Shiralee: Cruise 2014 # 16

Friday 18^th July to Wednesday 23^rd July

 Friday 18^th July

 I have just posted Blog # 15 and what a palaver it was too. Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

  As you all probably know by now, we have a Three Mobile WiFi Unit, that is strapped to a piece of wood. Wherever we are situated, it hangs on the top of a window. There are times; such as this morning; when the signal is not that strong, and this morning has been one of those times. However, when I checked with the unit, as far as I could tell I had a reasonably good signal.

 So, having finished the sixth page of the blog, I set to and tried accessing my blog page, but was unable to do so. The WiFi unit said I had Internet access, and so too did my little icon in the Systems Tray, but I could not access the Internet. No problem with emails, but no Internet.

 After repositioning the WiFi unit, on several different windows, I finally got the strongest signal by placing it right in the corner of the window nearest the bow. I now have a really strong signal and, whilst I’m waiting for Wifey to rise from her slumbers, I’ll have a hunt around eBay. Who knows, I may find something useful!

 Saturday 19^th July

 Aren’t these new ‘Smart’ phones great? I upgraded my old flip-top thingy a few days ago and, after a while and with a bit of jiggery-pokery I managed to kind of use it as a telephone, (21^st Century here I come!!)

 There are, as you all probably know, loads of apps to play with on these new fandangled things, but the nice gentleman at the 02 shop moved most of those to one side, leaving all the ‘essential’ ones on the desktop. Fine so far.

 One of these apps is the ability to send and receive emails, which is why I upgraded in the first place. Yesterday I girded my loins, gritted my 20 odd remaining teeth, and set to with a will. Setting up an email account is easy peasy. All I needed to do was enter the details of my current email address; that’s the Shiralee one; and the phone would hunt for my settings. Guess what, it couldn’t find them. Now, there’s a surprise.

 So, just to make things easy for this new gadget, I clicked on the Yahoo button, and off it went in search of those details, which should have been pretty simple, I would have thought. But, nope, couldn’t find those either.

 Next step? Set it up manually, which I did and, since I was told that there were no emails to download from my Shiralee account, I assumed I had set it up correctly. Now, I’m one of those unfortunate people who receive a mountain of rubbish emails every day. One such is from a variety of people, telling me they had put umpteen dollars into my account, so I know I would have had at least a couple of these in my Inbox when I set up the account. But my nice, new iPhone said I didn’t download any.

 This morning I have already downloaded my emails to my laptop and have closed down Outlook. I have also sent an email from my Yahoo address to my Shiralee address. Later today I’ll have another go at setting up my email on the iPhone and see if it is able to download that solitary message.

 Oh what joy there is to be had in new technology! I’m not technophobic, honest. Indeed, last year, or was it the year before, I called into 02 Harlow, with my brother Alan in tow, and we selected a nice new iPhone for me then but, every time I touched the screen in order to scroll to my required section, the darn thing opened in the section I had touched. After a few days of this palaver I contacted 02 and asked what I could do about this problem. “Sell the phone”, was the reply, so I did and gained £78. Well, not really, because part of the monthly payment goes to buying the phone, so I probably lost out over the next two years.

 I’ve been using my old flip-top phone since then, and have been happy with that, but I really did think it about time I got with 21^st century technology, even if I am 14 years late. Seventy two years is not a great age these days, indeed, it has now been suggested that we’re not old until we’re 80, so coping with a new iPhone should really be a doddle, shouldn’t it? My brother has a couple of hours of tutoring when I get back to Crick, but that’s still over three months away.

 Right, enough of this prattling on about iPhones, it will all come out in the wash, as our sainted mother would have said.

 So, what else did we do yesterday? Well, apart from Wifey keeping a very low profile whilst I wrestled with technology, we moved on from Platt Lane, through three lift bridges and four miles, and settled in at the top of the Whitchurch arm.

 What with it being a really hot day, we had a quick cup of tea and walked down to catch the 10.20 bus into Whitchurch and, bless me the Council have still not changed the timetable so to all intents and purposes there are no buses Monday to Friday and Sunday, only Saturday. But we know different, ‘cos we have an up to date timetable.

 What I should do, before shutting down the laptop, is to advise the Bryn Melin bus company about this fault but, if I do that then the email I sent myself from Yahoo, will open up and I’ll have to send another one for the phone. It can wait, I suppose.

 It was a real scorcher yesterday, so all we could do for the rest of the day was to try and relax. We certainly couldn’t have painted the roof, not in that heat. In fact we couldn’t do anything without the sweat pouring off us.

 At about 2.40 this morning I was woken up by a clap of thunder, but it didn’t seem all that close. About 25 minutes later there came a double clap, this time much closer. However, despite warnings that we were in for some really heavy rain, all we got was some very light stuff and no more thunder.

 Right now, at almost 7am, it’s raining quite heavily and looks set for the day. But we need to go into town again, for bread and a little thingy that will allow me to use this new and smaller SIM card in my old flip-top phone. Well, you can see the sense in this, can’t you? If this new one continues to give me problems, especially where the email app is concerned, I could very well toss it in the oggin, and then where would I be? No, much safer to revert to the old phone for a while.

 Sunday 20^th July

 Tesco didn’t have the SIM thingy, so I’m stuck with the new phone.

 My first task in the morning; around about 6am; is to check my emails and sling out the rubbish, which is much of which I receive every day. It’s no good going to the bottom of the page of a spurious email and trying to unsubscribe, because that just tells these people that you actually exist.

 Anyway, I was going through my messages when I spotted one from Avast, from whom I have a SecureLine account. Remembering that I only received one from them a week ago, I was curious as to why there was another one so soon. So, as I would for any concern regarding money, I checked back and discovered that this was happening every month and on the same dates, the 12^th and 19^th. Hmmm, it seems I am being charged twice for this subscription.

 I had just opened up the Avast Help Desk, when something prompted me to re-check their emails and it’s just as well that I did. Silly old me, what seemed like double billing, was simply one message as a friendly reminder  on the 12^th, telling me that I would be billed on the 19^th. That was close. I could well have ripped into them with accusations of double billing and ended up with egg on my face.

 Yesterday we waited until the rain had stopped, then walked down to catch the bus into Whitchurch, and it stayed stopped until we came to boarding the bus back, at which point the heavens opened. Of course, Wifey had her hoodie on, whereas I was in shirt sleeve order. But, no harm done, I simply borrowed her brolly and all was well.

 This morning, although it’s not raining, we do have a lot of cloud cover. But, by hook or by crook, we’re moving along to Grindley Brook. If it stays dry we’ll go down the six locks and, if not, then we’ll moor at the top until tomorrow morning.

 Monday 21^st July

 After the overcast start to the day and the threat of rain, yesterday was an improvement on Saturday. However, due to the way the staircase locks are operated at Grindley Brook, it took us two hours to complete the mile and a bit from Whitchurch to the bottom of the six locks.

 For the uninitiated, staircase locks are a series of locks that have no dividing pound. The locks step up/down several feet, but they are linked together and flow into each other. This means that, in order to traverse the locks, the water levels in them have to be set before opening gates for a boat to enter. Whilst one boat is passing through, either up or down, no other boats are allowed into them.

 It is normal with staircase locks, to allow two or three boats through in one direction, before allowing the same amount through in the other direction.

 Here endeth the lesson on staircase locks.

 So, having settled in at Grindley Brook, Wifey took a walk up to the nearby garage for the Sunday paper and we settled in for a good read and a cup of coffee.

 A little after noon we walked up to the Horse and Jockey for our usual Sunday drink. With the improvement in the weather, we were able to sit outside and relax for an hour. (It’s just as well Andy wasn’t with us, else we could have been there much longer)

 This morning has dawned bright and sunny and, if the weather people at the BBC are to be believed, we’re in for a couple of hot days. This is good, because we’ll be making our way through the four locks and five miles to Wrenbury. Hopefully our mail has turned up.

 Tuesday 22^nd July

 The run down to Wrenbury took a little over two hours and, much to our surprise there was plenty of space before the road lift bridge.

 By the time we had moored up it was getting pretty warm, so we knew we were in for another scorcher. So, after our usual cup of coffee, we took a slow stroll down to the PO/Stores, collected our mail and did a bit of shopping.

 On our way back we stopped to watch a holiday boat make its way through the lift bridge. This procedure is pretty straightforward, although somewhat time consuming, since there are several stages to the operation. (Goodness knows what drivers think of these hold-ups, especially when they have to wait for two or three boats to go through)

 Anyway, the partner of the holiday boat driver was just about to walk across the bridge and set the process in motion, whilst hubby stood by the boat. As soon as his missus was across the bridge and prepared to operate it, he untied his ropes and started to drift away from the towpath, which would have been OK, had he started his engine first – never, ever untie your boat without first starting the engine.

 However, now that the missus had finally got the bridge to rise, he bent down to turn the key, at which point he realised; and so did she; that she still had the starter key with her.

 So, he’s now adrift in the canal, and she’s going through the reverse procedure of letting the bridge down and walking back to the boat with the ignition key. But, since he was drifting away from the towpath, she couldn’t pass the key over, which is when Wifey came to the rescue and asked him to pass his centre line to her and she was able to pull his boat back to the towpath. His poor missus then had the task of raising the bridge again, by which time there were two more boats waiting to go through, along with quite a few frustrated drivers waiting to cross the bridge.

 There are times when it’s great fun to do a spot of gongoozling!!

 There are plans afoot; which local residents are trying to thwart; for a new marina to be built further along the canal. This will, if it goes ahead, hold up to 200 boats and cause absolute mayhem to local traffic. As things stand there is already a holiday boat company just the other side of the bridge, which causes enough upset to drivers as it is. Can you imagine even more boats passing through, especially during the summer months? Chaos!!

 Our plan is to stay here today, then move on a few miles tomorrow and stay another two days at Burland where, if the weather is kind to us; by which I mean dry, but not scorching hot; we might even finish painting the roof. We want to be at Barbridge for the weekend, but that assumes we pass through the bottom of Hurleston locks without getting stuck, as we did on the way up.

 We’ve been told, by a CRT man that, if we do get stuck again, don’t try to force our way through, or get other boaters to pull us through with our bow rope. Instead, we should phone CRT and get them out to do the job because, if they get enough people complaining about this problem, they will have to do something about it.

 Reading one of the boating magazines some time ago, we were made to believe that CRT had rectified the problem, but it seems that all they’ve done is shave off some of the brickwork at the top of the lock in question. Of course, as any sensible boater will know, this had no effect whatsoever because, it’s lower down and probably at the rubbing strake where the problem lies.

 The rubbing strake is a length of hard material that is attached to the side of the boat, supposedly to prevent scratches to paintwork. Unfortunately it does no such thing. The problem with Hurleston locks, is that they are just too narrow. We even have to ensure that our side fenders are raised, so as not to impede progress.

 Wednesday 23^rd July

 Yesterday we spent the day in the same spot and enjoyed lunchtime at the Dusty Miller pub. We’ve avoided this pub over the many years of cruising this canal, simply because it looks too ‘posh’. We’re kind of funny that way. Bus this time curiosity got the better of us, and we quite enjoyed the experience. The food wasn’t bad either, so the time spent there wasn’t wasted. We still prefer ‘ordinary’ pubs though.

 So, having returned to the boat and settled in for the rest of the day, I suddenly realised that, if we moved along and past the two lift bridges, we could avoid the heat because that other stretch of canal lies at right angles to the part we were on and is sheltered by overhanging trees. Rock on Tommy and, who’s a clever boy then? Mind you it was still pretty warm and humid, but also much more comfortable.

 This morning we’ll probably move along to Burland, but that’s still up for discussion.

 Meanwhile, enjoy the sunshine while you can, it can’t last forever.

 All abreast

 Dave and Sheila

Shiralee: Cruise 2014 # 15

 

Saturday 12^th May to Friday 18^th July

 Saturday 12^th July

 This morning has started out with bright sunshine but the canal is now giving up its heat and a mist is forming. Still, we’re in no rush to leave because it’s only three miles to Ellesmere and we want to ensure a mooring spot. Saturdays are turn-around days for the hire boat company at Ellesmere marina, so we don’t want to arrive while that’s going on. Quite a few of their boats passed us yesterday, so they will be quite busy taking in boats and renting them to a new bunch of pesky holiday makers.

 Sunday 13^th July

 The water point at Ellesmere is not all that big; enough for three boats at a squeeze; but we managed to get in and dispose of our rubbish, and we then moored up outside the marina.

 Last year, when we came through Ellesmere tunnel, the water flow through it was so fierce, that the rear fender eye caught the brickwork and twisted it out of shape. Luckily we didn’t lose the fender or eye plate that it’s fitted to. This year, when that idiot collided with us at Whitehouse, the whole lot was ripped away, so we now need a new eye plate.

 We asked at the local chandlery if they had one, and we walked into town to see if the local DIY store had one, but no luck on either. So, Wifey then referred to her diary and her list of boat purchases and discovered that we bought the new eye plate at Braunston last August. Apparently, although the old one had been damaged, I was still able to use it until such time as we found another one.

 We will be passing several more chandleries before we get back to Crick, but until then we are without a fender on the starboard front of the boat.

 Last year; or perhaps the year before; we met a lone boater named Andy and his situation was a little strained regarding cash flow. Anyway, it was somewhat earlier in the year and the days were still chilly, so we gave him half a bag of coal, just to tide him over.

 Earlier on, before we had come this far up the Llangollen, we met up with him again and he told us he would be coming up himself in a few weeks. Yesterday he walked by us on his way back from town and stopped by for a chat. Since we last saw him he’s finished repainting his boat and has agreed to accompany us for a drink this lunchtime. Actually, from a female perspective, I suspect he’s quite an attractive man, so I have to wonder why he doesn’t have a partner. Perhaps he’s been bitten in the past and has no desire to be bitten again. Who knows? Nice chap though.

 We have some basic victuals to buy tomorrow, so we’ll be paying a visit to Shrewsbury and calling in at B&M for much needed tea, coffee and Coffee Mate. Hopefully the weather will be kind because, for quite some time now we’ve enjoyed lots of fine weather, but suffered some rain yesterday.

 Wifey has now finished staining our back shelf, so I’m hoping to have my seat refitted soon, which will allow me to sit down whilst cruising.

 Duck eggs for brekky this morning. Yummee!!

 Just as I thought it was brightening up out there, the rain has started again. Yeuck!!

 Monday 14^th July

 The weather yesterday finally got its act together and turned bright and sunny.

 Lunchtime was spent in The Ellesmere Hotel with our new friend Andy and lasted over two hours. As I suspected, Andy has been bitten by the marriage bug and seems content to stay happily unmarried. Since he spends most of his time here on the Llangollen canal, I daresay we’ll bump into him again next year.

 Meanwhile, we’re staying here at Ellesmere until at least tomorrow, or even Wednesday morning. We’ll be taking the bus into Shrewsbury later this morning and then relax for the rest of the day which, according to the weather ‘experts’, is set to be a scorcher.

Now, as far as repainting the roof goes, we’ve decided to wait until we get to the Preese Branch of this canal, which is about seven miles away and, since we’re not leaving here until Wednesday morning and will be stopping at Bettisfield for one night, we won’t get there until Thursday.

 The Preese Branch is a quiet backwater of about a half mile in length, at the end of which is a small marina. So, since not too many boats pass by on a daily basis, we’ll be safe enough with one treading the gunwale on the towpath side, and one of us on the wet side, if you see what I mean. Hopefully the weather will still be favourable at the time.

 Tuesday 15^th July

 We took the bus into Shrewsbury yesterday and, with teeth firmly gritted, I finally called into 02 and upgraded my mobile. I now have a brand new Nokia Lumia 630, which has all the bells and whistles and includes Internet access. All I have to do now is learn how to use it. But, since it is so new, there’s no handbook to refer to, which means going online to Nokia for any info I need.

 Wednesday 16^th July

 We had a great day yesterday; apart from what follows; and spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the pub with Andy. Fortunately; or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint; we only see him when we come up the Llangollen, otherwise we’d be spending a fortune in the local. Not that he’s a drunk, you understand, more like easily persuaded to join us. Andy has just passed us and says he’s not sure where he’s going to end up today but, like us, he can please himself how long he cruises for and where he spends his nights. Dis is de Loife, to be sure!!

 This nice, new phone rapidly became a pain in the, you-know-what and, what made it so annoying was that I couldn’t put the SIM Card into my old phone, because it’s a wee bit smaller.

 Anyway, the first thing I asked the sales bloke at 02 was to add my PIN to the new one but, as Wifey reminded me later, this would mean having to enter that PIN every time I wanted to use the phone. Unbeknown to me, this new phone shuts down when not in use; something to do with saving battery power. So, what earthly use is a PIN; which is supposed to safeguard against theft; if it has to be entered every time you need to use it?

 Had it been an easy matter – for this slow and doddery 72 year old brain – to remove the PIN and take my chances, I would have done so immediately. Instead I threw a tantrum and (almost!) followed that with throwing the phone in the canal. Talk about frustrating. Eventually, after consulting the online info and combining my limited brain power with that of she-who-knows-better, we managed to rid my phone of the PIN. All is now well on that score.

 I specifically upgraded so that I can use the Internet and thus drag myself into the 21^st century, so I also need to set that up. I’m told that this procedure is a piece of cake, but I have my doubts. It may be that certain POP/IMAP info will also be needed, in which case I will have to refer to those details that are stored in Outlook. Like I said, it should be a doddle; we’ll soon find out.

 Today we’ll be moving on to moorings just a short distance before Bettisfield and, with a bit of luck I’ll be able to complete the set-up of the phone and replace the grotty rope on our lifebelt. But first we have rubbish to dispose of and shopping to buy.

 Thursday 17^th July

 A rather cloudy start to yesterday and it stayed that way for some time. But, by the time we arrived at bridge 50, where we stayed for the night, it had cleared somewhat and we finally fitted my sit-upon on the stern rail. So I can now cruise in comfort.

 Other than that nothing untoward blighted our day, except for my new-fangled mobile phone, that is.

 This new mobile has not been very friendly and, since the SIM card is a different size, I can’t transfer it to my old phone, so I’m stuck with it and must now learn all its wrinkles.

 Yesterday evening, whilst sitting with my nose in a book, I received a text from my old friend, Dave Earl, who lives in Lowestoft. That’s the easy part. I then typed in a reply and, when I had finished I expected to see something there telling me how to send. Normally a little tick box sits there and, simply by pressing that, away goes the message. Not this time, so I pressed a little button and up came another box for writing messages. Yeah, confusing ain’t it?

 Anyway, having tapped into this box, up came another message asking me if I wanted to delete this ‘thread’; whatever that means. So, hoping that this would remove the empty box, I agreed, which is when everything went pear shaped. Not only did that ‘thread’ disappear, but I lost Dave’s message as well.

 Now, I thought to myself, I’ll send him a separate text, except that the nice salesman at 02 hadn’t transferred his number over to my nice, new gadget. Luckily I do have his home phone number, but I’m now wondering how many other numbers are missing and I don’t have a separate list anywhere, except on the old phone.

 However, as luck would have it, Wifey also has a phone that is on PAYG with 02, so I’m hoping I will be able to access the data on my old phone by using her SIM because I may just have phone numbers on that one, other than the old SIM card. What a blooming palaver!!

 O.K. So, after all that fuss and bother, I just turned on my nice, new Nokia thingy and searched again, just to see if Dave’s number was there. Well, it was, and it wasn’t!! I ran through all the numbers and found one entitled Dave Mobile and clicked on that and, lo and behold, it belongs to Dave Earl. However, when I clicked on it I came to another box, which plainly stated Dave Earl’s Mobile. So, I tried editing it so as to read Dave earl, but I’m hanged if I was able to do so.

 I suppose I’ll get the hang of it eventually, but I would dearly love a handbook on the wretched thing.

 Friday 18^th July

 It’s raining and has been for much of the night, so we won’t get any painting done today. Yesterday was far too hot to do anything, much less paint the roof. At this rate we’ll not get much painting done at all.

 When we left Bridge 50 yesterday morning, it was with the express intention of mooring up on the Preese branch and getting some painting done. It’s just as well that we didn’t bother because, as I’ve just mentioned, it was far too hot for painting. All we could really do was sit around and swelter. Luckily for us though, this spot at Platt Lane is fairly well sheltered by trees, so we didn’t suffer too much.

 One strange thing that set the day apart yesterday was the appearance of a bat. Yes, you read that right, a bat was flittering about during the day. It first came to our notice when we heard somebody on a passing boat say, “Oh look, there’s a bat!” But we assumed; quite wrongly as it turned out; that she had mistaken a Swallow for a bat. Not easily done, I know, but some folks wouldn’t recognise a Rhino from an Elephant, so it wouldn’t have surprised us.

 Anyway, a few minutes later we heard the same from someone on another passing boat and decided to take a look. Unfortunately, with the sun directly overhead, it was impossible to take a photo of the critter, so you’ll have to take my word for it, it was a bat, probably a Pipistrelle, since it was so small.

 Now, we’ve seen bats flying up and down the canal at night, but never have I seen one flying by day, except in the Maldive Island, where they have ginormous Fruit Bats that fly around during the day and, like most other sensible creatures, go beddy-byes at night. So, that’s one for you wildlife experts. Do bats fly during the day, or was this poor creature lost? Perhaps it had been disturbed by human activity and had taken fright.

 It’s still raining and it’s almost time for Wifey’s cuppa, so I’ll sign off and post this edition of life as a retiree living on the cut.

 Take care out there

 Dave

 

 

 

Shiralee: Cruise 2014 # 14

 

Saturday 7^th July to Saturday 12^th May

 Sunday 5^th July

 We had a really good day yesterday; as opposed to the mundane of course.

 The weather was good, a wee bit chilly first thing, but warmer later. We first walked into Crick and bought a few bits and pieces and then, when we returned, sat at the dinette with coffee and Mail.

 At lunchtime, as promised, we paid a visit to The Poacher’s Pocket, which is a Marston’s pub and very much family orientated. The garden is quite a size too, as is the car park. For the disabled the pub and restaurant is reached by an electrically operated chair lift. It even has a bar-b-que section in one corner of the garden, and a children’s play area. Like I said, family orientated.

 For our drink and snacks we sat inside, but for the second drink we sat in the garden and took a couple of selfies, one of which I sent off to Emma in New Zealand. She’s been asking for a photo of us both for some time now and this time we managed to remember the camera.

 From about 2pm onwards it was tennis all the way through to 8pm, when we turned the T.V. off and switched to radio. Initially that was Radio 2 but, as soon as that Craig Charles person came on we switched to Classic FM. We’re nothing if not eclectic in our music taste, but we can’t abide some of the inane chatter that exudes in great gobbets from some so-called D.Js.

 This morning we’re not sure where we’ll end up. It’s quite possible we’ll go across Chirk Aqueduct and the tunnel, followed by Whitehouse tunnel, and then moor up, or we could very well go all the way to Llangollen. We won’t know until we are on our way.

 Monday 7^th July

 We only moved along three miles, to the other side of Whitehouse tunnel and then, after our coffee we got stuck in to some work. We removed the roses and dragons panels from the back doors and then sanded down and re-varnished the doors. Thankfully the fickle Welsh weather stayed dry for us.

 In the afternoon and evening we settled down for the men’s final at Wimbledon. And that was that for our day. How exciting can that be?

 Tuesday 8^th July

 Well, here we are at Llangollen and the one thing that never surprises us, is the weather. You think England varies? You should try Wales for fickle weather. After arriving here at about 10.30 am we had our coffee and then took a walk into town. A short way down the towpath down came the rain. Wifey walked back to the boat for our coats and, by the time she got back to me the rain had stopped and it didn’t start again until well into the afternoon.

 The best thing about Llangollen; apart from the beautiful scenery; is the fact that we can connect to mains electricity here and have a water point by the side of the boat. What seemed unbelievable to us was the speed at which our batteries attained full charge. We had only been connected for a little over an hour when Sheila checked the Inverter/Charger and found we were already at full charge. Marvellous! And the cost per night is just £6.00.

 As with most recognised holiday destinations, the prices in Llangollen are highly inflated. I’m a lover of pork pies, as my wife will confirm, but I hate it when I find individual ones selling at £1.35 and larger ones at over £3.50 each. Of course, we also find this to be true in some butchers in England, but they are the ones I try to avoid. Many really good butchers turn out excellent pork pies and sell at 99p each or just a few pence over £1, with the larger ones at £1.99, and the ginormous ones at £3 or so. Why must these other places be so greedy?

 We’ll be returning to England tomorrow as it is only 48 hour mooring here. We’ll be passing over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, but don’t ask me how to pronounce the name, even the Welsh speakers have various pronunciations, so we English have no chance.

 Wednesday 9^th July

 Unbeknown to us before we arrived at Llangollen, it’s Eisteddford week this week. Not that it made any difference to our movements over the last two days. However, it certainly made a difference to our intentions yesterday evening, as I will now report.

 After wandering around town in the morning; just for a few bits and pieces and a couple of brackets for my driving seat; we spent the afternoon sitting around on the boat. I managed to rub down a couple of the back panels, on which I will now paint castles.

 At about 4 pm and on the spur of the moment, I suggested that we might go out for our evening meal and give The Bridge Inn a try, and this was when Eisteddford week scotched our plans.

 Six o/clock seemed a suitable time for our meal and so, after watching Pointless, off we went to the pub, and found crowds of people milling around outside, and the joint completely packed.

 Now, we either had to return to the boat and cook our own dinner – not an option – or find somewhere else to eat. This turned out to be the ‘Pasta, Pizza and Steakhouse’, which lies at the top of a side street, adjacent to the A5. What a great surprise that was, an upstairs seating area for about 30 people and great service. In a place like this, where everything is cooked to order, it was no problem waiting for our meal.

 We chose chicken pasta, a glass of wine for Wifey and a rather expensive bottle of Stella for me, followed by another one later. A most enjoyable evening, I have to say.

 We have, as usual enjoyed our stay here, during which we’ve had the use of our electric kettle, for the first time since leaving Crick. I’m hoping Wifey will rise from her slumbers a little earlier than normal, so that we can get away from here ahead of the rush. Regardless of the time we leave, Wifey will still have to walk ahead and let me know if it’s clear for me to pass through the two narrow sections. Then we’ll be heading for this side of the Whitehouse tunnel.

 Thursday 10^th July

 We left Llongollen at 7.30 am yesterday in hopes of beating the rush. Several boats had already left before us, but we still managed to turn the boat around ahead of five others. All went well through the first of the  two narrow stretches but, as I entered the second narrow stretch, I saw a man walking towards me who insisted I wait at the passing point so that their boat; which was nowhere in sight; could come through. Naturally I pooh poohed that idea. What? I should sit there and wait when his boat hadn’t even started out yet. “On yer bike”, says I and carried on. He was not amused!

 When we came under a bridge much nearer to Trefor Basin, we encountered moored boats and also spotted a holiday boat coming towards us. Now, from Trefor to Llangollen can be quite narrow in places and it can also be shallow close to the towpath. So, as we pulled in to allow the approaching holiday boat to pass, we became grounded in the shallows. Behind us were two or three of the boats that left after us and, by the time we freed ourselves from grounding, the approaching boat had passed us, and the following boats had also passed us.

 As a direct result of CRT not maintaining this canal with some well needed dredging, we now had two slow moving holiday boats ahead of us. Even whilst going over the big aqueduct; where there’s a footpath going across; these two boats refused to speed up when Sheila asked them too.

 However, what really stuck in our throats was what followed afterwards. Every time another boat approached the lead boat of those two, it pulled into the side, waited for the approaching boat to pass, and then moved on. As a result of this stupidity a huge tailback of boats built up.

 We eventually managed to pass both of these boats and, as I pulled alongside the first of them we asked what they thought they were doing. Their answer will surprise even hardened boaters; they were pulling in because they wanted to stay close to each other!! At the same time as this altercation was taking place, a man from their companion boat walked up and berated his friend for stopping saying, “Now you’ve let this b…..d pass you”.

 That was nice, now wasn’t it? Of course, as you would expect from seasoned boaters, we replied in kind and carried on to our moorings at Whitehouse tunnel. But that wasn’t the end of the matter, far from it. The ‘gentleman’ who had called me a nasty name later walked by us, just as we were tying up and apologised for his rudeness. It transpired that, not only did they want to keep together; as if they could actually get lost if a gap opened up; they actually liked to walk along the canal, which was why their boats were going so slow.

 My answer to that was, ‘so why rent a boat out?’

 Even after that our day did not end well. There are days along this canal when it can be pretty windy, especially in exposed, straight stretches like these moorings  and it can be difficult to negotiate your way past moored boats, especially when another boat is approaching. In these instances the logical actions for the two boats would be for both boats to slow down and keep away from the moored boats but, do these reckless holiday boaters think to do so, no? They carry on at their usual high speed, crash into the side of a moored boat; in this case ours; with the loss of a fender from the front of our boat. Angry does not even come close to describing my mood at that point in time.

 So, we had something of a trying day yesterday, but it wasn’t over yet. Having erected out TV aerial and pointed it in the same direction as last time we were here, the picture kept breaking up. Even when I put the extra pole up, it still carried on doing so and we took the darned thing down and stuck noses in books.

 This was not the best day we had experienced on this canal. Next year we’ll come here earlier in the season, or perhaps much later, and definitely not in Eisteddford week. Is that the right spelling?

 Now for some good news. Yes there is some silver lining to this cloud. We’ve been following The Dog Rescuers on Channel Five over the past few weeks and have decided to look for another Jack Russell; we still miss our Rusty, especially when cruising. Unfortunately most RSPCA centres have a preponderance of Staffies and very few Jacks and our search seemed to be going nowhere.

 But, when we entered Dog Rescue into Google, up came Dog’s Trust and, much to our surprise, their branch at Kenilworth – how appropriate – has an abundance of Jacks, so we immediately sent of an enquiry. Hopefully; assuming they have nothing against our ages and our lifestyle; we’ll be able to pay them a visit when we get back to Crick. Kenilworth is only a few miles from Rugby, so it shouldn’t take long to drive there. I’m still awaiting a reply to my email.

 Friday 11^th July

 After being bashed about so much on Wednesday, we were very happy to leave Whitehouse moorings and head for Poacher’s Pocket and left at about 8 am. We had to wait for about 10 minutes while a boat came through Whitehouse tunnel, and then we were on our way.

 As we approached Chirk tunnel, a boat was just coming out but, instead of carrying on up the canal, it pulled in to the tunnel moorings, which are there specifically for those waiting to go through. There was still room for us to tie up there, as that boat was only small, so I pulled in and Sheila asked why he had stopped. Apparently this poor man had just purchased the boat at Ellesmere, and already it had broken down twice. Fortunately he managed to get it started again and was soon on his way.

 Luckily for us, we not only ran through the tunnel without problems, we also found the aqueduct free of boats and poodled across in our own time. Our luck didn’t hold for very long though, because even more boaters gave us grief. I don’t know what it is about some people, but you just can’t help them without attracting abuse.

 The stretch of canal between Chirk tunnel and Chirk Bank is very narrow and meandering and, to our minds at least, should not have any moorings. It’s bad enough passing moored boats on this stretched, without having to send Sheila ahead to check nothing is coming towards us. There are two bridges along this stretch and it is impossible to see another boat approaching the other side of the first, which is why Wifey walks ahead.

 So, on this occasion she signalled back to me that there were two boats approaching the bridge, but not until I was already passing through. Once I saw what was going on, I decided to pull on to the towpath side and allow these other two to go on their way, rather than hold back and hover whilst they passed a moored boat.

 Now, as I pulled into the towpath, for some odd reason the first of those boats also headed that way. I assume he thought I was going to pass him, but he should have realised that I simply didn’t have room enough to pass him and the boat behind. Luckily we didn’t collide and, with the aid of his bow-thruster, he pulled away from the towpath and passed.

 What came next was a torrent of abuse from the driver’s spouse. She asked why I didn’t signal, to which I replied that it was pretty obvious what I was doing. She then asked Sheila why we had pulled over and said she thought we were mooring up. To which Wifey replied that we were pulling in in order to allow them to pass and, at any rate, why did they also try to pull in if they weren’t intending to moor up.

 The whole thing was a bit of a farce really, and it didn’t go unnoticed by a neighbour, who was sitting outside her cottage enjoying the sunshine. Sheila went across to her to apologise for the disturbance and was told that all the people hereabouts had complained about these problems for quite some time, and they had asked BW to remove the mooring rings and prohibit boaters from mooring there, but their pleas had been ignored.

 I have to side with those cottagers on this one, it must drive them potty, especially on those days when it’s bright enough to sit outside.

 Well now, I have seven pages of type here, but I don’t have a strong enough Internet signal to post, so I’ll try again tomorrow morning, by which time we hope we will have enjoyed a peaceful day at the top of the Montgomery canal.

 Saturday 12^th July

 A really good morning’s cruising yesterday, with more than enough friendly to satisfy. Our first stop on the way to the Montgomery arm was at the water point at top of New Merton Locks and, with only one boat ahead of us, we thought we would be next. It didn’t take long to top up the water, but in that short time two more boats passed us, so we now had to wait for three boats to go down the locks.

 In the meantime we chatted to the people who came up behind us, so the time passed quite pleasantly. We really timed that part of our trip quite badly and it took us almost three hours to reach the top of the Montgomery, only six miles from our previous moorings.

 The day was very hot, so no work was carried out on the boat, which was a shame because we still have a lot to do, including re-fitting my seat. This will probably be done whilst we’re at Ellesmere; our next stop; where we’ll be for the weekend and perhaps a couple of days into next week too, because we intend to take the bus to Oswestry or Shrewsbury on Monday.

 At that as they say, is that for this blog but please remember that we have no mobile signal at Ellesmere. Take care and have a great weekend.

 Dave and Sheila.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiralee: Cruise 2014 # 13

 

Friday 27^th June to Saturday 7^th July

 Friday 27^th June

 When we took that walk into Whitchurch on Wednesday, we shopped at Tesco, where we found a nice, new Logitech Wireless Mouse, which has now replaced that other piece of vermin. This one only takes one battery; which is easier to replace; and which is supposed to last a year, guaranteed.

 Saturday 28^th June

 Wifey’s birthday and our 34^th wedding anniversary today and to celebrate we’re taking the bus into Shrewsbury.

 Yesterday morning at about 9.30 we left our moorings at bridge 50 and made our way to Ellesmere, fully expecting to find plenty of spaces but, once again, we were lucky to get in and almost at the back of the line. However, once we had had our cup of coffee, and just as we set out to walk into town, we noticed a space nearer to the marina, so we turned back, untied the boat and moved it forward.

 You see, at Ellesmere some idiot thought it perfectly o.k. to spread thin, grey gravel – more like dust – along the towpath. This stuff is bad enough when it’s dry, but it tracks all over the place when wet, which it was by the time we arrived. So, the less walking we have to do over this stuff, the better.

 After walking into town we stopped off at the marina on the way back and bought two more tins of green paint. Not the same as before, but a different make. This is because the two tins we used on the roof didn’t match up. With the two new tins, mixed together in a paint bucket, even if they are from different batches; as we suspect the previous ones were; we shouldn’t have a problem.

 With the heavy rain we had yesterday it’s doubtful if we’ll get any painting done today. Besides, it’s the weekend and we see no reason to work. I don’t suppose we’ll get much done on Monday either, not even if the weather is fine, because we’ll be taking the bus into Oswestry.

Sunday 29^th June            

 Well, that’s our anniversary over for another year; the next will be the 35^th. Imagine that, Wifey and I have been together for 35 years. For some reason or other; best known to the powers that be; we managed our trip to Shrewsbury without getting wet. On the way there we ran through quite a bit of rain, and so too on the way back, but stayed dry in between. We had rain during the rest of the day, Wimbledon was rained off and it’s raining again this morning. I suppose it’s being on the border with Wales that’s doing it; they do seem to enjoy lots of rain around here!!

 I bought something online a few days ago and, as you all know, our mail is sent direct to Alan in Harlow. Sometimes, if we want something sent on to us, Alan will post it under the Post Office’s Poste Restante system and we collect at the nearest branch. Alan tried his best to post this item yesterday; zipping around all over town; but was thwarted every step of the way by long queues and he eventually texted me to let me know the problems he was having. Well, since we’re staying here until Tuesday anyway, I told him to leave it until Monday morning.

 Thanks Bruv, your efforts are always much appreciated. Who luvs ya baby??

 Monday 30^th June

 This morning, unlike yesterday and Saturday, I’m having problems with Internet connection. Outlook is still at Work Offline mode and I’m unable to switch back to normal mode. But I should still be able to send messages by clicking on Send/Receive All, then Send All but, for some reason that I can’t fathom, my messages won’t go out. Then, after all the fussing and fighting, my Internet connection has dropped out altogether.

 We’re here until Wednesday morning but, since I really don’t need to worry about emails for another couple of days, I’ll just have to do without. I’ll try again later, maybe!!

 Yesterday we tried a different pub and called into The Ellesmere Hotel, where I was pleasantly surprised at the £2.80 they charged for Carling. That’s about 40p less than The White Admiral on a Monday evening.

 Today we’re off to Oswestry, where I’ll be taking our WiFi unit to the ‘Three’ shop to see what it will cost to upgrade to 4G. I’m also due an upgrade of my mobile with O2, so I might just kill two birds etc.

 Tuesday 1^st July

 Well, summer is marching on and we’re already into July, with weather to suit, which is more than can be said for Wimbledon yesterday.

 We took the bus into Oswestry as planned yesterday morning, but there were no Three or O2 shops about and, since we didn’t have much to buy whilst there, we only stayed an hour.

 Today we’ll be walking into Ellesmere again, this time to collect mail from the post office and I also want to call into the local computer shop. The battery on our laptop only seems good for about 1 ½ hours, which is not much good for first thing in the morning. I can’t plug in to the 240 volt outlet for too long, because the Inverter/Charger tends to drain our batteries too much, so I usually have to switch off the laptop sooner than I want to. What I really need is a solar panel charger, just for the laptop, but they aren’t cheap. So, advice as to the need for a new battery would be useful.

 Wednesday 2^nd July        

 Well, having called into the local computer shop, I have discovered that our laptops battery capability is about right and, on top of that, I’m told that these small solar panels are pretty useless for laptops. Money saved, yippee!!

 Thursday 3^rd July

 Yesterday, after travelling the four miles to the top of the Montgomery canal, we decided it would be too hot for working on the boat. Instead we watched tennis, which is looking all rather interesting this year. We’ve lost two top men’s players and three top women’s players, so the up and coming, new generation can have a go. It should be pretty exciting with Murray, Nadal, Sharapova and the William’s sisters all out.

 That tall Australian with the Greek name; which I’ve forgotten how to spell; knocked out Nadal and then, yesterday afternoon was knocked out by a Canadian; whose name I can’t remember. Hey, it’s only slight memory loss, so don’t go casting nastertiuns, OK?

 Friday 4^th July

 Most of the UK was bathed in sunshine yesterday, not so the north-west and Wales, where drizzly rain and cold winds were the order of the day. However, we girded our loins and set sail at 8 am for St. Martin’s Moor, a long stretch of open moorings about four miles from the top of the Montgomery canal. And, here we sat for the rest of the day, reading and catching up with the tennis.

 On the way out of Ellesmere we got talking to some Aussies at the water point. Apparently the Aussie tennis player lives near to them and is quite the show off. He seems to like tearing around the neighbourhood in his flashy, red Ferrari. Hey, he’s only 19 and comes from a rich family, what can you expect?

 Sadly, since the boat was wet, it wasn’t possible to do any painting. Instead, and to pacify ourselves for another wasted day, Wifey set to and made a bread pudding. Bread puddings, as most people are aware, are made from unused bread and mixed fruit etc. Some folks add sugar, but we rely on the fruit for sweetness and the added spices for extra flavour. We also like it nice and soggy. Good old fashioned stodge is the way to go, at least in this Chamberlain family.

 We usually allow ours to go cold before eating, but, at the veiled suggestion from Alan, we ate some soon after it came out of the oven. Later in the evening we sampled it cold and I can state, without reservation, that it tastes just as good either way. Yummee, is the word that comes to mind.

 Saturday 5^th July

 With the weather looking pretty yukkee yesterday morning, we hesitated for about half an hour before finally deciding to move on. We had hoped to be in Llangollen for the weekend, but we decided it would be too much trouble, so we stopped off just outside Chirk, at a pub called The Poacher’s Pocket. We’ve stayed here overnight in the past, but we’ve never used the pub, so today will be a new experience.

 The pub itself is just inside England, but, within about a mile; much of which is uphill, as you would expect on the Welsh border; you are finally in Wales. So, whilst we waited for the weather to settle down a bit, we indulged in our usual coffee, after which we took a stroll along the towpath as far as Chirk Bank, then it was a short downhill walk and onto a half mile of uphill toil.

 It was still drizzling with rain on this walk but, since much of the uphill walk is sheltered by overhanging trees, we didn’t get too wet. The village of Chirk has all the amenities usually found in bigger towns but, when we looked in the usual spot for the Post Office, there was no sign of it. Unbeknown to us it had been moved to the local Spar shop, which had been almost doubled in size since last year.

 We will take that walk again this morning but, whilst you folks down south enjoy all the sunshine, we will have to suffer more rain. Even so, this won’t prevent us from enjoying the tennis.

 Since this is only 48 hour moorings; and we noticed a CRT man checking licences yesterday; we will have to move on tomorrow, which will mean going over Chirk Aqueduct and through the tunnel. In fact we’ll have two tunnels to go through because we want to moor up at a long stretch of open moorings about three miles from here.

 We’ll probably be in Llangollen for Monday or Tuesday, depending upon the Welsh weather of course. Meanwhile, since I have a good signal here I’ll post this off.

 Enjoy your weekend and whatever you do during the following week. If it ain’t enjoyable, try something else.

 All the best

 Dave and Sheila