After breakfast at the hotel in Zhoushan, we were picked up for the drive to the yard. It was again hot and humid. We had been joined by Markku a tall bearded Finn who was representing DeltaMarin a ship design company. We spent the morning meeting with the yard and going through the points raised by them on the outline specification. The meeting was friendly and constructive but did not give us very much confidence that the yard had really studied the design very much before quoting. This makes us uncomfortable that the price will stick when they really realize what they are building.
Our meeting finished at about 11 a.m. and we said our goodbyes and without lunch boarded our small minibus for the 4 or 5 hour journey back to Shanghai. The motorway was almost empty of traffic and was in great shape. We passed over many bridges some of which were very picturesque architecturally. We also traversed what is claimed to be the longest bridge/viaduct in the world. After about three hours we stopped at a roadside service area for a snack. This area was similar to many in the world and did not offer too much of a tempting nature. As the heat was oppressive we were happy to get back in the van and continue on our journey. We arrived on the outskirts of Shanghai after about four hours of driving but them things started to go less well. Firstly, we hit the roads just when the traffic was at its height and the driver, unfamiliar with the city lost his way and ended up on the wrong side of the river. Our Finnish friend decided to bail out at a suitable interval and make his own way home. Eventually the driver oriented himself, took the tunnel under the river and got us home.
When checked in we repaired to the 21st floor bar where we reviewed the day and went our various ways for dinner.
I went to type up the notes for the days meetings, failed to save them and wasted a good hour and a half's work!!! Some bad language and to bed.
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