The Easter cobweb blowing weekend

So far this year I had only had one trip, which was at the beginning of March - a 6 mile return trip. Olivia was in quite good fettle but I did notice that the batteries were not being charged. When I met up with Rick, he had a look and told me that my Vbelt was rather loose and also fairly well worn. So when I returned for my easter trip I brought a new belt and Rick sorted it out for me. The weather was so wet and windy in the run up to Easter that I didn't get very far. In fact I did only 500metres the first day!! (This was because Rick was moored closer to me than I had thought). The next day I did one and a half miles and waited for an improvement in the weather. This took six days. (Obviously I could have got out before BUT I keep reminding myself that I have the boat for fun and don't want to struggle with wind and rain if I don't have to). I took a cruise down to Gayton and back on Easter Sunday. Now normally I would avoid travelling over a bank holiday but I was getting desperate for a trip. It was really busy, especially down at the Junction. During the trip I noticed that Olivia wasn't accelerating, even on full throttle she wasn't giving up any wash. More headscratching and problem solving discovered that there was a loose nut on the engine (sorry can't be more technical) that was letting air into the system. Tightened and bled, I am told that she is now revving okay so I look forward to my next trip which might be in a couple of weeks time as I have several other commitments that will keep me on land for a while.

So now my mind turns to planning the "season". I have already changed my mind about three times - so options include: the Ashby, the Shroppie, Llangollen, the Trent and Soar or the Warwickshire Ring. I had also considered going up as far as Wigan but time won't allow so will have to leave that for another time. I'm trying to fit the travel in with a couple of gigs and festivals that I really MUST go to :-).