course, so around the dock we tromped balancing umbrellas along with the other goodies. Up and over the walk-way yakking away and then suddenly, I'm underwater. King grabs hold of my hand and has me partially suspended in air until I spy a ladder just 5 feet away. Much more sensible. Miraculously, I emerge intact with shoes and glasses still in their rightful places. The hummus and the umbrella, however, were long gone, as was the bottle of wine which crashed onto the dock as King grabbed for me. Back to the boat I squished as quickly as my short legs would carry me. Since we had already had the conversation with other cruisers about uglies in the water, I knew what was coming.....off to the Emergency Room we go. After a quick shower and putting on dry clothes, King hailed a taxi. Once the driver heard ER he quickly became our best friend and was phoning his wife for information that he thought would be helpful. For my American friends who are not so sure about the Medical system outside the U.S, let me just say the process was brilliant. I will admit that the triage nurse had a hard time keeping a straight face during the interview but he was aware of Wyles disease which apparently lurks in the Thames. The good news, no treatment was recommended unless symptoms begin to appear. The better news.....it was FREE! Don't even ask..... no pictures exist of this event.

We decided we wanted to return to our traditional Thanksgiving of dinner on the water so after much agonizing we decided to skip the Mayflower dinner this year. Instead, we joined Ed and Sue and Ann and Nigel, from Chanticleer, aboard Angel Louise for a Thanksgiving feast accompanied by plenty of champagne to keep the conversation lively. The food and company perfect.

Thanksgiving: great dinner and drink aboard Angel Louise

Getting ready for Christmas visitors, daughter Barbara and partner Michele. I've wrapped lights around the life lines from one end of Ostinato to the other. I whined so much last year because "EVERYONE had Christmas lights but us" that King purchased some off the Internet while we were home. These things have 10 different light patterns to chose from, none of which are just plain old, stay on all the time with no flicker, lights. And, there does not seem to be any way to get them in sync. It makes me dizzy to look at them. Maybe Christmas lights from China was not such a good idea.......but I guess until the marina is put on seizure alert by the National Health system, they will do just fine. We have two stings left over.....King is trying to convince me they are backups. I'm thinking we need some up the mast!