On the move again.

Monday 15th December to Tuesday 16th December 2014

It is always nice to have a car for a few days but it is also nice when you return it - simply you can be off again in the boat.

By the time I had returned, and for the first time Diane had readied the boat for the day - canopy down at the back and fastened securely; unmoored and moved the boat on her own; down to the Calveley services block; moored up; de-rubbished; de-toileted; and by the time I arrived, she was busy chatting up Bernie from nb Happy Soul - no, I mean, she was having a chat with him.
Everything done, I just simply came along and enjoy her handiwork.

The tap is notoriously slow here and so it took a little while, but once filled we were finally off.

The washing had practically finished by that time, so it meant that Diane could be inside where it was cosy warm and sort through all of that; I had just a little bit of cold air to deal with - it was essentially a mild cruising day.

Around the turn at Barbridge and slowly past all of those moored boats - not another one on the move.

Or so we thought.

I walked ahead from bridge 4 to Cholmondeston Lock and in that time a boat appeared behind us - so a virtual queue had sprung up.To compound it, as we were descending in the lock, there was a boat coming from below the lock - bloody heck, all these boats around, we thought it would be quiet.

Diane recognised the lady coming up to do the lock, but couldn't find a name, until we saw the boat nb Free - Carol and Dave - how could we not know - brief hello to Dave and we carried on - through the next lock -Church Minshull.
 

Church Minshull Lock

As we passed Aqueduct Marina, we were feeling a bit tired and virtually at the same time agreed on it, so we moored up just past the marina entrance. There was some rain not long after and some during the night, but it was a very quiet mooring - no sounds of cars, trains or planes.

During Monday I had phoned for Brian at Renaissance and spoke with Ann-Marie about getting some diesel - just 80 litres to keep things topped up, with the aim of being at Middlewich. We heard nothing back, but didn't worry ourselves about it.

Tuesday morning greeted us with some more rain - on and off - by the time that we were ready to leave it had abated and the sun had appeared and was quite warm on the back.

A huge flock of seagulls suddenly took flight

Fine sunny day

Only 1 lock to negotiate and a few miles, so easy cruising and we made good time without rushing - just over 2 hours and we were mooring up, a bit short of Wardle Lock.

A spot of shopping in the town and a visit to the chippy on the way back - the rest of the afternoon was keeping cosy warm and doing some work (for me) and odd jobs (for Diane).

About 6:30pm there was a tapping on the side of the boat and upon investigation, it was Brian with our diesel - we hadn't received the message that he was on his way but diesel was accepted with great pleasure.
The ease of commerce these days - delivery to the boat; poured into the tank and cans as required; payment by debit card through the portable machine -just way too easy.
So here we are now, sitting down, very cosy and comfortable, ready for tomorrow and a day with a few more locks but tonight will be a few more rain showers.

11 Miles, 3 Locks

Totals: 2865 Miles, 2074 Locks, 97 Tunnels, 34 Lift Bridges, 151 Swing Bridges

Dog-gone it's time to act!

Saturday 23rd August to Wednesday 27th August 2014

With plenty of time on our hands there really was not a lot of need to move, which was a really good reason to stay put - the rain predicted for Saturday was another good reason, but it didn't seem to stop us heading off for a spot of shopping.

Why oh why didn't we wait just an hour, or at least take umbrellas bigger than a handkerchief over a small wire frame.

Things to drop off at the charity shop - things that we had found during our movement of the cupboards - at least  they will be a little lighter next week.
 

Breakfast - poached eggs on spinach and
flat mushrooms with hollandaise sauce -
I could take this more often

After we returned, there really wasn't much chance of doing a lot, so we took it easy - read as I only did a few hours work and Diane made use of the hot water available.

It was clear enough in the afternoon to get the starboard gunwhale sanded, primed and topcoated - now just the other side to be done

Sunday - weather outlook - brighter, a few small showers, periods of sun, mostly cloudy.
Our 48 hours were up so off we cruised - just 1 lock and heading for the Church Minshall area.

There was a little bit of a wait at the lock but not much; we tried mooring up near the farmshop at Church Minshall but there was a decent enough ledge/restriction and we couldn't get close enough, so we moved to the other side of bridge 14 and moored up on the designated moorings right near the bridge.

A walk into CM was the order of the day, especially since we discovered that there was a pub - The Badger Inn - which was not marked in our copy of Nicholsons Guide 4.
To say that the walk down the road is fraught with danger is really a given, but without a clearly identified alternative we walked (no running here!) the gauntlet.

The road of death - just enough for the cars - not anyone walking
- and there was plenty of walking

Pub was easily found; the village was quite charming without having much else apart from the lovely buildings.

an unusual portico

The Badger Inn

A nice quiet drink at The Badger; a look over the menu, but we declined; and then a good walk to the other end and back to a public footpath - the road was definitely too hazardous to contemplate a return journey.

Thrashing through the path and jungle environs, we stumbled upon others lost in search of the end - fortunately we were each looking for the end that each other had just come from.

well almost jungle-like

Who's that trip-trapping over my bridge?

Not all of the scenery was dark and overgrown whilst we
walked back along the public footpath

Back on the towpath we reviewed other moorings along the way where we had landed and a quick decision to move to a quieter location, so back at the boat we readied everything and moved just a short 500 metres to south of bridge 13 and a view over the valley - simply beautiful.
 

The view across the valley from the new moorings

Unfortunately we were on pins and still some of the passing fools on tillers don't understand about tickover.
We ventured outside and the boat approaching, upon our appearance suddenly decided to slow down (a bit); when I spotted the two pins at the stern pulled out and the rope dangling in the water, a blast about speeding boats (as a general blast) and they slowed to tickover - complete and utter "dicks".

A few of the boats previously moored in front of us had moved and we were able to move down and moor up on rings.
We are getting absolutely fed up with the number of people who don't give a sh_t about moored boats - first it was the Bridgewater and now the Middlewich branch - they suddenly remember when you make an appearance. It is not hire boaters only - a 50/50 split with them and non-hire boats - we did recognise a few as share boats as well.
I am trying hard to go along with Diane wishes and not saying anything, but it is getting close to breaking point. Such inconsiderate b_____ds.

Maybe super-soaker water-guns might do it - not so effective when they are already soaked.

Anyway a couple of nights moored there were still very pleasant - the weather for Monday dictated a non-moving day - very pleasing to see so many souls getting drenched and me staring them down to not speed.

Back moving on Tuesday - 2 locks to negotiate - a slower boat in front of us, but that was better than being behind the 5 boats in the queue immediately behind us - ooh that was a bit of a wait for them.
 

I have found Diane's new boat - as did the three ducks on the roof.

Nantwich reached and we moored up on the 24 hour rings; a walk into the town for some supplies - yep, you guessed it - milk was top of the list - reckon that we might buy a butty next year with room enough for a cow.

We did meet up with Corinne and Mark (nb Dee O Ghee) and had a bit of chat with them and met them again on Wednesday when we were getting water (as we moved to the 48 hour moorings) - we also met Charlie the 'Ridgeback.

With Corinne and Mark and their boat; Charlie declined the
chance to be in the shot

They are going to really enjoy it all when they can get onto the boat full time, but for now they are doing well and enjoying it muchly.

Water tank filled, cassettes now empty we moved another 400 metres - I needed a haircut and we just enjoy the walk into Nantwich so that was another couple of hours that went by.

A late decision to sand and prime the port gunwhale will show it to be a wise decision tomorrow when it only needs topcoating.

One last decision that I am contemplating, is buying a Border Collie and training said dog to be able to round Diane up in any clothes shop that she goes into and direct her back to the door - might be a good investment - should save more than the cost of the dog food.

The final option to speeding boats - sit down
with a pleasant glass of red!

14 Miles, 3 Locks

Totals: 2838 Miles, 2067 Locks, 97 Tunnels, 34 Lift Bridges, 151 Swing Bridges