We've done it. As we vowed. This is the second of Pete's rest days, so we set out late morning. The day was gorgeous, unseasonably warm, beautifully bright, and seasonably colourful.
It was a bit tricky moving off the mud which had built up under the stern end when the last four years it was the bow end. Then Bella moved up over the sand bar which had likewise been built up over the years. Interesting lean! To explain. The canal is so shallow (they all are), that every time a boat goes by, a bit more ground mud is loosed up from the bottom, swirls around, then gets pushed to the sides. This settles in set patterns and if a moored boat seldom moves, the base of the canal builds up in interesting peaks and troughs. Bella had quite a hill under the bow which, when we last moored, we backed into, boring into it with the propeller. That's why it was quite tricky to get out! More trips will work wonders.
Anyway, we're here. For a few days. The trip was lovely.