Free again!

At last we've left our labours on 'Harry' behind us and set off for a couple of months cruising. It was the sun wot done it - to paraphrase a famous headline of the Dirty Digger's tabloid - shining down on us as we toiled, sweating away. But, of course, as soon as we left so did it and instead we've had chilly, dull weather with more than a touch of rain.
We're heading for the River Trent and from there onto the Fossdyke & Witham waterways which take us back into the Fens and through Lincoln and Boston.
We left yesterday and overnighted at Willington - a full day's cruise from Streethay but just 20 minutes up the A38 by car! There we had another excellent meal at The Dragon with our friends Ian and Allison from Nb Nobby who are moored just along the cut at Mercia Marina.
They agreed to lend us a couple of lifejackets and some charts for the Trent (Brian has a lifejacket already but we don't. You can see where the priorities lie on Star.) We picked them up this morning, weaving our way through this deceptively huge marina to find them in a distant corner. It's a smart place is Mercia; the toilets and showers are smarter than those in most houses; there's a cafe, shop, chandlery and more to come - it's a waterway village really.