Tonight, I stepped aboard Vigilant,  a Customs Cutter, in Ipswich Dock. One crew member on board served with me on our training crew back in 1978. Chatting in the wheelhouse brought back a wealth of memories of all the good and sometimes bad times I experienced up to July 1981 when I last paid off. The unlocking of memories is a powerful experience and  waxing lyrical about people I sailed with put all the topsy turvy aspects of this month into focus. The traumatic episode of Alex suffering a stroke a few weeks ago and the teamwork that Mark Mann and I utilised was on a par with that of sailing with an elite bunch of crew members, all trained and drilled to do what is needed at the right moment. This pushes all the trivia and nonsensical stuff I had to deal with onto the back burner.

Memories of my father passing, of Alan Smith, a dear friend and young Alex all crashing around together were all brought to a datum with meeting a chum from 1978. Enjoy your last patrol Nick and enjoy retirement. It was a pleasure chatting together in the wheelhouse tonight.