Little Lady cruises in company with The Lady
Little Lady cruises in company with The Lady

A fine and warm day after a chilly night Cruising upstream to River Mill and then downstream dropping by our own moorings for a few things before locking down through Offord and Brampton to arrive at Godmanchester for an evening reading and writing as the children played alongside. The Labour Party appeal to teachers for a moratorium on strikes and to work for a Labour victory in the forthcoming election, a Scottish engineer is freed after 15years jail in Libya and Argentinean President Raul Alfonsin has thanked the public for their support in overcoming the recent rebellion

A poor night, trying to sleep on The Lady. The night started warm and then turned cold and I had trouble getting within the sleeping bag, which was quite small and narrow. Slept for a while and then woke early to put on the central heating and boil a kettle for Di’s coffee and my morning tea. The warm air heating system worked fine and we needed it on this cold and foggy morning. The slow process of the family getting used to washing on the boat and then a nice breakfast with Debbie and Di sharing my melon, as well as having toast and cereal. Daniel joined us from Little Lady for use of the toilets and then for breakfast. Once we had cleared up, we all boarded Little Lady and made off for the town quay, where we moored to do some shopping in St Neots. Bought two new sleeping bags, waterproofs for Daniel, then had coffee at Tooks. More shopping at Martins, Boots and then Waitrose, before back to the dayboat and upstream to unload our goodies at The Lady for storage.

On upstream to River Mill, Eaton Socon, for lunch on the tables outside the pub there. We also bought a few boating odds and ends from the ex-hire station there. They have just closed down this boat hire enterprise, which is a shame, as all of the narrow and wide beam steel boats are up for sale. Back to the dayboat, thence to The Lady and so we set off downstream to lock through Paper Mill lock. Once through, we stopped at our own moorings to collect some minor odds and ends from the house. Spoke to Marilyn as well, who offered to feed our doves and ducks, and to Chris opposite and they will both know that we are away and will watch our house accordingly. Then back to the boats and away at last, just beating the next lock full of boats, which would help us later. Down through Offord and Brompton locks. Sorry to see how other boaters would happily close the gates when a further boat could be accommodated. I insisted on getting extra boats in at both locks, but was not so popular with a lady helmsman, who felt the lock was too full, though the accommodated boat was more than grateful. Ended up at Godmanchester for the night, mooring opposite the playground so that the girls could enjoy themselves whilst Di made a tea. I had a seafood salad and Di more chicken and we all had strawberries to follow. Another fine and warm day today, which was most enjoyable and fortunate. Even now the barometer is staying above 30insHg and is steady at that after falling back slightly and so we may be all right for a day or two. In the cool of the evening, I wrote my journal and read my magazines and leaflets, until it was time for the news. The main story this evening is of the Labour Shadow Education Secretary, Gerald Rediche, calling on the teaching unions to have a moratorium on industrial action prior to the election and to work for a Labour government. This call at the teacher’s conference was followed by other speeches in favour of the teacher’s point of view. A Scottish engineer, jailed in 1972 in Libya, has at last got a chance of freedom after a UK opposition MP visits and progresses his case. An Islamic group of radical Shiite gunmen have attacked Israeli positions in the south of Lebanon in the self-proclaimed Islamic security zone. Reagan has spoken out again with optimism over the US/USSR arms talks. Argentinean President Raul Alfonsin has thanked the public for their support in overcoming recent rebellion. Everton look set to take the 1st division soccer title after today’s football match against Aston Villa. The cricket season opened today in sunshine, with the traditional match at Lenners, Cambridge. The weather is forecast to be a little cloudy tomorrow, with some spots of rain, but mainly dry on Monday. It may feel a bit cooler with the humidity going down.