Bartimaeus

One of the mistakes we made in Nantwich, when shopping, is that we forgot that we had taken crumpets to Edinburgh, so we thought we had them on the boat. On arrival we saw we had not much for breakfast. I contemplated making pancakes in the morning. We don't usually have a cooked breakfast but needs must when there is only one portion of cereal left in the packet.

Before leaving the boat, we had seen a conversation on our Ortomarine channel about a fellow Ortomarine boater who wanted advice and help moving her boat, as her husband had broken his leg. We were quite near but not close enough to help that day and about to go to Edinburgh. Fortunately the Ortomarine family came up trumps with a recommendation of a professional boat mover and the boat was moved to a marina where another Ortomarine couple were based. They were able to organise space in the marina, offer practical support and  extend the hand of friendship. We guessed our help would not be needed but we were now moored just outside the marina and so we offered to meet up. Jan's husband was scheduled to have an operation and I know it can be useful to have a diversion when you're waiting for someone to emerge from theatre. Jan replied to say she could meet at 9.30 at the marina cafe. We had never met each other before so I informed her I didn't look like my profile picture but sent a picture of Shane in red t-shirt and shorts and said he looked like this, confident he would not be wearing anything too dissimilar the next day.

My morning plan changed from cooking on board to cooked breakfast at the marina. We were there before the cafe opened and sat outside on seats made from an old boat. Jan did, of course, recognise Shane when she came to join us. 

We moved inside for breakfast and I saw the local speciality Staffordshire oatcakes on the menu and had to have it, especially since I had thought of pancakes for breakfast and a Staffordshire oatcake is a pancake. Just after we ordered, Jan's phone rang. Her husband's op was not happening today after all. Bad news since he has already had it put off once already. He has a long recovery ahead of him. We had all hoped we could learn safety lesson from the event, but in fact they were tightly moored and he had simply stepped on to the towpath. It seems all the more galling when they have survived unscathed years of sailing the high seas to come a cropper in the more gentle environment of the inland waterways. 

We left her to get on with visiting her husband and bringing him a tasty lunch. We returned to the boat and hung up our washing. A noise louder than a washing machine or flapping sheets drew me outside. Swans were taking off. One came past the boat but three were rising together.

The helpful Ortomariners, Mel and Phil had not been available in the morning due to a doctor's appointment. That wasn't cancelled. We had agreed to meet them at 3.30 for ice-cream as the forecast was wall to wall sunshine. We did a quick walk into Audlem, and snatched a light lunch, before our next walk in to the marina.

More boaty chats ensued... what we like best and what is tricky to organise. We have both had the fitting new radiators in a tight space experience. They  had a contender for 'poorest excuse ever award'  with the ludicrous reply from a radiator company, that their leaky radiator was not covered by the 15 year guarantee due to the fact "it got hot and cold"! Ortomarine's main man, Rob, managed to make the supplier see sense. 

On the way out they showed us through the coded marina gate which meant a shorter walk back That way also allowed them to point out their boat, Hunky Dory and Jan and Mervyn's boat, Minerva. The Ortmarine "social" channel includes meetings and spotting of other Ortomarine boats. From the gate the roof of Bartimaeus was visible. I was relieved to see from there that my washing had not blown over, since quite a wind had sprung up, a perfect drying day as long as it doesn't get blown into the canal. All was well that ended well for us.

In the middle of the night I was wide awake. I say middle of the night but it was already getting light. The bedroom porthole was open and the dawn chorus was in full swing. I got up and decided to explore outside. I am rarely outside just before five. It was light but the moon was shining bright. 

A light mist was on the water but it promised to be another lovely day. Ducks were swimming, lots of birds were chirping and beyond the bridge, closer to the marina, the geese were honking hard. I don't know how anybody was sleeping next to them.

The cows, unperturbed by the geese, or the aeroplane, were lying down in the fields in the faint morning light. I walked back, and Shane had not been disturbed by me stepping on and off the boat and in and out of the room. I got into bed and fell asleep and he was none the wiser.

We had ahead of us a flight of locks. There is a close-together set in the middle, with no space to stop. The day had started cool but was soon sunny and hot. I worked a few locks before Shane expressed a preference for changing jobs. It all went pretty smoothly despite the spouting waters in the gates and gushing side channels that required a bit of over steering to combat the flow, on the way in. 

We moored a little from the top of the flight, as the last two locks are less close together. We took a walk to the top to the amazing cake stall. We had met it before unmanned, but this time the baker was there and we had a fine chat with her and other customers while we ate ice cream. We also got scones, bakewell tart and pies for lunch next day. In true honesty box style, she didn't check our arithmetic as Shane put cash in the tin.