Morning all and welcome to the Thursday’s Ships Blog. Its been a lively week weather wise with several Atlantic depressions making their way towards the UK giving us plenty of wind and rain! Going into next week the pundits are forecasting a cold snap and it certainly looks to be getting cooler over the weekend and into next week. There are no tidal surges forecast at the moment and there probably wont be any for this week as we run into the neaps part of the current tide cycle. With all the wind about in the last few days the lockmasters have been out checking the boats and all of them seem to be ok. Please note the ablution block in the marina basin has been closed for refurbishment work for approximately four to six weeks. The main task in hand will be to to remove the vinyl type flooring in the shower cubicles and replace it with tiles. On a different Geraint Pugh a berth holder here at the marina and resident of Shotley village is going to run the London marathon this year to raise money for PHAB kids. PHAB stands for Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied Kids. His target is £2000 and needs all the help he can get to raise this money. You can donate online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GeraintPugh or contact him on croydonrfc@btinternet.com. Finally the Cruising Association have been in conact with me regarding a Crewing service event they are holding at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club Woolverstone. The date is the 28th February and is designed to put crews and skippers in touch with other. A gentleman called Colin Penn is organising it and more info can be found by emailing crewing@cruising.org.uk or getting in contact with RHYC.