The launch day of our holiday has finally arrived. I'm awake early, keen to get off. Vera is slower to get going. Luckily we have done most of our packing the night before, so all that's left to do this morning is a final review of our holiday packing spreadsheet to gather together the last few items. This spreadsheet originated in written lists created for various holidays, Greece, weekends in the lakes, our trip on Queenie. It is now in spreadsheet form and so useful in picking the items you want on a particular trip. I am sometimes surprised that everybody doesn't follow this approach. Maybe they do
So our bags are packed, we're ready to go, the Polo’s waiting, it's blowing its horn……there's no room in the car for anything else. Philippa, who is joining us tomorrow, was originally hoping for a lift to the boat. No chance
It should be a 40 to 50 minute drive to Aqueduct Marina, but we hit unexpected delays when we reach the M6. Vera investigates traffic conditions and takes us on a cross country route, down small Cheshire lanes - a much more interesting route.
We arrived at the marina and park up. But Sceptre is not at her previous mooring pontoon - that is quite empty
I phone William , no answer. I call Sandra, who has been on the boat last week. After exchanging pleasantries, we had never spoken prior to this, she tells me Sceptre is moored at pontoon A19, handy for the shop. A19 doesn't have our boat and is as far from the shop as you could get. We look all round the marina to no avail
At this point William returns my call. We are at the wrong marina, an email had been sent at the end of February. Just not to me.
Luckily Overwater Marina is only 30 minutes away, and off we go.
Now that we are in the right place the boat is easily located. My key opens the door and we are aboard at last.
All looks to be in good order, the boat is looking good in the bright spring sunshine
I unload the car while Vera stows everything away on the boat. It's a windy day and a sudden gust nearly carries off our duvet towards the water. Only quick reflexes save the day
It seems to have taken ages to pack the boat, locate where everything is, understand the operating instructions, and finally untie the mooring ropes. We set off at 5.30, aiming to get to Nantwich for its lively bars and restaurants. My first concern is the strong wind that is blowing across the marina. I am expected to reverse out of the mooring and then execute a 360 degree turn to get out of the marina. All with a 20mph cross wind and gusts of 40mph brought by storm Kathleen. And the added pressure of the watchful gaze of the boating community
As it happened, all went smoothly, and we are on the Shropshire Union Canal heading north. The weather is mild, hints of sunshine, hints of rain, what else can possibly go wrong?
We go through the narrow pinchpoint created by a bridge. There is a moored boat just after this, and another boat coming towards me. The wind blows me onto the moored boat, we apologise, no big deal. The wind then blows us onto the side of the canal, with another moored boat ahead which we will have to steer around as we leave
Kathleen is pinning us to the bank, but there is a manoeuvre called Springing Off that caters for this exact situation. We go below deck to review the Springing Off video. They make it look so easy, but when we attempt this in the real world it just doesn't have the same result. After many failed attempts a kind soul from two boats up comes to our aid and gives the bow a big push out. We are on our way again, and should just make it to Nantwich before dark
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here are two locks on our route. We descend through the first lock without much trouble. The second is set against us, meaning we have to fill the lock before we can take the boat in. The water rises quickly at first and then slows. And then slows some more. After 15 minutes it is still slowly filling but the water level is not rising
There is a lot of water gushing out of the lower gate, and we think that this is the cause of the problem. So we make a decision to empty the lock, reset the bottom gate, and then refill. This was a good decision, as five minutes later the lock is full and we can bring the boat in.
But we have lost so much time that we won't get to Nantwich before dark
So we moor up at the side of the canal in what feels like the middle of nowhere
The fire is lit, and I prepare a simple pasta dish to be washed down with copious quantities of beer and wine
We haven't travelled as far or as smoothly as we had anticipated, but it's very cosy and peaceful on the boat and we are enjoying our holiday
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