Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Mini-cruise with Michelle

My friend Michelle arrived on Friday in time for us to go out straight away and do a few miles of cruising before lunch. Michelle had never been on a narrowboat before, so Grace and I were keen to give her a good experience of life on the cut. We set off north, as we had with Christine and Mike, mooring overnight near bridge 36, Downtown. The weather was good, and the forecast promised more of the same. 


Saturday took us to Foxton Locks, and we descended without delay, Michelle helping with the locking. We moored at bridge 64, Pat's Bridge, and I showed Michelle around the Foxton site, a place I love to be.



Sunday morning, we carried on as far as the next suitable winding, just before Debdale Wharf, and made our way back to Foxton, ascending the staircases after only a short wait. The gongoozlers were out in force, and Michelle and I were asked numerous questions by the inquisitive. I joked with Michelle, who hates having her photo taken, that her image was now on dozens of cameras, like it or not!

We moved on south, turning into the Welford Arm, where we moored for the night. We booked a table at The Wharf Inn, and enjoyed a good meal before returning to Kantara for games and chat.

Monday morning we awoke relatively late, and the weather had turned cold and cloudy, with a strong, gusty wind.



Michelle had already been at the helm on previous days, with little difficulty, and she did a long shift now, taking us right back to Yelvertoft, and only handing back to Grace for her to take Kantara into the marina - against a strong cross-wind - and into our berth. 38.90 miles and 22 locks.
Michelle returned home the next morning, having enjoyed largely hot, sunny weather, and been fully involved in the cruise. Thank you, Michelle, for being with us for these five days, for the laughs, for the games, and for the excellent bottle of brandy! It was great having you along.

2 comments:

  1. Thankyou both so much for inviting me and making my first time on a canal boat such a memorable one. And thankyou to Grace for steering me out of trouble when i needed it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We'll do it again next year! :-)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you!