High Tide	03:06 (2.10m)
Low Tide	08:44 (1.00m)
High Tide	15:18 (2.10m)
Low Tide	21:17 (0.90m)

Sea temperature: not taken but it felt warmer
Sea conditions: calm and low
Weather: raining, grey
Joined by: The Poet
Topics of conversation:
The Pirate's muscle/rib pain: we'd all been worried about The Pirate yesterday when he had complained of a sleepless night, due to a pain in his side keeping him awake. He'd been OK till he submerged himself in the cold water, then he doubled over in pain and let out a blood curdling noise. Today he came down determined to go in again, DK and I were already in the mood to stop him but he convinced us that he'd be OK. Sara had spoken to him with her Alexander Technique hat on yesterday and we asked what she had advised. He pretended to have forgotten, so I suspect that she'd told him what we did: cold water is not a good thing for muscle pain. I can vouch for that, this time last year I had my enforced break due to a hamstring injury. I've since discussed the thought that it could be a broken rib with Mark, who is also VERY qualified to diagnose and advise. If it is a rib it's going to be made worse by the cold water, not just because it makes the muscles contract but because the shock makes you gasp deeply for air, which is one of the most painful things to have to do with a cracked rib. How to treat rib injuries
I have to admit to being hypocritical at this point; I'd been for a run straight after the swim yesterday as I'd had a morning off. It was a mistake, I hadn't been able to thaw out enough, even though I spent some considerable time in the beach hut rubbing my legs and jumping up and down, and as I started to run I got colder and colder, till I couldn't feel my feet. I don't mind being cold but then I got stumbly and as I'm clumsy at the best of times I think I'll have to run in the evenings. 

Mountain to be climbed 

Thai mountains - the reason for my running again is to get in shape for a trip to Thailand, where we will be living in the middle of nowhere for a couple of weeks (see above), but the guy whose house we are renting has told us about a mountain trek, which we can start from our back door. 

The area is called Khao Sam Roi Yot, which I am led to believe is roughly translated as Mountain of Three Hundred Peaks. It's Mertz's birthday present to himself, he reaches a milestone birthday whilst we are there and he plans to be totally unreachable (apart from the fact that he's taking his phone, iPad and laptop and there is Wifi in the house). 
We discussed the pitfalls of setting off on such adventures without guides (which I won't be doing) and with the right clothing/equipment and The Poet made me aware of an absolutely tragic story of a father and son who have perished on a trail in Chamonix. News article

Can eating insects save the world? I've been interested in this for some time and have enjoyed the odd deep fried cricket and a pretty powerful ants egg curry but I'm not partial to the fat squishy ones that have the high protein content. DK had seen a programme last night about it, which is worth checking out: BBC iPlayer 
Kindle - I bought one. I know it's going to come into it's own but I am finding it a little frustrating so far as I don't think it's very instinctive, plus I'm used to iPad typing and the Kindle lags behind in response time. I find myself thinking I've not pressed the touchscreen hard enough and then the word suddenly appears. I read quickly and I hope I don't have the same problem as The Poet, who had to send his back because the pages wouldn't turn, or Legs, who threw hers across the room.
Best friends - is it still normal to refer to people as BFs at our age? And do we even have them? Legs and I have what can only be described as BGF's (as in Girl not Gay) called Annie and Anita and I refer to Anita as 'my Annie' and vice verse. I read somewhere that at the age of 50 the average person has 5 good friends and I reckon that's enough. I'm often having a similar discussion with my BBF who thinks I have a lot of friends, and whilst this is true, BF's are different. I'm seeing 'my Annie' on Friday and I'm ludicrously excited about our trip to the Bowie Exhibition at the V&A. The Pirate has the opposite response to Bowie and explained that his music reminds him of bad times. I always argue that only music with merit has the power to evoke memories, not like smells that can transport you with one whiff, even if they are foul.
Bad weather and working from home - The Pirate and I both have a heavy work load today and so were grateful for the bad weather, but as he said "We'll always find something to distract us" I wonder what that'll be...