Does anyone want to buy a narrowboat?

This year has turned out to be rather disappointing with regard to cruising - so far, at least - but there's no getting away from the fact that we're not continuous cruisers, and we are privileged to have a house, a house that needs to be looked after. Being quite a bit bigger than Kantara, it has bigger problems and makes bigger demands on our time, efforts and finances. This year has highlighted that. We've had to spend a lot of time - and money - in the garden, weeding, cutting back, cutting down, mending, preserving, rearranging. The house itself has demanded a new tumble-drier and the repurposing of a number of rooms. It all took a lot of time.

Would that it were as easy as the boat!

Kantara's not been neglected, though. Engine servicing, fuel polishing, a new central heating system, and a new cratch cover due next month. All of these have been/will be stopping us from being on the cut for a time. Rubbish weather earlier in the year dissuaded us from venturing out. Now that it's much more attractive, we don't have the time we'd like to have. It's all very frustrating.

We went out for another short spell earlier this week. Our stern deck had been getting more and more in need of sanding down and re-painting, and it's too big a job to be allowed to be done in the marina. No problem. The stretch of canal between bridges 27 and 28 is perfect for the job. It's a beautiful spot, and ideal, just an hour or so away from the marina. I'm sure I must have mentioned it several times before. The weather was perfect, and we completed the job in a couple of days.

Back at the marina, the small touching-up jobs that we may do here have been stymied by, first of all, too high temperatures, and then heavy rain.

When these jobs get done is unknown. We're committed to visiting our son Steve and his family on Saturday. The following Saturday, we're off for a week to the Peak District - by car, not boat (which journey would take us about two weeks). When we get to doing any serious cruising over a period of several weeks, we simply cannot even guess.

Does anyone want to buy a narrowboat?

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