Having got there I played the little organ for a few minutes, long enough to establish that 13 years after the last tuning, one was a bit due and the leather hinges of the keys were rather worn and floppy. It seems the organ gets used. And then to dismantling. This was actually an instrument I had designed all those years ago, so I had a rough idea as to how it was to be taken apart. I worked away until about 10.00pm, then it was time to eat; and, the nearest pub being too far away, it was do-it-yourself. With a peppered steak (best Scotch - guaranteed BSE-free) with courgettes, carrots cut up and stir fried with wine and cream and rice, and a tomato salad with a sauce concocted out of what I could find, I was suitably revived to continue with the dismantling which was more or less done and packed by 1.30am, the top part of the case acting as a case for the pipes, the rest all well wrapped; and when the wine was finished, I was tired enough to go to bed and sleep in the cupboard.

Next morning after a hearty breakfast, the Bevans' son and grandson came up to help with the carrying of the organ to the car which we did and then had lunch (remember, the car is not parked outside the house). We had lunch and a beer, and I then set off to visit somebody else I remember from the original installation and met Hutch again on the way down, very fortunately, as he was aware of the time of the ferry. I was just assuming we had time as I knew Graham Bevan would be on the same one and he had not left the house. However, what I did not know was that he had mixed up the ferries, and it was then that Hutch pointed out it was 32 minutes to the time the ferry left, I was supposed to be there 10 minutes before it went, and it had taken me 35 minutes to get from the ferry to the house (admittedly, dawdling). The ferry had to be got as the next one was not until Monday (this was Saturday), and the whole operation had to run the way it was planned, as I was going to Athens the Thursday after the planned return on Tuesday.

I got to the ferry in 17 minutes and will say no more. Graham Bevan had by this time realised that we did not have much time and chased me in his car, getting ever more concerned that I had taken the wrong turning when he did not manage to catch me up. On the ferry, to Stromness, and a good meal with the Bevans and a good night's sleep too.