And we're off to Liverpool!

We were in no great hurry to leave this morning. The weather couldn't make its mind up for quite a while, so we just did the final jobs that have to be done before any cruise - buy bread and milk, fill water tank, change Thetford cassette, check oil and water levels in the engine, put away any clutter, have brunch.

So it was 1:30 when we left the marina and headed north. The weather had settled by now, and it was warm and dry, without the wind that we'd had earlier. There were few other craft out. At the foot of Crack Hill, we saw that the grounded narrowboat that's been there for years is at last being demolished and taken away. Or is someone doing it up?

We came to Crick Marina...

and turned around in the entrance...

and drove back to Yelvertoft.

Within the first half-hour of driving, we'd realised that all was not well with Kantara. She went through spells in which the engine was "hunting" - that is, its speed would suddenly increase, then decrease immediately, and repeat this for a minute or two. And, in time with this, the "not charging" alarm on our control panel would buzz, and the numbers on the battery monitor would fluctuate wildly - between 13.2v and 15v, showing amps between +9ish and -0.4ish. It showed no sign of stopping this behaviour. Clearly an electrical problem, and not something with which we'd happily continue our journey.

So we returned to our Yelvertoft berth. Jan from NB Emma Jane was on the pontoon, feeding the local goose families. "Liverpool was closed", I told her. I texted Simon. It might be something to do with his inverter installation. Perhaps we need a new alternator. Sigh.