Our world is always the better for spending time with our friends

Monday 7^th November to Saturday 12^th November 2016

For most of the week we could be described as being in the really boring mode – not much was happening – I know that I was busy with work and Diane has been busy with some craft work; we ventured out for each of the days, but really for not much of a walk – the truth was that we were just too comfortable and cosy inside the boat and had no real reason to go outside.

There were a couple of days in there where we had good reason to be out and about – Tuesday saw the return of nb Much Gigglin’ and we had a lovely meal over at The Boat House with Tone and Julie before they needed to be moving on towards Hilmorton where they needed some electrics seen to, but it was simply nice to sit and talk with them for a while – the previous Thursday was a bit rushed as they got through the locks.

These guys were the very first boaters that we encountered back in 2008 and we worked down the Hatton Flight with them – us being complete novices with barely 3 days experience under our belts; they helped us and showed us so much – most of which has stayed with us all of these years; we had a lovely meal at the Cape of Good Hope at the end of that day and we learnt what it was to be a boater in England (not that we could have classed ourselves as such way back then).

Love these guys - it will be too long until we see them again

We bid them farewell as they cruised off – this time with at least an hours daylight in front of them.

Come Thursday we had a very busy day – first of all we decided that we had to clear away some things that needed to be done – elsan and rubbish heading that list; after that we did decide to take a longer walk – heading along the towpath past the junction we came off at Bridge 89 – through a couple of gates and past a paddock full of sheep – at least for Diane they were better than cows – then up the hill and we came out on the other side of the church – we hadn’t been that way before.

The views from the top across the canal and away to the north-west were completely different to what we have seen before.

It is almost as good as I saw it; the brilliance of the sun behind the cloud

This was the prelude to what we had been waiting for – Bev, Dot and Roly had driven down from Stone for a visit – it was catch-up time with more dear friends – part of the best group of friends that anyone could wish to have.

Crazy people - there should have been a warning on the packet -
(from L to R) - Bev, Dot, Roly, me and Diane

We had pre-lunch coffee and tea in The Boat House, followed by lunch and then back to Ferndale for more the drink and eat – Roly just loves Diane’s Welsh cakes – there were presents and cards handed over each way – we won’t see them again this year and probably not until April next year at the earliest.

Roly and Bev - see Roly, Bev really does love you and we love them both

It was sad to see them go, but we have a schedule of things to do for ourselves now, which must be done before we too can head off.

Friday morning and we untied early-ish; watered up; winded and then headed north on the Oxford. We were planning on going only as far as some mooring just above the Hilmorton flight and then spend Saturday there as well – there was rain that had been forecasted for then.

Along the way we planned to fill all of the diesel tanks and cans at Hillmorton Wharf, but after mooring up, we found that it was closed (on Fridays); mmm, we were down on diesel, so the decision was made to carry on; down the locks and we filled at Clifton cruisers, and although the diesel was a bit more, it was a pleasing feeling to have everything full again, and with that we eventually moored up at Brownsover (Rugby).

Number one issue was always going to be TV signal – afterall it was Friday – Strictly was the prime concern to the top management – luckily that was all OK, so settled in we did.

 

Lunch - Staffordshire oatcakes (courtesy of Roly) -
at the bottom with sausages cheese and bacon;
the top with tomato and cheese - mushrooms on the
side for both - simply lovely

Friday night and Saturday early morning were as predicted – at least the boat was geeting a bit of a clean. It seems to be that Saturdays are becoming a bit more relaxed for both of us – we had no need to rush out for anything, so we took our time; went out and picked up a few things that we needed and for the rest of the day it is in the boat, cosy and warm and doingas little as possible.

 

Saturday - McDonald's day and the big kid was let out again -  here with
her new Troll and a book of stickers

Well that has been the essence of this week – the last thing to do is to wish my aunt, Brenda, a very Happy Birthday – she is just a few years older than me, so we spent a lot of time together when we were much younger –so have a Happy one!!

10 Miles, 3 Locks

YTD:  798 Miles (1284 km) , 447 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 21 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4593 Miles (7392 km), 3146 Locks, 122 Tunnels, 66 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

The Queen of Countdowns does it again!

Wednesday 2^nd November to Sunday 6^th November 2016

Wednesday morning was quite refreshing (read that as bloody cold) – there was frost on the ground outside and ice on the inside of the pramhood – a sure sign alround that winter is fast approaching – as if we needed any at all!

But still, we made a relatively early start, our intention being to just go down 5 locks and moor up where we had done last year.

It doesn’t matter how early you start off, there always seems to be a boat just in front, and that was the case for the boat behind us – how they must have thought to themselves “we’ll get an early start and get through these locks before anyone else and be on our way” and then upon seeing us at the first lock it may very well have been “dammit!!”

After about 4 locks, their supposed thoughts became ours – every lock had been empty and even when we met a boat coming up, the very next lock was then empty – “dammit!!”

We reached our intended stopping point but a couple of boats were where we would have liked to have moored so we carried on, eventually mooring just below Lock 9 (the one that is being closed) - the one we had been seeking to get through before next Monday.

The sun was out and we thought that a walk into the village would be nice as well.

There is a lovely café/store there and with freshly baked croissants still warm, who could resist.

The rest of the day was sunny and quite lovely – we are really enjoying these lovely late autumn days as we drift towards winter.

After a couple of emails, we had a schedule to be in Braunston for Friday – a guy is coming to look at our cratch cover and pram hood cover to do some minor repairs; we also thought of spending a day at the mooring by Bridge 100, so if we were to do that we would need to be moving on Thursday – probably needed to move anyway – to get water and empty the elsan (although that could have easily been walked down from where we were).

 

Early morning, cold, bright sky and a balloon - Diane managed to capture this
whilst steering toward the first lock - I told you she was good!

So, 1 lock down, elsan emptied, water tank filled, sun out, thermals on, coat on, hot tea and coffee at the ready – I would say that we were set.

It was absolutely fabulous cruising in the morning – if you forget the understeering at a corner and the boat approaching from the other way – collision avoided – we carried on past the junction and then thought, that with the prospect of rain for Friday morning, why not go all of the way into Braunston, so we did and found our spot – right opposite The Boat House, so we are now here for a little while – all moorings have now changed to 14 days.

 

I think only an Australian will see the sense in this - with one star and
the word blue both filled in with red

We ventured up to the village; Diane was disappointed that the chippy was closed at lunchtime; we stopped for lunch at the café; and then enjoyed more of the sun on our way back down to the boat.

The afternoon was carried through with usual things that you get up to, but about 4:30 a boat was passing by, fairly close, as happens here, when I noticed the name “nb Much Gigglin” – Tone and Julie.

Out we popped to see them; they stopped and we had a brief chat, but they needed to get to Norton Junction that evening – 4 miles and 6 locks in the rapidly fading light – only one thing to be done – we could chat on the move.

So with windlasses in hand, we hi-tailed it to the first lock and we all worked through the six Braunston locks in a bit under an hour; said our goodbyes to them and now looking forward to their return journey when we can catch up with at a more leisurely pace.

 

Dear dear friends Tone and Julie with Diane - after all of the locks were done
and they only had the tunnel to go - it was darker than the photo may indicate

As forecasted, the rain did arrive on Friday morning, which justified our decision the day before to come right through.

After getting through some work in the morning, there was a knock on the outside of the boat and the guy that we had been waiting for had arrived – Allan, who has a business on the cut – repairing cratch and pramhood covers, as well as making new ones.

Over the last couple of years there has been a little bit of wear on the covers as well as few minor accidents – all of which required some attention before they got worse.

He was able to explain what he would need to do to rectify them, advised how long he would need to take them both away for and the bad one – the cost. Fortunately we have an understanding of most things, and equally some idea of what we are prepared to pay for services – everything met our thoughts on the subject and Allan took away the covers, leaving poor old Ferndale just a tad naked in these cold times.

But we were rather snug and cosy on the inside thanks to the Reflecs.

 

She's a good girl really and should not be this naked...

...we had a little trouble recognising her

Later on we ventured over to The Boat House for a drink with friends – Stella and Dave – and met a few of their friends from around Braunston; I managed to get chatting with a guy called Crocket who was on a boat on moorings west of Bridge 98 – amongst other things we both extolled the virtues of diesel heaters and the ease of keeping a boat really warm with them, as well as the low cost in running them.

Friday night and Saturday morning were a fair bit colder than we had experienced for a while, Ferndale was relatively unprotected on the outside, but the previous nights discussions emphasised the fact that the boat was indeed very warm and lovely inside.

We didn’t do too much during the day, but come 4pm, we heard a thump on the roof – it was Allan back with the covers – everything fitted back into place and even though I was confident in talking to him the previous day about the work that he intended to do, we were both ecstatic about the quality of work that came back – could not be any more pleased.

So if you need any work done on your covers, give him a call –

On the Cut Cratch Repairs – Allan – 07403 550 058

Yet another onto our list of people for services on the cut.

Sunday, being Sunday, meant that it was out for a roast lunch – our choice today was The Old Plough in the High Street – we had already sussed out the likely venues and this one looked like it would be nice. We have had drinks there previously, but had not eaten there, but with a dedicated dining room, we suspected that it would be fine.

I can highly recommend it – the food was great, the servide was great and the price was great – 3 stars if ever I have seen them.

Only problem for us was that just before we were due to leave, it started to rain and so we had to brave the wet stuff in making our way back to the boat where, dare I say it – we were cosy and warm yet again.

Oh yes, now for the reason for the label for this post - as some will know, Diane is a fanatic about countdowns - usually involving a soon to take trip, a birthday, anniversary, or as the photo shows - Christmas.

Well, she now has an official countdown board for Santa -  and believe me she will be awake on Xmas day at 5 am 

9 Miles, 9 Locks

YTD:  788 Miles (1268 km) , 444 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 21 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4583 Miles (7376 km), 3143 Locks, 122 Tunnels, 66 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

Back Home and In Transit

Monday 31^st May to Saturday 11^th June 2016

We landed about 6:45am and were pretty tired but not overly so.

One of the good things about landing in Birmingham or Manchester or , well just about anywhere other than Heathrow, is that it is far quicker to get through Border Control (immigrations, Passport Control – all of that stuff), simply because there are fewer and smaller planes arriving there.

We were through very quickly, got the cases, quick shuttle to Birmingham International Station, train back to Rugby and then a taxi to Barby Marina – we were back on the boat by 8:30am.

We had decided to leave the boat at Barby because we knew people who were moored here; we met people over the last few months who had good things to say about it (despite other things we had heard from a few years ago) and the storage mooring only cost £100 for the month.

I have to say that coming back here and not having any problems, we were very happy and will certainly use Barby again.

We didn’t want to waste any time and wanted to be under way quickly, so after watering up we were heading out by 10am towards Rugby, where we needed to restock a ravenous fridge and freezer.

Diane also needed to head down to Watford for a doctors appointment and her prescription drug replenishment.

This time allowed us the chance to reconnect with the boat – we are sure that she must have missed us but she seemed gald to have us back and we were glad to be back with her.

Having taken up most of the week with all of this, it was time to get some cruising underway and some miles behind us - our mission before we returned was to go south towards the Thames to meet up with Sue and Andy (Festina Lente) and also with Bev and Roly (Klara) – later on we would be caught by Dot and Gordon (Ewn Ha Cul).

 

We managed to take a new circular walk from Bridge 98 into Braunston, taking
in some different views...

...with more livestock...

...and different buildings

Having traversed the Oxford (South) Canal just the once prior to this, we were interested to see some other locations that we only had a brief chance to see last year, to spend less time in those places that we had seen in detail – our eye was on the end of the journey, not so much on the transition.

 

Passing Napton, it was a big misty making it just a bit harder to see the Windmill

This is a lovely canal – very rural in its content and very varied in its coverage – I need my internet and there are too many areas where it was less than sufficient, so a few longer days of cruising ensued whilst we found it.

 

Yep, that's where we are

As I said some lovely rural scenes

And old buildings

You deserve another photo of this folly

These guys were off to the pub for a Sunday lunch - they fancied the roast beef

One place on our list to look at more closely was Cropedy – we had only the chance to pass through last year – something to do with music festival – this year it was much less busy.

Although the internet signals were acceptable (on the low side), Diane was seeking TV reception to be able to complete the viewing of the French Open, to wit, seeing if Murray could manage another major – alas, there was no TV reception, but we found a pub which very kindly switched on the TV and we could see the match – we started as the only viewers but once people found out it was on, the bar area was a bit of a standing room-only affair as they abandoned the sunny beer garden.

 

This one is for Sue (No Problem XL) - by Somerton Deep Lock

We got a bit of maintenance in - Diane has managed to sand and prime the gunwhales

Further along we had an overnight in Banbury and also in Thrupp – alas, there was no Maffi Oxford there, and we were the poorer for the lack of his charm and company.

 

After the painting, came the cutting and polishing - here
is the end result of her efforts - Ferndale is looking pretty
good again.

After that it was a normal day of cruising and we were out onto the Thames and the wide open waters and the depth as well was a welcome change and all of us – Diane, me and Ferndale were enjoying the freedom.

The only negative about this last part was the inconsiderate moorers around Duke’s Lock – moored in places that make it damn near impossible to get through – glad to see that the Oxford Council and CaRT are trying to do something to move them along.

It really is becoming a safety issue and these people do not see it – they concern themselves with what suits them and have a flagrant disregard and disrespect of other waterway users.

There – that was the rant!!

We carried on for a few miles before finally settling on a place to moor which was above Pinkhill Lock and just alongside the Farmoor Reservoir.

It is so peaceful and lovely here with barely a sound – well, except for the guy on the tractor who was mowing the grass on the incline up to the reservoir itself – but after he finished at about 9pm, it was peaceful and quiet.

 

One for our daughter Sam - there is a boat here for you!

And one for Dot - hey that can cover both my favourite mother-in-law and our
lovely friend Dorothea

I see that another football competition has started and the plans of domination by the English side have taken a bit of a dent; the upside, of course, is that Wales are on top of the group.

I think that there has become a consistency in our tendencies for a drink - here
at The Boathouse in Braunston...

...at at the Boat Inn in Thrupp

59 Miles, 43 Locks, 5 Lift Bridges

YTD:  262 Miles (422 km) , 205 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 5 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4057 Miles (6529 km), 2904 Locks, 116 Tunnels, 50 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

An Expected Journey - Northwards.

April 2016

Over the last month we have made our way north from Uxbridge; stopping at places that we have not visited before and also at places where we have such nice memories of previous visits.

We have been down a couple of arms that we had promised ourselves that we would get around to exploring and met up with so many lovely people – some of whom we have met before and known for quite a while and some who we have met for the very first time.

At present we are moored up in Rugby but that will not be for too long as we will need to be underway again.

The fishermen (should that read fisherpeople, although we have only seen men with their rods in hand) have been extremely pleasant and very happy – perhaps a sign of the improvement in the weather – a bit of sun on your back will do that to you.

The cyclists have improved in their manners and slowing down – maybe that has something to do with my refusal to jump out of their way quickly and they then have to slow right down – but still we are getting more co-operation with them in sharing the towpath.

The walkers are all back out again in their usual gear and setup – it appears that there must be some code of dress and code of necessary equipment than one must have and carry and be seen with.

Lastly the boaters are all starting to emerge from the winter hibernation that occurs for those who inhabit marinas and/or land-based abodes.

The likelihood of meeting a boat at a bridge during Febraury or March is almost non-existant, but come April-time and you need to be checking through the bridge-hole each and everytime.

Sharing of double-locks is now back in vogue or at least there are enough boats around for it to happen; and the chance to leave a gate or gates open for approaching boats is now more likely than before.

Yes we are emerging into the cruising season and April is just like a hire-boat change-over day; one day they are not there, the next they have appeared from the hedge-rows en-masse.

We called in at Berkhampstead for a couple of days – mooring spots galore – and spring rain to match – but we had always told ourselves that we should try and see a local football match – that we did – on a cold Tuesday night we saw the South Midlands Premier League battle between 4^th placed Hertford Town and 5^th placed Berkhampstead.

Diane did the honours at the gate and managed to get my OAP discount – a smirk on her face as she was pleased to indicate to the gate man that I was now old .

The match was a very competitive match with the home side coming out on top 2-1.

Diane had a stroke of luck with an earlier find of £10 at a lock prior to us mooring up and for her trouble it paid our way into the match.

Gee - they almost look like real teams - Hertford on the left and Berko on the right

Previous travels have taken us through Cowroast without mooring up, so this lovely open area had us for a night – and such a nice quiet place to stop – we really should have made it two nights at least, but our need to carry on overtook the desire to stay.

Sometimes when something special happens, it is as though there is such a thing as fate, and so with our decision to just spend the one night at Cowroast, the cruise the following morning – very early start at about 6:30 – we encountered more Kingfishers in one 3 mile stretch along the Tring summit level than we had seen in total in all of our travels – 10 of the bright blue thunderbolts were darting in and out and there were 2 pairs flitting around together.

What a great way to start the day.

The Aylesbury Arm had beckoned to us for a fair while now and we were not about to just cruise past for another time, so it was back onto some narrow locks for a few days as Diane steered the boat into the top lock.

Apart from a mile stretch where the canal bottom was encroaching on the water surface and we had some slow going, the journey was wonderful; beautiful scenery and a lovely basin at the end with pontoon moorings for 48 hours and 7-day moorings just before.

Coming into the Aylesbury basin - the 7-day moorings on the left and the pontoons
with 48hr moorings at the end on the right

A Waitrose supermarket right there meant that Diane would get her free coffee each day.

The township is very pleasant to wander around and enjoy; be sure to visit The Kings Head and see the story of the history of the pub.

Our pontoon mooring had access to water right there as well as bins for rubbish; across the way the new sanitary station was opened for use just a day or so after we had to leave.

A stop at Wilstone on the way back for Sunday lunch at The Half Moon was good advise acted upon – but you do need to book.

An overnight stop at Slapton did not give us any reason to want to do it again – the pub was closed when we ventured into the village mid-afternoon and some drainage of the pound overnight left us leaning quite a lot and a bit more heaving in the morning allowed us to get off the now shallow side.

One place that we have always stopped at previously was the The Grove Lock public house at Grove Lock was cancelled in preference to an overnight stop to check out The Globe Inn, which was a little further on past Leighton Buzzard and Leighton Lock.

The pub was lovely and we would be glad to stop again – but for those who need TV coverage, then you may be disappointed; we were not so critical on this count.

 

Early mornings in spring are simply magical...

...a bit of mist and a bit of sun and a clear sky

After good days, of which we had had so many since appearing north of the M25 it is reasonable to expect that somewhere along the way there might be a bad one about to happen – but not in this case.

We were pleasantly cruising along; slow past the moored boats; and who do we find but Gary off nb Inca, so we quickly moored up behind and the kettle was on; chatting away for an hour or more until Carolyn returned with Hamish after their walk.

The day was already very sunny and warm but these guys brightened it up even more – can’t wait to catch up with you two again and soon.

Who's a bit of a cheeky boy there Gary?

All good things must end and so we were off again and onto the next lock to where Gary had followed us to show off his skills on operating the lock – sorry mate, but you will need a bit more practice!

 

Sorry Gary, "feet too close together; elbow not at the right angle and your thumbs,
whatever were you thinking" - Craig Revel-Horwood

Along further we encountered Soulbury Locks – WARNING!!! – if you are at these locks early in the morning you will find at least one of the pounds almost dry – as we did – we had been through this before, but it wasn’t long before we were on our way again and then moored up at Fenny Stratford.

This little fellow was interested in us filling the water tank at the bottom
of the Solubury-3

This heron hung around for a while as well...

...before getting bored

A shopping trip to IKEA was on the agenda of the social secretary and as her bag man I was summoned along – to do what? – carry the bags of course!

There was a further reason for stopping here – Diane had her prescriptions sent to the friendly Boots store here and we collected these the following day.

The journey around Milton Keynes can be done one of two ways – quickly, like an endurance course and get it done and out of the way; or slowly and enjoy it – we chose the latter and stopped at Giffard Park where we had a lovely couple of days – the pub was showing all of the football, the Guinness was lovely, we even had a relatively nice Chinese as well.

We did our touristy walking and found the Medieval Vollage of Great Linford; had a very nice lunch and a pint in the pub there (The Nags Head) and, of course, the football was on.

 

Indalo Man - all the way from Mojacar - spotted on a house whilst we were
taking a walk

The old manor house - still around and occupied

We pushed on the following day and made it to Yardley Gobian – again we had never moored there – it is now marked with a great big – DO IT AGAIN – in the Nicholsons – so lovely and quiet – just so peaceful.

 

Not misty, but a beautiful spring sunrise

From there it was through familiar locks again – Stoke Bruerne for one night and then a further night just to the north of Blisworth and then a night just short of Weedon Bec and a chance to visit the renovated pub The Narrow Boat – nice enough but they are looking to attract a more up-market clientele – we sadly missed the boat on that count; but there were lovely views over the canal and countryside past there – and it was just plain nice sitting in the sun with a Guinness in hand.

We paired up with a single-hander to do the Buckby flight; the boats were tied together and Diane took over steering for the last two locks which were quite tricky and she failed to leave any paint on the lock gates or lock walls – another expert display of her helmsmanship (or maybe helmswomanship).

We moored just short of the tunnel and had an early start the following day – managing to do the tunnel and the six locks and be moored up in Braunston within 2 hours – with a little help from a hire boat crew who seemed to be in shock at how efficiently a boat (or rather boats) could move through the locks – just part of their training.

A gathering of boaters was a-coming, well it really had to be – Maffi was already there; Sue and Vic (nb No Problem) were there;we had no sooner moored up when Cathy and Martin (nb Moriarty) appeared; the following day Sue and Andy (nb Festina Lente) moored up and lastly but very importantly for us, Bev and Roly (nb Klara) were there in person as well.

 

Just another boaters meeting - not once did we mention batteries or toilets
From left - Maffie, me, Martin, Cathy, Diane, Sue, Andy, Sue and Vic
photo courtesy of Andy Gicquel (nb Festina Lente)

Over the time that we were there we shared drinks, meals, laughs and plenty of good-hearted boating chatter.

The quote goes something like “there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”, but there is really is nothing so wonderfull lovely as catching up with friends and fellow boaters.

 

On board Ferndale with cuppas all round - Diane suffers from short arms and
is too close to the camera

Andy has a bigger one

But all good things must come to an intermission – we needed to carry on a bit further northwards to Rugby and everyone else – including Maffi – had other places that they needed to be or had things that needed to be done.

Diane had a doctors appointment in Watford and we thought that getting a train down would be the most efficient way – until we saw the cost of hiring a car (from Enterprise) for the weekend –actually cheaper (ignoring fuel costs) so we did that.

In addition, I had had a chat with Steve Vaughan (Willow Wren Training) about a VHF Radio Licence course – “yes” he said – “next Saturday” – the day after our Watford trip – “oh and here is the book that you need to read before then”

The Watford trip went well.

The training course went well, if you completely ignore the worry and angst that I had all week trying to understand it all – by the end of the day it was over and I have a new licence; now to buy a radio and get onto the Thames again.

On the subject of hire cars: in my last blog I recalled some of the problems that we had experienced when hiring from Europcar (in Spain) – I will still advise anyone against hiring from them (based on our experience).

We received a phone call from the people here in England to advise that they had not been able to get any evidence from the Spanish people from Europcar and they would be refunding all of the additional charges made against us – this has now happened – there was profuse apologies, but nothing, absolutely nothing, will make up for their manners; lack of service and understanding, and complete apathy as to our problem with their company.

The credit card is healthier, but then again it should not have been anything other than that – if you get the impression that I do not like them, then you would be correct.

Happiness is ... Guinness and twisties ... and a full refund

One last thing – If you are looking for a boat to buy and live-aboard; even if not planning on living on it all of the time, then get yourself along to see this one – it is well worth your while and you will be assured that Vic and Sue have done a great job on this boat and it runs and works as well as they will advise you about.

Someone should buy it and buy it bloody quickly!! Check it out at Apollo Duck 

nb No Problem in full flight across The Wash 

95 Miles, 117 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 3 Swing Bridges

YTD: 195 Miles (314 km) , 156 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 3990 Miles (6421 km), 2855 Locks, 114 Tunnels, 45 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

School's Out for summer.. no,no,no...just 2 weeks.

Thursday 26th March to Saturday 28th March 2015


We had originally decided that we wouldn't be moving on Thusrday as the weather reports were all saying that rain was forecast; we also needed to do a couple of things in town; and to enjoy the services of the wonderful NHS.

Sure enough it came to pass that the rain was with us overnight and into Thursday morning - easing off just enough to allow us to trek into Rugby - about 3 km.

Outside a famous school - guess by the goalposts.

Half the town is school and the other half..well,..not

Diane wanted to visit a walk-in medical centre about her prescriptions, so we visited St.Cross but there was only a nurse practitioner there who could not authorise the repeats.
Back into the town centre and we did the things that we wanted to do and then back to the boat to warm up a bit - along with the earlier rain was a cold wind and a distinct lack of sunshine.

Later on I ventured out under orders but also visit Halfords to see if I could find a replacement screw for the bleed valve on the water separator which I had inconveniently snapped of during an engine check - it necessitated by-passing the separator from the fuel feed line.
Diane also had a list of items from Tesco which was directly across the road.

Friday is cruising day - after getting a bit of work done in the morning. It was off to Braunston as our destination -firstly water at the bottom of Hillmorton Locks and then through the locks and onto Braunston - there were plenty of boats heading northwards, so we were assuming plenty of mooring spots that would be available - we weren't disappointed and easily managed to find a convenient one.

This crew decided they would moor between the two water points - overnight

She finally had a chance to use her new windlass, now I need
to think of another birthday present

Hillmorton Locks

Barby Marina - despite recent TV coverage, you do get what
you pay for!

Definitely spring - it's there in black and white

You are not close to Braunston until you can see the church spire

Trips to Midlands for blue and pink, but no luck on the water separator replacement screw, however we wandered down to Baunston Chandlery where we struck gold - or rather brass - 2 brass screws which were the proper replacements.

Diane then went up into the village - the Braunston Butcher apparently had a meat package with her name on it - exactly what would be in it would be clear once she got there and decided what to buy.
In the meanwhile I went back to the boat with the intention of doing some more work but simply couldn't manage it - a half day off would recharge the worn out batteries and allow some recuperation.

Which is exactly what it did do as we caught up with Stella and Dave, both of whom cheered us up immensely, and later on we saw Mike who is just in Barby Marina doing some work on Dave's boat.
 

Stella and Diane

Mike and yours truly

I had started to lose track of the days and was beginning to think that Friday was Saturday - so terribly confusing, especially since I need to know for when Diane asks me "what day is it?"

Anyway, Saturday did arrive and we headed off not too early but not too late - it has been a while since we had tackled double locks and with most set against us we did struggle a bit in the wind, but we made it up the flight in just over the hour.
 

fellow bloggers nb Lillyanne

Somewhere amongst all of those boats, there is a lock

and another, just a bit further up

So then it was Braunston Tunnel ahead - seems that Diane is building up to tackle Standedge Tunnel sometime in the future - she had decided to continue doing tunnels and do this one under her own power - no she wasn't legging it, instead she controlled the boat all of the way through - she will gladly tell you she was relieved not to have a boat coming towards her - she wasn't quite ready for that.
 

Happily doing tunnels these days - a far cry from when we started

One more down - bring 'em all on

Onto the Buckby flight and we shared the locks with nb Guinevere and crew - we gather that they do some work with scouts and the 7 or 8 of them were out for the weekend to re-famliarise themselves with the boat, the locks and I believe one of the pubs along the way.

I/we have a favourite mooring place just past bridge 27 with a view over the valley; the M1 in the distance (sans-noise).
The wind had been pretty blowy throughout the day and made life just a little difficult holding for and entering locks; coming off the side; and now we were where we wanted to stop, it made it a little bit harder to moor up.

It has definitely been a lot busier with much more boat traffic, but then again we have to remember that school holidays have started - let's all enjoy the next two weeks.

At least this weekend means an hour less of them...already we have seen quite a few boats with what look like just kids on board - but bear in mind they are all looking younger to us.