0930 intended departure but no sign of the lock keeper. Still stormy. So we delayed going. Finally took courage to take down the wheelhouse and left at 1045.
We kept ahead of the storm clouds and pootled a mere 5km to our first proper serviced mooring in the pretty town of Joinville.
Amazingly, this mooring was empty. A pleasant picnic area bordered it and backed onto a packed camper van site. The camper van brigade saw us coming (possibly Lobelia’s smoke signals) and marched en masse to the waterside to watch us arrive. Pressure was on. Would we look good or make a complete mess?
Luckily it was a textbook arrival. Andy drove the boat alongside perfectly; Shiv threw her bow rope a seemingly impossible distance and got it onto the bollard first time. Tied up. Rebuilt the wheelhouse. Hooked up some free electricity. Connected a hose pipe. Boiled kettle. Coffee in hand. Boys playing football on the grass. 20 minutes the lot.
The boys had requested a party, so we set about decorating the kitchen and preparing some party food. Our party, in full view of everyone, was well under way when the tupperware began to arrive. (This is the derogatory name which steel hull boat owners give to gleaming white cruisers.) Boats crammed in around us until there was no room left.
Latecomers glared in at us, incensed that such a large lump of boat should take up so much room. And all they could see, as they glared at us, was our little party and our mad disco dancing in the kitchen!
We felt immensely vindicated. So often we have planned to stop somewhere and been met with the sight of an abandoned piece of tupperware moored bang in the middle of a jetty – leaving us no option but to find another place.
Andy just could not stop grinning all day.
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