I set fire to the… (sing it like Adele)

Well, the espresso pot, in this case….there is no rain in sight.

Here we are on a lovely sunny day in Stenungsund, we picked up some shopping and had lunch. We visited the tourist information where we found some nice maps of the area. This is very useful because our preparation for this trip is totally rubbish. We don’t even have a half decent roadmap. It is very unlike us to be this ill prepared. We usually love staring at maps in advance of the trip. Staring and visualising / dreaming….finding funny place names on the map, points of interest, castles, you know, the things you do with a map… We would have made a trip-plan. But since going to Sweden to paddle was a last moment decision, we have absolutely nothing.

Totally happy with our maps we walked back to our boats. Just one nice espresso before we go. I got this lovely little espresso pot for my birthday and this would be the first trip we use it. We love some proper coffee. It beats the instant stuff every time. We get the small burner out, prepare the coffee-pot and put the fire on. Simple, clean, fast and very nice. While the pot is cooking we look at the maps we just got. And get lost in them…...and that is when it happened…..

      ‘What is that plastic-smell?’

      ‘It’s the paperclip I put on the heat screen.’

      ‘Oh,ok, not to worry.’ 

And I’m lost in the map again.

Until…..    

       ‘Quick, quick, water, where,....oh no,......’

The entire handle has gone up in flames. The plastic is dripping off, it’s as pliable as clay to the touch. When we pour the coffee in the cups the handle just goes a bit funny. This is the result. This is only week one of our holiday!! I wonder what this poor little coffee pot will look like after 5 weeks…..

Charlotte Gannet