Trains, Planes and Automobiles - 2 out of 3 ain't bad

Monday 23rd January to Sunday 29th January 2012



No travelling this week

This has been about our busiest week since we have moved into the marina back in early November.

We had been in touch with Vanessa and Mo (nb Balmaha) since arriving here and had hoped that we could catch up with earlier, but sadly it didn’t happen. We knew that they were going to be on the move earlier than usual and heading our way, so it was a happy surprise when we got an email to say they were on our back door (in relative terms) and we were able to catch up at Rugeley – they were heading off at Great Haywood down the Staffs and Worcester canal and we wanted to have the boat to stay put in preparation of the US trip.

The train to Rugeley was just 2 stops and everything was fine.

A great day was spent catching up on everything since we had last met, which was way back in May 2008 when we were less than novices only having just completed our 6-week stint with a hire boat and still planning all that we are now doing.

Lunch with Vanessa and Mo

Lunch was wonderful – thanks guys – we wish you a pleasant time cruising and already looking forward to seeing you both again.

Our earlier exploits from cruising last year had finally taken its toll on our front button and we knew it was time to replace it – Diane had been in contact with nb Alton (Brian) about a new one – they were not that far away on the Macclesfield and we only needed to work out travelling there.

As is usually the case, it seems, something always comes along and Diane was talking to Ruth and Peter on nb Kathryn – just 3 berths down from us and they were explaining that they needed to replace both the front and back buttons. Diane contacted Brian again to ask about other sizes.

Peter was very pleased that some of the work had been taken out of the exercise and with Peter driving we made the necessary purchases and within an hour of return all three old buttons had been removed and replaced with the new ones – very impressive they all were indeed.

We are pretty happy with the finished article - the new bow button

Next in line was a spot of boat-sitting – well actually it was keeping an eye on the fire and keeping it well stoked.

Jean and Andy (nb Josephine) – about a dozen berths from us – needed to return home to decide what they were going to do with the house – sell it or rent it – and asked if we could keep the fire going for them whilst they were away – just one night.

With all of the instructions we kept it cosy and warm inside for them so that their return was not so cold.

We didn’t even have enough time to put the boat on e-Bay for them!!

It was the time to almost strike a line through one of the last two items on our list – to get the tractor seats installed onto the rear deck. We had also been talking with Jean and Andy and they decided that they would talk with him when he came over. Jon was a friendly guy and easily understood what each of us needed – measurements taken, prices agreed, dates set for installation – just way too easy – a nice guy for an Everton supporter.

The finished article for the cratch cover

and the pram hood cover - I realised that I hadn't shown any
decent pictures of them

Fine weather - just perfect for talking -
she was talking to her mum and dad back home

All that was left for us to take care of this weekend was to take the boat over for a pumpout and fill with diesel – checking on the weather including the winds gave us a timeframe of about 10am Sunday morning – no problem for me, but Diane had seen that the Mens Final of the Australian Open was on BBC from 8:15am – now she hasn’t seen a single match of the tennis and it being one of her favourites I wanted her to be able to sit down and enjoy it – well at least she saw the 1st set before deciding that we must go – she only missed the second set, but the boat had one tank filled and another emptied and all was well with the world again.

The weather this week has been superb (on the whole) and sunrise
this Sunday morning was particularly colourful

A particularly busy week for most days – but items crossed from the list, good times enjoyed, and preparations made – can’t be much busier again can it?

You just never know what is likely to come up

Well things do come up which can change plans for the week ahead and that has been the case for the week ahead – more than we had originally planned for.