Cruising from The Old West River to Waits Quay St Ives in The Lady in a flood on a wet day, but warmer and more comfortable than most whilst I make some repairs and fit some upgrades as the clergy lock horns over the controversies surrounding Thatcher.
A cold, clear night and awake during the middle of it for the toilet and awoke Diana too. A good lay in eventually, until I boiled the kettle and started the central heating at 7.15am. Funny to see how little Daniella was laying awake and quiet in her cot until I went in, when she smiled to say good morning. What a good baby to wait like that. The normal morning routine, but slightly brisker as we intended to leave early. An Easter egg each to the children and eventually away at 8.45am, which was good. A cold and rainy morning, which was a drastic comparison with yesterday and we kept the heating on as we cruised slowly through the Old West River and on to Hermitage Lock. The rain poured as we locked through and then we were in the tidal section in a spring high tide, with the surrounding fields flooded and water high. Brownhills was fully open and we cruised straight through, getting a helping hand from the lock keeper eager to win his 50p tip, which the flood tide seemed intent on denying him. Up to St Ives, but the queue just denied us from locking through before the keeper’s 12.30pm lunch time and so we moored up at the loading stage and Diana prepared the lunch as I walked with an empty gas cylinder to L H Jones to look around the chandlery. Besides a new store of gas, I bought some pump gaskets/seals and chatted about the repair bits needed for the COMPACT/waterloos. Back to The Lady and to appreciate again our heating on a cold day. The two smaller boats alongside were wet and shivering and we lunched in indoor clothes and great comfort. Through the St Ives lock, on to the Waits Quay where, after a certain amount of manoeuvring, we took the place of the cruisers who were leaving and obtained our accustomed pole position.
Diana took the children swimming whilst I took a walk around town and then settled to do some boat repairs. By the end of the light I had repaired the water gauge, fitted the fourth cockpit saloon light into position, refurbished the shower pump and tried, without the same success, to repair the for’d toilet. Tomorrow I will modify some of the electrical wiring to add in the new light and eliminate some of the switches. To the local ‘Chinese Fish Take-away’ for some Chinese soup and egg fu yung for me and fish and chips for Diana and Daniel and then an evening resting and writing. Brief television news, which seems to be again about Thatcher, Malaysia and the miners and more controversy about the Bishop of Durham and his individualistic views on Easter, which drew immediate criticism from the Bishop of Norwich. More rain, but also sunny periods forecast for tomorrow and we wrap up well to sleep for tonight, although the rain pattering on the roof probably means the night will be mild. Tomorrow, St Ives Bank Holiday Market and we are ideally placed to enjoy it.