It's hard on the hard! Yachts are designed to be in the water so when they are lifted out onto dry land (known as being on the hard) living on board becomes a lot more of a challenge. We have just spent 5 days ashore so that we could have a survey done (to satisfy our insurers) and are mighty relieved to be back in the water and normality. The heat and humidity while on the hard have taken their toll on us. We have drunk gallons of water, supplemented with salt/sugar drinks and even then Claire found she'd overdone things after oiling 50metres of chain during one afternoon. If we'd counted the number of steps we'd climbed up and down we could probably have made it to the top of Everest and back ... OK an exaggeration, but we can assure you it feels like that. It's like high rise camping. We've had electricity but no means of removing grey water off the boat other than a slops bucket (recipe for disaster if the bucket's full). There is a positive side though - the other folk on the hard are great and there is a good social life - if you have a chance to enjoy it - with BBQs, cinema trips, noodling, jam sessions, dominoes and excursions. Suffice to say, the results of our survey were excellent and, all things being equal, we shouldn't have to spend any time on the hard for another year.