August 2017

Hello folks ...Its blog time again.... It’s not the first time we have sailed the Shroppie canal, we first did it 7 years ago as a treat for my 60^th birthday with our very good friends Peter and Sue Huggins.

I love the Shropshire canal with all its quirks. Very narrow in places, impossible too moor due to low water levels and obstructions underwater. However it is a beautiful area. The wild life is lovely but sadly not every one respects the countryside. We had a holiday hire boat in front of us with a couple who couldn’t control it, they bashed from one bank to another, eventually, when ramming the farmers side bank, their large dog jumped off and rushed into a flock of Canadian Geese scarring them to death. Some people shouldn’t be allowed out unaccompanied !! There is a lot of these birds here at the moment, I looked around the other day when I heard a ‘honk’ behind me and there was a squadron of these beautiful feathered creatures coming into land. . a perfect ‘V’ formation. We are so blessed living so close to nature. 

Canadian Geese

We dropped down the Audlem flight with few problems, meeting some people going in the other direction which makes life easier because the locks are with you and saves time, not having to flood the lock chamber before we can go in.

We stopped over near the pub called the Shroppie Fly named after a very fast narrow boat used in the heydays of water transport, the fast juggernaut of the day. It used to be a warehouse with a crane outside to unload the vessels. It turned into a public house in the 1970 and used to be a very popular establishment.

We had a quiet drink...mainly because we were the only people in the bar !! Two other people were having a meal, we checked the menu, but we passed on eating, far too expensive. Silly prices which we are not going to pay. Sadly the canalside pubs are their own worst enemies. Pricing a lot of people out. Am I getting mean ?? …..Answer’s on a £50.00 note please ;-)

Shroppie Fly Pub Audlem

The trip to the Llangollen canal was a bit uneventful, however the entrance to the Welsh arm was far from uneventful ….We got jammed !!!!...We couldn’t get through the lock. ...DOH !!!

The lock at the bottom, I’m lead to believe, was built to an exact size...6ft 10inches...but over the years the walls have bowed inwards due to a poor repairs regime, also we are a bit wider due to having the re-plate, so halfway in…... we jammed. The lock-keepers came and tried to raise us up a bit and pulled to no avail. We were going nowhere, our planned North Wales holiday was cancelled !!! This is happening a lot to boaters recently a few a week according to the lockie.

A passing holiday boat had to pull us out, even at full revs our engine and prop wouldn’t move us..So we continued on to the city of Chester.

Stuck in first lock on Llangollen Canal

We seem to be making a lot of what I call ‘five minute friendships’, some of the locks are wider and can take two boats at a time. Makes life easier, as you share the opening and of the paddles and the gates..(Jenny’s job) I do the driving and chat to the driver of the other boat. Met a couple on a boat called ‘Grumpy Git’ …..turned out to be the opposite, we shared the last lock into Chester and moored in front of them for two days ...a 48hr. mooring. We were joined by another boat called ‘New Dawn’ another lovely couple who came over on the Saturday night for a glass of wine and a cup of tea. Roger and Dawn….Dawn wrote rap...63 years old, but her rapping was brilliant...I sang to her and she rapped to us. Another great night. Friday was shopping day . .topped up at the local Tesco, then Saturday we left the dogs on board and became ‘tourists for the day’ and had a look around the beautiful city of Chester.

Chester is an old Roman fortress town originally, then taken over by Monks in later times. We did the usual tourist things, sight seeing, spent a bit of money in local shops ..Jenny bought a new cap and we bought some posh cheese, was brilliant, Jenny took a few photos, and we just soaked up the atmosphere. There were buskers of various styles an Australian guy from Sidney doing street theatre. Something for everybody.

There were two or three buses doing the ‘round the city’ trips so we jumped on the very old bus (as in the photo below). It is classed as a replica now, but is is a genuine 1912 omnibus which saw life during the WW1 and is only one of three still in existence.

Sorry but ‘goldfish brain’ I can’t remember the make..It has to be classed as a replica now because of all the modifications done to it too conform to legislation required to be a public service vehicle.

We had a lovely lady called Barbara, dressed in the clothes of the day, giving a running commentary and telling us all about the city. It was always being invaded by the ‘heathens over the boarder’ i.e. . . The Welsh….All the churches in the city only have clocks facing away from the Welsh boarder, some have been removed, some never had any clocks in the first place. The reason?. . so the welsh won’t know the time...From which we get the expression.. ‘I wouldn’t give her / them the time of day’ !! It was a really informative half an hour.

Vintage bus.

Jenny and I are on a face book site called ‘The Narrow boat users group’ on returning to Infinity I posted a comment saying what a fabulous city Chester was and recommended any one in the area stop and have a look.

A lady asked if we had been on the old bus for the tour?,

I replied yes ..to which she said ‘I thought you had ..you were on the 2pm bus..,

I was your guide’...Barbara.. Turns out she is a boater as well...living in Chester.

We did a tour of the old monastery, again with a guide, the Cathedral is a beautiful building and terrific history. By the time we returned to the boat, too say I was knackered would be an understatement. I collapsed into the bunk and slept for a couple of hours but it was well worth the effort . . a lovely, beautiful city.

Sunday morning saw us turning around and heading back along the Shroppie. We have decided to return back the way we came and are heading again for Fradley Junction. We did debate doing the ‘four counties ring again, but the Harecastle tunnel is not the best...very long….very narrow and claustrophobic-ally low..… We have been through once, have the plaque, so will leave for another day.

Its pouring with rain today so . . no cruising. May stop here for the weekend ...depending what the bosun says.

Jenny did a check on the blog as I was wondering if it was being read ..I was gob smacked to find out how many followers/readers we have and in the different countries as well.

It appears we have at least...564 followers !!! In the following countries UK..Ireland..France..USA..Singapore (?)..Australia ..NZ..Russia(?) ..Spain.. and Israel so pleased I’m not wasting my time and glad you seem to be enjoying the ramblings of an old phart !!

Right lunch has been served..so I’ll had over to the brains of the outfit to put on her photos.

July 2017 travels

July …...has been and gone.. . The summer is passing so fast...On the last waffle piece we were heading back to home marina to attend the 50^th wedding anniversary of George and Pat. . Jennys brother and sister in law..that has been and gone as well.

A lovely night in a Chinese restaurant, so much food !!! We made complete pigs of ourselves, It was beautifully cooked and displayed. I was nominated driver as we were still driving Darrens car The Merc. The car went back the next day and we set off to our next destination Birmingham.

Old narrow boats are a constant work project we are finding out. Just the bits that need doing , engine checks, running the engine to top the batteries . .putting the paint back on the sides, where I keep scrapping it off going into locks !! One job that really needed doing was . . clean the chimney or flue as they call it on the cut. It is or was clogged, very badly and really needed replacing. We had a quote to do it from a mechanic who...sucked air into his mouth. . over his teeth...you know the sound ? That can be done, it’s err. . ,..about £700.00...Ok ………...we’ll think about it.

Glad we did...when we had the new steps fitted we had a word with the fabricators who made them for a second quote….about £200.00...err slight difference aye ??

So many people are ready to rip you off, so glad we are making some good contacts. Dale and David came out to our marina removed the old flue, took it away made another one, returned the next day and fitted it. When talking to them we mentioned the door to the Squirrel fire was a bit iffie.. needed a new seal. They repaired that as well..Lovely guys and the fire is totally reconditioned so if its a hard winter...we won’t freeze.

After leaving home we headed down to the Grand Union and turned left at Braunston on to the Oxford arm, and headed towards our first planned stop. The canal runs through some lovely country side, rolling hills and open fields, one point, before we turned right on to the Grand Union towards Warwick, the canal goes down hill. . . well, it feels if it does. It always gives me an optical illusion because of the hills and the way they lay by the side of the canal.

We stopped in at The Two Boats pub for the week end at Long Itchington and saw again the lovely Sam the landlady and John her partner. Saturday night was music night. A great evening was had by all. Great professional musician who lives in the next village to us...we were talking afterwards and he had actually heard of me...My alter ego….The Busking Bargee…

The run up to Birmingham was fairly uneventful, passing though Leamington Spa, we managed to get past the spot where the engine blew up the first time we took her out ..Into Warwick, where we went on our first narrow boat holiday..

We didn’t stop as we had been there lots of times. Moored for the night to get a good nights sleep to face the next day !!! . . . 21 locks up the Hatton Flight. . luckily enough, we managed to link up with another boat going up and shared the work, also had a laugh, the guy driving had the similar sense of humour to me. We are doing about 4 hours a day that’s enough to get to were we are going by mid August.

The canals seem very quiet, considering its the start of the holiday season. Some of the holiday boats are still in their home marinas..Mind you talking to one holiday maker on a hire boat, he told me he’d paid £1700.00 for one week!!.. are they pricing themselves out of the market??...

We stopped to do all the necessaries before turning into Gas St. Basin to moor. . Filled with water . . empted toilet (s) and thanks to a couple of very good CRT cleaners got rid of all our rubbish...So, here’s to a good weekend off…

We have been to Gas St Basin before, when we came by car. It was, many years ago, a complete, too quote a local . . a sh*t hole!!. . however a few years ago a lot of money was invested into the place and its money well spent. It was very busy, we managed to find a mooring place right at the end or the visitor rings, and very near the night life !!

Its a combination of the old building which have been repaired and given face lifts and also the new buildings which fit in so well. Its a job to work out which is new and what is old. We went out for a walk and made the mistake of taking the pooches with us….Jake wasn’t happy he wanted to get back to the boat. He’s a country dog and is worried by the buses and cars.. Mind you I don’t like them ether these days prefer the slow life of the canal. We had a walk along the canal to the International conference centre where we saw Cliff and the Shadows a few years ago. There are lots of hotels in the area and it was like the league of nations with all the different languages being spoken.

After a quick shop at the local S’bugs, we topped up wine and a bottle or two of beer we returned to the boat for our evening meal. After checking the local menu’s, sadly they had priced us out..far too expensive. But the visitors had no choice.

We had a walk in the evening around the area, stopping to have a small libation at a local bar, and sampled the atmosphere, on passing a pub on the way back, called Canalside a lady ran out clutching two sausages, promptly started to feed our two !! . . . they didn’t object...Its really friendly

a busker set up a mike and PA system and played for the revellers heading for the night clubs..Thats when we realised...THE NIGHT LIFE !!! Oh no !!!

The night passed with no problems...One pratt thought it was funny to knock on the window at mid night and set the dogs off, but other wise it was all good natured ...kids out having a bit of week end fun.

A few party boats are here ..a floating restaurant, one had a birthday party and other’s had hen parties...as I looked out of the window as one of the boats sailed past, the male ‘entertainer’ was just getting down to the……. …..well use your own imaginations... I was so shocked !! ….

It put me off me cocoa…

Sunday was a quite day, we went back to the Canalside for a mid afternoon drink...dogs got more sausages while we chatted too two lovely ladies who were here for a hen party weekend...no, not the one with the entertainment...They were disappointed….

Monday saw us leaving Birmingham and heading towards Wolverhampton. Over 22 locks. It took us 7 hours, we stopped twice to let people past us, we won’t be rushed..

26^th of July was my birthday and went out for a meal in the evening at a pub called the ‘Wharf Tavern’.Its a lovely old ale house owned by Greene King.. a busy pub ..Sadly the brewery believe it is possible to run a busy pub with 3 members of staff.. One trainee manager ..One chef. . and wait for it. . one bar maid . . who was on the first night…

I felt so sorry for them...We had a lovely rib-eye steak and chips salad etc, before the melt down started. The food side was busy and the so was the beer side. It took ten min’s to get a beer and the food side over an hour !! lots of people cancelled and had their money refunded… Raquel the manager was in tears at the end... I sat with her and tried to comfort her, as did another couple, Spoilt our evening out really but hae...thats life.

We are now on the Shropshire canal, known as the Shroppie, over the weekend at Market Drayton, last time we were here was my 60^th birthday treat with Peter and Sue Huggins on a hire boat called Snowmain….where have the years gone??

Tomorrow, . . Monday. . We have a big flight of locks at Audlem, so an early night and off we go again...We’ll have to increase our daily hours cruising, so we can have a bit longer at Llangollen, so I’ll say bye bye for now and hand you over too the picture department...ttfn XXX

Entering Birmingham Gas Street area

Gas Street Basin

Birmingham Gas Street

Unpowered work boat being manually towed through locks.

A powered boat tows it outside of locks.

Telegraph pole in middle of bridge on Shroppie.

Old lock gates no longer needed.

Hatton Flight.

Some great countryside around area.

Tried a short video of our travels with a bit of music.

June 2017

June 2017.

Well it’s Monday the 5^th of June,….. Weather forecast ….Wet and windy, so, we are having a day off. It’s not good travelling in a wind. The boat is 62ft long and is affected quite badly if the wind catches you, you loose control and clip someone, its not good.

The Erewash canal must be, for me, the best canal we’ve been on so far.

Built in1777 ‘ish at a cost of £21000 to carry coal, it linked 3 canals the Nottingham, Comberford and the Erewash at Eastwood. The local pub The Great Northern is named after the managing company who built and ran the canal. The other 2 canals have sadly been built over or collapsed hence the dead end.

start of the Erewash Canal

We popped in the pub with Ashley and co. for lunch, only to be informed…..we were too late for lunchtime food. Doh!!

Sods law, just our luck. Food stops 3 till 5pm ...but...the lovely barmaid came over a few minutes later and told us her Dad would make us some baguettes if we wanted...too right. 10 min’s later some toasted chicken, bacon and cheese arrived on our table.

They were lovely.

For people who don’t know, Ashley Chapman is my ‘adopted’ daughter 2.. We met when she was 7 years old at the holiday park in Norwich.

We are not sure if she adopted me, or I adopted her, but she is much loved and was a big part of my life in the time living in Norwich. Ash is 24 now and a mum in her own right..I’m now granddad 2 as well. We still keep in touch a couple of times a week on facebook . Also meet up when we can.

Going up or down the locks it’s always best to link up with other canal users. The locks being wide can take 2 narrow boats and we steady each other as the water comes in or out to raise or lower the levels. You can meet some great people, some out going, some very quiet, some quite strange..well, … enough about us …hee hee...

While waiting for a lock we noticed some local lads in a very, very old cabin cruiser.

To describe them ...They were a cross between Sam Dingle of Emmerdale fame and the family at the gas stallion in Deliverance….. We had the misfortune to share a lock with them. We also had a lovely couple in a Narrow boat called ‘Rosemary’. She was a 45 footer which left enough room for their short boat in front. Talk about all fun and games, they hadn’t a clue what they were doing, how they got out without damage to their craft was a wonder. How I stopped myself from whistling ‘Duelling Banjos’…. I don’t know. Looking back it was funny.

Most of the canal is adjoined by housing. It links or runs between Sandiacre, Ilkeston, and Long Eaton, some modern houses and some council. In between a small bit of rural land farms bits, also golf clubs and recreation areas. Have seen a lovely old folks home which backs right on to a lock...so knows in the future ??…Also an old lace factory which had been redeveloped into flats. So good to see a beautiful piece of architecture preserved.

The water here it fairly clean and you can see the bottom, but going past one housing estate I looked down and there on the side, below the water level...a complete motor bike. Looked like an old Honda Super-dream 250.

Well enough for now, we turned right after the Trent lock onto the Trent and Mersey canal heading towards Burton upon Trent so a lazy day .. a rest . . then move on tomorrow.

Spring is a great time on the water, ducks and other water birds have their seasons, for a while there are both male and female duck swimming about, then the females disappear for a few weeks then suddenly re-appear with lots of little followers. The babies are lovely but its a dangerous time, the have predators and only a few make it to adulthood. Big fish and rats being their main predators. A pike will see off many ducks and signets in the swan breeding season.

The trip down to here has been fairly uneventful. Had a few days at Atherstone where we did a monster shop at the local Aldi’s (twice) topped up just after pension day, plenty of wine and food enough for a couple of weeks. While we were there Fred Hands came to see us and was a bearer of something we are partial to ...a bottle or rather two bottles of red wine. A lovely man who we became friends with on facebook. We met his son and daughter in law Sinead and Matthew last year and its now good to put a face and personality to a name on our friends list. It was good just sitting in the sun, drinking tea and putting the world to rights, had a few laughs and learned a bit about each other.

We had to move on the next day as we have to get back nearer Northampton as we have been summoned for granddaughter sitting duties. So the next stop was Sutton Stop or to use its other name Hawksbury Junction.

It’s the joining place of two Canals, the Coventry canal and the Oxford Canal. There is a good pub there, The Greyhound and as it was fathers day on the Sunday, Kylie came over and we went for lunch after turning the boat around ready for the last rush into boatyard on the Monday. It was a lovely afternoon, hot sun, the food although basic was excellent, also a good duo singing most of the songs they did . . . I do in my act.

We now are moored in Lime Farm Marina for a few days while John does a couple of things on the boat. A small water leak on the heating system.

The fan belt is still being a bit of a pig !! For some reason unknown to us it keeps loosening off. So I need to re adjust it. A two minute job. . If I can get to it !!!

The alternator is on the front of the engine which is under the rear decking

Getting into the engine room is easy...if I was a still the slim figure I used to be when 21.. and 10 stone...However now I’m 67 and 15 and a half stone, its a bit different.

The easiest way to do it is, remove the steps on the back decking and there is plenty of room. The problem is they weigh about one and a half hundredweight, they are a tight fit. Puts a bit of a strain on my somewhat weakened heart so...we are having a new set made out of aluminium, so it’s lighter and easier. The old ones are very rusty and past just a repaint.

Jenny has been very busy repainting the new cratch area and re-varnishing the wood work, I’m saving my energy for when I’m back in home port next week. I have a bit of wood work to finish and the much awaited rear fencing on the cruiser stern. It was fenced off with plastic netting to keep the dogs from falling/getting off the back as a temporary measure 3 years ago. Finally found the metal panels I need at Homebase in the local store, so no excuses ..they will be done before we leave for North Wales in July.

Enough of my waffle ...Now I’ll hand over to Jenny to add photos..this is out of my understanding being a complete luddite regarding the computer ..

Love to all our readers...XXX 

Swan on her nest

River Severn

Weir on River Severn

Approaching a Lock

Waiting at side for lock

Wild geese visiting when in a lock, no food though.

Some of the bridges are very narrow

Fradley Junction

Wild geese with some of their offspring

 

Winter is over, now on our travels.

Hello everybody...Its blog time again….Winter is over, where is the time going?

Since being back at Yelvertoft a lot has happened. Jenny has been fine, but me ..not so good. I had so much planned on the boat, but a slight body malfunction resulted in, a night in hospital, one month in bed, and a ‘procedure’ which thankfully put me back to normal !! Jenny was brilliant as usual. Nursing me through a nasty time.

We had planned for Infinity to go into the boat yard for the central heating to be fitted

then spend Christmas at Foxton, nice and warm, however it was all cancelled due to me.

John at Limefarm Marina started a major refurbishment on his yard which required part of the mooring to be pumped out, the yard was blanked off and nothing moved for a few weeks. Once back on my feet we killed time, doing bits and pieces, Jenny made a pom pom rug, and I just pottered ..playing a bit of music and trying to get back to guitar.

We were holding back in Yelvertoft and as soon as John was ready we set off to get the heating sorted. A nice steady cruise to Rugby and a stop of at The Barley Mow pub to see Simon and Kelly...I did a night there as the Busking Bargee...literally singing for my supper.. well free beer and a full Sunday lunch. I’ve been asked to play at their wedding in October..well pleased.

John is a brilliant mechanic but not the fastest worker and a few days work turned into a few weeks work, but the job he has done is excellent. We have had a major problem

with the electrics on the boat and we were worried the batteries, new last year, were

faulty as they didn’t seem to hold charge. Just said to John ...sort it.

Turns out the previous owners or mechanics had wired it up wrong, I couple of new components and relays and switches all is fine. But one problem was still there. The engine keeps eating fan belts. Literally…. it will slip like crazy and snap a new one in

24hrs.

On the way home another fan belt broke and we had to stay at the side of the canal at Braunston, John came over and repaired it on the side of the cut. The problem

appeared to be miss matched pulley’s, very disappointed as the so called BMC experts had looked and allegedly sorted the problem before. Will not be using Callcutt Boats

again, also advised a few people to avoid.

Once back at home marina my wood work kit came out, replacing the wood and bits removed during the heating installation. As I say about my wood work...a blind

carpenter would be pleased to see it !!!….. however its home to us. Darren came over

and laid carpets and relaid the bedroom one again after I had to work on the walls.

sorry bulkhead ..

So finally we are ready for off …..yeeees…..err ...No ...Jenny had a cold and I went down with a bad bout of tonsillitis...also it was wet and windy making it not cruising weather.

Eventually on the 19^th May ...6 weeks later than planned we left for our summer cruise.

First stop Foxton Locks for a couple of nights, very apprehensive about the boat, but

she was good as gold. John you appear to have cracked it. Every thing is working, charging, and running as sweet as a nut.

We have planned to be out for a couple of months, returning to Northampton mid July

for Jenny’s brothers 50^th wedding anniversary.

Starting at Foxton we have cruised past for the first time, onto ‘virgin’ canals for us.

Filled up with diesel at Debdale Marina, and then on to the River Soar.. first

time on a river. Its is absolutely beautiful, very wide in places and weirs which we

haven’t really come across before. The locks are quite heavy and we were

lucky enough to link up with a couple about the same age to share the work.

We are planning about 4 hours a day on the move, enough to top up the

batteries, but not enough to make it hard work. Had a good night outside of

a ‘Hungry Horse’ establishment, started off as an early doors pint..ended up

as a full blown night out..Sizzling Steak special..bottle of wine for a £5.00 a

very good one at that, well it tasted OK.

We are meeting some lovely people and the houses we are are passing

are absolutely beautiful, there is a lot of money in this area.

On leaving the River Soar we crossed over the Trent and Mersey

canal onto the Erewash canal about 15 locks between there and the end.

So far the weather has been good for us. Until today, bank holiday Monday

hissing down with rain, but we do need water, tops up the canals.

The reason we have come up to Nottingham is to have a meet up with Ashley

Chapman. She is coming over tomorrow sometime with her little boy...Bobby.

Well that’s it for now, hope you find it interesting, We are turning around on

Wednesday, returning back down the Erewash, as it is a dead end now.

Turning right on to the Trent and Mersey and missing Birmingham for the

time being, as when Northampton is out of the way we are heading for

North Wales Via Birmingham.

TTFN

Foxton Locks

Moored for the night on River Soar

Mum, Dad and little cygnets.

Some posh houses by the River Soar

Turning off the Soar towards the Trent

Cross over from Soar towards the Erewash canal avoiding the yachts.

Entrance to Erewash canal and we made it...

Times flying by

Isn’t the time going quickly ?...A month has gone past since I put finger to key pad..I believe we had just entered the final stage of our London adventure at the end of the last blog.

At the end of the Regents canal we passed though the Regents Zoo. Through the aviary and passed walk ways. All the way down the canal, it’s no mooring and a lovely cruise.

After the zoo area we turned left into the final stretch towards our goal . . . limehouse basin.

The water in the canal here is very clear and you can see the bottom and sides quite clearly but, it is filthy. with litter, the main pollutant is plastic bags and other rubbish. We had to stop every so often, remove the weed hatch and take off rubbish wrapped around the propeller, a pair of tights, a coal bag, lots of shopping bags to name but a few. Assorted crap doesn’t 'arf slow you down... 

We have, for some unknown reason, been having trouble keeping the 12v batteries topped up, not sure why, as we have had a new set of 4x110 amp hr fitted before we left Yelvertoft also had a new alternator fitted as well. So in theory they should be OK ..

We decided to book into the Limehouse basin marina for one night and get an electrical link so we could give the battery bank a good blast with the on board charger to top them up.

We checked on their web site to get a price...For one night the cost was ...£36.00...What !!…...Ok..Expensive but we really needed a top up so rang to book a berth...they weren’t sure if they had one ..What ??? ‘Ring back when Barry was in’ …

When we did a bit later they had one berth...but ….the price had shot up to £80.00 for one night with hook up !!!

When Jenny brought it to his attention that the web site price was a lot cheaper he dropped it to £74.00 ..Yep ….We told him what to do with it..!! Politely ..Honest !!

We linked up with another boat crewed by a couple who moored at Foxton locks which is just up the canal from us. ..Danny and Sandie and a couple of friends ...

The flight into Lime house was a bit hairy...there was a very high wind blowing ..At one stage we were nearly wedged across the canal both of us !!

Once a high wind catches a 62 ft long narrow boat...you have to go... if its sideways !! Getting the bow into the wind is quite difficult.

We finally regained control and sailed into the basin...We had reached our goal !!! On looking about the basin, there didn’t appear to be anywhere to moor, the wind was still being a pain and I was worried about being blown on too any of the moored boats ...so .. we turn around and sailed straight back up the locks and started our return journey home.

The basin looks like a rich man’s play ground, Yachts.. Dutch barges, and other high end vessels.

Some lovely properties over looking the marina. Beautiful apartments with verandas, which would give wonderful views of the Thames.

Definitely out of our price range.

Limehouse Basin

Entrance to Limehouse Basin

Having had a rough day we decided to moor up early. There is a distinct lack of moorings in that area so we had a word with a passing CRT man (Canal and River Trust) asked were we could get a place in the area…

Just there’ he said, pointing..’by the jetty’ ...’It has rings’..It also had a sign …..NO MOORING !!! What the hell ..We had permission …Evening pint time came early that day …With a walk to a typical east end pub ..

It was a beautiful clear night and as I sat on the cruiser stern and watched the sky, quite a few stars were on view despite the light pollution. Other lights were there as well, lots of them..Aeroplanes.

I never realised how many planes there were in and out of Heathrow..Also of course the City airport. They are at different altitudes but, wow, they looked very close to me..Too close..Fascinating to watch, I wouldn’t want to be an air traffic controller, they earn their salaries. 

We felt quite safe in the London area, lots of security and CCTV cameras. The only place we had reservations about was Camden locks. We had seen on Tim and Pru’s programme a sleazy and not good side of it. However going through, (going down,) we had a guy jump aboard (after getting permission) to get a photo on a boat. They were doing a team building exercise for his works and had tasks to complete..one of which was get a photo on a boat..

On the way back up, as we approached the bottom lock there was a group of black youngsters at the bottom lock. One was playing a guitar and one had a ?? looked bit like a didgeridoo..??

Trouble we thought. As we approached the lock, the young girl (who was dancing to the music) turned to me, and pointed then shouted ...Hey baby... ...When you come back this way..pick me up and we will runaway together !!..She was an absolute beauty ..Stunning !!…

She made an ‘old man’ very happy !!

However I joined in (yes ...somewhat flattered) A bit of banter went backwards and forwards ending in me saying...I’ll have to get permission from the wife first...Jenny was by this time empting the lock for us to enter.

She stood there looking at the girl ..well, not looking ….Glaring !! Swinging the windlass in a very threatening manner but just in fun.. It was so funny and a lovely atmosphere. We all had a laugh and continued on our way.

Camden Locks.

It was a fairly eventless run back, we had a stop over in Uxbridge again. In the morning Jenny heard a dripping sound from under the sink...Yep, we had sprung a leak, the sink waste pipe was dripping water into the bilge... Not a problem, (I thought) just take it off and clean it up, seal it, and replace..Jobs a good un !!!

Wrong...I took the pipe off and cleaned it,…. so far so good,

However, when it came to refit it...It wouldn’t go back..the pipe it went over was too small ?? and it flopped about….What the !!??

For some reason the pipe didn’t go back. A quick phone call to a local narrow boat plumber, he was there within 1 hr. quick check and he sussed out the problem. The whole job was a bodge up by the previous owners (no change there then !!) ..

Half an hour later he was back with the correct coupling, (¾ inch plastic pipe, two jubilee clips, new sludge trap) the job was a good un, a very reasonable price as well.

Next morning as we set off again, the fan belt started slipping, a horrible howling sound.

Its a problem we have had before ..so I had too get my spanners out and tightened it...All Ok ..No slipping ..until .. the next day a dull thud..and the Ignition light came on. . The fan belt had broken. DOH !!!

Not to worry, we have a spare..But..turns out the ‘well known’ BMC marina had supplied us with the wrong one...DOH !! (again). Phone call to RCR (river and canal rescue) to be told..’Mechanic is out on a job but he will be with you next’,

Ok thats lovely, but ...Can you tell him to bring a couple of spare fan belts…

When John the mechanic turned up ...(some 4 hours later) guess what?? ..He didn’t have a belt...He wasn’t told !!!…..Grrr…

Its 5.30 pm now. Not to worry, I’ll get one and will be back by 11 o’clock tomorrow morning, we were told. Glass of wine and an early night, ready to be up early, to for the mechanics arrival.

At 1pm we phoned up to check where he was, to be told...he was on another job..re-floating a sunken boat..He finally turned up at 8.30pm, fitted the belt and we were able to get some power again . Not impressed with the RCR service considering we are gold members and lodged a complaint. 

Over 36 hours later we were able to get going again. I believe they get paid for raising a boat by the insurance companies (?) Customers coming second to making money ?

Lord David Trimble and his wife Daphne caught us up again and we played leap frog again for a few days .Us passing them when moored up and vice versa also sharing locks.

We plodded onward towards home and a planned two day stop over at Stoke Bruerne, as it one of our favourite villages (which turned into 4 days).  Piggy Pete and Sue had fancied a weekend away in the their American 5^th wheel caravan so they booked into the camp-site by the canal. People who don’t know Piggy Pete and Sue are pig farmers (retired now.. allegedly... from Wisbech) ....Friends now for 21 years plus...

 

An evening meal in The Navigation Inn..and a catch up for the last 3 months ...It was brilliant for the money. So good we ate there the next night as well.

After Pete and Sue left, we met up with the other Infinity and crew. A pint in ‘The Boat Inn’ with Marin and Sue and also met up with Gill Mehmet. They were passing though on their cabin cruiser Yoghurt..aptly called ...hee hee..

(Narrow boaters call the GRP boats Yoghurt pots..)

Gill and Carl her partner called in for coffee and a chat in the morning befor leaving their boat to return home by car.

The week end was finally wound up with a surprise visit of our granddaughter, Becky and Karen, her mum. It was truly wonderful long weekend.

By the time we got to Crick we bumped into Danny and Sandie again. They had been braver than us and had gone along the Thames and up the Oxford canal in a circular cruise. It turns out there were moorings available in Limehouse basin, we hadn’t gone far enough in to see them. It was not user friendly for me.

No signage for visitors.

Sailed into Yelvertoft 5 days later than we had planned but ….. We had done it !! ….We had done the London trip.

Would we do it again ?…..Errr NO !! but it was our first boating adventure, as old age travellers..

Roll on next years cruising season.

The wind was blowing a hooley when we arrived back at Yelvertoft ..Jenny suggested we moor outside until it dropped but I like a challenge !! ...

I took it straight in through the entrance (mind you it was at full power) and pulled up at the diesel pump. (hand brake turn) Chuffed to bits.

We have a new mooring but sadly it took me 4 or 5 attempts to get into it with the help of our neighbour Jim, nearly pulling him in to the marina when he was holding our bow rope .....Damn the wind!!

Over the winter we plan some other work on the boat, to make her usable in the winter and a bit more ‘cosy’.

We need to sort out the central heating and re-do some of the wood work which was damaged during the hull restoration.

Also replace the flooring in the saloon and galley then re-carpet...so….

There will be no rest for the wicked as they say.

See you all soon.

Canal green 'lawn'...

Watford Locks

London canal and train

Living rough under canal bridge in London

Continuous cruisers living in London