Spring has sprung - Hurray!!

I was determined to take Quo out today come hell or high water, and luckily, neither of those were involved.
Liz was working all day at the FIPT Museum, so I dropped her off then shot over to Debdale, fired up the
heating and the engine and set off single handed for Foxton. The first half mile or so featured a bunch of morose anglers, spaced one every 50 yards ... I even saw one catch a fish ... but only he and one other made eye contact or spoke .... everyone else I met was happy and chatty as the weather was at last looking decent.
The engine was set to 1200 revs and Quo chugged slowly along with barely a ripple, the new silencer completely eliminating any exhaust noise allowing me to watch the Rooks overhead repairing last years nests, and listened to the songbirds staking their claims ... bliss.
A fox meandered through a field of ewes with lambs without any drama, I was surprised how little attention they paid each other. 
Finally I moored-up between the water point and Rainbow Bridge (ALL the visitor moorings up to that point had boats moored on them) and luckily there were no other moving boats about, as the wind funnelling through the bridge pushed the bow across the canal as I was securing the stern. I had to use all of my (over)weight on the centre line to get her back to the bank ... note to self ... tie the upwind end of the boat up first. 

New Silencer - I want to paint it Dayglow Orange!

Colourless Countryside

That done, it was off to Bridge 61 for coffee and a bit of lunch, then off up to the Museum to see how Liz was getting on - the whole site was very busy and it looked as though the Harley Davidson owners were out in force.
Back to the boat, I just chilled and listened to Just a Minute, before upping anchor, turning and heading back to the marina at tick-over ... so slow that walkers were overtaking me, but I loved it!
Once more past the grumpy anglers and reversed onto the mooring ..... job done.


On thing struck me today ... I have never seen our countryside looking so colourless .. It looked more like Afghanistan than rural Leicestershire, the grass is a really dull greeny-brown and not a hint of green in the trees and hedges. Also, all the woods and spinneys are "see-through", they have no substance at all, just bare sticks.

Hospital Silencer

Dropped over to Debdale to give Quo a look-over and quickly decided that the wind still had a bit too much of an edge for a leisure cruise to Foxton and back. 
That decided, we just ran up the heating and the engine for 20 minutes or so ... basking in the lack of noise from the engine ... Steve certainly did a fine job and for £50 or so less than the quote :o)
At 1200 revs, you can talk in whispers on the rear deck, and because the new, much larger silencer has been tucked under the deck, the engine is actually more accessible ..... all in all it was money well spent.
Pictures to follow.

When we finally do get cruising, Quo will be a completely different boat thanks to Debdale Marine. I know lots of boaters moan about the prices charged by marinas, but as usual, you get what you pay for.
Everything Debdale have done so far has been done well, and made the boat better than when she left the builders, especially their suggestion to extend the rudder.