Exiting from the darkness of ‘Lock Down 3’ and 12 months after last seeing the boat we tentatively looked at returning to France to make sure that LJ was still the right way up. Although she had been fitted with the latest electrical tracking equipment the last transmitted signal was August 2020 so although we were confident as to where she was the burning question remained “Was she still alive”?
Boats are both ‘on going projects’ and somewhat ‘organic’ in that they need to be used otherwise, due to the harsh environment in which they live components slowly corrode, seize and die.
In the Spring of 2021 The UK Government announced that you could travel aboard under the guise of ‘preparing your second home for sale’. This quickly became known as the ‘Stanley Johnson loophole’ on the basis that Stanley’s eldest buffoon of an offspring was also our Prime Minister and what would be the point of being the PM if you’re not there to look after your old Dad’s investments in Greece?
Jumping on the bandwagon I wrote to my local MP seeking clarification and seeking permission to travel. I was confident that she could give clarification as after all she was part of the very cabinet who was instrumental in the writing of this white paper. Her response was that I had to make my own decisions and interpretations. I pressed her again for a mere Yes / No answer and was sent a charming letter by a Conservative Lord B’ who delivered a short and succinct lecture on the impressive Covid Vaccine Roll Out and a good dose of personal back slapping on how Brexit had been a complete success!
No one was more shocked that a politician could avoid a simple question.
As the weeks and months rolled on the decorating continued until suddenly in July foreign travel was lifted and 18 months after we’d closed the hatch doors we found ourselves standing underneath a very dirty LJ….