Day 60- Sunday 17th July. Grimsby

At breakfast we had a good feed and a natter. There was still no news on Finlay the parrot. These are costly birds and there is a £400 reward for his safe return. Finlay had been a bit of a pain at home in Paul's apartment. He had tended to bite lumps out of the sofa and be a general nuisance,but on the boat he had been better behaved and good company. He used to say good morning when Paul woke up and he found himself talking to him all the time through the cockpit doorway.He was now agonising over how long to wait and see if the publicity and reward paid off and whether to buy a replacement.He is hating Grimsby with a passion.

As we put together a full-English I heated the kettle in my boat next to Paul's Jeaneau Fantasia called Zuma. I was listening out for the kettle to boil, but could not distinguish it from the wind howling in the rigging. At pontoon level with my hand held anemometer I am reading a good force 5. Out at sea it must be 7/8. It's the first time when I have felt that the wind strength seemed to justify the caution I have taken to remain in port.

After breakfast we compared blog sites. Paul is expecting to be featured in Practical Boat Owner shortly. His blogs are short,but include video clips. There are some good bits with dolphins. There is also the time when he got hit by ligtning, which damaged a lot of his electrical equipment,though he didn't realise until later.His site is www.paulhardakersailing.co.uk He's done really well in collecting for the Chrohn's and Colitis Charity, and according to his blog had raised £1,960. His aim is to get £25K. This bird business will help. My son's friend Tristan suffers from Chrohn's, so I know what a bugger of a disease it is and what it can do to young fit men. If you want to contribute to Paul's collection, then visit www.justgiving.com/paul-hardaker

Looking at Paul's keyboard I was amazed at the number of keys missing or damaged. It was the result of Finlay attacking it. Its a surprise it still works!

I didn't get to ask Paul if he has any video of his African Grey, but I took a photo of his screen with the bird in the cage behind him.

Phil is a herdsman, and his blog is delightfully named and can be found at www.cowmansdream.com As an ex military man it is not surprising that his chosen charity is Help for Heroes. he has a pretty gut wrenching introduction to his charity page. Contributions can be made to www.bmycharity.com/soloroundbritainsail

Just to complete the set,my charities are the RSPB and the RNLI. The first can be found at www.justgiving.com/Stephen-Munday-RSPB/ and the latter at www.justgiving/Stephen-Munday/ The amount Paul has collected is putting me to shame, but if you felt his or Phil's causes are better then give to theirs instead.

I managed to sort out my radio problems this morning by cleaning up all the aerial connections and removing a superfluous length of cable. Its a great feeling to solve a problem so simply. I was contemplating having to replace the aerial at the top of the mast by climbing it or dropping it.

I have been told that the derelict buildings around the dock were used in the filming of Atonement, because it all looks like it has been hit by a bombing raid and so it was easy to create a stage set for the WW2. they just imported a few lorries of old bricks and piled them up against the buildings.

The other Phil, the one with the Seal 22 had invited me on to his moor cruiser. He and his dad had aquired this as a shell and its fitting out is nearing completion. They have put a marinised Ford tractor engine. They are pretty decent craftsman and are making this floating caravan into a good purchase for somebody. As we sat there discussing how good Seal 22s are the rain continued to lash down. Phil is a Seal Sailing Association member ( sail no. 54) and if his boat is fitted out like this motorcriser it would be worth a look when its on the water.

Paul had another false call this evening.Following a tip off that Finlay was upsatirs in the house he'd aready visited, he contacted the police and they took him to the house, but it was not there. He probably had one shot with the police given how busy I expect they are around here. He's now used it.