We have a number of different forecasts from our different weather sources, but it seems that some time early tomorrow morning a low will pass right over us, with (probably) strong-ish easterlies, then a calm in the eye of the storm, and then stronger north-westerlies. The German forecast (un)helpfully summarises this as follows:
Belts and Sound:
first southwest to south 3 to 4, increasing 6, shifting southeast, later var directions 4 to 7, isolated thunderstorms, at times misty, sea 0,5 to 1 metre.
Fåborg is very sheltered from pretty much every direction and we are firmly tied into a box, facing SW. We think this is a good place to be, and judging by the fact that this pontoon, almost empty when we arrived, is now packed all the way along, others agree.
Much more importantly today is A-level results day, and Ben was due to get his results just before noon our time. He called us, thoughtfully, just after we'd tied up here to tell us that he hadn't made the requirements for either Sheffield or Nottingham, although we thought his grades were pretty impressive. Phonecalls, emails and even Facebook discussions have been flying back and forth all day - we have a pretty good internet connection here. But the bottom line is that this is the most over-subscribed year ever for getting university places, and it doesn't look as though Ben will get in. Fortunately we are able to tell him not to worry, he can take a gap year, do retakes if required, get a train to Japan or whatever, and try next year when applications are likely to drop by 25% or more because of the fees.
In the middle of all this Guy's Facebook account suddenly popped up with a post which said "so excited I'm going to be a dad". Sam was all set to hide in the forepeak for the rest of the year, but fortunately it turned out to be a little joke from the people Guy lives with. It was nice to be able to chat on Facebook to both sons at the same time, albeit under somewhat bizarre circumstances.
(Lord) John Prescott said he would retweet any Tweets mentioning A-level results. I posted: "@johnprescott my wonderful son @JoetheArachnid got BB&C - didn't get his uni place :-( - but we still love him & are proud of him". And the wonderful Lord Prescott did indeed re-tweet it and we got some really nice comments from the Twittersphere. I'm sure nothing much makes Ben feel better today but I hope that helps a bit.
We are less than 16 miles from Augustenborg in a straight line, although unfortunately we have to go around the island of Als to get there which makes the actual distance around 36 miles. Still, we are basically home free even if the wind blows for a week. Fåborg is a small, pretty town with good yachting facilities and an interesting art gallery, so I'm sure we can occupy ourselves for a day or two.
Miles today: 17.
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