Category Archives: Blogging Boats

Visitors, Non-Visitors and an Invite. 30th July

Eco-Moorings. Islington

I had a visitor this morning.

Tom Adam brought me gifts so I managed to drag myself away from the big furry friends outside to say hello. She and Tom made cups of tea and they all chatted away for ages about boaty things and different outsides that they’ve tied up. It was good to see you Tom Adam, thank you for the chin rubs and the rainbow Dreamies.

It was great to see Adam from NB Briar Rose this morning. He’s working the Breakfast Show at the moment so we’d arranged for a catch up after he’d finished work today. Maybe next time we meet up it won’t be raining!

The day was full of showers, light ones and some down right heavy ones too! Each interspersed with glowing sunshine. The sunshine was tempting, I really wanted to have a wander about the streets to see what could be seen, but as soon as I got myself ready to stir my stumps the heavens would open again, the side hatch was shut, so we settled down to do some more nothing importantness.

The majority of boat traffic has been from the Hidden Depths boats. Parties going back and forth, in and out of the tunnel. The poor ladies on the back deciding that autumn has arrived early this year as they were both damp and cold.

No-one mentioned chilled medication two boats away!

Sadly our rendez vous with Nick, Kerry and Harry their dog was called off. Harry has a limping problem which moves from paw to paw and he’d seen the vet last night. So it was decided to take a rain check on our meeting this evening.

We eventually managed a short trip out to collect a fire and CO alarm. The one we have in the bedroom had started to chirp the other day, with a new battery in it it didn’t test correctly, so we’ve bought a new one from Argos. £30 is cheap compared to a life and if we can find the receipt then we should get our money back as they come with a ten year warranty.

A Jools Holland type band were busy jollying up the world by Argos, plenty of toe tapping. We then went to look at Chapel Market, only the stalls that we weren’t interested in were left as it was quite late in the day by now.

We walked back admiring the houses on Duncan Terrace. Every house looked to have it’s original window shutters. There were some bold colour choices for front doors. The fanlights above the front doors wonderfully ornate. A few of them had lamps in them, I’ve never seen this before. What a lovely feature. If you happen to have a spare £3million you could buy one of these five storey grade 2 listed, Georgian town houses, well this one is under offer.

We’d just decided that for our last night in London we’d treat ourselves to a take away curry when Mick noticed a message from Christine, his sister, inviting us to join her and Paul for some Tapas this evening in Camden. What a lovely idea.

The 214 bus took us round Kings Cross and onto Camden where we made our way to Jamon Jamon for a meal. Numerous dishes kept arriving to be put on our dinky table, some careful plate logistics was needed to make space for the next dish and then the next. All the food was very nice, thank you so much for the invite Christine.

Walking back along Duncan Terrace past the lovely houses we were pleased that one house had it’s fanlight light illuminated. If we had one of these houses the fanlight would be lit up every night!

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 visitor, 2 packs of Dreamies, 1 happy cat, 3 cookies, 37 rain showers, 1 or 4 poorly paws, 1 rain check, 1 pretty street, 1 combined alarm, 214, 9 tapas, 2 crème brulee, 1 cheese cake, 1 almond cake, 1 illuminated fan light.

Waking Up At Fenny. 13th June

Linford Wharf Winding Hole to Mill Lane Bridge 102

With temperatures set to soar over the next few days we wanted to seek out some shade to be able to sit the worst of the heat out. Living in a metal tube can be a touch uncomfortable in the heat. Our mooring at Linford was okay, but not perfect and we still wanted to make some progress today, so the alarm was set a touch earlier than of late and our first cuppas were consumed as we rolled back the covers to move.

Pushing off at 7am meant we came across a group of fishermen who’d decided to start early to avoid the boats, then we came along!

The sun was already out and warming up the morning although it was still goose bump chilly in the shade.

Milton Keynes is very green along the canal, how many poplar trees did they plant when the town was built. Mick wondered what the journey would have been like before the 1960’s development was started.

At the Lionhearts Cruising Club all was calm, no space for NB Tyseley today, but I’m sure some will be made in a couple of weeks as Mikron’s A Dog’s Tale is due to be performed there on the 26th June. A couple of years ago we managed to see one of their shows here, then we worked up the Marsworth Flight with them, but sadly this year we are about 10 days ahead of their boat tour. This years Tour Map

Up ahead a red balloon hung in the sky, another beautiful morning to be up there, as a jet left it’s vapour trail behind it. Slow and fast all in one frame.

Long long lines of moored boats kept our speed down, we’re sure there are more than last time, but that’s just what we said then too!

There is always something new to spot as you travel through MK. A repurposed shopping trolley made into a dragonfly. There are plenty of damselflies but we’ve not seen any dragonflies yet. A frog sat and watched the world go by from a bench.

These two boats had found a good spot, guaranteed shade for the day, compared to the visitor moorings at Campbell Park in full sun and almost empty.

Building work still fills the area around Campbell Park Marina, the buildings being higher than the norm around MK. Some new pontoons have been put in on the offside, they are chained off currently.

We passed a couple of Herons sitting high up in trees, the branches didn’t look strong enough to take their weight.

Mum and Dad were showing off their youngsters. It always feels a privilege to see the little ones hitching a ride on a back. Today two were riding high whilst a third was clinging on. Then one of them gloated at the others ‘I’m the king of the castle!’

Coming into Fenny Stratford we wondered if the old couple would wave from their house. Two years ago the garden didn’t look as immaculate and no wave came in our direction. Today the garden looked similar, but a window was open. We waved and a slightly younger looking lady sat in a chair by the window picked up a hanky and waved back. Maybe the house has new owners and she has taken on the responsibility to wave to every boat that comes past.

We considered stopping in shade here, but it wouldn’t last long. On to the lock.

About to start our ascent to the summit pound of the GU

We’d maybe only seen a couple of boats moving so far this morning, now all of a sudden everyone had woken up. Two boats headed down the lock, then it was our turn, no need to swing the bridge that normally sits over the lock.

Behind we could see a Wyvern Hire boat arriving so we waited for them. In the meantime two boats had arrived at the services to fill and empty, very quickly followed by another two hire boats. The boat we shared the lock with were out for the weekend to surprise a friend on his birthday, now they were heading back to Leighton Buzzard.

Last week there had been a notice from C&RT regarding low levels either side of the Soulbury Three Locks as investigative works had necessitated the draining of the locks, then the back pump had failed. Mick had asked a question on a facebook group and reply had come from someone who volunteers at the locks, the pump was mended, levels still a bit low but no-one had had any problems with the bottom being too close to the top. Once we’d seen the amount of hire boats out and about we knew the problem wasn’t too bad.

Now time to try to find some shade. We pulled into a shady spot a touch before Mill End Bridge 98 at just gone 10:15, this would do for now.

Tilly got to explore whilst Mick checked the sausages had defrosted. It’s been a little while since we had a cooked breakfast, so today we made up for it, very nice it was too.

By the time we’d finished the sun was starting to heat up the cabin sides. Would there be somewhere further on more shady? We studied google satellite images and compared them to the moorings marked on Waterway Routes. But there was no knowing if the moorings would be free or not, after all we’d passed so many places overfilled with boats this morning.

A reckie was required so I walked up to bridge 102 to see what I could see. A group of boats had bunting on their roofs, what was this? The second one gave me more of a clue, NB Jubilee, it was a BCF gathering. It looked like everyone was down in the park so nobody by the boats to say hello to.

Notes were taken of shade and trees on the offside which would come into play later in the day, then I rang Mick, he’d push off and come to find me. We pulled up on a slightly jaunty angle, but there was shade.

A while later the only other boat on the stretch pulled off so we decided to see if there was more depth where they’d been, the shade looked more dense too. Tilly back on board we pulled back and found the depth only marginally better.

Three outsides in one day! This third one looked a touch similar to the second one, but it was still good, lots of field friends to find.

During the afternoon I got on with costume sketches for #unit21. For the photo shoot in a few weeks we’ll only be needing so much of everyone’s costume, but I’d like to get the designs done. I pulled out Justsketchme again to help with poses and got everyone drawn up and ready to be coloured in. A good afternoons work

1 lock, 8.61 miles, 7am start, 3 hitching a ride, 2 trees under strain, 2 many boats all at once, 1.5 sausages each, 3 moorings, 3 outsides, 6 hours, 9 costumes, 1 test match lost.

https://goo.gl/maps/hENEaZXVctPa3CVg6

Sheep Worrying.12th June

Fessey Bridge 58 to Linford Wharf Winding Hole

Just over three and a half miles before our next lock this morning. This stretch is familiar as on our first trip to London and back we cruised it both ways as we had visitors who parked at Stoke Bruerne and had come to help man the locks. Andrew Jac and Josh helped us down before Christmas and Mike and Chris helped us back up after, each time we had a meal at The Barley Mow before returning to Stoke Bruerne.

Today we are still amused by the Elderly Ducks sign at Kingfisher Marina.

A wooden boat was enveloped with plastic sheets whilst having work done on it. A farmer and his sheep dog trained in a field, those poor sheep, back and forth.

At Thrupp Wharf the hedges have grown somewhat but we still managed to spy a familiar boat as we passed the entrance.

After about three miles it was time to join the Geraghty’s for our weekly catch up. People are so small on a phone screen, but at least we’ve now worked out how to get more than one person showing at a time.

We made our excuses as we pulled up at the service block where we dealt with yellow and fresh water. As the tank filled we signed back in to family until it was time to pull away as a wide beam was waiting behind us.

Just beaten to the lock by another widebeam we now waited patiently for our turn. We dropped down to be level with Milton Keynes and then crossed the Ouse Aqueduct which always surprises me being so high up.

We made our way in to Wolverton mooring up away from the swans, the cob here having his own facebook page as he tends to argue with his own reflection, today he had a problem with an inquisitive cat in one of the flats.

Tilly was left with instructions not to wind the swans up as we headed off to Tescos. Tescos was busy, we were there on a Saturday so what did we expect! It really wasn’t pleasant and having to queue to pay rather than use scan and shop made it even worse. Asda across the road was less busy, a visit required as Tilly was running out of her current preferred food, fortunately they had a box of pink poultry in jelly. Trying to explain to a cat that you just can’t buy what they want and that there is plenty of what they liked a couple of months ago tends to fall on deaf ears.

We decided to carry on rather than have lunch before continuing. Would our luck be in to get a mooring at Great Linford? Would it be shady enough for the next couple of days as the temperatures are set to soar?

At Bridge 72, Bradwell Road Bridge building work is still on going on the off side. Extensions to a house seem to have been in build for sometime and they always catch our eye as we go past.

Wonder what he’ll have to say to us on Monday?

At the start of Great Linford Manor Park we could see several workmen all engrossed with their phones sitting around diggers, fencing surrounding them. Works going on in the park.

The off side moorings came into view. Until you are quite close you can’t make out if the two visitor moorings are free as they follow a line of permanent moorings. The first section was half empty, behind them was more fencing and a digger was very busy moving earth about.

Both spaces were free, right next to a very big hole where the digger was being busy. What’s going on? This was a very big hole! We pulled into a little bit of shade, the digger would stop at some point, but was it suitable and safe for an inquisitive cat?

There are big things happening at Great Linford at the moment following on from an award of £3.1million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Many of the historic features of the park are showing signs of age. Here by the moorings the Water Gardens are having their walls rebuilt using local limestone. A bridge and cascade is being built between the two ponds restoring the flow of water. Lots more information on the works around the Park can be found HERE.

We decided to carry on a little bit further and pull in under the trees along the towpath. More accessible pathways have been created in the Wilderness which is great, but sadly it most probably means that the daffodil bulbs we planted in memory of Houdini our first second mate will have been dug up.

We remained in shade for some of the afternoon, the starboard side catching the rays later in the day. Tilly coped with the busy towpath as we coped with the music and general hubbub of being back amongst the human race in an urban area. The fire pit in the park beside us is still going as we head to bed, thankfully those enjoying it are quite quiet.

1 lock, 8.61 miles, 1 Briar Rose, 1 very busy shopping trip, 12 more days of feline supplies, 2 boxes of wine, 1 stroppy swan, 1 big building site, 1 park mooring still empty.

https://goo.gl/maps/K66x6fmHM7KENxuF6

No, I’m Spartacus, 5th June

King’s Orchard Marina to Meadow Lane Bridge 50

Settling into the earlier routine now we got going in the morning sunshine a touch later than yesterday. Standing on tip toes I could just see a big digger and some fencing. Is this our first glimpse of HS2? I’m sure we are going to see more as we work our way southwards.

At Whittington we skirted round the village with neat back gardens all open to the canal. In fact one garden seemed to have a welcoming committee out to greet us. The gardens here were to set the theme for our days cruise.

The polytunnels that used to fill the fields alongside the canal have been moved away, the contents of which didn’t look very productive from what I could see. The tractor weather vane still looks good especially with the bright blue sky we had.

Another Geraghty zoom on the move, today we could worry them all as we passed through the shooting range, no flags were showing so we were fairly sure we’d be safe. Popping out the other side of Hopwood Woods one cloud hung behind our heads, would more join it through the day?

At Fazeley Junction two new birds have joined the Kingfisher and Robin not quite in the same style, but the Finches (?) are still quite effective. Fortunately Mick was on the ball and followed his instincts as to navigation as I’d got side tracked somewhat by the birds and had not given him directions! We turned left towards Coventry, soon arriving at Glascote Locks.

Quite often there is a queue here for the two slow flowing chambers, but as we arrived one boat was just finishing in the bottom lock so there was only a slight pause for us before we could start to ascend.

As with most narrow lock flights, I waited until Mick was happy, maybe the lock half full before I walked up to the next one. I could see that there was a slight gap between the gates indicating the chamber was empty, I’d just need to push them open. Well the next photo contradicts what I’ve just said.

That is because despite Oleanna most definitely being in view from the next lock, she had almost reached the level of the joining pound, a chap arrived and wound both paddles up to fill the lock. I’d walked about two thirds of the way to the lock, called out but wasn’t heard. An about turn for me back to help Mick open the gate and drop the paddles, no point in raising the blood pressure, surely the chap would apologise.

If he was a single hander I could be of assistance, I walked back up, crossed over the bottom gate so as to drop the offside paddle once the lock was full. The gate was opened, he brought his boat in and was just closing the gate as his partner arrived with some shopping, she stepped on board and took over the helm, well once she’d sorted herself out by which time the chap had already lifted a bottom paddle. I waited for a thumbs up from the helm. When the gates opened she seemed a touch bemused that there was a boat sitting waiting in the lock below!

We paused for lunch and a top up shop at the handy Co-op before carrying on. Our aim for the day was to get ahead of ourselves again and get towards the bottom of the Atherstone flight so we could climb them all tomorrow instead of just the bottom two.

More wonderful gardens including the one where they really must hoover the grass to keep it so immaculate!

Clouds were gradually gathering. Some impressive cirrus above our heads, their long whisps stretching off.

At Alvecote Marina we looked at the old work boats that moor there and hunted round for a blue boat with a bench on the bow. There she was NB Harnser having a little rest between cruises.

Under the M42 where a couple were busy painting their roof making use of the shade from the bridge and easy mooring with armco.

A short distance on there is a little island, behind which are some private moorings, NB Spartacus being one of them. The proposed route of HS2 will pass directly over the heads of these boats as it clings to the route of the motorway.

Onwards some more, not quite wanting to get to the bottom of Atherstone today. We passed under the railway and then skirted round a small hill which we hoped would shield us from the trains. A couple of boats were moored up their tabby cat sitting watching the world go by. A bit further and we passed NB Burghley Girl, we pulled up a little way on from them as yesterday I’d seen them walking their Siamese cat. Not often you get three boats in a row all with cats. We kept our distance so each feline could enjoy their own patch of towpath.

Tilly was straight out, along the cat walk at speed. She’s seen some movement up ahead that would require a pounce into the friendly cover. Would two hours be sufficient? Six would have been better!

A copy of a script was printed out as a quinoa crust quiche cooked in the oven. Time to get my head round my next show as before I know it I’ll be doing costume fittings. The quiche went down very well accompanied by some Jersey Royals, there’s enough left over for a couple of days time too.

2 locks, 14.24 miles, 2 lefts, 1 turned lock, 0 apology, 5 zoomers, 0 shots fired, 1 Saturday newspaper the last copy in the shop! 3 cats in a row, 32 pages, 1 quiche, 2 more colours on the crochet blanket.

https://goo.gl/maps/FonQdQVCRQLEW7o98

Thumbs up. Not enough time for a stamp of approval. Reusable blocks still being problematical!

Crossing Bows. 20th September

Radford Semele

The weather today was meant to be atrocious. Heavy rain in the morning followed by very strong winds in the afternoon. We woke to the rain, not too bad, Tilly still went out.

Last night Jennie from NB Tentatrice had left a comment on the blog saying that she thought they were moored just along from us. As we’d missed each other literally by a couple of boat lengths earlier in the year at the top of Tardebigge we couldn’t do the same again this time. We knew they were heading our way and as we’d pulled in last night I’d looked up the line of boats already moored up but not spotted a bright blue one.

We weren’t planning on going anywhere today due to the weather, so after I’d worked through the forth version of the Aladdin props list and sent it back to the director Tilly happened to come in and there was a lull in the rain, so we put on our waterproofs and walked along the towpath.

The reason I’d not seen them last night was that NB Tentatrice was hunkered down behind the next two boats in front of us about 100 yards away. Chris welcomed us on board as did Monty their dog. Mugs of tea and conversation flowed for a good couple of hours, which included comparing the capacity of our yellow water tanks! At last our paths had crossed and we’d got to meet each other after following each others blogs for sometime. Chris and Jennie are heading home after their summer cruise, crossing The Wash and exploring the Middle Levels. Next year they are considering heading up to Liverpool and crossing the Ribble Link. So we were able to give them some pointers and them us as we vaguely plan to cruise the Middle levels in a couple of years time, which may be prefect timing for the next Bedford Festival.

They planned on heading into Leamington today, hoping to find a mooring that might offer them some shelter from the growing winds. As they pulled off Jennie walked Monty and Kiera (a visiting dog) along the towpath, the woofers sticking their noses into MY boat! I was keeping an eye on them from the sideways trees. Hope you managed to be moored up before the big gusts came and sorry if we delayed your start Jennie, but it was great to meet you all at last.

The afternoon was spent writing my programme biog, doing a bit of research whilst Mick mended some of the poppers on our cratch cover. Tilly braved the growing gusts of wind for some time but eventually came in, we decided that she should stay in for her own safety rather than get blown away. Some more of Bake Off was caught up with and another half sock knitted as the noise around Oleanna grew by the hour. Very odd sitting in doors in t-shirts with howling gales and sideways rain outside and the stove wasn’t even lit!

We’re hoping tomorrow we’ll get chance to move on a touch, here’s hoping the wind calms down some.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 boats away, 4 boaters meeting for the first time, 2 woofers, 1 soggy moggy, 150 words, 4th version, 1 reference to do now, 0.5 of a sock, 1 heel turned, gas mark 2 for a couple of hours instead of on top of the stove, 1 very blustery night ahead.

Ryans Red Cabbage 3rd, 4th, 5th September

Crick Marina to The Moorings to Welton Hythe Marina

Monday morning Mick was up early, getting a lift from Lizzie he headed into Rugby to pick up a hire van, yes he’d booked a van because it was cheaper and he actually got a van! He popped back to the boat for breakfast before setting off on a day trip to Scarborough leaving Tilly and myself behind.

First I had parcels to pick up from the post office. They have plants and some veg for sale depending on what is ready in a locals veg patch. The runner beans can not be missed, so I picked up a bag and headed to pay for them. As soon as the lady saw me she popped behind the Post Office counter and returned with two parcels. Sadly as I hadn’t intended buying anything I had no cash on me and they don’t accept cards. I was about to return the beans when the lady said I should just take them. Blimey, what a service! They have received various parcels for us over the last month with smiles on their faces and now I was being given free runner beans.

Back at the boat I set about finishing off the custom order for my Etsy shop. A pair of wrist warmers which I wanted to get into the post before we left Crick. The ends were sewn in and then they were laid out on our bed to block them. This helps to even out the stitches and makes things look that bit crisper.

Then it was time to pay attention to work emails. I spent the day to-ing and fro-ing, phone calls and third versions of boats all with the hope that they would save us some money and still do all that the Director wanted. It was a very busy day.

Just as I was about finish Tilly ran into the boat in a very frantic way. Low and spooked, making noises as if she had a fur ball. I tried to get near her to see what was the matter. This was different than when she got high on ants, maybe she’d been stung. I managed to get us both in the bathroom and tried to have a look, but she wasn’t having anything to do with me. Over the next hour she gradually calmed down. When Mick returned I asked him to have a look at her in case he could see if she had a swollen face in anyway. Of course by now she’d calmed down, had a head rub and wanted some food! She’d had me worried and I was about to call the vet in Hillmorton an hour earlier!

Tuesday morning was another early start for Mick to return the van. Tilly strangely didn’t pester this morning to go out, something had happened the evening before that left her cautious about this outside. Work emails started early with a quote from a Scenic Artist. This was quite a shock, how much do they get paid nowadays?! Was I very out of touch. It turns out that everyone was shocked at her quote not just me, maybe she didn’t want the job, she could have just said!

We needed a bit of shopping to keep us going before either getting a delivery or arriving at bigger shops. So we decided to head into the marina, top up with gas and diesel before mooring nearer the bridge to the village. The mooring in front of The Moorings was free. It is an odd mooring, you would think that it was for the water point, but there are no signs to suggest as such. When ever we’ve been in Crick of late there has been a boat moored there. Possibly having work done on them by Neil Stuttle or waiting to go on brokerage with ABNB. It is also a perfect place to get a supermarket delivery. We pulled in and checked the internet, it was slow but we had some signal.

Usually we get deliveries from Sainsburys, but this time we were going to try out Ocado. I’m wanting to try a few weeks totally gluten free and see what effect this has on a persistent complaint I’ve had for ages. One week of gluten free cereal recently and I felt an improvement, so it’s worth a try. Most supermarkets have a selection of gluten free products, but I’d looked at Ocado the other day and wow what a choice. Instead of four choices of pasta they had forty two. They offer free delivery for your first year and a discount on your first shop with them. So I reserved a slot for Wednesday. One thing however that they don’t have much of a selection of is boxes of wine. The prices were higher than Sainsburys so we checked on deliveries from them. A slot for £1 had our name on it.

We spent the afternoon comparing prices between Ocado and Sainsburys. It was quite an interesting exercise. Wine, fresh veg and fruit are cheaper at Sainsburys, but chilled goods, spices and some cleaning products were cheaper with Ocado. So we ended up with two orders. The wrist warmers were parcelled up and taken to the Post Office, chance to pay for the beans from the day before and give the post service some money. On the way back we picked a good quantity of Blackberries, we’ll be having crumble soon!

Phone signal was none existent outside The Moorings, so I ended up walking back up to where we’d been moored earlier in the day to have work conversations. I’ll be glad when someone can call me without having to send an email first, then wait for me to walk up the towpath for ten minutes. Well it was our decision to be in Crick!

Today our deliveries arrived as planned. Bang on 11am the Sainsburys Green Pepper van backed up towards us. Their pickers must have had a bit of a laugh, I got six huge bramley apples and one very small red onion. With everything stowed away I wondered where we would put the next order! Ryan in his Red Cabbage van arrived half an hour early he was going to back up and wait for our slot, but that didn’t bother us. Everything was off loaded and onboard swiftly.

Differences between the two deliveries. Sainsburys you can opt to have no plastic bags, Ocado you can hand them back to be recycled and get them refunded. Sainsburys you can choose to have substitutes if something isn’t available, Ocado they give you a substitute, if you don’t like it you can hand it back with both of them. I suspect we’ll end up using both in future.

Once the water tank was topped up and all our rubbish was disposed it was time for us to say farewell to Crick. We may be back before Christmas but we haven’t quite sussed our movements around the stoppages yet. In the tunnel we met three boats coming the other way, the last one in the last 25 meters. Lunchtime, so we pulled over where we’d been moored last week before carrying on to Watford.

We’d expected there to be no queue to go down as no boats passed us, we might have to wait for boats coming up. However as we approached there were two boats facing downhill and one uphill just above the lock. I walked up to check in and was told we’d timed it perfectly, the lock had been closed for a couple of hours for a work boat to clean the gates and they were just starting to let boats down again. One boat was already heading down soon to be followed by NB Perch a 70fter, then a hire boat, then us. I was first told to put the kettle on, then the lady Lockie changed her mind, there wouldn’t be time for a cuppa so I should pour a glass of wine instead.

The hire boat took their time, possibly the first downhill lock they had done. The Lockies looked after them, but making sure there were two sets of gates between them and NB Perch. Perch being so long they wanted to keep an empty chamber above them to save the chap at the helm from getting a soaking through the gates. We followed on behind taking our time, no point rushing. A boat came up and pulled in at the holding point below the bottom of the staircase, this is when it all started to get a bit complicated.

The Lockies set the next single lock for us and as I approached they suggested I should go and set the lock below for us once the hire boat had finished going down. So I walked down and waited for them to finish, my windlass at the ready. The C&RT work boat that had been used to clean the gates was in the pound in between along with another boat waiting to go up. The bottom lock gates were left open, a boat was coming up. Sensible use of water, well except the pound above was full and instead of Lockies waiting for the bottom lock to start filling before they let Oleanna down they emptied our lock, the water all heading down the bywash. Mick brought Oleanna out and replaced the waiting boat as he waited for the bottom lock to be full again. The crew from the work boat decided to untie, were they coming down first? Luckily not. Some do-si-doing went on to get Oleanna and the uphill boat past each other as the lock above was being emptied. Then it was plain sailing down the final lock, our last narrow one for a month when we hope to be on the South Oxford.

We pootled along and pulled in opposite Welton Hythe Marina. NB Alchemy looking very clean on her temporary mooring. I was at last allowed out! They’d said I wouldn’t like the outside where we were yesterday, but they never gave me the chance to decide for myself. This outside was familiar so I went for a wander a bit further a field. When she came calling for me it was quite a walk to get back to Oleanna, she wanted to go via the towpath, but I knew the way back was alongside the biggest pooh tray ever! I made sure I made full use of the shore based facilities and covered up after myself before heading inside for my Dingding.

7 locks, 4 of which a staircase for the 18th time, 4.72 miles, 2 parcels, 6 balls yarn, 2 bow thruster fuses, 3 rights, 1 reverse, 1 left, 1 mooring at The Moorings, 1 noisy night with traffic, 2 deliveries, 1 green pepper, 1 red cabbage, 2 substitutes, 3rd versions of boats, 1 show almost in budget, 1st order posted, 2nd order on the needles, 3rd order received, 1 full tank diesel, 2 bottles gas, 1 full water tank, 6 boxes wine, 1 full fridge, 10 GF fish fingers, 1 empty pooh bucket, 1 clean pooh box, 1 empty wee tank, 0 rubbish, 1 container blackberries, 1 cat half a mile away, 1 giant huge pooh tray, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/UccV9Szi9kA2

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna