Bottled It!

We were due out of Mercia Marina today, but one look at the wind-whipped water across the stern made me toddle across to the office and pay for another night. Certainly not “Jolly Boating Weather”, but there were some hardy souls out on the water.

Before the storm, sunrise as we set off for Yorkshire first thing yesterday

Mags appointment with the nurse went OK, BP a little high but that’s hardly surprising after a 2¾ hour journey. And then there’s the white coat factor…

The drive up was fine, just a bit of traffic as we got to Stoke, but the run south was very busy on the M6. On three separate occasions we were stop-start for no apparent reason, just volume of traffic. And this was at 13:30. God knows what it was like by half past four!

I took the car back this morning, glad to see the back of it. It was a Dacia Duster, a bit of a camel, designed by committee. The six-speed gearbox could have done with one less cog and a higher ratio diff. I rarely used first gear, and even second was unnecessary if the wheels were turning. It was fairly good on mpg though, returning 45 at motorway speeds. I suppose that made up for the road and wind noise at anything above 50 mph.

While I was in the office the door opened and in came Ed Shiers of Four Counties Marine Services. He was here to service someone’s heating, he’s done the same for us in the past, as well as helping out when we were stuck in the wilds on the Leeds and Liverpool with a cooked starter motor. After he’d finished he came round to us for a brew and a bacon butty. A thoroughly nice man, highly recommended if you need anything doing.

The weather looks to be improving tomorrow, so we’ll be off and away aiming to get to Branston Water Park. With a pause at Midland Chandlers on the way out, and a visit to Shobnall Wharf for diesel and solid fuel as we toddle through Burton.