Return to Duck territory!

Wednesday 17th December to Friday 19th December 2014

It is not until you are without something that you rely on, just how lost you are without it.
That has been the case with us for the past 2 days - no internet services - and Diane has been completely lost. 
No chance to viber anyone and chat away; yes, I guess it has affected me as well, not being able to do as much work.

All three devices have failed to pick up a consistent signal, so we think that the problem is with the towers and not at our end, especially since the signal does come and go.

We have had to rethink our cruising plans a half dozen time in the last 3days, taking into account all of the stoppages and the breach at Dutton as well as what we have committed to do and what we would like to do.

But as of now we are going through Harecastle tomorrow morning (Saturday) and will be spending time in Stoke before heading down to Stone probably on Boxing Day and will leave after New Year - our booking to go north through the Harcastle is for the 9th January - last one before it closes.

After that we would like to get down to Chester and maybe Ellesmere Port; spend some time on the Llangollen before we head up the Macclesfield.
This means traversing the Cheshire Locks twice more, but having just come up we had a great time of it all.

We left Middlewich on Wednesday morning and filled with water before Kings Lock and whilst it was a bit cold and windy it was far better than being in the place of all of those people stuck in cars on their way to work.

Glad that I do not have to deal with traffic like this to get to work...

...just crap like this - why bother to bag if you aren't going to find a bin

Cruising is always lovely 

and winter views are just as good

see what I mean

We eventually moored up in a new location for us - Paddys Wood - so very quiet - we will stop there again.

Rain in Wednesday night disppeared almost on Thursday morning, but it was quite windy - more than Wednesday - but very much warmer.
The only rain that we had was a quite heavy shower before we reached Wheelock, where we topped up with water, dumped the rubbish and the elsan.
Doing the locks was mighty enjoyable - at least it was not cold and with no other boats around you just worked at your own pace - seems to be the positive side of winter  travel.
So 14 locks passed us by before we decided that Rode Heath would be the stopping place - and damn that internet signal.
Still we enjoyed the rain on the roof that night.

One other thing we are finding is that we are being more selective about turning the TV on - if there is nothing worth watching then it stays off. We are starting to use the BBC iPlayer for any late shows and watching them a few days after screening.

The Reflecs is working a treat - the boat is keeping cosy warm at around 19-20C without any fuss. Her indoors is happy as well.

Anyway a quiet night of reading - but after 14 locks the tiredness set in early and we couldn't stay awake much longer.

Friday, still no internet, so rather than stay the extra day in Rode Heath as we had planned, we headed off towards Red Bull - our intention at that stage was to stop around there until Monday morning - the time for our inital booking through the Harecastle.
With just 9 locks and little or no wind we set off. Whilst the air was chilly, the lack of wind balanced it out and we actually felt quite warm.

She had done plenty of locks over the three days - so happy with
another out of the way...

...and some had been heavy

Diane as usual decided which locks each of us would look after - her tried and tested formula being that the ones that are close together were hers, and the ones further apart were mine.
So she looked after the first four - all set against us - and than I took over.

The sun was bright and warmish, the air was coldish

At the very first of these we found a boat coming down the lock, so it was set for us (me) and naturally the next lock which was only about 50 metres away was also set for us.
Unsurprisingly the next two of mine were also in our favour - I was doing well - 4 from 4 - a bit of a win there.
The last lock, which I was meant to look after, Diane decided she would tend to it - lo  and behold, it was full, so she needed to reset it - score was Diane 0, Ray 4.

Moored at Red Bull, we are making full use of the services including the washing machine and dryer, plus we both had showers.
We enquired at the CRT office here about Harecastle passages and we were able to change our Monday timeslot for one tomorrow - just have to be there at 8:30am.

With that done and the second load of washing finished, we headed off to Red Bull pub for lunch. A lovely warm fire a lovely friendly face behind the bar greeted us - drinks done and food ordered, Diane brought out the pigs for a game.

Our Happy Friday photo 

The food arrived in just a short time - Diane's trio of fish looked and tasted very good as did my seafood rissotto.
Alas we could not indulge in any of the desserts - and they all looked pretty good - we had a boat to move up two locks.

On the way back we spotted this little fellow

If we were to meet the 8:30 timing at the tunnel, we would not do it the morning if we had 3 locks and another1.5 miles to move - so we clipped 2 locks and a mile off the job.
Diane doing the first (had to be reset) and I did the second (set for us)
Diane 0, Ray 5
So we are now ready for the morning; still cosy warm.
Looking forward to Stoke tomorrow - eh Duck!

14 Miles, 31 Locks


Totals: 2879 Miles, 2105 Locks, 97 Tunnels, 34 Lift Bridges, 151 Swing Bridges

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

Down the Hatch and into the Bay

Wednesday 16th July to Saturday 19th July 2014

We moved along to Middlewich with unclear intentions of whether we might stay more than just the 1 night; nevertheless we did need to stock up on a few things and Diane wanted to sample the wares from the chippy opposite Kings Lock.
 

She has been baking - the scones were gone pretty quick
and the bread lasted until the following morning.

That all done we didn't get anything else completed whilst we were there - eventually deciding just on the one night. Our intention to head further along to the flashes and spend a few nights up there and then to get stuck into the engine bay painting.

We unmoored (not sure if that really is a proper word) and made for Wardle Lock which seemed to be taking the boat in front an inordinate amount of time to negotiate.
There was a family of "killer" swans at one of the bridges before the lock - they had threatened a lady and dog in front of Diane - she then thought it better to hitch a ride on the boat to get around them.

The lock didn't seem to hold any hidden secrets to it's operation and getting down - the crew on the hire boat behind us being reluctant to even offer any assistance - so be it.

Anyway, we traversed the shortest canal on the system - Wardle - turned the boat around at the junction to face north and then reversed back to the Chandlery for some diesel (81 p/l).
Moored up; waited for the guy to come out (he was quick); filled up; paid for it; untied; and headed off - we passed the junction again just as the hire boat was coming out of the lock - fair to say it was quicker being in front of them than behind - to their credit, they seemed to be having a good time.

Down through the next three locks and then pulled in for water. We could see the lock behind us - now, we have a large tank (900 litres) and it was down to halfway, so there was a fair amount of water needed. I wouldn't say the water pressure was strong (nor was it weak) - we untied and away by the time that the hire boat was through just the second lock.

After that it was through Big Lock and then the aqueduct and onto the flashes - where we moored after Bridge 180A.

The upper Trent is really quite pretty ....

...in an African Queen kind of way

I just cannot resist that smile

The width of the water there resembled Tixall Wide (the depth was slightly less) but it was an extremely pleasant view out of the window.

 

Looking out across the flash

Towpath dominatrix....

...but later with the family in tow, they just wandered past without
any fuss at all

Sunset - Thursday night

The towpath was not particularly wide at this point - certainly enough to sit out and enjoy the late afternoon sun and listen to the birds and the planes on their way into Manchester airport.

The weather reports were all saying that it was going to be very warm on Friday and rain on Saturday, so it was time to get cracking on the engine bay painting.
These spaces were never ever designed for someone around the 190cm mark to be squeezing down and twisting to reach all sorts of places to place a wet paintbrush to cover the old colour.
At the end of getting about 70% of the area painted, the body was agreeing with the designers - it was too much of a squeeze.

By the time I had finished and cleaned up, there was a welcome surprise to see nb Two Jays with Joan and Jim pulling up behind us.
We knew that they were heading this way but were not exactly sure how close.

We chatted for a bit before heading inside to rest the now aching body, have some lunch and ready ourselves for le Tour.

The lovely Joan striking a pose

Later on when were back outside we were able to chat a bit more - plus I had recovered somewhat and only had half the body sore and aching.
 

Sunrise Saturday morning

Saturday lived up to the forecast - the rain starting fairly early and not letting up much at all - but there was still the matter of the remaining section of the painting to be done.
So glad that the worst was over - at least I thought that - today's painting was mainly fiddly bits around the Mykuni and other areas which involved even more cramped conditions than the previous day.
Maybe I was getting better at it, because by the end of if I felt nowhere near as bad as I was previously.
More le Tour; Diane's bath day; more chatting with Jim and Joan - by now the rain had gone and it was quite sunny outside.

At least the first is now done - a second will be necessary and there is the question about the area around weedhatch to be resolved - all of which will be completed in this coming week (all going well!).


13 Miles, 7 Locks

Totals: 2669 Miles, 2037 Locks, 91 Tunnels, 32 Lift Bridges, 151 Swing Bridges