Shiralee Cruise 2012 # 30

Great Haywood to Mercia Marina


Friday 12th October

The weather this morning is not looking too promising, with heavy clouds and a light breeze, which could easily turn into a downpour and gale force winds. We live in hopes as we really don’t want any further delays in getting back to Mercia.

Yesterday, as I reported in Blog # 29, I had more trouble with replying to emails through Outlook. In desperation I sent a query to the help desk at Absolute Email but, like a twerp, I didn’t think to include the full text of the error message. This morning, surprise, surprise, Absolute replied asking for just that. In ‘replying’ to their request I told them I would let them know just as soon as it happened again. Would you believe, that reply went out without a problem? Hmmmm, and Grrrr!!

We took our belated trip into Stafford yesterday but, with buses running at only one per hour we didn’t have long for shopping. The ride there was pretty hairy as the driver had some time to make up and took a few more risks than I would have done. After all, even going at breakneck speed, he was only ever going to make up a couple of minutes, if that. The ride back was much more sedate, I’m pleased to say.

Saturday 13th October

It’s foggy man, really foggy this morning, so we may have to wait until the sun burns it off or the wind and rain disperses it. Whatever, we only have a couple of miles to go to Rugeley for shopping at Morrison’s, then on to Handsacre, where we’ll stay for Sunday lunchtime at The Old Peculiar pub.

Yesterday we spent about 1½ hours travelling the 3 miles and 2 locks to bridge 69 and, believe it or not we moored right opposite the pig farm. Fortunately there’s no smell to speak of since the wind is carrying it away. That farm also has chickens and a cow and one of the workers there lives on a boat with his Border Collie. Whilst out walking with Rusty yesterday afternoon I actually watched that dog kill a chicken. I think it was trying to herd it back into its compound, but became so frustrated at its refusal to do so, that she picked it up and tried to toss it over the wire, with fatal results.

I have just received the last part of the caravan pastel instructions. Goodness knows how Emma manages to depict a picture in such detail, it’s completely beyond me. But, with a bit of perseverance I’ll actually finish it soon. I will then file it away, never to see the light of day again.

So, what is the incubation period for the common cold? Not that we’re common you understand, but I now seem to have caught the wretched thing, and the only person I can possibly blame it on, is my dear wife. Out come the Beecham’s Powders and the Honey and Lemon drinks. Actually I can’t really blame Wifey because, as every woman will tell you, we men do not have colds we have man flu, which makes us very ill indeed and unable to cope with the simplest of tasks.

Sunday 14th October

I arose from our pit at the usual time of 5.15 to a very chilly boat. Fully expecting to see a frost on the ground, but finding none when I peeked through the window, I then cast my eyes towards the fire, where the fan on top was turning rather slowly. Oh dear! Who forgot to top the fire up last night? Fortunately it still had some life in it, so it was just a matter of topping it up and opening the vents, so it wasn’t long before the fan was spinning like crazy.

The fan here, for those non-boaters reading this blog, has only one moving part, and that’s the blade. It sits on the top plate of the solid fuel burner and, with a little help from rising heat currents, the fan spins, sending the warmth of the fire throughout the boat. Well, that’s what it’s supposed to do. In practice though, the heat doesn’t quite reach the bedroom, so, during the really cold weather we close the bedroom door and revel in the warmth. Lovely!

We now have just four days to go for this cruise and I fully intend for this to be the final blog posting. It may be a few pages longer than normal, but I’m sure you won’t mind.

Tomorrow we should be at Fradley Junction, followed by Alrewas on Tuesday, Branston Wednesday and home to Mercia on Thursday the 18th of October.

Monday 15th October

Yesterday, after an hour in The Old Peculiar, the rest of the day was spent relaxing. O.K., so we do plenty of relaxing anyway and Sundays are no different in that respect, but Sundays are not conducive to bus rides into town centres, so they always seem to go slower than the rest of the week.

The day was bright, with a chill wind and we fully expected a frost this morning but, luckily for us the day has started off cloudy and, especially for Wifey’s sake, since we do have a few locks to go through, so she won’t have slippery metal to walk across.

We’re only going three miles today to Fradley Junction, so it shouldn’t take us more than an hour and a half, even with the locks thrown in.

Rusty is becoming more and more prone to her tummy upsets, so one of our first ports of call when we get back to Mercia will be a trip to the Vet’s. Hopefully he will come up with some idea as to what is causing it because, whatever he prescribed last time, didn’t work.

Tuesday 16th October

The caravan is finished, but not really to my satisfaction. But, it’s safe to say that, once I have submitted a copy to Emma it will join the painting of Rusty. The sunset project will be treated with much more care and, with luck, result in a much cleaner and more detailed finished article. Meanwhile I now have to find a board on which to lay my A3 sheet while I’m working on it, and I also need to find a way of storing it between sessions. Not only that but, since our printer only goes up to a maximum of A4, I will have to take whatever picture Emma sends me to a photo shop for enlargement.

We arrived here at Fradley Junction at about 10.30 yesterday morning and were met with a notice warning boaters to proceed with caution when passing through the river section at Alrewas, which is our next stop after Fradley. Obviously that section; which is only about 200 yards long; is a bit high due to the heavy rains of late but, since we won’t be going through Alrewas until tomorrow I’m hoping the high water would have subsided by then. If the warning signs tell us that the water level is in the red, then we’ll have to wait until it goes down again.

We took a walk up to the shop yesterday, just to see how much more they’ve done to it since we passed through earlier in the year. The upstairs Art Gallery is complete, with displays of work from several artists. Downstairs is almost complete, with a small section being set aside for basic foodstuffs for passing boaters. We had, I think, our final ice cream of the season and bought a couple of the ‘Favourite’ series of recipe books, of which there are 86 in total. We now have 16 of them, so a long way to go yet.

Wednesday 17th October

When we awoke yesterday morning we were met with a high wind and bright sunshine. The sunshine is always welcome, but the wind makes it very difficult to steer 15 tonnes of steel, so we decided to stay another day at Fradley. The strong winds stayed with us until late afternoon, by which time it was too late to head for Alrewas. Besides which, we would have had trouble finding a mooring spot that late in the day.

We had hoped by this morning that the river section would have subsided but, with heavy rain overnight the warning sign has probably slipped into the red. We are, therefore, between a rock and a hard place, do we stay here for a third night, or do we go on to Alrewas and wait it out there? If the water level is now in the red, there may already be quite a few boats held up at Alrewas, which may make it rather tricky finding a mooring spot. This late in our travels I do not need the horns of a dilemma!! Even now, the wind seems to be whipping up again, adding to the problem.

…….. It’s now almost 6.30 am and I’ve just come back from walking Rusty. The wind is now just as strong as yesterday and it is now raining stair rods. Not only that, it is now a head wind, so we definitely are not going anywhere this morning, and it looks like a late arrival at Mercia, probably the weekend. What a way to end seven months cruising!

Last winter I didn’t bother with the blog, with the result that I was unable to use it just before setting out for this years cruise. This winter I will continue with the blog, but on a more ad hoc basis. Obviously being stuck in one place and passing our days very much like everybody else is not conducive to the production of exciting reading. This means that I will have to be rather picky in what I write about.

I have no doubt that my pal Alan will continue sending jokes and links to various amusing online videos, which I can include if they are suitable for family viewing. There’s also the matter of certain newspaper articles, some of which do tend to infuriate me. For example: this witch hunt of Jimmy Saville. Loads of other notable people have been dragged into this, including Esther Rantzen and Freddie Starr, to name but two. BUT, when is somebody going to offer PROOF of any wrongdoing by this man? All I’ve heard – and this is not unusual when a famous personality dies – is accusations from women who say ‘his touch lingered just a little bit too long’. What’s that supposed to mean? Did he molest these girls, or was he just being affectionate? I know, I know, there’s no smoke without fire, and all that cliché stuff and, I don’t think I’m being naïve here. We’ll probably never know the truth of it, despite the investigations going on, but an awful lot of heads will undoubtedly roll as a result of them.

That’s the kind of thing I plan to include in the winter blog. What you will have to bear in mind though, is that we only read the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, so I will probably be a wee bit biased. Well, you pays yer money and takes yer choice!!

Thursday 18th October

Much to our surprise, yesterday morning turned out fine and dry, so off we went to Alrewas.

This village has a Co-op, newsagent and a really good butcher, a shop that we always seem to spend too much money in, and yesterday was no different than usual. He usually has fresh bread on sale, but all of it was sliced this time, which we simply hate, (more like cardboard, if you ask me) so Wifey had to set to and make her own. I love it!

Today, after all the rain last night, has dawned clear and dry, so we should be able to get to Branston. This means a short stretch of the River Trent, immediately after the last lock in Alrewas. However, it’s only a short section, which ends at another lock that takes us back onto the canal.

Branston will be our last port of call before Mercia, which is where I will post this final blog of 2012.

Friday 19th October

A fine morning yesterday saw us make our way to Branston. Five miles, four locks and 2½ hours later and we arrived here at 10.30 am. We are moored, as usual, right beside Branston Water Park, an oddity as parks go, because it also has Dog Dip spots, where your pooch can paddle and swim to his/her hearts content. There was a time when Wifey would have been able to take Rusty all the way round the lake, sadly that’s no longer the case as Rusty is no longer up to such a walk.

There’s only one thing wrong with this mooring, midges. I noticed them yesterday evening when one settled on my hand. Not only that, there are also little, green aphids around. It’s October, for goodness sakes, what the heck are they doing here at this time of year? I’m becoming a little paranoid now and, with every slight tickle on the skin I think I’m being attacked. Reminder to self: do not spend high summer in the wilds of Scotland, where, so I’m told, there are millions of the little perishers.

We have lots of tasks to carry out this winter, including a partitioned tray to go under the side hatch, a new and bigger flower box for the top of the boat and a new bathroom cabinet; I hate that cheap and nasty wire shelf thing. Then there are the panels for the back doors, which would normally be Castles and Roses, but which may not be in our case as we like to be different. I also have to get back to my guitar and uke practice, of which I’ve done very little while we’ve been cruising. Whilst I wouldn’t call myself lazy, cruising for long periods certainly makes it seem that way.

But, we don’t want to be worrying about that, our first job will be shopping at Morrison’s, followed closely by a look around The Range and Derby Market. Not for anything special you understand, although, having downloaded a very interesting book on watercolour painting, I would like to buy a small box of pan paints and follow the exercise in that book.

Saturday 20th October

Well, that’s it for Cruise 2012. We left Branston quite late yesterday due to fog, with seven miles and two locks to go to Mercia, and arrived here at about 2.15 pm, well past our usual lunchtime, which accounts for why Rusty was pestering us during the last hour or so, the poor wee thing was hungry, bless her!

When we arrived at the first of the two locks, we found a family of holiday boaters in the shape of middle aged dad and four boys of varying ages, (don’t know where mum was). However, instead of moving on after passing through the lock, two of the boys waited for us and helped us through and told us that they wanted us to go in front, because they were in no hurry and didn’t want to hold us up. Now that was a first as nobody has ever done that before, and there’s many a time we’ve cursed boaters for really poodling along, when we want to get where we’re going.

Along the seven mile trip we enjoyed plenty of sunshine and good spirits after that show of consideration. Last year we were slaughtered with wind and rain for most of the second half of the trip.

And that’s about it, apart from saying, thanks for keeping us company along the way, even if it was only in spirit. We look forward to doing the same in 2003.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid the problems I had with Blogger last time, I will keep the blog going throughout winter, but on a much reduced level, as I’ve already mentioned.

Finally, I may have discovered the reason for those problems with Outlook. I received a reply from my email company, Absolute Email, who tell me it is because I am using my Internet providers own server, a fact that they have confirmed through their own logs. I now await details of how to change my Outlook settings from ‘3’ to Absolutes server. Should be interesting and, I hope, stop the returned emails.

Best wishes to all from Dave, Sheila and Rusty.