Back on board “Chance” and a night of stars!

On Friday evening we went to a concert in Selsey Town (Village?) Hall.  It was a long awaited performance by Christopher Beaumont – a protégé of Sir Patrick Moore – this very talented young man who gave a stunning performance on the xylophone.  Selsey might be at the end of a long road off the A27 but we’re up with the best when it comes to the arts!

Christopher played quite a few compositions by Patrick Moore as well as classical pieces by Mozart, Strauss and many other well known composers.  We were treated to the Star Wars theme tune and the Flight of the Bumble Bee.  The orchestra included brass, woodwind, percussion, bass guitar and piano. 

The speed with which Christopher played his xylophone was fantastic and it was very evident that this instrument should be played much more for the publics’ entertainment and education.  Some people will remember how good Patrick Moore was on the xylophone and how entertaining he was – often playing with two ‘sticks’ in each hand.  Christopher deftly demonstrated the same on Friday evening.

Christopher with the great man – who has just celebrated his 89th birthday! (Patrick not Christopher!!)  Christopher kindly played for us at Patrick’s New Years’ Eve party so we were very much looking forward to this event.  Christopher’s web site is www.chrisbeaumontxylo.co.uk

Well – yippee!! we came up to the boat yesterday having gone a bit stir crazy over the last few weeks not being on the water.  ‘Chance’ is in fine fettle but we’re up here for a few days to get some jobs done and go out for a spin.

We would probably be starting our seasons cruising for real by now but, frustratingly, it is being delayed by a minor problem James has with his heart.  We learnt a few weeks ago that he has Aortic Fibrillation – nothing too major but his heart is not beating properly.  He’s  due for an Electro Cardio version operation on 17th April where it’s hoped they will get the heart back to normal operation.  This is a common condition evidently but it means that he is on Warfarin to thin the blood and lessen the likely hood of any clots forming prior to the op. He is therefore required to have blood tests each week to make sure he’s ‘within range’.

So – that all means we have to hang around a bit instead of getting on with the cruising.  Hay ho!  never mind we’re afloat now and looking forward to a trip out – hopefully will get some nice pics!