I decided that Silverwind was starting to look a bit messy and that it was time to have a sort out and muck removal session. As often happens in these situations what started as a quick brushing up of dirt soon escalated. As I found there was dirt rammed down the side of the floor boards it was not long until half the boats content was on the pontoon and I was scrubbing the inside of the hull.

It was at this point I started to wonder exactly were all this gear fitted in the boat. I had just unpacked in a matter of half an hour and was now taking up most of the pontoon. After cleaning and bailing (we had taken on 3 litres of water in 6 weeks) for 3 hours the boat was finally back to normal and looking good for the hard work put in.

All the planning was done for an early start on Wednesday, when on trying to cook tea the gas wouldn’t turn on. The gas regulator tap was jammed and it appeared that in my efforts to “un-jam it” I had broken the plastic tap. With Troon being the last town for a week or so I decided to stay an extra day to get this sorted before heading north.

A quick visit to the chandlery on Wednesday morning got me a new regulator that I quickly fitted after breakfast. To may annoyance I managed to fix the old regulator shortly afterwards, but at least now I have a spare. The rest of the day was spent reading and shopping for food that I should have got the day before.

The only supermarket within easy walk was Safeway. I took the opportunity to find out whether it was true that Morrisons only sell Class 2 fruit. My investigation shows that while my apples were class 2 my tomatoes were class 1 – what an exciting life I lead! Thursday is looking good for a second go at getting to the Crinan Canal – now that the cooker works!