With Kai  Nani squirrelled away at a marina in Hull, I needed a place to wait out the all-day rain forecast for the next 24 hours. My plan was to pitch a tent in a  small park adjacent to the marina. Clearly home to a number of homeless, I figured to fit right in.

Ann Marie and Peter would have none of it. Ann Marie wasted no time in mobilizimg her sister Christina and by the time I jad settled with the marina staff 1) The rain had startes and 2) Christina and her daughter Annah had arrived with a cooler full of soft-drinks and groceries. Not just any groceries,  but everything I needed, like a  new hatchet, and I few things I didn’t, like cookies and chocolate.

Thinking I might need some tine and space to recuperate, I was whisked away to my very own hideaway. And by hideaway, I mean a 300 sq ft river-side cottage all to myself. For intents and purposes, a BAT cave minus Robin and the stripper pole.

It  was glorious. I did laundry, dried all I owned, bad a shower, and ate way too much which,  by the way, is pretty hard to do when you are burning  close to 7000 calories a day.

Early the next day, It was back to Hull and the  business of paddling. Good byes are hard, especially when you know exactly what you are leaving behind. Especially when you have no words that come close to what is in your heart. Thank you seems woefully inadequate and even at that., you cannot say it enough. Once again, thank you.