It is the season to be jolly and for those of us boat orientated it throws up a dilemma of a few days off work enjoying our hobby or the call to arms that Christmas is all about families not boats. 

Now I have got away with this often in the past by sailing the icicles race on Boxing day - a race that had it origins based on the great classic Christmas film the great escape -  and our need to.

I am very protective of mine. It might only be a second-hand Honda 8 with very faded silver cowling and the remains of a broken tiller handle still attached. However, its purpose is to push the boat along with out dramas.

Since my last article I arrived at the boat to find my well used and abused Honda 9 outboard had been stolen.

OK maybe I could have been more security conscious even though I am in a marina, but this must be weighed up by the damage that a determined thief possibly stealing to order can inflict on a plywood interior. Also, the cost of adding £500 outboard to the insurance policy. One must write it down to experience. Still a nice comforting pamphlet on being the victim of crime later and we are back at square one. We need power.

The Tidal Trent

We first ventured onto the tidal Trent during our inaugural six-month narrowboating experience in 2009. Naively, we had little idea of the challenges of navigating a tidal river. Though to be fair, Barry says he did. As a laid-back Kiwi, unlike me, he rarely worries or over-thinks. I vividly recall being confronted by a gigantic gravel barge sitting low in the water as I turned a corner. Thankfully for us (though sad for the industries they supported), the gravel barges stopped navigating the river in 2013, the year we returned to England.

OK we are getting the idea that although I have an unswerving passion (that some would consider obsession) with all things boats, it is not one necessarily shared by family members – or at least to the same extent.

So, I find myself often than not single handed. Suits me.

It’s that time of year when the TV is full of adverts for cruise ships showing off their levels of comfort and sprinkling the word luxury onto everything from the food to the service and even the bathroom. Even the chance of seeing exotic sea life. And all this before it's tied up in some sun-drenched port offering excursions and the chance of fine dining alfresco with the natives.