Best laid plans

Today is Friday 13th. It may have escaped your attention; it certainly didn't escape mine. An earlyish start to catch our ferry to Jersey; we got to the terminal in plenty of time, and everything was going well. The weather was not great, and the Captain warned us that the crossing might be rough. I'm not prone to seasickness but W is so she took a pill and I took a hearty English Breakfast; sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs, beans and toast. And very tasty it was too. Off we set, and we were certainly being thrown around a bit. Up and down, up and down, and then we started hitting the concrete walls. Anything not tied down started moving, people were looking queasy, children were throwing up and I was finding it difficult to write the numbers into my Soduko. Eventually, the Captain gave up. An hour out, he announced that there were Force 8 gales and 10 metre waves ahead, so he was turning round and we were going back to Weymouth.

Clearly, we weren't going to get to Jersey today. Phone calls were made to the travel insurance company and our booking agent as to whether to cancel or try again tomorrow. In the end, we re-booked for tomorrow and delayed our accommodation by 24 hours without charge, so we'll still get three days there but have to come back on the slower, overnight ferry to Portsmouth, and pay extra for a cabin.

So far, so good. But a bit later we got a call to say that while the ferry should go tomorrow, to avoid the weather it will be running two hours late. Which means it will arrive in Jersey just as the rugby match I was going to see is finishing.

Oh well, we've said for years we'd like to see Jersey and the match was just the excuse to go. We'll actually end up with almost an extra day there with the timing of the return ferry, and we can claim a bit back on insurance. Shame about the game, but let's hope Bedford win anyway!

And tonight? Another Premier Inn, in Dorchester. But not at £29; you only get those rates well in advance!