All aboard the Acumen II

I couldn’t resist a last minute blog before me and the captain sail away on the Acumen II. Am I excited???? No, not really, anxious is more the feeling. The winds are up and rain is forecast for the rest of the week. Sue, the owner of the barge boat, emailed me yesterday to suggest that we cruise down the River Trent instead of the River Soar because there are fewer locks and this part of the canal is not prone to floods. I am not sure what she meant by this but we will take her advice. Sue also advised us to bring warm clothes and waterproofs; we have neither of these so I nipped out to Lidl’s yesterday and picked up some cheap navy blue anorak thingies. I think the proper term is ‘Cagoules’. I haven’t worn one of these since I went canoeing on a school trip.

We meet Sue at Redhill Marina at 1 o’clock. http://www.canalboatforhire.co.uk/ She will go through the health and safety issues and then cruise with us down to the first lock. Sue sent us a DVD on the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of the waterways which we duly sat and watched on Saturday morning. We’ve read through the 20 page safety information manual as well but it’s all forgotten now and I’m none the wiser! I don’t why but I have a bad feeling about this trip, it has a good possibility of turning out much like the campervan holiday, which was a nightmare from hell. Hey ho, at the worst it will be another mad adventure to take to the graveside.