Sunny days

At Braunston, Kantara was moored under clear sky. No trees nearby, no overhead lines. Yet she got covered in bird poo! I suspect ducks were largely to blame. I guess they didn't like the colour of the roof, and the deposits down the sides were the result of bad shots. On our way back from Braunston, a boater, moored at the towpath, with a wet sponge in his hand called out, "I see you've had duck problems, too!" It was that obvious! Graham, from "19th Hole" next to us, noticed, stood back in horror and shook his head as if in disbelief. "What the hell did they do with your boat, Roger?"

So yesterday, the weather being rather less sunny and not quite so hot, I started the job of cleaning Kantara. With a water shortage and consequent hosepipe ban, I used canal water and a broom to remove the worst of the mess. This was followed by car wash in clean water, applied with a cleaning glove and a nail brush - I was going to be thorough! I finished the roof. The second round for the rest will have to wait until another day, because today was just too darned sunny again!

Graham pointed out a tern sitting on the tiller of a nearby boat.

The photos aren't very good - I needed a tripod to get clear shots with the zoom I was using. But this is the female of a pair who seem to have made the marina their home. She sits on a boat, while he goes fishing for her, bringing back his catch and feeding it to her. What a life, eh?

We've had just a few minutes of heavy rain today, twice. The sky is very heavy at this moment, but it's not raining. It would be really good - and great fun! - to have a huge downpour tonight, and a thunderstorm!

More jobs to do tomorrow.