From Up Above

Last week we discovered that whilst we were in Wells next the Sea a few weeks back that we were photographed from above. When we arrived a pair of micro lights were circling ahead and it seems they were busy snapping pictures of the boats.

So here we have Naughty-Cal right on th very end of the pontoon in front of the Albatros bar with Devocean and Challenger rafted up just ahead of is and then the yachts further ahead.

The Finale

So ends a fantastic day at Lincoln Festival. 

Weekend of Fun

It looks set to be a very busy weekend for us and Naughty-Cal. It is the weekend of the Lincoln Waterside Festival but also we have friends here who we dont see as often as we would like, Martyn and Gill from Nitty Gritty and Liams mum is coming to pay us a visit on Saturday as well.

But first things first tonight after work we have to sprint to Lincoln to get to the boat club in time to open up and work our shift behind the bar. This year we have fallen lucky and dont have as many shifts to do but this weekend is one of our four for the year.

Tomorrow we will be seeking out a suitable mooring in the Brayford Pool where we can spend the weekend enjoying the festivities. Martin and Gill have Nittty Gritty out of the water at Burton Waters so after they have finished they mornings work they will join us and Ronnie will be coming along at some point as well. It was Liams birthday during the week so we all intend to celebrate in style this weekend.

Sunday should see us heading back to the marina as Liam is doing a few minor repairs to the bow of Nitty Gritty, but then we might have time to fit Naughty-Cal's shiny new windscreen wiper arms and blades.

Getting Prepared

As the weeks march on and we get ever closer to our big summer holiday we are starting to get prepared for the off. 

This is a trip into the unknown for us as it will be the first time we have cruised north along the East coast. In previous years we have always headed south.

As part of the preparations, I have been busy with:

• ·         Plotting waypoints on the paper charts
• ·         Gathering information about each port we plan to visit
• ·         Gathering information regarding tidal windows at each port
• ·         Putting waypoints into the chart plotter
• ·         Checking tide times
• ·         Planning legs of the trip around tide times and tidal windows

As you can probably gather by now this is going to be far from an easy trip to get right. The majority of ports we plan to visit have a limited tidal window in which to enter the port with enough water for safe entry. We need to plan each leg thoroughly and carefully to ensure we hit each entry at the right state of tide for our draft requirements. No point getting to port only to find there is not enough water to enter, as the Dutch yachtie found out when he couldnt enter Wells at low tide. He had to take a detour to Grimsby.

Of course the one thing we can’t plan for is the weather and sea conditions and we will have to keep a close eye on this right through the holiday. If the weather is forecast to turn bad we will have to come up with a plan B which could easily be leaving the boat somewhere safe until better weather allows our return. Ideally this wouldn’t be the case but we have to be prepared to do this.

Yorkshire Wraps

We discovered these quite by accident during our bank holiday tourist trail of Lincoln. The Yorkshire Wrap, a new concept to us but one we have really come to accept.

The concept is simple enough. Make a Yorkshire pudding/pancake batter, form into pancakes, top with your favourite topping, roll the pancake and then bake in the oven for thirty minutes.

The first batch of these we made was with sliced chicken breast, stuffing and thick chicken gravy.

The batch in this picture were what I made on Monday evening with BBQ pulled pork, chilli, onion, bell pepper and mushroom served with hot and spicy onion rings and a fresh side salad. 

You can put pretty much whatever you want in these, the formula is the same and they are dead easy and quick to prepare. We are going to try them stuffed with chilli con carne next time and served with garlic bread and salad.

Mixed Bag

Well the weekend was certainly a mixed bag. Saturday really didnt look very promising at all. From the moment we woke up it was raining heavily so we pottered around in town until it stopped enough to encourage us to move on. We eventually settled onto the visitor moorings in Saxilby where we enjoyed a peaceful night onboard with a few drinks and some food rustled up from the kitchen stores.

On sunday we really had to take Naughty-Cal back and give her a good scrub. In a couple of short hours we had her looking spick and span again. Liam set about unjamming the chain from the anchor winch which had very unhelpfully jammed up on the Wash as we were retrieving the chain, he also fitted new deck switches as the old ones were becoming unreliable. Finally we collected our bicycles again and had a short but welcome ride along the towpath which unfortunately ended with Liam picking up a puncture but never mind, its easily fixed.

We did have a stroke of luck though. A friend had ordered some new wiper arms and blades for his boat only to discover they were the wrong ones and non returnable. As luck would have it they are spot on for our boat. So next weekend Naughty-Cal will have some new wiper arms which should tidy her appearance up no end.

Good Morning?

I would say good morning. But looking out of the window this morning, is it really a good morning?