Bartimaeus

Our postponed train journey to Droitwich Spa went reasonably smoothly considering the dire warnings for the previous day.  The train we originally booked on arrived an hour late.  The train we actually used on Friday was scheduled for two hours earlier.

We were slightly late at Birmingham, but that made it obvious that we would not get the suggested connection, so we could be more relaxed about getting to the train half an hour later.

We let a group of folk use the lift ahead of us as we could see that the tandem needed to be split to fit in it (we'd also need it split for the second train).  The lift came back down, but when we entered, it declared itself out of service.  We found some stairs and I set off with the back section of the tandem still with panniers.  At the first landing I shed the panniers and carried on without.  Clare waited at the top with both parts while I returned for the luggage.

There was a large functioning lift down to the next train. A last minute platform change turned out to be an easy step across to the adjacent one. I found the bike space occupied by a young lad and his bike.  I asked how far he was going, to make sure we were in the right order.  When he told me, another passenger helpfully pointed out that he was on the wrong train. He got off in time and we were easily able to stow the tandem.

At Droitwich Spa we went straight to the high-class supermarket (other supermarkets are available) and Clare collected some essentials which we had carefully left just enough space for in our packing.  It was another mile to the marina where Bartimaeus was waiting for us.

On approach I struggled to recognise the boat.  The pram cover looked almost black in the bright sun, and the distinctively placed orange life ring was absent. I confidently headed for where I knew it must be, and the name suddenly made it abundantly clear.

The temperature inside the boat was a lot higher than outside, just above 36°C.  We opened all the doors and windows and wondered how cool it was going to get. The inside of the boat was familiar, but instead of things stowed where we expected them, our belongings were stashed away in boxes and unaccustomed cupboards.  It was our boat life, but in self-assembly kit form.

We were very glad we hadn't arrived three hours later.  It took a surprising amount of work even to make our bed.  We'd used sheets to wrap crockery, so Clare ended up unpacking that assuming she'd find the one for our bed.  In the end it wasn't in that box - but it had managed to end up underneath the box.

We also discovered that we didn't know the code for the WiFi.  I managed an email exchange to be told what it was.  I was too frazzled to spot the obvious typo so went to bed without resolving that issue.  Overnight I had started to make plans for making a wired connection to the router to resolve the issue.  That would have involved moving the TV to the back of the kitchen to use as a screen for the small computer.

We eventually got to bed with the temperature about 25°C and both slept surprisingly well.  All our coffee supplies had spoiled in our prolonged absence, so we headed back in to town on foot for breakfast.  By the time I'd finished my second coffee I was feeling a lot better, and Clare had spotted the typo, so when we got back with more shopping I was able to get various things connected on the boat.

We've spent most of the day putting things back where they should be, pleased to re-discover a number of things before having to ask where they had gone,  The life ring for example was in the bow locker, and the fitting to fix it to the tiller was wrapped around it.  Now I just need to find a suitable allen key.

I have only had a cursory glance at most of the changes that have been made to the boat.  We are moored next to Watt Knot which is a very similar specification to the original Bartimaeus.  This allows the new and old roof layouts to be compared directly.

The day has been a little cooler and things are starting to get close to organised inside the boat.  The heatwave is subsiding so we should be at more comfortable temperatures in the coming days.  We will explore the improvements, and hope to meet up with Rob and Caroline to discuss some of the details.