Live Aboards

We are now back on board our boat at Newbury, it always amazes me when we get back to find the boat in one piece, I don’t know why but I always feel that a boat is more vulnerable than a car or a house.

Still someway to go with the house sorting but big inroads have been made for when Gaby and Sam move in next week.

We were speaking to a couple living on a boat near where we are moored and they said were we live aboards and yes we are and now that we are clearing our stuff out of the house it certainly feels that way.

We have until the 3^rd November to get beyond the lock at Woolhampton so we will probably stay here until Saturday and then move on then. After that we have to decide where we go next.

Today we did 0 miles 0 locks 0 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:

315.89 Miles, 246 Locks, 38 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

He knows where he is going

Quite a surprise this morning with the snow, I was up early and had the car started up to defrost before 7am. The temperature was -3, hope the boat is alright.

Thanu came around and off we went to West Burton to hopefully complete our job there. We arrived at the gate house to sign in and my name was there as expected but in brackets next to it was “He knows where he is going”, so we all had a bit of a laugh at this, and so you see it is official, I know where I am going, I might not know where I have been, and I might not know much, but I do know where I am going.

More sorting of the house and more things relegated to the bin, life is so very very hard. Still on the positive side Frances loves every minute as she is thinking that it is one less thing to get rid of when we do finally move.

Today we did 0 miles 0 locks 0 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:

315.89 Miles, 246 Locks, 38 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Croxley our second home

Well yes here we are again back at Croxley Green, and yes I am off to the power station again tomorrow. I have been really hammering that rail card, certainly worth the money. This gives us the opportunity to sort some things out prior to Sam and Gabs moving in. So I am busy clearing out the third bedroom to make way for little Ralph.

Sam was here when we got back, which was really nice. He has now taking our bed back to Hereford so it will be the boat for us or the floor. I am clearing out some of my history, Frances is jubilant such is the way of the world.

Later we will see Celeste and Mick for some wedding talk, apparently.

Today we did 0 miles 0 locks 0 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:

315.89 Miles, 246 Locks, 38 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Dry Newbury

Very nice day today after the rain of recent times and you can tell it has become much colder as we have had the fire on for the first time during the day. There isn’t one mooring slot along this stretch going through Newbury, so we were very lucky to get in when we did; there is about 10cm between us and the boats on either side.

I keep meaning to say that anyone wishing to spend the day with us is certainly welcome to come along and join us, I would advice not using the BBC for the weather forecast though.

Today we did 0 miles 0 locks 0 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:
315.89 Miles, 246 Locks, 38 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Wet Newbury

Plenty of rain today coupled with very cold wind made for another miserable trip, I was very surprised at the number of hire boaters out but I guess that it must be half term. We are glad to be moored up in Newbury with a cosy fire, I am about to cook dinner and then we can settle down to some reading, oh and there is the second part of strictly.

We managed to get to the pump out at Newbury and had the added bonus that it was open, yet another British Waterways pump out was out of order this time at Kintbury so we were forced to come all the way through Newbury, but we have found a decent mooring.

Today we did 6.06 miles 8 locks 1 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:
315.89 Miles, 246 Locks, 38 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Tantric Falling

Frances has concentrated on water sports, she has been in the canal twice. I on the other hand am more focused on the gymnastic side, hey use your imagination. We started cooking the evening meal last night and the gas ran out so I had to go into the front locker at the bow and change over the gas bottles. Frances was holding the torch and she said be careful don’t fall in the canal (her trick) to which I took a step back onto the bank, slipped and did a double backward summersault which was necessary to avoid the mud and pools of water across the tow path. I did succeed in not getting covered in mud or water but recovered to find Frances rolling about laughing. She said that it looked like something out of Starsky and Hutch.

Actually I practise Tantric falling, that is to say the controlled response to spontaneous accidental falls. I have inherited this falling gene from my mum and this has been past on to Gaby, we are all waiting to see if Ralphy has got it.

A very tiring day as we had no other boat to go through the locks with, unfortunately all of the locks were empty so we had to fill them before we could go down, a slow process. It was interesting revisiting the area now that the trees are loosing their leaves, when we came through previously it was sunny with light rain and now it is cold with light rain.

We came out of Brunsden Lock to the sight of two Red Kites (I think) hovering above us, I managed to get a shot of one of them.

Red Kite

We have arrived at Kintbury in time for Strictly.

Today we did 7.99 miles 13 locks 2 Swing Bridges 0 Tunnel

Statistics so far:
309.83 Miles, 238 Locks, 37 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Mid Canal refuelling

A couple of hours of work and then we set off, still a couple to do after this. As we were setting off a boat came up from the lock below, so for once we had some one else to share the locks with. They were going to beyond Great Bedwyn so we would have some one with us all of the way. They turned out to be a lively and enthusiastic family out on their first canal holiday and they were addicted.

Bright sunshine all the way after the grey overcast morning, the sun had managed to burn its way through and now we have clear blue skies as far as the eye can see.

As we came out of the Bruce tunnel we came across a narrowboat and butty selling diesel, they were going the other way and we both ground to a halt and reversed back so that we could take on our fuel. Not quite midair refuelling but it was mid canal refuelling. We took on 78 litres which is less than I expected and worked out that we were using about 1 litre per hour on the engine. We had to find all the money that we had on the boat to pay for it, it was a cash plus cheque transaction but by counting up the pennies we didn’t need the cheque and we were left with the princely sum of 15p. We are now up to 43% non propulsion use of diesel, the government guideline is 40%, I believe this figure will go up as the weather gets colder and we move the boat around less. We have to calculate this as of next month when we start paying tax on fuel moving the boat around and don’t pay tax on heating and generating electricity.

Sorry no pictures we are on a slow connection

Today we did 6.15 miles 13 locks 0 Swing Bridges 1 Tunnel

Statistics so far:
301.84 Miles, 225 Locks, 35 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 4 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Wootton Rivers

Winter is here, it was a very cold journey today, we didn’t have any rain until we were mooring up which is a fairly large consolation for the cold. We had our African Queen moments again going through the reeds and plenty of Kingfishers on this stretch.

I tried to light the fire as the temperature has dropped. Unfortunately it lit and then went out due to the fact that the level of the diesel in the tank is below that required to support the fire. We do have a back up in the Eberspacher so we now have that on and the boat is warming up. I do keep records and unfortunately haven’t checked since we last filled up with diesel, I discover that we have run the engine for 70 hours and the bubble stove for 12 hours so not only is it bad planning it’s going to cost a small fortune to fill up, when we can find a diesel pump. Fortunately the tank holds 240 litres of diesel so we can at least keep the engine going for a wee while yet.

For those that are interested the Eberspacher is a 5KW diesel water heater which feeds skirting board radiators that are placed all around the boat.

Went out for a meal at the Royal Oak and I have to say that it matched the good report that it received in the guide. I would give it a GRPS of 3.0

Today we did 15.36 miles 1 locks 2 Swing Bridges

Statistics so far:
295.69 Miles, 212 Locks, 35 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 3 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Our favourite places

Well what can I say? Could we ever live in Watford again? So far we have been impressed by a number of places and I have to say that on top of our list is Bristol and Devizes.
Today we came across this incredible butchers followed by a most delightful fruit and veg shop, what more could you ask for, well water in large bottles which we got from Morrisons. One of the disadvantages about moving around the canal system is the quality of the drinking water, maybe I should start a point system for this, but really you take on water when you need it.

St Johns Church is a 12th century Norman church built by Bishop Roger of Sarum (who ever he is). It is very impressive and certainly stands out among the many churches that we have come across on this trip.

St John's Devizes

St John's Devizes

We had a couple of pints in the Lamb which is a very traditional pub with good beer and a juke box that would have felt at home in the seventies even with Amy Winehouse. It also boasted two disparate dogs, don’t ask me to name the breeds. But a grey hound and shaggy terrier would be close They were both old and had been plying their trade for many a year. There was the long thin one with the sad give me a peanut look and there was the short plump one with the come and play with me and tickle my tum look. The “Laurel and Hardy” of the dog world.

Today we did 0 miles 0 locks 0 Swing Bridges

Statistics so far:
280.33 Miles, 211 Locks, 33 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 3 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator

Swans at Devizes

What a difference a day makes, beautiful sunshine after yesterdays miserable rain, there isn’t a cloud in the sky as we made our way through the last six locks. What a great way to travel to work, Thanu was coming down with some equipment so that we could do some work.

Two swans came sky diving into the pound above the lock we were going into. While I was setting the lock above the gate opened of the lock we were in and in swam the swans, we left them there as it seemed harmless enough. On the next lock there was a notice which requested lock users to keep swans out of the lock as they can fight to the death and as swans are a protected species it was our duty as boat users to protect them. We looked back and sure enough the swans were going head to head. Some passer by had opened the lock gate and was trying unsuccessfully to get them out. We carried on, a full lock makes a very good boxing ring and the birds obviously went there with the deliberate intention of sorting out some problem they had.

I might just have won a gold medal for under statement when I said we were wet through to the bone yesterday. If you remember Frances fell into the canal when we descended the flight well I can safely say that had we falling into the canal on the way up we could not have been wetter than we actually were by sensibly staying out of the canal, I almost said dry land but that wouldn’t have been true.

Today we did 0.86 miles 6 locks 0 Swing Bridges

Statistics so far:
280.33 Miles, 211 Locks, 33 Swing Bridges, 1 Lift Bridge, 3 Tunnels. 3 batteries!! 1 Alternator