A struggle

Rosemary was meeting Izzy at Porty for a swim. But I didn't wanna get freezing and then have to cycle home. Rather, I did a 40km Zwift race. The legs were tired after a tough ride yesterday, but I stuck in and finished at the front(ish) end of the field. It was a relentless effort...taking every tiny opportunity to recover, in which I thought about quitting a few times. 

Then I took a wander down to the docks. My Dad's old ship, the SS Explorer, is berthed down there and I probably haven't seen it in over 40-years. My earliest memories are of Dad being away at sea, either on the Switha or the Explorer and being excited when he was coming home. I remember when the Switha floundered on the rocks by Inchkeith in 1980, fortunately without my Dad on it....he cried. When I was born, he was away on the Switha. Well to be precise, he was in a pub in Stornoway, and stayed there for a while to celebrate my arrival. Dad was a bit of an expert on steam turbine engines...but as they were phased out, he found his land legs. I think his biggest regret was that he was offered a place on a scientific Antarctic expeditionary ship after the Explorer...but my Mum reminded him of his responsibilities of having a young family. 

Alas, the road to the Explorer was barriered off and I didn't get to see it. 

Most of the docks seemed to be barriered off due to to the tram works and looking very different to when I used to visit there as a kid. Lots of shitty looking modern flats now, wide roads and a few old dockyard buildings. It's almost soulless and I couldn't help thinking that it could be a far nicer place.  Even my fav graffiti wall was about to be knocked down by the looks of it.

More exciting was how high the tide was today. It was up to the benches at Newhaven Harbour. Also, the temporary docking pontoons for the cruise liners have been removed.