Shiralee Cruise 2012 # 14

Ellesmere to Top of Grindley Brook Locks


Monday 25th June

Hey! It’s sunny! We’re on our way to the Preese Branch of the Llangollen this morning. Must get some painting done.

Yesterday it stayed dry enough for us to pay a visit to The Red Lion and take a walk to The Mere, the lake closest to the moorings in Ellesmers, and where Wifey took the Circular Walk on Saturday. After our Sunday drink we took the short walk to The Mere, where they had the finish of the local Marathon, with stalls aimed at cyclists and several food stalls. We walked alongside the lake and on to the gift shop and ice cream parlour. Well, of course!

I’ve now finished roping up our tyres and they will be pressed into service later today. The rest of Sunday was chill-out time.

Tuesday 26th June

What a glorious day we had yesterday, and what a lot we did too, cruising seven miles and renewing some old paintwork.

We left Ellesmere a little later than is our usual practice, because we needed to call into the local marina for coal. Yes, I know it’s summer but, with the lousy weather we’ve had of late, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Anyway, we arrived at the Prees Branch of the Llangollen at about midday and settled in to read the paper and enjoy a well earned cuppa, after which work called.

Sheila wanted to complete the top and sides of the bow, but she had decided that she wanted to change the colour from green to red. After rubbing down and applying rust preventative we now have mostly the original green, but the raised point at the very front, along with the top of the front locker, are now in red. With the front of the cratch also in red and painted with prettycoloured diamonds, the additional red bits look quite effective. There are also some areas along the side that we hadn’t finished last time we painted, so they also have to be finished.

As for the aerials, well, as we wanted to watch some tennis yesterday afternoon, I set the aerial for the right direction, which is when I realised that the radio aerial cable was running directly underneath the TV pole. Ooops! Having removed part of the enclosed panelling, just to check all was Ok and the radio still worked, I then put it all back together and sealed it The whole lot is now completely enclosed and should not be affected by weather conditions.

After yesterdays blazing sunshine, and it really was too hot for work, today has progressed from sunshine to lightly overcast. If it stays like this we will have ideal conditions for restoring the red on the port side. For those who have seen and remember Shiralee, both sides are predominantly red, so this will require quite a bit of elbow grease.

The Prees Branch is a very short stretch of canal that comes off the Llangollen at a big bend and ends at a BW marina, as I think I mentioned last time we were here. Ordinarily we wouldn’t have bothered stopping here since there’s not much to see, although on our last visit, we did take a walk down to the marina and, on our way back, picked up a jar of local honey from a nearby farm. The main benefit of this branch is that it’s very quiet and, more importantly, few boats come down here. Having to paint the bow meant tying up at the stern and middle, leaving the bow unsecured, so we really didn’t want to be plagued by tearaway holiday boaters.

I’m on a diet. Yep, little old me standing 5ft 9inches in my socks, now weighs in at 14½ stone. To you metric morons, that’s about 92 kilos. Losing weight at the ripe old age of 70, as many experts will tell you, is not an easy task. Most folks in my age group would also say it’s a complete waste of time. But I’m making the attempt, not just because I feel uncomfortable at this weight – borderline obese, according to medical charts – but because I also want to reduce my reliance on Insulin injections, of which I take four per day, and I’m rather fed up with stabbing myself that many times.

Sheila also feels that she’s carrying a little too much, although I would argue that she’s rather more cuddly that way. So, we are now cutting out all cakes and sticky buns, which we have become rather fond of, but only with our last cup of tea in the evening.

We are also cutting down on bread and potatoes, which are both heavy in carbs and, in my case, contribute to higher blood sugar levels, which, in turn means more Insulin. As a younger man when I decided to lose weight, the first to go were bread and spuds, so I know it works.

I’ll keep you posted on my efforts.

Meanwhile, for another day we’ll be here on the Prees branch slaving away at the paintwork. After that, tomorrow we’ll take a run down to the marina and turn around to make our way back to the main Llangollen and on to Whitchurch.

That’s it for this entry. Wifey will be up soon and I’m the chief breakfast maker. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, are toast days. Wednesday and Saturday are Crumpet days. Sunday is boiled eggs and soldiers. My new regime calls for just one slice instead of two, but, since I’ll be working my fingers to the bone restoring the red paint, and since I have no wish to fall into a diabetic come from lack of blood sugar, I think I’ll stick to the usual for today. Ah, go on, you know it makes sense!!

Wednesday 27th June, crumpet day.

Only one day to go and it will be our 32nd year as man and wife and Wifey’s birthday. It would be un-gentlemanly of me to tell you which birthday that would be.

Yesterday was fine for the most part and saw Sheila finishing off most of the painting on the bow, although the red on top of the green will need a second coat at some point.

However, we first decided to give the chimney a good clear out of the rubbish that has collected since we left Mercia, all of which is, we think, caused by the inferior coal on sale in this part of the country, which tend towards lots of dust, which in turn causes a build up of soot.

Looking down the flu with a torch, it was not hard to see why we were seeing as much smoke inside the boat as outside when we opened the door on the front of the fire. About half way down there was a complete blockage, and yours truly had the odious task of removing it. Just how I was going to achieve this was something of a moot point, but shift it I must, else no fire for the rest of our trip.

Two hours later and a phone call to my brother Alan, and the job was done, but not without skinned knuckles on my right hand, lots of blue air and the castellated end to an aerial pole, which took a serious attack with a small hacksaw to achieve. This was Alan’s idea and, as a miniature oil-drilling pipe, worked quite well – no pun intended – in churning up the blockage. Of course, the weather has warmed up now, so no need of the fire!!

We had some rain yesterday and, believe it or not, we’ve had more of the same this morning. However, we really must get to Whitchurch today, not least because I have yet to find a birthday card for Wifey, although I do have the anniversary card, so I don’t think I’ll get too much grief,having only achieved half of my husbandly duty.

Some boaters do like to cruise late in the day and, much to our surprise, at around 8 o/clock last night we saw one coming towards us from the marina. The name of the boot was Snoozie, a misnomer if ever I heard one, since the owner left his generator running until 10 pm, our time for going to bed and contrary to BW rules. But, having asked him nicely to turn it off, he was equally polite and happy to do so. This is not a situation that I like being in but, since most boaters are quite genial folks, the risks of a serious confrontation are pretty minimal.

Thursday 28th June

Yesterday was glorious and, after arriving at Whitchurch moorings, which are but a short Womble ride away from the town, we had a cuppa and then walked down to wait for the bus. This was at about 12.20 and we were in town well before 1pm.

We finally found our buffer attachment for the drill and I found a decent birthday card for Wifey, after which, gasping for a coffee, we called into a little Spanish café called Juan’s, where they do a pretty good BLT wrap. This place will be included in all future visits to Whitchurch.

When we returned to the boat Sheila set to with the paint brush again and finished off her own assigned section of paintwork, after which we both retired with a cold drink. It’s very tiring watching other people work, you know, and works up quite a thirst in the watcher!

The Daily Mail had an article about Facebook that I found most interesting, since I have only recently joined. This was about the fact that, without asking their members, of which they already have over 900 million, more than the population of the USA, they intend to force their members to adopt a Facebook email account.

Now, I don’t know about other members, and their have been a few outbursts from some of them, but I don’t much care for bully boy tactics. 900 million members already generate vast amounts of revenue through targeted advertising and the floatation of Facebook raised many millions more, but, as usual, the more money they have, the more they want. Greed! That’s all it is.

Well, I for one will not give them the satisfaction. Call it a knee jerk reaction if you like, but I’ll be cancelling my membership just as soon as I can find out how and a decent spot with a strong enough Internet signal to do so.

A weak signal is also the reason why I am unable to post this blog this morning. We’re off to Grindley Brook this morning where I hope the signal will be a little stronger, so I’ll try posting from there.

Incidentally, the buffer pad that we bought yesterday does not have any way of being attached to the drill unit. We are therefore going to have to tie it on to the disc with twine. Luckily the stitching around the pad should provide a base for this. But I have to say that, from a reputable company like Black and Decker, this is a stupid oversight. Surely they must realise that any polishing to be carried out with this attachment is not necessarily going to be on a horizontal level? Even on the horizontal, if insufficient pressure is applied during polishing, there is the danger that the pad will simply fly off, never to be seen again?

Friday 29th June

First of all, many thanks for the best wishes on Sheila’s birthday and our Anniversary yesterday, they were much appreciated. Ordinarily we would have celebrated at the nearest pub but, with her impeccable timing, Wifey was feeling a wee bit dicky in the tummy, so we’ve put it off for a few days. The upset, we think, was probably due to inhaling paint fumes the day before, which was rather hot and humid. Still, she’s on the mend now, I’m pleased to say.

Weather-wise yesterday was pretty good, with just a few isolated showers, followed by a rather noisy and thundery storm later in the afternoon. This morning is not looking too good either, not least because it’s windy and raining and Rusty had me up at 04.30 for her call of nature.

It is now Wimbledon fortnight and, as is our wont, we set the TV up yesterday to watch Nadal give Rosol a thrashing. Well, along with millions of other viewers, that’s what we expected, only to see the biggest turnaround since the tournament started, back in the year dot.

Now, bearing in mind that our trip from Whitchurch to the top of Grindley Brook Locks only took half an hour yesterday morning, it was necessary to run the engine for a bit longer than usual in the evening. All in all those batteries had three hours of charge. Of course since this is a 240 volt TV and the Inverter/Charger had to be on whilst we watched it, combined with the fact that the aforementioned tennis match went into extra time and the roof of Centre Court had to be closed, which meant another 45 minutes before the final set began, we have been left with less than 12 volts in the batteries this morning. But, at least the laptop is still being charged up, as is the mobile.

What a disaster for Nadal though, and what a shock for all concerned. I just bet the bookies made a few quid out of it. I don’t know what the Czech player was on, but they should bottle it so that we can all possess such power and determination. I wonder how far he’ll go!

Now, even though we only have a slightly stronger signal here, I’m going to try to post this blog, simply because it is now eight pages long and, quite possibly becoming a little boring. Sadly though, I’ll have to dispense with the photos.

All abreast for now.

Dave, Sheila and Rusty, on a blustery, wet and horrid morning.