It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since we spent our first Christmas on board Caxton. We were moored at Market Bosworth at the time and after living aboard on Christmas eve and day, we started cruising on Boxing day . The following day saw us mooring at the Lime Kilns but then overnight, the canal froze over and there we remained until New Year’s Eve.

This year is completely different. For a start, Caxton lives in the marina across the road from where we live. The weather has been more autumnal than wintery and the mild temperatures are set to continue, so it looks like a Christmas cruise is a real possibility. We’ve been keeping Caxton warm and dry by regularly lighting the fire so this week it hasn’t been difficult to prepare for our time aboard. We are expecting visitors on Sunday and we had hoped to have a short “out and back” cruise between now and then but a fierce wind has put paid to that idea. Undeterred, we still moved our remaining bits and pieces on board this afternoon and after a short walk to the Wharf Inn, we returned to Caxton and settled in for the evening .

Our plan now is to sit tight until Sunday morning when we will move the boat out of the marina and then moor out on the towpath overnight. On Monday we’ll be able to start our Christmas cruise properly so watch this space!