A week with Steve and Jess

Well, while you're all complaining about the weather over the Bank Holiday weekend - the weather generally, in fact, the lack of summer and the preponderance of totally rubbish weather altogether - I'd like to remind you of the observation I made three years ago. Weather-forecasters need a new symbol for reporting their meteorological predictions.

They've not bought into the idea yet. I think they should wake up to the reality of the situation. They're really on a loser, aren't they?

The evening Steve & Jess arrived

We were out on the cut last week. Steve and Jess came on Friday evening of the Bank Holiday Weekend, and we headed out on Saturday morning towards the South Oxford Canal. It was our intention to get down to Banbury, and wind just beyond, as we did with Michelle last year. As it turned out, the holiday weekend brought out boaters by the throng, and we spent our first two days travelling slowly behind dawdlers, or passing moored boats slowly, as convention and politesse require. Monday wasn't so bad. I think they'd all got fed up with the BHW chilly dullness, and gone home. We weren't so easily put off, though. We are, all four of us, veterans of the rainy canal holiday experience. And we had a great time.

OK, so the photos aren't that inspiring. I didn't take many this time. On the occasions when I was locking, I forgot to have my camera with me. And when I wasn't locking, I was actually driving the boat, far too busy to think about anything else. Yes, unusual, I know. But Grace and I, though largely Grace, thought it would be a good idea for me to increase my proficiency at the tiller while Steve and Jess were at hand to manage the locks. It was actually a good idea, and I did more driving in that week than in all the past years of holidays and Kantara put together. It did me good. I raised my lock navigation experience from one to eighteen in just a few days, with little damage to the paintwork to show for it.

In the evenings, we played games and chatted lots. It was great. One day, we didn't move from our mooring until gone 2:00 in the afternoon, such was the awfulness of the rain. That delayed us further. But we weren't driven by the need to get to Banbury. Simply to cruise and enjoy ourselves, and enjoy each other's company. So it was that we winded at Cropredy on Tuesday afternoon, and wended our way merrily back, to arrive at Yelvertoft on Friday afternoon. Jess was due to have a very busy weekend with Said the Maiden, so they drove back to St Albans within an hour or so of being back in the marina.