Girls Afloat

Girls afloat

April 2013

At last - the first weekend afloat when we have been blessed with fine weather.

Aldersley Junction

The snag was it was only a partial weekend from my perspective. Helen and one of her friends wanted to spend the weekend on the boat, but they didnt want to take it out alone. The end result was a logistical nightmare with three cars shuffling across Wolverhampton to facilitate transfers to and fro.

Transport aside, Saturday was lovely and Helen, her friend and family and of course your truly ventured down the Staffs and Worcester to Dimmingsdale Lock with the spring sunshine smiling on us all the way.

The trip gave the new loo a good test but little fingers couldn't resist pressing the flush repeatedly and within three hours the cassette was at capacity! Good job I have a spare...

The trip also marked the start of the 2013 foraging season with a huge patch of fresh wild garlic identified near Wolverhampton which was quickly thinned out and a suitable preserve created. Next it was the gorse - this time being made into gorse cordial which sounded doubtful but actually tasted really good.

Gorse picking

On the foraging tack, its full speed ahead in chez Ahab with jam jars being filled as a rate of knots in advance of the Droitwich and Crick festivals which are looming up over the next four weeks. And attending these festivals brings an abundance of boating experience. 

The stay at Dimmingsdale was not quite the quiet solitude one usually associates with the place. A nearby farm threw a party which culminated with a firework display at midnight, but this didn't seem to bother the girls. All in all a tantalising taster of the 2013 cruising season. Roll on Droitwich.