Colin's back!

He's in exactly the same spot, on the end of the re-fuelling bay, spending the day doing a bit of fishing, then stretching his wings out to dry them off – not much hope of that in this weather though! It's a really dull, damp day – not raining, but then not quite dry – a real November day and as someone just informed me – only four and a half weeks until Christmas (AGHHHHHH!) I'm feeling in rather a reflective mood at the moment. This time last year I had just walked (well probably best described as" staggered through the mud") down the marina basin, knowing it would be the last chance I had before the water started to go in.

At the time I felt a bit sad – I liked it without the water. That didn't last long – everyday day the water level increased my excitement grew – at the time I thought it couldn't look more fantastic. Of course I was wrong, and horribly naive – a year on and we have a beautiful site with grass instead of mud and an amazing array of boats. I can't believe how full the marina looked this morning when I walked down. I feel immensely proud and incredibly humble at the same time – proud that we've got this far, and humble because I now realise that, despite all the hard work during the construction period, it is the boats and the people which "maketh the marina".