Walking by the river

Canal one day, river the next, sometimes the woods. It's what we do almost every day with Pippa. Today (or yesterday since this is a backblip) was a good day, sorting things out at home, dealing with queries on the yachting features I've done for the FT and rewriting one (done by someone else). On now to preparations for the so-called Yacht Summit to be held in Monaco on the eve of the annual yacht show next week. Future work on all this is looking thin as businesses in the industry are reluctant to spend money on advertising.

That's a shame as I've learned to find my way around the industry in this past year, picking up scores of contacts from builders to owners. So just when I can really add value in terms of knowing stuff beyond my writing, commercial realities are wrecking all the hard work. It was the same with all I learned on work and management, the same with fishing, the same with sailing. Oh well! I've been thinking about another book, another history, making some first tentative notes. I love this stage of a project. Sometimes the ideas go nowhere but it's exciting all the same. I'm looking forward now to the dark days of winter with Pippa sitting beside me on the window ledge. It's been a while but she's there now.