Birthday weekend - Day 1

After much too long, we're finally back on board.  The last time we were here was December 29 - I think it's the longest time we've gone without visiting.  We've now got a few days on board as it's my birthday on Monday.  We also want to make sure the boat is ready for 'the season'.

I went to pick up Adrian from work, and we combined this with meeting Our friend Nicola and her son Ewan in a cafe nearby.  The last time we saw them was when they joined us for the part of our Big Trip last September, on the Bridgewater Canal which goes past the end of their road.

The journey up to the boat was slower than we would have liked, and we arrived at 4pm.  We unpacked our stuff, parked the car, and within 15 minutes we were pulling away from our berth and turning out of the marina towards Stoke Bruerne.

Adrian went to make tea -- then returned saying we'd forgotten to turn the gas on.  I went and got carefully onto the bow, and turned it on.  (Adrian didn't do it himself because he broke a bone in his shoulder while we weree skiing last month, and is still having to be a bit careful).  At the second attempt at boiling the kettle, still no gas.  We wondered if we'd turned the gas bottles themselves off.  I clambered back out onto the bow, and lifted each bottle to see which one was in use.  It turned out that one was full and one empty.  With the gas situation sorted, tea could be made.

We boated for about an hour, in order to get a tank of hot water and warm everything up.  Adrian out things away and got the fire going while we went along.  We've moored at Grafton Regis, just past Bridge 57.  There's a field of lambs opposite, so we're hoping they don't wake up too early!

3 miles, 0 locks.