Back at last!

With most of the domestic chores sorted out at home, we returned to Kantara yesterday, with a car full of new cushions, blinds and curtains, along with the essentials for an overnight stay. The weather at Yelvertoft was beautiful - clear and sunny, still and mild - and moving stuff into the boat was not the damp affair I had feared it would be.

We de-winterised the boat almost without a hitch - but I won't give you the pleasure of knowing the rather daft mistake we made! The dinette cushions and all of the blinds were installed - they look superb! - and the bed was made up. It was getting too late to shop for food and do any cooking, so we drove out to The George for an excellent meal.


Back at Kantara, the night was clear and cold, with mist rolling across the marina, we were tired out, and headed for bed early. We'd had the oil stove on earlier, but the boat was cold, and we were glad to get into bed and get warm. Shortly after I fell asleep, however, I was awoken by the piercing scream of the gas alarm. We fell out of bed and investigated. There was absolutely no smell of gas anywhere (propane has a very strong, unmissable smell), but the only way I could get the alarm to stop was to take the back off it and disconnect the power supply. Silence at last! Just to play safe, I braved the cold night in my dressing gown to turn off the gas supply.

We awoke before seven to a misty morning with a touch of frost, and installed the router and antenna for our Internet connection (the router still with an intermittent fault, despite testing by the vendor and manufacturer who could find nothing wrong), and drove home in time for lunch. We've just finished getting together all the things we need to take back tomorrow. I wonder what we'll forget!