Back to the boat - at last!

After 18 weeks absence as a result of the Covid-19 we have taken a somewhat wary step of coming up to the boat today, hopefully for at least a short excursion. After such a long period in lock down, like many other people, we emerge with our confidence at a reduced level. 

In addition, we always wonder what we might find after a time away from the boat - what might have gone wrong and what is not working?

As well as the things that affect everyone, we - like too many people - have been adversely affected by the lock down and are having to divert quite a bit of time dealing with the consequences. Still, we are determined to enjoy a week on board. Last night we watched just a little of a slow tv documentary of a boat cruising on the K&A and mused that our original plans for this summer might well have meant that that is where we should have been by now, after a trip down the Wey Navigation as well as the Basingstoke!

Part of the fall out is that our house in Cornwall is now on the market although we are not pushing for a quick sale. It was always on the cards that at some stage we would make a move 'up country' as, even with today's transport and communication technologies, it is quite distant from our family and their families. Just was not planned for this year!

So, leaving everything neat and tidy for possible viewings, we set off in the car just after 9.30. We filled the car with fuel at the nearby Tesco - the first time in three months as the car has done so very few trips. In fact about the only thing we have used the larger car for has been three trips to the tip with the result of a lock down loft tidy! But, at the start of a long journey, it is better to set out with a full tank.

Although we had little unexpected delay, the motorway was busier than we had expected. Almost as many vehicles out as before the pandemic, except that by now there would have been long strings of caravans.

We did have one slow spell but that was caused by a very wide load that reduced everyone down to a single lane whilst passing it. We arrived at the marina early afternoon.

So far, most on board systems are working normally but we have left starting up the engine until tomorrow! One thing that is still not working however is the fuel gauge although our trusty dipstick from nb Take Five at least helped to verify that we should make it across the marina to the fuel point! (I knew that we were right to hang on to it!) We did have a similar fault once before which turned out to be a loose connection. Since, whilst we were away, next door Steve had to fix the Webasto which is next to the sensor for the fuel tank, that is a clue. But we are not looking at it today!

Having unpacked we are simply glad to be able to chill out with no sense of guilt at not sorting out yet another box in the loft that has not seen the light of day for several years. In fact much of what is stored there went in en bloc when we moved into this house about 17 years ago! Since then it has been pretty much a one way process in which every time we wanted to put something out of sight without deciding properly whether it was needed or not - up in the loft it went. Has anyone else been like that? Still, sorting it out has provoked a few reminiscences along the way as some of the 'stuff' dates back to our teens.