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Goodbye to Lowestoft
Well, except for the fact that my boat was hit several times during the past couple of days by other boats I have had a fabulous time here in Lowestoft.
The airshow was excellent with appearances from the RAF’s latest fighter the Typhoon, The Battle of Britain Flight, Fairey Swordfish, and my particular favourite the Vulcan bomber. The last time I saw a Vulcan flying was about 1974 and I will never forget that day at the Biggin Hill Airshow I think it was… the noise made my stomach wobble!
Yesterday evening was a real treat. Paul, the Deputy Launching Authority (DLA) of the Lowestoft Lifeboat, invited me along to a visit of the Gorleston and Great Yarmouth Lifeboat Station for a tour. It was a visit organised for the members of his berth holders club at the Lowestoft marina and I was made very welcome. I was picked up by one of the members and driven to Gorleston where we all met up. Paddy, the Lifeboat Mechanic gave a superb tour of the station and boat and I would like to thank both Paddy and the club members for a great evening.
Today should have started with meeting a member of the RNSYC staff who was to assist me with finishing off the refuelling by driving me to the local petrol station but I overslept! So my first appointment was with Mike Richford, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station Press Officer, who wanted to have a chat and get some photos for the local newspaper and station records. In the end we discussed all aspects of the trip and lifeboat life in general and I drunk many very welcome mugs of tea which I have particularly missed on my trip (no fridge so no milk!). One particular story Mike told me was of his dog, a young Labrador, who likes to swim underwater! I have never heard of any dog swimming underwater but it must have given them a bit of a scare wondering if they would need to rescue their dog! Eventually though, at about 4.30 in the afternoon, we said our goodbyes and it was only then I remembered that I had still to finish refuelling! Whoops!
So to finish off this afternoon I took a trolley from the marina and walked the half mile or so the the nearest garage to top off two of my 30 ltr outboard tanks.
I would like to thank the RNSYC, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station, Paddy at the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station and everyone else here in Lowestoft for making my stay here so welcome.
