Tall ships in the sunset

Through work, I have been in Greenock a lot over the past three years, and we were invited to the Captains' Dinner on the quayside. The weather in the east of Scotland had been atrocious and we did wonder about turning back, but as we headed west, things improved. At Greenock it was a warm sunny day, with teeshirts and shorts in evidence.

If you like the romance of tall sailing ships (and we do), the tall ships race is the place to be. Some of them huge, some of them with uniformed crew to welcome you aboard, and all of them just incredible.

At the Captains' Dinner, our table included people from Norway and Sweden, all of whom had excellent English, from what we could hear over the over-loud music.

Star event of the evening was a performace outside by that wee lassie from Glasgow, Lulu. She may not be a wee lassie now, but she can rock with the best of them, and that famous voice has lost none of its edge or power. She looked great too in a glitzy silver jacket.

All in all, a great trip. Well done, Greenock, for winning the bid for the Tall Ships Race 2011.

The late David Cairns MP would have been proud of his town.