Tuesday 1st April
to Thursday 10th April
On Tuesday morning, after
topping up with water and settling our marina bills, we simply moved Shiralee
out to the towpath. Well, wouldn’t want to exert ourselves on our first day,
now would we? Happily we spent a very lazy day out there.
On Wednesday morning, after
Sheila popped off to get the newspaper and some milk, we took the bull by the
horns and set off for the moorings at Welton Hythe but, as they say about the
well laid plans of mice and men, they are apt to go awry. Unbeknown to us,
Canals and Rivers Trust – henceforth known as CRT – had been busy dredging the
canal there and dumping the mud and yeuky stuff, right where we would normally
moor up. So, not to be daunted by their antics, we pushed on to Norton Junction
and settled in for the rest of the day.
Later in the morning; note
this, because it is important; we took a walk along to the New Inn and sat on
the lock gate for a short time, and then made our way back to the boat. I know
it must be 5 o/clock somewhere, but drinking at 11 am is not my usual habit,
which is why we sat on the lock gate. The fact that we hadn’t taken any cash
with us was neither here nor there.
Friday 4th April
This is my 72nd
birthday, which we will celebrate at the Admiral Nelson in Braunston.
This morning, at our usual
leaving time of 8 am, we set off for the top of Braunston locks, which entailed
a three mile trip, taking in Braunston tunnel. And, here we are, enjoying the
peace and quiet and birdsong of the great outdoors.
Tomorrow we’ll make our way
down the six locks and into Braunston proper, where we need to purchase a few
bits and bobs from the chandlery and enjoy a drink at the Admiral Nelson at
Sunday lunchtime. Sadly we will have no mobile signal there, nor will we have
Internet access, although we do usually get TV. So, that’s alright then!
Saturday 5th April
Yesterday morning; my 72nd
birthday; I opened my two cards and found a £20 note in one of them, this from
my brother Alan. Ta ever so Bruv, much appreciated. I also read a Happy
Birthday text from number one son, also much appreciated.
As you would expect on my
birthday and with all that loot to hand, we wended our way down to The Admiral
Nelson and had a knees-up. Well, we indulged in a couple of drinks and a sarni
each. At first, when we looked at the price, we thought £8.00 was rather
expensive but, when it arrived, adorned with salad and a pot of chunky chips,
we weren’t disappointed.
Having wended our way back to
the boat, stomachs full to bursting, we settled in for a relaxing afternoon and
evening. And that was my birthday for another year. I wonder how many more I’ll
have!
This morning we have six
double locks to contend with but, as we’re going down, the boat won’t be
knocked about too much. Hopefully we’ll find a suitable mooring at which to
spend the weekend and, just for a change, we’ll struggle up the hill to the
village on Sunday and partake of another couple of drinks at lunchtime. Don’t
you just love retirement?
Sunday 6th April
We were in something of a
quandary yesterday morning, what time should we leave our moorings at the top
of Braunston and still have a good chance of finding a space in Braunston
proper? We like to arrive at new moorings sometime before lunch, say between
10.30 and 11.30. But, with Braunston only a mile away, with six locks in
between, we figured 1½ hours max. There was also the fact that it’s still early
in the season, so we figured we could chance it and leave early.
Well, we left at 08.00 and
arrived at the bottom of the locks at 09.30. Having said it was early in the
season, I think we were well out. We passed quite a few boats coming up, and
some of those were holiday boats. Early April and the holiday season seemed to
be in full swing. But, as luck would have it we found a space just before the
marina entrance. Even so, for such an early time in the season, the place
looked pretty full further along the towpath.
Saturday was also one of
those days that entailed a lot of walking. So, first stop the local shops,
which means a rather long climb uphill and as most of you know by now, the
phone and Internet are pretty much non-existent here. However, about half way
up that hill his is a bench seat and we know that a phone signal is possible
there, and so it proved because I had several messages, mostly birthday wishes,
when I sat down.
At the bottom of the locks
here there’s a small chandlery and so, after shopping and a well-deserved cup
of coffee back at the boat, we walked back there a bought a few desperately
needed items, and that’s another £80 gone! The good news is, that we now have a
complete set of LED lights on Shiralee, so we’re hoping for much less trouble
with the state of the batteries.
When Simon serviced the
engine and checked out the heating, we told him not to alter the battery
arrangement. In the first place we didn’t want to incur any more expense than
necessary and, in the second place we felt that, having already replaced most
of our lights for LEDs, we wouldn’t have the same problems as last year. Thus
far; and it’s still early days; everything seems OK with regards to battery
power. We will see what we will see, all in due course.
Monday 7th April
Lots of walking yesterday, so
why am I not losing weight?, I mean, blimey, we don’t eat enough between us to
starve an ant. First think after breakfast we slogged up that hill for the
paper and some milk. We then did it again at lunchtime and paid a visit to The
Old Plough, a pub we haven’t been in since about 2007/8, when it was in a bit
of a state and needing new carpets and furniture. They have various foodie
nights there and, as far as Wifey is concerned we must come back on a Tuesday,
so as to enjoy their fish and chips. Hopefully they will be as good as she
expects!!
For the past hour or so it’s
been rainy quite hard and I’ve had visions of having to stay another day but,
according to the Countryfile weather yesterday evening, the rain should stop
soon. We have to get away sometime today, if only to top up with water and
dispose of rubbish. We’ll then move along a couple of miles or so and spend the
rest of the day somewhere in open countryside.
Our plan for this week is to
moor up in Newbold sometime and catch the bus into Rugby, after which we’ll
head on up towards Hawkesbury Junction, which is about 22 miles away from here.
From there it’s about three miles to The Ashby Canal, which we also want to
cruise some of before we head off to Birmingham.
Tuesday 8th April
The weather didn’t look too
good yesterday morning; in fact it was raining for much of the night and still
at it at 06.00. However, by the time we left the rain had just about stopped,
after stopping for water and disposing of rubbish, we made our way towards
Hilmortan. Of course, with Mother Nature being so fickle; as always; she wasn’t
about to let us have our own way and, about three miles out she decided to open
up the heavens. We therefore spent the rest of the day and last night just past
bridge 82.
This morning is somewhat
brighter, so we should make it to the top of Hilmortan locks or, if we’re very
lucky and Mother Nature concentrates on some other poor souls, we’ll even get
through them.
Wednesday 9th
April
Yesterday morning was a wee
bit chilly, but we girded our loins and pushed on to Hilmortan and stopped just
above the locks, which we’ll tackle this morning. Other than strolling down to
the nearest shop for the paper, we did absolutely bugger-all for the rest of
the day.
So, what in the world are our
so-called ‘rulers’ thinking, when they tell our Queen to invite that murdering
scumbag, Martin McGuinness, to her garden party. Having snubbed Her Maj last
time she visited the province, why does he, of all people, have any right to be
included? Still, what do I know? I’m only a mere mortal and, being a pensioner,
my voice now counts for nothing, if it ever did!!
Now, on to sunnier thoughts,
brought about by the fact that it’s bright and sunny this morning and, what’s
more, our barometer indicates more of the same.
This morning we have a few
locks to tackle before we get to Newbold, where we’ll take the bus into Rugby
tomorrow morning. Other than that, well, chill out of course, what else is
there to do?
Well, actually there’s plenty
to do, especially with the boat. The battle- scars of continuous cruising, over
the past 7 years + has taken its toll. The roof especially needs lots of
attention. This is all due to it being non-slip paint, a good idea in itself,
but the rain will find any small gaps and seep underneath at an alarming speed.
So, that’s our first problem.
The next area is the stern
deck which, as you can imaging, what with all the tramping of muddy, gritty
feet, has caused quite a few nasty rust patches, all of which need rubbing down
and filling in before they can be painted over.
In fact, we’re seriously considering
a change of colour scheme although, what to we haven’t quite decided. We don’t
much like the maroon, which is the main colour on the sides. Any red-based
colour is, from what we have been told, absolutely the worst colour to cover.
It fades so fast that, even with paint from the same batch, it never looks the
same.
So, what to do! Well, I’ve
dug out a few photos of ‘Shiralee’, which we will print out and re-colour in
different combinations, until we find one we like. Then and only then, will we
get stuck in. Hopefully we’ll find enough dry weather this summer, in which to
carry out our plans. You may wish us luck, if you like.
Thursday 10th
April
Forgot the crumpets yesterday
morning; Wednesday is crumpet day where breakfast is concerned; and I somehow
forgot. It was only later in the day that I had a senior moment and remembered,
by which time it was too late of course. So, it looks like today will be
Wednesday; goodness knows what tomorrow will be!!
Now, on the subject of boat
painting, we saw a boat yesterday, moored at Rugby, which had a dark blue roof
and hand rail, light blue trim separating the handrail from side panels, with
the side panels a creamy colour. Having downloaded the International Boat Paint
colour chart, we now need to decide which blues and creams to go for. But first
we need to find a suitable spot to moor up, along with some dry weather, when
we can then clean up the existing damage. No doubt something will turn up,
hopefully pretty soon.
And that, as they say, is
that for this blog.
Take care folks.
Dave and Sheila
No comments:
Post a Comment