The sunny weather continued today, which was just as well because there were still a few things to do outside today. But first, we needed to do some laundry while the sun was shining, and the bimimi was still in place and gave us somewhere to hang the laundry to dry. Before the laundry was ready to hang out, I changed over all the ropes, from our good black ropes we use when cruising, to the older, heavier ropes we use for winter mooring. While doing this, I followed the first of Australia's games in the Rugby World Cup being held in Japan. The Walabies trailed Fiji in the first half, but came home strongly to win relatively comfortably. With the other half of my brain, I followed the AFL Preliminary Final between Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney. After a very low-scoring and even first half, GWS had pulled away to a comfortable lead by three-quarter time, and kicked the first goal of the final quarter. Collingwood then staged a remarkable recovery, kicking the next four goals to draw within a goal with 10 minutes to go. The final 10 minutes were played almost exclusively within 50m of the Collingwood goalposts, but GWS held on courageously to record a dramatic win and proceed to the Grand Final next week.

The next task was to place the winter cover over the frame, and secure it to the side railings with bungey cords. Given the size and weight of the cover, this is an awkward 2-person task, so I was glad Rita was available to help get it up and over the frame. After a few hours, and a trip to BricoMarche for extra s-hooks, the task was complete, with many items stored for the winter underneath the cover.

The final major task was to bring down the bimini, and attach it to the rear of the wheelhouse. In past years, we have left the bimini in place, and secured it with extra straps. However, given last year's experience with the severe winter storms that can pass through Auxonne (lifting our bimini off its fittings), we decided to be proactive this year and take it down ourselves, and tie it to the wheelhouse with heavy ropes. This has the disadvantage, however, that the wheelhouse rear doors will not be useable while Rita remains on the boat. However, Rita thought this was a minor inconvenience for the peace of mind of having the bimini securely attached to the boat over winter.

After this, all there was to do was to sit down on the bimini-less rear deck and have a quiet afternoon beer in the sun.