Hail and farewell and get ready for the Big Decision

Yes I’m still here.  No boating, and a busy life at home have got in the way of blogging, but now it’s nearly Christmas so I know the Great British Public awaits the greatest decision of the year.  No I don’t mean how to do Brexit, far more important than that.  It’s time to decide who and what and where get the annual Herbie Awards. Yay!!

But before I start on that I have to pay tribute to one of my most loyal blog readers and one of my most treasured old friends.  I’ve known Roy for fifty years since we were young engineering students together, along with Rick  and a few more lads  who have stayed lifetime friends.  A more lovely, kind, honest and wonderfully eccentric bloke you couldn’t wish to meet.  After defying the prognosis of the doctors by living on for an extra six months, holding music sessions round his bed, even performing at the local folk club via an on line link, Roy finally went to rest a week ago.  Despite being a regular reader of this blog (and he claims my latest novel was one of the few fiction books he had ever read), Roy only cruised board Herbie the once when he and wife Paula joined us from Bedford to somewhere or other (Great Barford?) in 2009.  Here is the photo of the day with Roy and Paula on the left.  On the far right is the (in)famous Rainman, who has featured rather more often on these pages.

Roy will be sadly missed but I know he would be most upset if I didn’t get on with the Herbie Awards, so the first one will come tomorrow when we shall consider the award for the Best Town Mooring of 2018.  Book your table, get down to Moss Bros and tart yourself up for the big night.  See you there.