Day off

Yesterday a couple of friends joined us for the day. They're going to borrow Erin Mae in a week's time, so we thought it would be a good thing for them to see what's what before they come. While they were here we noticed that the children-on-board syndrome had struck again – the poo tank warning light had come on. So when they'd gone we took Erin Mae over to the service wharf for a pump out.

After that, and in light of the weather forecast, it seemed appealing to go down to Tixall Wide for the night. Although it was pretty full of boats, we found a mooring spot in the channel just before it opens out, so here we tied up.

I then made two mutually contradictory decisions. The first was to tie to the Armco without using a spring line to steady the boat when others passed. The second was to have a very long lie in this morning. From 7.30 a.m. a steady stream of boats passed, in both directions, and Erin Mae bounced around like (as Henry Blofeld said of Jonny Bairstow when he took a catch today in the Test Match) "an excited trout". Moral – don't ignore the spring!

We've had a delightful day doing almost nothing while the sun shone – think of it as grandchildren recuperation therapy. We also feel very privileged to have this wonderful spot just a half-mile down the cut from our marina, to provide moments like this when needed or desired.