Before I left for Ghent, I made up an earth strap to bond the engine to the chassis. I'll do the same for the gearbox, for good measure.

I've made a mess of these in the past, so now I slip the braid into a heat-shrink tube and remove a portion where the bolt goes through. Before drilling it's vital to clamp the piece as close to the proposed hole as possible, otherwise the bit will grab the braid and wind it up into a bird's nest. I used to secure the washers with solder, but I don't think that's necessary.

The heat-shrink tube makes a neat job and keeps the weather out.

Talking of which, we've been lucky with both that, and our office on the dockside in Ghent. This is only the second time in all my sixty-four magnetising adventures that we've had some decent facilities to work in - and they came back-to-back. Air conditioning over the last couple of weeks has been a blessing.

Fortunately, the shoreside crew's convenience (another welcome innovation) is at a respectable remove from the cabin, though when the wind blows from the South, it can be intrusive.

With the two ships in position, the setting up for the transfer of the cables can begin. Our equipment was placed midway. We had only one of the cables to magnetise as they were to be laid bundled together. The usual electrical and mechanical hiccups (happily not with our kit) slowed the process and extended our stay for a few days. As the hotel we were in lacked air-conditioning and was plagued with things that bit you in the night, this was not good news.

The reward for our nocturnal sufferings was the excellent galley on the Connector. Not since the Nexus, have I had such excellent food - the Sunday steak was excellent, as was every other meal throughout the trip.

The downside is always that, for the duration of the job, a sedentary position and being tied to computer screens, is not the healthiest regime. You can easily gain what my landlady describes as a 'prosperous' gait in not much time at all.

To keep you occupied, there's always a variety of ships coming and going....

... and the odd low-flying balloon.