There's something mesmerising about the sea - it's terra firma equivalent, an open fire.

As the swell developed, rain was forecast and our office on the deck of Ndurance was quickly prepared for the worst.

Although it may not look quite the last word in office accommodation, it was something of an improvement over some of our workplaces;

Our facility at Eemshaven, The Netherlands, for instance.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary sent me a very nice picture of the Hillman though they could improve on their framing as its occupants were obscured by a data panel. Interestingly, the figure of 94.1m refers to the distance from the laser device to the target vehicle - nearly 100m; quite a long arm of the law. At the time of the offence Counsel and I were on our way to the local hospital; a very dear friend had been rushed in with a life-threatening condition. The notes accompanying the charge sheet reminded me that I had the right to demonstrate any mitigating circumstances by requesting a court hearing to "place the facts before the magistrates." I gave that option some serious consideration but was persuaded of the risk of that strategy in the current climate. I'm hoping instead to be offered the 'Driver Retraining Course' and join (again) a host of fellow delinquents who, but for a moment's inattention, would be £88 better off.

As I had a few days at home, I popped along to First Motion Transmissions in Baldock to collect my T9 box that had been rebuilt with the longer input shaft and they confirmed also that the box had 2L gearing. The gear clusters were apparently in very good condition and showed signs of having not done much work. Still, whilst it was apart, new bearings and seals have been fitted. I might tone down the silver and repaint the box itself in red - it's neat but a bit gaudy. It'll be interesting to see if I've got the shaft measurements right. If not, I shall treat myself to a new guessing stick as clearly, there's something wrong with my present model.

A quick visit to Leon and Awkward's workshop turned up this rather nice Brough. Chap had just finished restoring a pre-war Vincent Rapide - the one with 'HRD' on the stainless steel tank; one of only 70 made I understand.

A recent delivery to the emporium was this 'Roof 101' head and OHV gear for Awkward's Model A engine in the Avon Special. There's a George Riley OHV head fitted at the moment but, in the pursuit of performance he thought he'd give this a whirl.

And through the good offices of Young Harry who snapped this as he flew over Rotterdam in his 737 at the same time as we headed for the port on Ndurance, the sheer vastness of Rotterdam can be gauged. It took us over an hour to sail from The Hook of Holland - the pointy bit at 3 o'clock - to our berth somewhere down at the bottom of the picture.