This was my first year boating and so there were too many high points to really pick any one.
My first go at driving Springy (properly) in early January with MB was great, for all that I didn't do much... As was my first go at single handing Springy on my own, many months later and after cutting my teeth (figuratively!) on Reg, even though I nearly never got going at all (until someone on the marina shouted at me to knock the gear button out of the locked position) got grounded (without a pole) was asked to stop for a beer and couldn't (didn't have any mooring stakes!!) and took 15 mins to reverse back onto my pontoon.
Single handing my own boat (or even taking it out at all) was kind of a big thing for me, as it is my home and also my cats were on board, and I was (and still am in many ways) pretty paranoid about this.
Being in charge of Reg in the days immediately before the Braunston rally was amazing for me, moving Reg on my own including starting the Glennifer and just pootling up the row of other boats and breasting up with the other tugs on my own pretending I knew just what I was doing and was too cool for school made me feel like King Dong, as did driving Reg in the rally, on my home turf as it was, when a few months before I was adamantly NEVER going to get the hang of driving, or even try, and seeing the videos of it later.
Also taking Reg out on my own the following week and then winding and mooring up breasted up to Sickle was probably the hardest thing I had done so far so I felt like the mutt's nutts after that!
All of the trips all over the place I have done with MB on Reg and Aldebaran this year rank too. Aldebaran is also a lovely boat to drive, but I really love the fact I learned on Reg, who is by most people's standards kind of a moody, pissy git to drive! But I know him now and I love it.
Driving Reg at the Alvecote rally was like really slow dodgems, I liked that a lot too. Being there to see Nutfield climbing the bank was pure comedy gold. As was MB slipping off the gunnels and narrowly avoiding a dunking, which becomes funnier every time I watch the video of it that Dave (of 'Ange and Dave') managed to catch.
But my absolute favourite moment was probably my first ever go at single handing, which was on Reg for a couple of hours at Lapworth while MB went off in the van (so I had no one to call for help if needed) and winding in a fairly small space without fecking up (or doing it very elegantly, but still I did it!) and then in the pub that night some dude came up to me and said "oh, you're the girl with that historic iron boat, aren't you!" KING DONG.
That was probably my overall favourite, and I really 'got' the whole thing about boating and how cool it was and really got my Zen on with boating, and the knowledge that if something happened I had to manage it myself so put the shit fits away, cos they won't help, just get on with it.
I have been madly in love with Reg since then, and this wisdom also stood me in good stead when I was single handing Springy up to Hillmorton in November and passed the only other moving boat I'd seen all day only for the steerer to a double-take and yell back at me "YOU'RE ON FIRE, LOVE!" and sure enough, there were flames and black smoke billowing off of the exhaust pipe.
So I have been to loads of things and seen loads of lovely places this year, but rather embarrassingly, I can't name half of them, because this year for me was all about the boats and getting to grips with them rather than the scenery or where we were, and I've loved it. Had a great year abusing MB's boats, and hopefully 2013 will be more of the same (with less of the abuse.)
**Edit** and I forgot to mention, the time I slipped off the gunnels while we were going along and landed knee-deep in the cut before recovering myself and pulling myself up, which caused MB to think I was falling all the way in and so throwing Reg into neutral which caused us to crash with some welly into a moored boat, which led to us (and them) to think that they were sinking as they then started listing badly (turned out to be moored on a centre line and the knock got the boat caught at an angle under the piling) and them going fecking nutso to the point that me and MB thought they were going to beat us to death, them not believing our story as I was yelling 'OMG so sorry but I fell in!' while all they could see of me above the cabin top was bone dry, but that eventually ended with us all being firm friends, having a laugh about it and playing with their dogs on the towpath for ages.
GREAT STUFF.