Tedium in Retford

I’m fed up!

I’ve been so fed up over the last few days, I haven’t even felt like writing up this blog.

So there!

Do you realise we have been here in Retford now for a total of twenty four days altogether and the Skipper hasn’t even started up ‘JP2’ in that time, other than when we went down to fill up with water, let alone travel anywhere. His new fangled, lardy dah solar panel has been so efficient that my batteries have remained fully charged up all the time. I cannot even commune any more with my old pal when she is throbbing happily ‘midships. I’m just left on my own to vegetate amongst the weed, tied up like a wild animal, while he swans off ashore to see his nurse or his new friends.

And he has the cheek to call himself a continuous cruiser too. Huh!

Okay He did have to seek proper medical advice as his heel would never have got better otherwise, but if he hadn’t been so careless in the first place we would have been up in York by now. As it is we are going to have a job to complete our summer plans before the winter season starts.

The irritating part is that he has come to terms with his injury and is quite happy with the circumstances. He has his new friends Peter and Jeanne and he chats and exchanges details quite happily with every boat that comes through, while I have to lay here and allow these other boats to overtake me up to the end of the canal and then leave us behind as they disappear in the return direction, to continue enjoying their voyages. No wonder all the boats have a knowing smile on their faces as they pass me by. One of them even winked at me! .....  The Cheek of it!

I just wrinkle my nose and try to look the other way, but the humiliation is difficult to take.

And unbeknown to me, I read just now in the previous entry that he has invited his little friend Janis to return, to crew from Shireoaks on our passage to the end and back, so that means while she's here he won’t have any time to be nice to me.

Still he’ll obviously be trying to impress her so with any luck he’ll concentrate better than he does when he’s on his own and we might get there and back in one piece.

However she’s not too bad a girl as they go and will be sure to keep him on the straight and narrow. She’s a proper boat skipper and there’s no nonsense with her. Maybe he’ll pick up some feeling of responsibility from her.

Who knows we may be lucky!