Today we finally made it to the beach. We cleaned the boat inside and out first and when there were no more jobs to be done set off with some water and our books to the little beach below the Fort. There were a few other sunbathers and a couple of lady swimmers. John went down to check the water temperature, but was back before I had managed to divest myself of shorts and sandals. Too cold, maybe we could paddle later. I fear middle age is setting in. We settled down on our mat leaning against a handy boulder with our books. After a pleasant hour or so the wind was beginning to cover us in a fine layer of silt. We dusted ourselves off and ventured back to the sea for the promised paddle. After five minutes just standing John announced he was losing all feeling in his toes and headed back. I wandered up and down a bit, thought about going in, thought about how very cold it was and that coming out to have sand blown on me when I was wet would not be much fun and followed John back to the bag. “If we go now we could get changed in time to go for lunch” he said. I am easily persuaded.