Water water everywhere

I was just about to start the blog yesterday when there was a strange noise from the water pump, so off with the pans and under the sink I go for what seems like the umpteenth time. Yes there was water down there, not much but enough to give an indication that something was amiss. It turned out to be the water gauge sensor, is it worth it I ask myself. I had been worried about this if the water ever froze as it is not very securely fastened and I thought that the expanded ice would push the connector off and that is what happened. The connection consists of a bit of rubber hose and a plastic clip, the problem being that the copper pipe that it attaches to is not long enough and if you squeeze the plastic clip too much it slides off the pipe. Of course this had to be refitted by feeling about in the dark and then inspecting the job lying flat out with your head right back looking down your nose. It took half an hour by which time the blog was a distant memory and any thoughts of going off to the pub a long forgotten pleasure.

This morning the canal had sufficiently thawed out to allow us to move along to the water point and fill up with water. I also got a 13Kg gas cylinder so at least we don’t have to worry about running out of gas whilst the Christmas turkey cooks. We also needed diesel but as the canal centre was still covered in a thick layer of ice I had to make three trips with the jerry can to top up the diesel. Pump out was not an option so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed, or should that be legs.

We have all our Christmas shopping and are fully prepared for the festivities ahead.

Statistics so far:-

1102.07 Miles, 754 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

An early Christmas

Yes we have been back to Croxley as our daughter Gaby and her family are going to the in-laws for Christmas, and so we thought we would go home for our early family Christmas celebration plus I had a works do’s and Frances had the dentist. When I say a works do it is from a company I used to work for up until 1994 but the group has been getting together every year since 1974/5, I have only been party to the celebrations since the early eighties, of course now not everyone works for the company any longer but we all have a good time and generally drink too much. I did discovered yet another company that has banned my blog, what is it with these companies?

Back on the boat to find that there has not been much snow here but the canal is frozen and so is our water we are slowly thawing it out and hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly. When we went away we had not anticipated the weather conditions, and it is some relief that we are now back on the boat and can deal with any problems the cold weather may bring. We think that we will need diesel, gas and a pump out over the Christmas holiday’s, the gas isn’t a problem as we can fetch that on a trolley and we could possibly manage without the diesel but the pump out could be an issue as we do not have a BW card and the canal centre is closed from mid day Christmas eve until the second of January.

Statistics so far:-

1102.07 Miles, 754 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

Another move

We really liked where we were last night but decided to give Nantwich a recce so we have moved along to Nantwich. We haven’t been into town yet we will leave that until tomorrow. When we moored up we got talking to the boat behind us and boy was he disgruntled, we must have pressed some button that got him off on one. ‘ I don’t like boats and I don’t like boating’ And then we were subjected to a precise of the last ten to twelve years, basically they have the boat and it is costing them a bomb and they have no money to jump ship. I wonder if he is sitting in his boat now regretting his outburst. Anyway I think that we plan to move around until we have had enough but on the evidence so far it will be a while yet, oh and also at the rate that we move it may take us another 4 years to cover the system although at one stage it was going to take 17 years so somewhere along the line we must have sped up.

Canal Centre Nantwich

Nonworking Horse

Today we did 2.44 Mile and 2 Locks

Statistics so far:-

1102.07 Miles, 754 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

A Secret Bunker

We moved along again today but have only got as far as Hack Green. We stopped for lunch and then went for a walk and a quick geocache, as it is another lovely spot we decided to stay put. We would have liked to have gone to the nuclear bunker museum close by but it is closed at this time of the year, so if we want to have a look around it will have to be after our NZ trip.

I took a photo of the new marina Overwater which is due to open next year; it is enormous, it is difficult to show on a photograph taken from the canal especially when there are no boats to give it dimension, but it must have moorings for 100’s of boats.

Between Bridges 83 and 84 lies Coole Pilate Leisure Area, this is an area of row upon row of benches with BBQ facilities and boat mooring, I guess it may get crowded in the summer but there is not one boat here today.

Overwater Marina under construction

Canal leisure benches

Today we did 2.96 miles and 2 Locks

Statistics so far:-

1099.63 Miles, 752 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

A walk around Audlem

A walk around Audlem in bright sunshine, the parish church sits atop of a small hillock and dominates the surrounding village in a very impressive way. In the afternoon we had a walk down the canal past the new marine which looks huge, I did take a photograph of it but unfortunately it was into the sun and it looks more like a sunset shot than a picture of an emerging marina.

Audlem Parish Church

View from moorings

Current moorings

Statistics so far:-

1096.67 Miles, 750 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

Audlem

Yesterday we came down the flight of locks into Audlem and my what a difference a day makes, the photo below shows Frances hopping the gates as we started down the flight, this would have been around 10am and it was as bright as it got all day. We looked at the moorings after lock 11 but they over look a group of houses so we moved on through lock 12 and moored up at the 24 hour moorings and had a walk around town. The moorings were a bit dank and dark, well I guess it was that sort of a day, but walking along the canal we discovered that the moorings on the other side of lock 13 were open and had a beautiful view. It reminded me of a painting of Hampstead Heath at the time of William Blake. I will put a photo up later today for todays blog (this is yesterdays). I would highly recommend this mooring spot.

Frances gate hopping

Today (Friday) we did 1.15 Miles and 11 Locks

Statistics so far:-

1096.67 Miles, 750 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

Near Bridge 76

We were up early and out walking to nab a couple of Geocaches that we had passed last night as it was getting dark. Today the sun was out and it was a beautiful day, that’s what we want rain at night when we are tucked up in comfort and sun during the day.

We setoff with the intention of going to Audlem but when we pulled up after a couple of locks for lunch we thought ‘this is a beautiful place lets stay here, what’s the hurry?’ So this is where we are moored, near bridge 76 and another 10 Locks or so to go before we get into Audlem.

Frances

Bridge 69

Current Location

Today we did 1.47 Miles and 2 Locks

Statistics so far:-

1095.52 Miles, 739 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

Near Adderley

We eventually got to the market and had a good old look around stocking up on veggies and I even bought a woolly hat and some socks. It was quite pleasant having a day without rain. We said our good byes to ‘No Problem’ hope to catch up with them again.

After filling up with water we moved on the short distance to Adderley we had only just moored up when darkness fell, one of the problems of cruising in the winter is the short days. We met one boat coming through the locks which meant that the locks were mainly set in our favour. There has been a decidedly dramatic drop in the amount of canal traffic over the last few weeks, we only saw three other boats on the move today.

Sorry about the lack of pictures I seem to have caught a doze of lethargy, at least on that front. But as they say tomorrow is another day and I will get the camera out. Audlem here we come.

Today we did 3.71 Miles and 5 Locks

Statistics so far:-

1094.05 Miles, 737 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

Yet another day of boat chores

Well this is the plan: The sun is out so we grovel around in the boat, the rain comes and off we go for a walk. Well we didn’t really plan this but that is what happened, its not the first time either nor the last. Last night the fire went out to send us to an early bed.

Fortunately (if that’s the correct word when things go wrong) we have been here before and we knew what to do. This morning I removed the fuel pipe going into the filter next to the fire and there was no fuel. So out with the pump and we sucked the fuel through and we now have a warming fire again. The problem as I have said before is that the fuel tank for the fire should be near the fire not coming from the engine fuel tank, which is situated the full length of the boat from the fire. Fortunately (that word again) this does not happen too often and unless it gets worse we will probably live with it.

I won’t go into the computer problems which have also dogged us and required our undivided and much needed attention. And the boat has the indecency to be called ‘Lazy Days’. Although with our delayed departure we are now in a position to experience the delights of Market Drayton’s famous market, another plus gained from some unfortunate occurrences.

We managed to get in a couple of Geocaches when the boat eventually freed us from our chores; I have to add that this is undoubtedly a temporary respite.

Statistics so far:-

1090.34 Miles, 732 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels

A day for the Laundrette

Ok so I was too hasty yesterday when I rushed off and had a shower, there was still a leak under the sink. My touch feely leaves a lot to be desired, I had cross threaded the connection to the strainer but fortunately I did not over tighten it too much and once I had removed the pump, I was able to rectify the situation and so now all is in order and I am confident that all will be well. Oh and I haven’t had a shower which must help. Frances says could I hold off from saying that for a day or two.

What a miserable day it was today, we had planned to nip down to the laundrette a mere 4 – 5 mile round trip and then head off. But it was nearly lunch time by the time I was happy with the pump, so we headed off to the laundrette after lunch. We were soaked by the time we got there and it took a full wash and dry before we ourselves were dry, there are some advantages to living in bricks and mortar when you can easily do these things indoors and in the comfort of your own home. Fortunately the weather had brightened up as we finished so the walk home was much better.

Post Script: While I sit here writing this Frances has just handed me a small black rubber washer. Now I know that it was on the end of the pipe so how come it got out and on to the floor? Do rubber washers have the power to regenerate or will I be taking the pump out tomorrow. I feel (hope) that plastic pipes are forgiving in this area

Statistics so far:-

1090.34 Miles, 732 Locks, 74 Swing Bridges, 48 Lift Bridges, 10 Tunnels