The Last Post?

Well it seems like the ferry is going to be another week away from what my Harwich spies tell me. The boat was holed badly when it hit the quay so maybe some structural stuff came to light whilst undertaking the repair in Germany?

Two weeks out of service is a massive blow to all those passenegers like us who'd planned to drive to Sweden/Denmark as there really isn't much of an alternative other than going via Dover and through France/Belgium etc I suppose we could have been in Esberg when this happened and that would have been quite a detour to get home!

Rumours are circulating that the ferry captain was offered a tug and assistance that fateful Saturday owing to the swell but I guess we'll have to await the official inquiry for all the salient facts.

Either way nothing changes things and our 2013 Swedish tour was sadly cancelled, our generous host left with a freezer full of reaindeer steaks and all his (and our) year long planning in tatters.

Sincere thanks to June in Suffolk who kindly put me up for two nights at short notice and I enjoyed seeing Felixtstowe and Ipswich tho the weather was absolutely foul at times giving some indication of how the ferry came to grief. One minute it was fine and sunny then out of nowhere torrential rain and gusty winds

Financially we have currency losses (Swedish Krona is not the best denomination to be left with) continental breakdown insurance, out of pocket expenses for food & drinks, accomodation, parking, and fuel some of which would have been totally unneccessary if DFDS hadn't sat on it's hands for 36 hours when it was patently obvious that with the ship badly holed and a jetty twatted we were never going to get away on Monday.

Hopefully DFDS will treat our claim fairly and we can at least salvage something

Talking of which ...............

The Cotswolds or Bust

My lovely wife Tina swung into action with plan b) when she heard that, after 2 days waiting aimlessly in Suffolk, I was now coming home more than a little cheesed off . Unknown to me she'd been on the web and found just the ticket - a cheeky 2 night break in the Cotswolds - and yes it was going to be in the Marlin!

I had a day at home to check over the Berli (Harwich had been the longest run she'd been on since I bought her 10 months ago) and all was fine and the revised cooling system and thermo fan had done well.

With my holdall half emptied (well yes more than half emptied1) and Tina's stuff added we were off and had a lovely drive  to the Cotswolds where we just toured locally taking in the sights around Blockley, Broadway and Stowe. Great Marlin country and a good few classic cars and bikes were out to play too some in British classics from Holland.

Broadway Village Yellow lines? What yellow lines officer?

By the time we'd returned home I'd clocked up 580 miles since setting out for Harwich during which time the Berli ran beautifully so at least she had a good proving run. Compared to the roadster the extra storage is an absolute blessing and we had room for a large holdall behind the front seats and room in the boot too.

I loved my old Roadster but the Berli was an easy drive and the fifth gear makes touring a pleasure now I must say!  

The Berli emerges for an old coaching inn in Blockley - she certainly drew a good few smiles!

So yes my final post I daresay and we all now just await DFDS's response in terms of compensation. Reallistically we can never recover all of our outlay and considerable time lost but it would be a lovely gesture if they responded generously.