What boating is like.

A complaint has flooded in from our reader that we have been laggardly in providing updates on our passage. Why, you may ask have we not been keeping you up to date? Has Herbie gone down with all hands at Stoke Bruerne? Have we died of scurvy from not eating enough satsumas? Have we been attacked and eaten by cannibals in Yardley Gobion? Or has life aboard the good ship been so boring that we had nothing about which to write?

None of these. We've just been too busy having a good time. It's all been very sociable. Rick joined us at Cosgrove. Passing through Stoke Bruerne we paused to provide tea and cake to Kathryn, who regailed us with tales of her broken and now nearly mended hip and brought us up to date with the goings on on the canals. Thanks to Kathryn's forewarning and advice we managed to dodge most of the downpours inside Blisworth tunnel and emerged to tootle on until Gayton Junction for the night where we demolished a despondent Rick at Scrabble. Next day, first in sun and later in snow we pressed on to the top of Buckby locks where we met up with the Moomins(aka Ann and Simon on NB Melaleuca) (I may possibly have mis spelled that) and Marilyn arrived to collect Rick and we all dined at the fashionable (OK, pretty reasonable) New Inn and hatched a cunning plan to form a six person team to sweep the board at the Old Olive Tree quiz on Thursday night.

Wednesday morning we accompanied the Moomins through Braunston tunnel where I avoided hitting anything (possibly a first) and tied up below the Admiral Nelson and were soon joined by Maffi who pulled in alongside us for the night. A few cups of tea later there was a knock on the window and the Halfies came in, there now being seven of us aboard plus of course Molly the dog who only got stepped on once.

Ann and Simon kindly stayed on for dinner to help us wade through a Whilton Farm Shop steak pie which might well have killed us otherwise.

That brings us to today, when I spilled the contents of the hot ashes from the stove all over the saloon floor and we descended the remaining Braunston locks and headed out here in the windy wilds at Bridge 102 which is within striking distance of tonight's quiz.

So that's it really. Good stuff this boating lark. Tune in next time for tales of Napton and the result of the quiz.

Posted with Blogsy