Sitting outside tiny cafe in industrial part of Hamble Marina with maxi caffeine in paper cup and next to boat lift - a sort of box shaped hollow crane - watching as boats get lifted and water blasted and otherwise fixed.
Polyglot crowd around me - all getting ready to go racing today over in Cowes. South africans, french, dutch, an englishman who borrowed the pc to get a weather forecast...and this solitary Oz - and just joined by ace navigator from Jazz - tiddly pom.
About 52 hours to the start.