The Dates for the Trip

The dates were pretty quickly determined once we figured out the boat. We knew that we wanted our trip as early in the summer as possible. With school scheduled to end June 6, we wanted to start our trip the first full week of June. Based on past experience, we knew that the trip to England was exausting and that time must be allowed to overcome jet lag. I contacted Andersen Boats and requested the Fjord Dutchess for the second weekend in June. I was expecting a Saturday start date for the boat and was planning to leave for Middlewich on Wednesday. Andersen Boats quickly confirmed the boat, with a Friday start date. This pushed everything back one day. Now the departure day was Tuesday, June 10.

From our previous cruises on the Four Counties Ring, we knew that we wanted two weeks of canalling. This would provide us time to be leasurely in our boating allowing for site seeing and just resting. Also, with a little effort, we could have a day or two in Chester. Chester has a walled city center, roman ruins, wonderful gardens and great bake shops. This would be a fabulous introduction to the heritage of England for James IV.

Two weeks of canalling starting on June 13th had us returning (with great reluctance) the Fjord Dutchess on Friday, June 27. A day to collect ourselves and our belongings before we began the journey home is an excellent idea. That has us flying home on Saturday, June 28. Then the airlines came into play. For the misterious reasons that only airlines know, they decided to make the tickets cheaper if we stayed over one more day, so finally we decided on returning Sunday, June 29.

The Weather