My sailing instructor, Dennis, used to say that if you went out, and came back again, and didn’t hit anything, then you had won. Canal boating is a bit more of a contact sport, but you are not usually traveling fast enough to do any damage if you hit anything. Alex who manages this and other boats, did mention that in ten years he has had a couple of boats sink. So, I decided that if we managed not to sink the boat on this trip we have won. This morning Clive, our intrepid engineer, returned to help us fuel up, pump out, top up water etc. He had had an emergency call last night, to another boat that had had an engine room fire. My definition of winning is now that we get through the trip without sinking or setting fire to the boat.