After an excellent dinner of salmon, followed by seasonal fruit crumble, Ronan eventually appeared to act as Quizmaster! Where he got his questions, and distinctly eccentric answers from, is a matter that can only be resolved by visiting his remote home county in Southern Ireland. It came as no surprise, especially when we heard the questions, that the winning team was the Bosun's Mates augmented by the Cook's assistant and one or two others from the permanent crew. The four watches all put up a respectable showing in the face of Irish quirkiness and a lot of fun and laughter was had by all. There followed a night of moderating winds and sea which augured well for the morrow.
Excellent news this morning. The divers appeared at about 1000 and cleared the fouled anchor in just over an hour so we were on our way before lunch, heading for Brest, where a berth awaits us. As we write, we are making 10 knots with two staysails and the Inner Jib set. Morale is high and it is exhilarating to be sailing, as well as motoring, at last.
Aft Port Watch.