Cruising, Diving, Appointments, Relaxing

Tuesday 25^th June to Friday 28^th June 2013

The fine weather continued for at least another day; we had decided to go back to the marina today, but there was no rush to get back there.

Andy from nb Magic wandered past, so we had a good chat with him – he is looking a lot better than the last time we had spoken, which is a good 9 months ago and thankfully he is enjoying life at the moment – long may it continue – such a very nice guy.

We left the mooring latish in the morning and the dreaded shuddering appeared – we had thought that this had been fixed – it is not as bad but not good enough, so Chris will have a bit more work to do on the engine about this.

Cruising back was lovely, warm and bright – there were only a couple of boats that we passed along – one boat coming towards us was nb Columbo, so a hearty hello to Phil and Barb, whom we hadn’t seen since our return from the north.

Back into the marina and the obligatory pumpout – we are stopping our use of Blue in favour of Deodoriser and this will take a few pumpouts to remove the formaldehyde from the Blue and allow the enzymes to take over.

All achieved and back to the mooring – reversing in without any problems – moored up ok and back home – in time for Diane to get the tennis going and set in for the afternoon.

Wednesday was another day to get some more work done – this time the two sets of back doors were the target – sand back and varnish with 2 coats – all achieved and nothing else of any importance for the day.

Thursday was preparation day – in this case it was getting everything ready for the weekend; we are off for a few days away down south – doctors appointments and to see Maggie and Paddy as well.

We got another good deal from Enterprise for the hire – it really doesn’t feel unusual to be in the car – certainly not as unusual as it once was when we were first on the boat.

Banjo was dropped off at the kennels and said goodbye to him.

Friday we were up very early – Diane had a 9:10 doctors appointment in Watford, so we left Aston at 5:30 and enjoyed a drive down the A51 and A5 before joining the maelstrom of the M1 at J14.

We were down there by 8:15; out of the doctors and then off to see how Paddy was going after his operation.

We spent a good 4 hours there and they are both doing well – Paddy is improving day-by-day.

We had to leave for Diane’s second appointment – we must be getting older – our day was dictated by doctors and seeing them.

We knew that Elaine and Paul (nb Caxton) were heading down this way and Diane messaged to Elaine about their location – the end result was that we were able to drive the short distance (in car terms) up to Abbots Langley and catch up with them for a few drinks at the Kings Head – we have so missed both of them so naturally it was good to see them again – and hear about the adventures of Sammy and Bombo.

Back to the hotel and we were both pretty well tired after a long day – with the early start. A chance to recuperate with a good’s nights sleep and be ready for the weekend.

So glad to have 4 days in a row off work as well.

3 miles

Totals: 1851 Miles, 1382 Locks, 60 Tunnels, 29 Lift Bridges, 139 Swing Bridges