Settling into 2014

I think Sal may have been a bit grumpy yesterday; she had had a very busy weekend and mostly wanted to kip whilst she was with us.

Never mind, I thought Sheila’s photo of the kingfisher was quite something. That bird has been hanging around the F, G and H pontoons all winter; perhaps the river is running too high and fast for it or something.

We’ve got our Boat Safety exam booked OK; we’re using Mike Carter again. He’s not the closest, and I’m sure the local examiners are fine, but we know him well through Braidbar and used him for Sanity. He’s coming towards the end of February, so in good time before we have to have a certificate by the end of March.

Today we’ve been doing routine type stuff, going to the village and getting a walk round the marina this afternoon. Our trip to the village was enlivened by seeing the result of someone trying to drive a curtain sided wagon through the low railway bridge in the centre; it was very nearly low enough to go through.

In fact, it had made it to the other side, but not before ripping the roof off the cargo space. The bridge is absolutely covered in Low Bridge signs, so there’s no real excuse for the driver, I’m afraid, unless his in-cab notice about vehicle height was wrong, I guess.

We had planned to get a pump out and diesel tomorrow, but it now looks as if Friday will be better, windwise. So tomorrow’s going to be another quiet day, I suppose; I’ll have to think of something interesting to write about…