A ticket to nowhere

Wednesday 6th May toThursday 7th May 2015

Our 24 hours on the moorings outside Tesco were up and time to move. It was pretty overcast but with patches of blue sky and a reasonable breeze around.
I had just prepared out side - taken down the pram-hood and strapped it in place - everything else was virtually ready to go, when we had breakfast - could not have timed it better - the heavens opened and we were able to watch it from inside the boat and dry rather than soaking wet and outside.
By the time we had finished eating, so had the rain and the sun appeared - a sure sign that it would be a better day ahead.

As predicted, the bags of rubbish that Diane had accumulated from her task the previous day made it inside the cratch for disposal further along.

We untied and pushed off; turned at the junction, this time just coasting through to avoid a repeat of our first time through here.
It is a relaxing cruise along here and we are very quickly identifying the canal and what will appear next but also seeing new things - as seems to happen on any canal that we have travelled - irrespective of the number of times we have traversed it.

Before long we were moored up again on the off-side at Yeading.

This time we decided to do a bit of exploring of the area and so headed down towards the Southall railway station to buy a couple of single National Rail tickets - we have no intention of using them at all - even the chap selling them knew the score and we got them very cheap.

As with the Bletchley Park deal some weeks ago, if you have a National Rail ticket then you are eligible for a great many 2-for-1 deals mostly in London - exactly where we will be for a week or longer.

I guess it would be fair to describe Southall as an area with a large sub-continental population - a great many Indian and Pakistani shops - it seems to be that the whole general area that we have been bobbing around in for the last 10 days is of that heritage.

She cannot resist a sale,but with her own self-imposed ban on buying new clothes,
she will have to wait a while before buying a new sari

By golly the range of smells, colours and sights was amazing and we enjoyed the casual stroll to the station and back - the whole area was also amazingly clean and tidy - in comparison to many other places that we have seen.
There was one item particularly missing (but not missed) from the street - dog s__t.
Clean and clear of it - first time we have seen that.

The rain held off whilst we were out and fortunately not long after we returned to the boat it bucketed down again and again.

We did notice a slightly different style of craft moored in front of us when we came back - would like to see inside one of these sometime.
 

Not an iPod - maybe an iBoat

Thursday arrived and we were both extremely tired for some reason and strangely there was a of reluctance on the part of the maker of coffees to get out of bed - even to wake up, but I was finally coerced to get up and put the kettle on whilst she held the bed down.

Later in the morning we ventured out to see what was around us on our side of the canal.
We have been so used to knowing what has been around us when we have travelled over the last 4 years that it is a bit strange to not know what lays beyond the next corner.
A little bit of leg work and a Tesco and B&Q appeared as well as few other larger stores and smaller shops - all to be marked down in the Nicholsons for future reference.

We have managed to get our steps in consistently each day in recent weeks, so we had a bit of a lazy day just doing 6500 steps, but we did also have a look at Willowtree Marina - apart from a very nice restaurant and bar (no use on a fasting day) the rest of the place was fairly basic but quite appealing.

For a week or so now, we have been re-watching the last three seasons of Spooks in preparation for the movie coming out tomorrow - we have failed to get it done but should be OK in a week, but we did get a bit more watched this afternoon and will settle down to see whichever game that The Europa League has on tonight.

Tomorrow we will trek back into Little Venice to take up our mooring for a week at Rembrandt Gardens and with a week off work next week, we are both looking forward to a more relaxed time



2 Miles
YTD: 325 Miles, 180 Locks, 6 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges, 11 Swing Bridges

Totals: 3219 Miles, 2301 Locks, 104 Tunnels, 36 Lift Bridges, 162 Swing Bridges

Canal claims another victim

Monday 4th May to Tuesday 5th May 2015

For anyone who may have missed it, Monday was, of course, Star Wars Day, so a belated happy Star Wars Day to one and all; light sabres out, speeder bikes at the ready - countdown to release of The Force Awakens (Dec 2015).

We however concentrated on more practical things - toilet cassettes and the need to empty them sometime this week.

It was such a lovely day that we untied and winded where we were - one thing that we love is that at 55' it is possible to wind almost anywhere, compared to those further north, where anything over 35' needs a winding hole.

There was an exceptional amount of rubbish in the canal this morning as we headed off - not just the usual stuff that washes down with a bit of rain (of which to date we not had any), but we also had tied bags of rubbish, large polystyrene containers and the like - deliberate dumpings.

Heading westward we stopped for water at Black Horse bridge (again) and after that travelled to Yeading where we moored up on the off-side along with about 10 other boats alongside the park - this seems to be an acceptable mooring site.
 

It's duckling season - spotting that is.

Very peaceful and quiet, Diane had the outdoor lounge chair out; relaxed and reading; coffee delivered; sun shining - just as she enjoys it.

Sadly, later on the clouds started to come over and the wind gradually picked up and she came inside - it was getting cold outside, but still cosy warm inside.

It was a bit hard to believe the difference that the week had delivered - centre of London (well Paddington anyway) we had to put up with a pair of young snobby twats, to now this where it was much more laid back - obviously way west of London (practically Bristol way).

This ensuing week has shown us a better side to people here, but next week may be different.

Monday night was the final session of the snooker and with two really nice guys contesting it, both of whom deserved to win, it was hard to pick one.
I just found it difficult to not see Stuart Bingham as the underdog and hence the one to support - we watched until it was 17-15 before we were off to bed - good news in the morning as we saw he had won 18-15.

Weather forecast was saying rain in the morning and heavy winds in the afternoon - we now had two cassettes which said "FULL" - we had already decided to head for the services as Norwood Top Lock.

At 6:30am it was not raining and a bit on the brighter side so we decided to leave early and go for it - hoping to beat the rain - which we did apart from a few spots only.

Getting to Bull's Bridge Junction, Diane wanted to get a couple of things at Tesco - maybe you can guess what it might be?  What's that you say - milk - then you would be correct.
In one, to write down on the calendar, I had to hold the boat whilst she shopped (not able to tie up anywhere); she went off to Tesco.
Expecting a lengthy delay as she dawdled walked there, she was going to obviously be sidetracked by shiny items, and check everything out, I was seeking an optometrists appointment as she returned after 10 minutes - "Weren't they open, dear?" - the look was deadly.
So we were off in a new record time and heading along previously un-navigated waters.
 

Houseboats - and going up...

...and bigger...

...I think the verandah has been undermined

The services block, which is marked in the Nicholsons appears to have been demolished to allow for the land to be sold off for new apartments. In the meantime a single toilet and a temporary elsan point have been left, the bins were further down on the other side (over the lock).

Everything was taken care of and now we just needed to wind and find a suitable mooring place nearby.
The wind had picked up but nothing of great concern; this part of the canal seemed a bit narrower than previously - with the front and stern buttons up we were in need of another 6" to be able to perform the manoeuvre - I've heard that criticism somewhere before.
The only option was to reverse back to the small side arm and wind there - just 150 metres back into the wind.

We put into practice some of the skills that we had seen on display at the Cavalcade just two days earlier, and a modicum of pride, we managed to do it without any loss of paint, skin or greying too much hair.
 

It was still a lovely and peaceful cruise

Safely around we tried a few spots to moor up but each seemed to have insufficient water below the surface. The wind was gusting and during one of these my favoured Driza-bone hat was whipped off and deposited in the canal - not the first time this has happened, but now the last.
It stayed in the middle of the canal, so no chance to retrieve it and slowly sank out of sight - hope that it doesn't find itself around someone's prop.
 

Goodbye old friend !

We eventually found a mooring spot back at Bulls Bridge outside Tesco, where we will spend the night.

Over the last week, especially, we have the distinct feeling that the alternator which charges the leisure batteries is not working at full capacity and could very well be on it's way out, so a phone call has been made for an electrician call next Tuesday and look at it for us.
It doesn't seem to like having anything taken out (washing machine or vacuum cleaner) even whilst running the engine under load - it takes a little while (up to an hour) until the appliance can be used - something has changed with the performance over the last 3-4 months.

After mooring up, Diane was a bit disgusted with an abnormal amount of rubbish that had been simply left right where we moored - it was a boater (or boater's) - do not these people have any pride in their own environment - so she set about bagging it all and I guess if we do not find any bins it will occupy the front cratch to be dumped when we do find one.
 

cleaning up someone else's mess...

...such a good girl - might have to keep her on.

The winds came up not long after and with a number of boats passing by or wanting to stop for water, it was "interesting" to see how each one coped with the conditions - some did well; others were unlucky.

10 Miles
YTD: 323 Miles, 180 Locks, 6 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges, 11 Swing Bridges
Totals: 3217 Miles, 2301 Locks, 104 Tunnels, 36 Lift Bridges, 162 Swing Bridges

Heart over head

Friday 24th April 2015

The clear intention that we had yesterday evening was to move down one lock and moor up before the next lock - less than 1 mile; then to look around Uxbridge a bit more and do some shopping.

We started well - we made it through the lock; as we approached the A40 roaring above us, there was a mention that it would be great just to head into London and hopefully pick up a mooring in Paddington basin and spend some time in London before we were due to come in on the 8th May.
There was no insistence in the voice, just a desire to move off script and let the heart rule the head.
After a bit of checking the Nicholsons - predominantly for locations of railway stations I agreed and so instead of a gentle short cruise, we committed ourselves to a lengthy day of travel.
 

coming down into Uxbridge - this building gives the appearance of a large ship
architecturally speaking of course.

Rubbish - this mess could only have been left by boaters - SHAME

Environmental vandals - sinking of this small boat

another bridge without a towpath through it - just above Cowley Lock

Admittedly after Cowley Lock, where we filled with water and emptied the cassette, it was simply straight cruising all the way in.
 

cheesy grin

back into names on boats - Dorothy for my favourite current mother-in-law

Rebecca - favourite daughter in New Zealand

Mitchell - favourite son anywhere

Just prior to Bull's Bridge Junction we were catching up with a widebeam which was extremely apprehensive going through the wide bridge holes, so they slowed right down.
 

We have been appalled to see so much rubbish around - SHAME

Bull's Bridge and Junction

Eventually they made their way around the junction and just as we prepared to catch and overtake them, BANG!! - we were stopped in their wake.
Pulling over and down the weed hatch revealed a pair of nylon track pants wrapped around the prop.
We were off and going again in 15 minutes, the offending item firmly enclosed in our back deck rubbish bag.
Nothing surprises us any more as to what we are likely find on the prop.

Normal services resumed and gentle easy hard throttled cruising (from Susie Wolff) was the order, until either another boat (widebeam) approached, or a call of nature - whichever was first - after that the water voles had to stop their surfing.
 

red-eared terrapin or red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)

Parent coots and a chick 

At least we could see many many potential mooring spots should our goal be full.

Passing by Kensal Green Cemetery we think we saw the gate used by Tim and Prue, in their cruising series, to access the cemetery from canal-side.

Not to anyone's surprise the canal was an almost continual line
of moored boats

Lifeboat refugee from a passenger ship somewhere - seen a few of these already

We are still represented here

I don't think that I have seen a heron and a swan so close together before

Favourite feeding spot I would say - waiting for lunch

We came across literally hundreds of kids playing Gaelic football - next will
be Australian Rules Football

We passed over the North Circular roadway, happily spying on the bumper-to-bumper traffic; we found the Little Venice mooring spot that we will have soon; passed by Paddington station.
 

North Circular traffic jam

County crest as explained in Tom's blog on nb Waiorou

Terrace houses lining the canal down to the edge...

... and boats as well

entering into Paddington Basin area

In the basin the only possible mooring spot happened to be directly over the lines of air bubbles pumped into the canal to improve it's health; despite Carol and George advising against it, Diane thought it wasn't too bad - so we moored up.

It was not going to work and so we cast off and moved about 1/2 a mile outside Little Venice to Westbourne Green and found a much quieter spot.

We will need to move off on Monday morning as CRT are preparing for the Calvelcade for the Bank Holiday on Star Wars Day.
This will do us until then and we will move further out

21 Miles, 3 Locks
YTD: 303 Miles, 180 Locks, 6 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges, 11 Swing Bridges
Totals: 3197 Miles, 2301 Locks, 104 Tunnels, 36 Lift Bridges, 162 Swing Bridges