The weather has been absolutely glorious all week and although we were both thinking about boating this weekend, we were both a bit ‘matter of fact’ about it. We reached Braunston at four o’clock, loaded the few possessions that we had brought, filled the water tank and set off. The breeze, though light forced us to turn right out of the berth and then reverse before we could leave the marina by the main entrance.

Phoenix III ticked over gently as we made our way to the junction and turned left on to the Oxford section of the Grand Union. Within a few minutes it felt as if I had never been away from the boat as I gazed over the roof and down the cut into the distance. With the temperature in the mid twenties and a clear blue sky above it was easy to be deluded into thinking that this was a summer’s day but it was already the first week in September so the sun was already low in the sky.

The trip was very pleasant and we both enjoyed the time we had in the sunshine. We tied up on the little corner between bridges 102 and 103 that we stopped on a few weeks ago. We had a light meal on the back deck and joined the ranks of couples that we had already passed who were sitting either on their boats or on the towpath, eating and drinking.

By seven o’clock the sun had dropped below the hedge and as a result the temperature started to drop, not too cold but enough to push us back inside for the evening.