Pasta Sauce and Veggieburgers

I remember the Packet Boat Marina from last year very fondly. It was a fantastic show - the weather was glorious, and the audience was enormous, and very happy having been filled with a fantastic barbecue, cooked by South Africans, who know how to do these things properly. I also remember the ridiculously tight turn into the arm on which the marina is. And the fishermen who helped us round with polite comments and the occasional shove of the bows. So I was quite quiet as we approached this year.

We had also had some fun already coming through from Rickmansworth. I had met Harry and Catriona, from whom I bought my boat, in a lock - Springwell, I think - which was a great chance encounter. They had just had their boat blacked - it is one of the new breed of new builds, that Harry has fitted out himself, as he did mine, and it is beautifully finished. But the steel turns out not to be great, with a loss of 1.5mm on the hull in the two years that they have had her. Be warned. He was not too happy, and I don't blame him. Midnight Rambler hasn't lost that much in her whole 15 years of life.

Anyway - just as we were about to fuel up, I asked everyone to get on board, as we were going to stop just round the corner. Of course, this varies in translation on a boat. At that speed, just round the corner can mean many different things. But Anna wanted to stretch her legs, so she walked. This would have been fine, except for two things. First, just as I saw that she wasn't aboard, the heavens opened. Really opened. It was as if a swimming pool had been emptied above us. And second - there is no way from the tow path to where we were going to take on fuel. Another hitch became apparent when I tied up, and discovered that there was no-one there. A few hasty phone calls, and some interesting manoeuvring in the mouth of one of the strongest weir flows on the canal resulted in us all being on the right side, if slightly damp, and making cups of tea while waiting for the fuel tanks to fill.

This year - I knew where the entrance to the Marina was, so I had a massive advantage over last. And I was just busy jumping up and down celebrating getting into the arm without incident, when I remembered that the turn into the marina itself is also deceptively sharp. Oh well. Perhaps next year I'll get them both right first time!

We were, of course, a bit late by now, after having had to wait for fuel (which was just due to messages not coming through on my unreliable mobile), and wondering what we were going to do for food. Not to worry! The mother of one of the organisers was there. And she lives to feed waifs and strays like us, we were assured. We gratefully accepted the kind offer of dinner - and delicious it was too. People are wonderful.

The rain held off until we had finished the show, for a change. And we had another fantastic evening. I hope the Packet Boat Marina becomes another long standing Mikron venue. I can't wait to go back again next year!