Bartimaeus

Moored up just outside Willington for a few days, I eventually summoned the enthusiasm to start work on the shelves for the kitchen.  As usual I had spent longer on planning than the project was likely to take, but details changed slightly as a result – and the result is the better for some of those changes.  One of my main concerns was how to secure the shelves to the walls without causing very much damage, and preferably so that the shelves could later be removed.  A short walk to the chandlery at the marina yielded a suitable pack of stainless steel nuts and bolts.

After a few days not moving, we went in to the Mercia Marina again and connected to the electric hook-up to charge the batteries.  We’d also tried to get Clare’s phone moved to another provider.  During the week, we’d realised that although the old SIM had stopped working, she wasn’t getting any connection on the new one.  We decided the easiest thing to do would be to go to the phone provider’s shop (other phone provider’s shops are available).  I soon established that there was one in Derby – about 5 miles away with a reasonable looking bike route.

Clare went in to the shop.  It transpired that the problem was a setting on the phone, so she was soon connected again.  We had a short look around Derby before heading back to the boat.  We had enough time to finish up some preparations on the boat as the sun was setting.

It was a short walk to meet Benny at the station in Willington.  By coincidence his journey had involved making a connection in Derby.