WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

SUNDAY 1^ST TO THURSDAY 5TH APRIL 2012

Winter is over at last; well it was until April arrived, but on Sunday we move to Braunston ready to go into dry dock, first thing on Monday, so it’s time to get blogging again and hopefully the Adventures of SKYY this year will be worth blogging about.

Last winter was spent quietly recuperating, following my bypass surgery of 2010. This winter was action packed; house sitting in Surrey for a month, visiting family and chums and revisiting carpentry skills and after fours year of abstinence, getting back on skis, I can still fall down spectacularly, but this time I could get up again. My trusty Moto Guzzi motor-bike also got several run-outs whilst we were in France.

One of our daily Duggie walks is up the hill to Napton village and just passed the church is a small farm full of sheep and their new born lambs and West Highland cattle and their cute calves. What a delight this time of the year is, but I must get used to carrying my camera again to capture those special moment.

Amongst all the usual preparations before setting off, painting the gunnels etc, I changed another four halogen bulbs to LED’s. They are improving all the time, the last one I fitted to a spotlight in the saloon made the radio fizz, but these latest ones have no effect on the radio and now the colour is almost indistinguishable from the halogen, maybe just a bit brighter, but certainly not the greenish hue that Jacquie so hated. Just another six to change and we will be completely LED’d.

Our plan to cross the Wash and spend the summer on the Fens has firmed, up having booked a pilot to take us over in mid June, our only concern is the drought, but hopefully some more rainy days like the last two will help, already the water level in the marina has risen by about three inches. We can’t wait to get cruising again.