So what has been happening?

I wrote this post some days ago and have not been able to get it uploaded until now - in the main because I've either been busy doing other boat stuff or I've been lying down recovering my energy - read on for why! 

 

On the flight from Wellington to Auckland - the longest leg competition, won convincingly by Olek

 

Business class for David and me, Economy for Olek

 

Well, we are onboard nb Waka Huia, and while it’s been 10 days since we arrived at the marina and 14 days since we arrived in the UK, it’s been a bit of a torrid time.

 

I picked up Covid on the plane on the way over here, in spite of wearing a mask most of the time – not enough of the time, obviously.

 

I originally thought it was a bad cold, because I just did. And so I didn’t test myself until it was clear the Cold and Flu meds weren’t working, and in fact, were having me feel really crappy – racing heart, dizzy ...
 

When I did test, the second red line was nearly black with infection! We were staying at my cousin’s home in Surrey and while I had spent a fair amount of time resting in or on the bed, I hadn’t isolated until the test. I felt really dreadful about that – I had not been vigilant and I had not looked out for anyone I was around. I’d worn a mask when out and about, but not in the house.

We decided we needed to decamp to somewhere I could isolate and David could be ready to isolate, if he got infected by me - and given we had been sleeping together, it was extremely likely he would get it.

 

We headed for a hotel outside Market Harborough with a stop for David to go (masked up) to the supermarket – clearly we couldn’t eat in the hotel restaurant, so ‘now’ food was important – fruit, fruit and fruit. Lemons for lemon and honey drinks, and paracetamol – in the UK, you can only buy two packs at a time. That is not very useful when having covid means going through a pack of 16 in a day and a half. 

And it's meant to be spring!

 

 

Ordinarily we would have gone straight to the boat to set up camp, especially if feeling the need to be away from others. However the boat needed quite a degree of clearing and cleaning before we could move back on board, bedding needed to be aired, Julia had taken down the curtains for washing, the squab covers in the dinette and saloon had been removed for dry-cleaning and none of them had been reinstated.Given how cold it was, curtains needed to be up, and we couldn't sit on the sofa in the saloon or at the dinette until other stuff had been cleared.

So we had three nights in the hotel, the first night in separate rooms in a desperate attempt to protect David from infection. Did that work? No - the following morning, after having come into my room in the middle of the night to get Panadol, David tested positive, although his test result wasn't anywhere near as dramatic as mine...

 

Over the next three days, masked up we did what we could at the boat to get it ready. We could only manage short days as we were both poorly.

The marina staff were wonderful, as was the amazing Julia. We gradually cleared things that weren’t ours, and also gradually got our clothes etc unpacked. I discovered that I had left a whole boxful of socks in the wardrobe as well as plenty of footwear – so most of the latter that I brought over with me this time have stayed in the suitcase and are now under the bed… A few months ago, Julia had loaded the washing machine door seal with baking soda, so my first washload was a towel I had wiped up a spill with. Purely for research purposes, you understand – did it still work? Answer: yes!

 

To really feel like we were back on board and on holiday, we needed to get out on to the canal. So our journey started late one afternoon,

·      after I’d made a vegetable and chickpea curry

·      after David had spent part of the day doing more clearing and tidying and putting stuff away – he has much more patience for the necessity of creating a mess to clear one – so I keep out of the way with my eyes averted

·      after I’d collected 21 bricks to use as ballast – the boat was on a lean to starboard as ballast had been removed to enable other equipment on board. Given David and I were both wobbly on our feet, having a list to starboard was very disconcerting!

·      after I’d delivered cheese scones to the marina staff,

·      after we’d refilled with water, disconnected the power, made sure the ropes were in place.

 

The veg curry.

 

We only boated for about half an hour, almost to Saddington Bends, but it was enough. And muscle memory is amazing – things I haven’t done for over 3 years, just occurred naturally.

Bed made - gosh it looks inviting at this point!

 

Can you tell it was cold? And it started to rain as we moored up.

On our portside we passed the late Mick and the lovely and alive Julia's mooring. Still unoccupied and not looking anywhere near as smart as it used to when Julia was in charge of strimming!

 

Across the cut from where we were moored - mist in the morning when I got up to make tea.

 

Our plan, given we have to go and visit people where there are no canals, was to leave the boat at Sawley Marina for a few weeks, borrow Ian and Irene’s motorhome, and drive away. So on Day 2, when we had boated another whole ½ hour (!) I rang Sawley, only to discover that the longest they do casual moorings is 28 days. After that, we would have to pay for 3 months at the princely sum of £870-ish. Nope. So that meant a return to Debdale where the price will be much more reasonable.

And a return to Debdale meant going down a set of locks to get to the winding hole, then back up the locks.

We had set off at about 7 in the morning – it was beautiful: sunny but chilly, and there were no other boats moving. Two had come past about half an hour before, so we knew we would have to set the locks – when I say we, I mean David, of course.

Fortunately, we didn’t look at the canal map, so we thought there were 3 locks in the flight. Turns out there were 5. So that meant 10 locks for David to do. He managed like a champion. And he walked between them all. I think his phone showed he did 13,000 steps that day! I kept offering to help, but after his initial concern that he’d be too wobbly on his feet or not strong enough to do the lockwheeling (the remnants of the ADT being still in his system, or at least the effects of it) he was delighted to find he was well able to take the task on.

It was lovely to have our confidence back.

And the lockwheeler is underway!

 

Working, boss.

Of course, that was blasted into non-existence for me when I truly messed up mooring up in Foxton at about 12.30. We had wanted to get there by about 12.15 so we could go and catch the bus into Market Harborough; but in my rush (always a bad idea on the boat) I overshot and had to reverse. And of course it didn’t go terribly smoothly…

Shopping abandoned, a blobby afternoon moored up just back from the Rainbow Bridge, a vegan burger and fries and ginger beer at Bridge 61, the clean curtains put back up, a walk up the locks, and an early night.

Some random boat coming towards the rainbow bridge at Foxton having come down the lock flight. Not us, as we were on the bridge ...

... on our way to this lunch at Bridge 61!

A well-deserved rest for David after his mammoth locking effort and after that lovely lunch!

 

We are now up the top of the locks, having come up first thing on Sunday morning.

David has been continuing the sorting of the boat, so now we have the cratch cleared out, all of the squab covers back on, all suitcases are emptied (bar one – techie stuff) and under the bed. 

Second go at getting the sourdough underway again - this one was very successful, whereas the first batch of 2 loaves was a bit heavy - a result of forgetting the diastatic malt and probably not cooking the loaves long enough.

 

After one of our shopping trips into Market Harborough (the one where Julia was our taxi driver, not the one yesterday where we went in and out by bus – adventure!) I planted out the rooftop allotment in the newly acquired pots and planters: lettuces, parsley, mint, coriander, thyme, chives. I also potted the rooted cuttings of Caitlin’s rose that I brought over – wrapped in newspaper and sacking and sealed up in plastic containers. They have survived most happily – thank you, Shona for tending to them and Clint for helping me get them ready for their long flight!

 

The last jobs to do are cleaning the floor** and windows, and cleaning the outside of the boat, including cleaning the cratch cover** which has three and half years of algae onboard. Plus rust patch sorting on the roof.

If I say it fast enough, it doesn’t sound like much …

 

** Both done - after the latter (done yesterday 5/05) which took about 3 hours and still not done as well as I'd like, I had to have a sleep. We both participated in washing the floor - David did most of it as I had to cook dinner for Julia and Maggie!