Saturday 26th March to Friday 15th April
Sunday 27th March
Having retired to bed at the usual 10 pm last night, and getting up at 06.00
this morning, also as usual, I found it dark and cold out there with Alex.
Still, it is now officially Summer time.
This morning I received an email from Mr Langer, the owner of Crick
Marina, who assured me that there are several marinas that do operate a two
tier system of fees. He also said that his decision was, in part, as a result
of complaints by long-term moorers. Now, having already submitted a cheque for
three months’ stay, we’re on the horns of a dilemma; do we stay for the full
three months’, or go at the end of April, which Mr Langer is amenable to?
In the meantime, we still have lots of work to do on the boat, which is
easier done whilst in the marina, so…….!!
Monday 28th March
We had a chat yesterday about when to leave Crick, and we both agree
that the end of April would be best. Since Mr Langer has OK’d this and Noel
must still have our cheque – it is a Bank Holiday – we’ll be at the office
sometime this morning in order to change our leave date.
Now, I received another appointment from Northampton General Hospital
yesterday. Once again they have taken no notice of my cancellation, a
cancellation, incidentally, that was necessary because, despite the surgeon
telling me there was no need for a follow-up appointment, one was actually
made.
However, I do have an email address for the department concerned, so
I’ve now advised the lovely Maureen of our current situation.
We now have emails out to three separate marinas and are awaiting their
replies. The nearest one, at Barby, would probably suit us best, since the area
around it is served by our current GP. However, there are two more that we like
the look of, and they are Market Bosworth – a new addition on the Ashby Canal –
and Fenny Compton, which lies on the South Oxford Canal. The latter of these
would only add about 20 minutes to my Harlow trips, which is no big deal,
whereas Market Bosworth might be a little tricky time-wise.
Last night we had some really heavy rain, resulting in me having to
slacken off our bow line. I’m hoping this won’t be an ongoing thing today.
Tuesday 5th April
Apologies for such a lengthy delay in topping up the blog. Time seems
to have got away from me. Although, in mitigation, we have been rather busy of
late, what with putting the top box together, shopping and hospital
appointments. But that’s just me, finding excuses. The truth is, I’ve had this
problem with the marina and it’s increase in fees, and nothing else seems to
matter in such circumstances.
Yesterday we took a ride over to Daventry for some cupboard rail end
supports, which will be used to hold the corner posts on our new top box.
Luckily I already have a broom handle that I can cut to size, so I won’t have
to go hunting for that. The weather should be dry today, so we’ll get to
sorting that out – we hope!
Now, since we don’t know where we’ll be next winter, I had considered
leaving the car with Alan, in Harlow. But that would mean asking someone other
than Alan to bring me back to the boat. So, we’ll probably leave it with
Malcolm at the garage, and worry about collecting it when we’re settled in
another marina.
Thursday 7th April
No luck with the weather so far this week, so we’re no nearer finishing
our top box. Hopefully today will brighten up enough to get on with it, but
it’s not looking good so far, with heavy clouds and strong wind.
Today we’ll go over to Daventry, to get some shoes for Wifey, otherwise
not much to do.
I had thought to try my hand at drop-shipping online and found a
company that did all sorts of prints. However, there was no sign of any
advertising material and the prices they would have charged me for the stuff,
was almost as high as some of those, similar prints on eBay, so I’ve decided
against that one. Still, I can keep looking. It’s not so much for the money;
although that would be useful; it’s more for something to do in my spare time.
Friday 8th April
We took a drive over to Daventry, initially to buy Sheila a pair of new
shoes, but we also called in to Boot’s Opticians to clarify when my new specs
would be in. I should be able to pick them up next Wednesday.
We’re waiting for Peter to give us a call, to let us know when the coal
barge will be coming through. At which time we’ll take the boat out and meet
him for coal and diesel. After which we’ll return to the marina.
Now, we should be staying here until the end of this month, but we
might just leave a little earlier. If I can leave the car with Alan, in Harlow
and get his son Darren to fetch me back here, then it won’t matter where we end
up for the winter, because Alan will be able to deliver it to us. If we leave
it with Malcolm at the local garage, then I’ll have the problem of getting to
him to collect it.
Today, hopefully, the weather will stay dry and we can concentrate on
finishing the new top box.
Saturday 9th April
Yesterday, for the most part, it was fairly dry, I’m pleased to say.
So, Late in the afternoon, after returning from walking Alex around the
village, I grabbed a tin of undercoat and gave the base of our top box a heavy
coat. That should save it from wilting in the next rainfall. Mind you, it is
about half inch thick, so it would take quite some time – which we don’t have –
for it to start distorting. Anyway, that’s done now. All that remains to do is
fit the corner rests and stain those, then put the box on the roof, transfer
all the stuff from the old one, and put the cover on.
Actually I still have the corners to trim down and the lashing points
to fit for the cover. I also need to find some suitable timber, with which to
make a “Shiralee” sign for the two outer facing sides. If, when this current
bout of rain stops, maybe we’ll get something done. But, according to the
forecast, tomorrow will be the drier of the two days.
Tomorrow, apart from any work on the top box, we’ll spend a leisurely
hour at the club at lunchtime. Monday is planned as shopping at Sainsbury’s,
whilst Tuesday should be a run into town on the bus.
Now, on the 23rd of the month, I will be driving down to
Harlow, for the last time this year. I’ve decided to leave the car with Alan
and also put it up for sale. If he manages to sell it; and I can see no reason
why he shouldn’t; he won’t have to bring it to wherever we end up for winter
and, with the cash I already have, plus anything else we save while we’re
cruising, we should have enough to buy a newer car. To be honest and although I
do like the Alfa, it’s becoming expensive to keep on the road. I don’t know
what we’ll be getting; I’ve looked at Jags, Mercs and Saabs; I haven’t decided
yet. It all depends on price and other things. We’ll see in due course.
Sunday 10th April
Well, Wifey has now decided she would like us to moor up in the new
marina at Market Bosworth. And, I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree. It looks
to be a great place and we’ve seen it whilst cruising up the Ashby canal. The
town is about a mile away and, as I’ve mentioned before, mostly uphill.
However, it does have a bus service, which stops just a short walk from the
main gate and goes all the way to Leicester.
The mooring fees for our length of boat is £2600 per annum, or £650 per
quarter; about £75 less than Crick; so would suit us well. The Ashby canal is
about 22 miles long and has no locks. Indeed, it’s possible to cruise for about
35 miles without locks, taking in Atherstone and Hawkesbury Junction. In fact,
taking in Coventry and Hillmorton; including the stop-lock at Hawkesbury
Junction could add a further 25 miles.
The town of Market Bosworth has all the usual amenities, including
Co-op, butcher, greengrocer, doctor and vet and we usually manage to get all
our groceries there without any problem. Well worth a look methinks. We’ll
probably head straight there when we leave Crick, which, at the speed we
travel, will take about three weeks.
I’ve now finished staining the top box supports, so it’s now a case of
waiting for them to dry, when we’ll have the arduous task of emptying the old
and disposing of the old one, lift the new and heavier one onto the roof and
filling it with what came out of the old one. Get me??
Wednesday 13th April
To catch up………Monday, shopping at Sainsbury’s, finished off top box and
sat it on the roof. Tuesday, took a bus ride into Rugby and enjoyed a Latte and
toasted tea cake at Brooke’s café, along with a few odds and ends of shopping,
that’s the cheapy stuff from B&M.
Today we have earmarked for collecting my new specs from Boot’s
Opticians in Daventry. Hopefully, if it stays dry today, we’ll clean up our
engine cover and give it a coat of black paint. Also, since said cover tends to
bend up at each end when the sun gets on it, I’ll try to attach a thick length
of timber to the underside; running front to back; which should alleviate that
problem. Come the winter time, we’ll try to find a new cover.
Yesterday, as a result of the Latte and tea cake, my blood glucose
reading shot up to 12.5. This is not unusual and, because it was so high, I
took a reduced amount of Insulin. Later in the afternoon, as I was sitting at
this laptop, I started to get a wee bit shaky. This is a sign that my blood
sugar level has dropped, quite dramatically, almost to hypo level at 3.3.
Of course I chewed a couple of Dextrose tablets, which soon put it
right. However, the mere fact that my reading fell to such a low level, tells
me that my diet is working and, it may well be, that my pancreas has started to
work again. As it is I am now down to just my late jab, but am now; very
tentatively; cutting that one down, but ever so slightly.
I’ll be seeing the practice nurse on the 19th and, whilst
she will be pleased with my weight loss, I’m not so sure about her reaction to
the news that I’ve almost eliminated the need for Insulin.
I received an email from Tony at Barby Moorings yesterday morning-which
was in reply to my email asking about visiting the marina-telling me we would
be welcome anytime. So, we’ll pop along there tomorrow. Most marinas now ask
for a £400 deposit when booking winter moorings. This, of course, comes off the
first quarterly payment. So, as soon as we’ve decided whether or not to spend
next winter there, we cough up the necessary readies.
Friday 15th April
We took a run over to Barby Marina yesterday and had a long chat with one
of the female moorers there. The upshot of this chat was that we would go away
and give the marina some serious consideration, this despite the fact that Kim,
our local driving instructor, had given us cause for concern about the place.
Anyway, when we returned to Crick marina, we found our boat engineer in
the car park. Well, no sooner had we mentioned the fact that we had been to
Barby, he immediately threw his hands in the air and said, “Don’t even think
about it!” Wow, now that’s a reaction. He moors his own boat nearby, actually
along the cut, and won’t even go into the marina to carry out work on boats
there. He then gave his opinion on both the owners of the place, amongst many
other detrimental remarks. Knowing him as we do; he’s taken care of our
problems for the past three years; we tend to take his advice and, after due
consideration, we’re now leaning towards Market Bosworth.
Talking of which, I emailed them again yesterday, with a view to making
it our permanent home. I haven’t heard back from them yet, except for an
automatic response to my email, so we’re going to phone and see if we can make
a visit there this weekend.
As for the car, well, we’ve now decided to keep it. I know, I know!! I’ve
said I want a newer one, and I do. But, having spent so much on it over the
years, I doubt if there’s much more that can go wrong with it. Yeah! I know………!!
Anyway, the reason for leaving it here is that, after speaking to Dave,
our engineer, and telling him about our plans for Market Bosworth, he agreed to
pick me up there; if and when we get moored there; and take me to Crick to pick
the car up again. Problem solved!!
There are a couple of things that need doing before it will pass
another MOT, but I’ll get Malcolm to fix those before we get to Market Bosworth
for the winter.
So, that’s it for this blog.
Have a great weekend folks.
Dave, Sheila and Alex.
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