Odyssey

Just in case any of you were wondering (but I’m sure you weren’t) why the Jousts have dried-up in recent weeks I thought I’d proffer a word of explanation: there are a few reasons but the main one is that I have discovered a new passion – sailing!

I’m not going to rabbit on about the primal call of the sea, the challenge of man against the elements and so forth but I will say that, for someone who loves words, the nautical lexicon is indeed a treasure trove! Where else but on a boat could you find a pulpit, a pushpit and a tabernacle, all within a few precarious paces of each other?

But I have been busy doing courses and tinkering with Larkspur, our 18-foot fibreglass sloop built in 1982. Such a lot of tinkering is needed! I’ve been busy doing courses and am now a ticketed ‘day skipper’ and, with the help of two shipmates, have already circumnavigated Brownsea Island! Coastal navigation and night sailing are next on the agenda.

And then I’ve been lured back into doing some paid work, largely to finance my new habit, and also, I’ve made a start on a major creative writing project. So, with all that, plus our allotment (and we’ve surrendered half of that), our music and our amateur woodwind trio, the Jousts have simply had to take a back seat and will continue in abeyance for quite some time. The only consolation I can offer is that if the book comes eventuates, Joust readers will be first in line for a heavily discounted signed copy!

Yours, by and large,

Cap’n Snapshackle