The Last Dog Watch

One of the first things I did when I got my boat was to sit at the pointy end in the well deck, with a large glass of Shiraz and go through my diary.
One by one with a huge flourish, I crossed out all the pre planned work meetings I would no longer be attending now that I had left the rat race.
The other vital part of this ceremony of freedom from the constrictions of time, was to remove my watch, an item I had previously been quite unable to function without, and toss it with an even bigger flourish into the Grand Union Canal at Uxbridge.
I assume it is still there along with the many abandoned shopping trolley’s, guns, and even, as was found in the Stroudwater Canal, Gloucestershire a few years ago, a crocodile!
I also assume the watch has probably ticked it's last as it was never particularly reliable, giving up without warning at the first splash of water from an over zealous hand wash. Maybe even swallowed by the crocodile - Now I really am going into Never Never land fantasy, so I will leave you with an introduction to Mellors, my ginger cat, with a personality disorder, for whom the fun of the dog watch had just begun...

(The working day of a ship is divided into watches. The last dog watch being 6pm-8pm)