Blog 3

Blog Three.

Well .. When we were cruising on the main grand Union it was hard to think we were virtually in the centre of London. The area was still quite rural.

At Bulls bridge, we turned left on to the Paddington arm, a few boats moored here, obviously live-aboard. The trip in was quite interesting.

All narrow boats are different. All have different designs, as they are custom made by different steel fabricators. The sterns are different, some boats are cruiser stern, like ours. Plenty of room for a few people to stand on the deck.

Some are traditional ..Very small rear decking with nowhere to stand, just room for the skipper.

Or the third style .. semi trad...which is a bit of both. Small standing area for the driver / skipper .. but a seating area, usually enough for 4 people.

But …..the different styles of boat we saw was mind boggling.

Cruisers (or yoghurt pots, as we affectionately call them) can range from small 16ft Microplus cruisers to quite large Normans with double cabins.

But some we saw on the run into London was incredible, floating garden sheds….Some people have built on the base of a cabin cruiser in wood and are living on board.

Some people have converted the old dredger barges used by the old British waterways to collect mud and rubbish into homes. Literally welding shipping containers on to them and building inside.

Traditional house boats...floating, but not able to move under power, basically big wooden sheds, which look lovely. Some have gardens and big decking areas, complete with BBQ etc..Little communities most will wave or say hello or good morning as we pass (slowly) so as not too rock the boat as they say.

Dutch barges are very popular to live on .. compared to ours they are very big. .Wide beams are also popular for residential purposes.

But … There are some vessels that are ….well …...ships !!

They could quite frankly cross the channel never mind conquer the river Thames...

Sadly, it not all as idyllic as I might make it sound here. Some of the boats are, well, beyond repair and so run down they really should be scrapped

however people are still living on them, In what looks like absolute poverty. The difference in canal people is quite big between the wealthy and the poor. However, they all are friendly (so far) the dread locked and tattooed peeps, when you chat with them are all OK (again ..so far) the smell of marijuana can often be detected in the air on passing or mooring near. Who are we to judge..

We wanted to moor in Little Venice but on the day we sailed in, it was

quite busy, and the mooring area is quite small.

The ‘visitor moorings’ are sadly (or appear) to be taken by people who are living a board and working in the area. NOT what the visitor moorings are for. Turning it into a residential mooring. The CRT ( Canal and River Trust) seem to be reducing areas where you can moor. Also they (CRT) are in the process of evicting the boat people. I understand that there are 800 cases being looked into at the present time. Not good for tourism in the London, when you try to have a few days in the capitol.

We sailed on into the start of the Paddington Basin...Right out side of the railway station was a mooring free...65ft long !!! Providence or what !!

We moored up and have a 7 day allowance without having to move.

We had a walk into Paddington Basin on Sunday morning and had a good look around,

Its lovely..All new buildings and little café areas with a water feature with little fountains.. We were watching a young toddler and his dad running in and out of the ‘dancing waters’…after that we walked into Little Venice...again a lovely area mainly residential boats double moored, There was a café / Restaurant over the other side, so we crossed the bridge and was going to have a coffee. After smelling the cooking Jenny fancied a bit of food checked on Menu..Beef burger..£12.99 ??...I don’t think so !! Sat waiting for someone to serve us for about 10 minutes..No one came to take our order..we left.

The only problem we have had being moored here is…

Noise ..We are outside of a building site of a new £100 million office block and they are pile driving...You won’t believe this but...the boat is vibrating with the thumping of the jack hammer. Poor old Jake is terrified .. He is off and hiding in the toilet area.

Mind you he is not happy with city life..He’s a country dog.

Carly takes all in her stride, We are waiting to meet up with my son Clive later this afternoon. He’s at a meeting in London and will drop in on the way home.

We had a walk in to the area and a pint outside of a local pub. 2 drinks. Pints of bitter and larger £8.88 (for both).. can’t get over how expensive it to live here.

Fancied a bit of supper on the way home. There is a Cornish pasty stand in Paddington station so we thought we would have one each as a treat...£7.99 !!! each !!! The vendor looked embarrassed and apologised for the price !! I only have to try to sell them he said sheepishly ..

We returned to boat and had a lump of baguette, pate and a lump of cheese. Plus a red wine ..Saved over a tenner..

The locals are quite friendly .. We have been speaking to a lady who is exercising her dog out side our boat each evening, a little puppy called ‘Elvis’ 9 months old Maltese, he’s a character. She and her husband live in a flat over looking the area.

Checked out the prices on ‘Zoopla’..starting at … £1.100.000… a bit out of our price range.

Had a bit of a panic last night .. The lady on the boat behind started screaming .. ‘get some cold water’ ‘GET SOME COLD WATER !!!’

She’d taken the rad cap of her engine…. when it was hot.. The steam blew out ..and scalded her. .. Face and her right arm and hand...Jenny phoned for advise, while I supplied cold water to cool the area down.

We are just at the back of St Mary’s hospital so she and another narrow boat dweller walked round the corner to the professional people for them to sort.

Right over to Jenny to add some photos...A joint effort.

Enough for now...let us know if your reading …???

also…..If you enjoying ??

If no one is reading…. I won’t bother with me ramblings.

Paddington arm, We moored in the gap for a few days.

Little Venice

Restaurant over the canal on way out of Little Venice

Leaving Little Venice

Bit out of our price range, also to many rooms to clean!!

Cows are kept in  London

On the way to Limehouse Basin

At Kentish Locks, commonly known as Camden Locks

London Canal Museum Basin

Blog part two….

Well time has gone past so fast, after a days cruising its sometimes a bit much to sit down and write what we have been up too. Jenny is keeping a log as we call it the ‘The Skippers Twig’...(not the captains log !!)..so I’ll have to refer back to that for the main points.

We left the marina and headed south on our way to London, 15 months after we tried last time, as we were still working, we had to turn around at Kings Langley. The book reckoned we could do London and back in 3 weeks...Wrong !! Ok, we had a few problems the first time, breakdowns caused by shoddy workmanship by Calcutt Marina. But more time was needed. Not a problem now...we’re retired.

Filled up with diesel at Lime Farm Marina, waved bye bye, let the adventure begin. Cruising through Rugby...when... oh no !! The engine started to ‘surge’ and then...cut out. Doh !! I managed to get her to the bank and rang John.

Luckily enough he was out on another breakdown nearby and was with us within a few minutes, quick check and he ascertained it was a lack of diesel.

System bled, engine started, off we go again. Brilliant..until 10 min’s later..it stopped again. Right out side Clifton Cruisers...another phone call waited a bit longer this time. Again it was fuel starvation, John changed the diesel filter and off she went again. The filter was blocked. When we refuelled on leaving, the engine was running, we believe it stirred up the sludge at the bottom of the tank and the filter did its job..From then till now it has been perfect.

I hate the Braunston tunnel !!, why you ask ?...simples...its not straight!!.

Built by two Irish brothers, one started at one side of the hill and the other started at the opposite end. Things weren’t as technical in those days and guess what happened, yep they missed each other ...Leaving a big kink or rather a few kinks in the finished link.

Travelling through the tunnel, straining my eyes to see the way, I see two head lights coming towards us. What !! On both sides of the tunnel ??. I panicked.

Was it a wide beam boat coming through with out permission ?.

Emergency stop...after a few min’s, (it seemed like hours) the lights blended back into one. It turned out it was an idiot trying to overtake the boat in front !!!

It bad enough to go through the tunnel with out stupid idiots like that.

We need to cruise at least four hours a day to top up our batteries, surprising how much power you use on the 12v system. Fridge freezer..TV..radio...and lights in the evening. Running the engines for this time means we kept on the move.

We stayed over at our favourite stops, Stoke Bruerne for a couple of days. Mainly though, we are plodding on.

The TV signal in the Hertfordshire area is very poor, so we are getting used to listening to the radio or the I-Pod.

Met up with Jenny’s brother and sister in law, George and Pat, at a pub in Milton Keynes, The food was bad, the beer expensive, but we had a lovely afternoon, chatting and catching up.

Stayed in the centre of the city the next night, right outside of a flat where a lad was murdered last year. But it was an uneventful night.

The next stop was Leighton Buzzard. Pension day..also time to do the major shop. Food from the canal side Aldi and Tesco. Major stock up of wine and beer. The local ales here are £4.15 a pint but Hobgoblin is £1.25 from Aldi..quite a saving.

Next few days are uneventful, just making the miles to London, Cowroast, Berkhampstead .. Hemel Hampstead .. nearer each day to our goal..Little venice..Paddington Basin and the Regents Canal.

While staying over night at ‘The Port of Berkhamstead’ there was lovely boat moored in front of us..obviously a new one called ‘Sine Nomine’ an unusual name but there are lots of strange boat names.

We had a lie in the next day and left a bit later than usual, we aren’t in a rush these days so, why rush? A gentle 2000 rpm cuts Infinity through the water at about 3 mph according to our sat nav.

On turning a bend in the canal, we see a narrow boat in front .. obviously in trouble. The engine was running quite fast, boat not moving, although the propeller was spinning very fast !!

They were firmly aground and were going nowhere. Drawing along side, we shouted too them to throw us their bow line, tied it on to our stern, and pulled them free.

Our ‘good deed for the day’ !!..until we tried to move off.. DOH !!!...we were stuck on the bank as well...they were free. !! However if you reverse off the bank you normally pull free, as it was in our case. We both were able to continue our journey. The name of the boat...Sine Nomine..the boat that was moored in front of us the night before.

At the next set of locks we slipped in beside them trying not to scrape down their lovely shiny boat !!. We shared the water and the work, going into locks in twos makes life so much easier.

While chatting to the driver, (his wife was helping Jenny on the paddles)I had a memory of the boat being featured in a Canal mag a few months ago..He confirmed it was..

I then remembered who owned it..I couldn’t remember the name but remembered he was a politician.. I asked him if he was an MP?

...’Was’ he replied..retired I asked?..Yes...by the voter...he lost his seat..but now is in the house of Lords !!

Damn my memory !! I still couldn’t remember who he was..

So if in doubt..ask !!………...Lord Trimble…

David Trimble…. First minister of Northern Ireland. (was, now in house of lords)

For the next few lock we had lots of chats about politics and the state of the world etc. a great gentleman. They stopped for lunch at one of the canalside hostelries we continued on having a wrap ‘on the move’.

When we moored for the night a couple of hours later. They moored up behind us. Gave me time to Google the history of his career, also see a speech he made a few weeks before in Europe..Interesting hearing his views first hand regarding Brexit...Northern Ireland..etc.

By coincidence we both pulled stakes and set off at the same time next morning. He was on the ‘windlass’ opening locks..his wife was driver.

I quipped too her..Now I know who you are , do I have to say ‘My ladyship’ or is it Daphne..Big smile back No !! ...it’s Daphne...so it was David and Daphne from then on. What a lovely couple. No airs or graces. A pleasure meeting them both.

When we turned up the Paddinton arm of the Grand Union well that is another story..Enough for now...will hand over to Jenny to add a few photos and edit as needed …

TTFN

Bob

Its raining...

Heron searching for his dinner

Our lock partners Lord and Lady Trimble

To early for a pint

Milton Keynes

Just coming into built up area of London

And another London shot.....