All change!

We were expecting Kantara to go back in the water on Thursday, but when I called Debdale on Tuesday I was told the job was finished and the boat would be floated again on Wednesday. What a pity, thought I. We'll have to stop decorating!

Starting out at 9:00 the next morning, hoping that the M1 rush would have finished by then, we arrived exactly as Kantara was being hauled out of the shed. She looked very smart in her new black coat.

Once she was back in the water, we paid up, loaded up with essentials, parked the car, and headed off up to the top of Foxton Locks, where we moored to fill up our almost-totally-empty water tank.

Then we bow-hauled her around the corner to a legitimate mooring, and tied up. We'd skipped breakfast, and not had any lunch either, so we strolled down to the Foxton Locks Inn for a very late brunch. Or was it lunner? The locks were very quiet. The whole site was. Vollies commented on how few boats had gone through. We had the restaurant pretty much to ourselves. There was just a handful of people at the Bridge 21 pub.

 Views from the restaurant

On Thursday morning we cast off, intent on getting back to the marina that same day. As it has been now for...how many weeks? it was hot and sunny. The heat was moderated by the breeze, and simply being on the water. And neither of us gets sunburned, so the travel was comfortable. We didn't race. We stopped for lunch. We moored at the marina in the best of Yelvertoft winds, but Grace managed to catch a critical pause between gusts, and berthed neatly.

Since we've been back, the weather has changed somewhat. Average temperatures have fallen from very silly to silly. There has been some rain. Fairly heavy, but for no more than ten minutes, only in the evenings, and generally only once per evening. Last night was an exception. After some poor attempts during the evening, it rained hard on and off through the night, and the winds were - and are still - crazy! Although the BBC call it a "fresh breeze".

Yesterday, it was temperate enough for us to wash the boat. There is no hose ban here yet, but in previous years the marina has been exempt from bans because of the perceived need to wash water-borne bacteria off boats. It sounds odd, but that's what we were told. I'm also told that our tap water is counted as a commercial supply, and is exempt anyway. That's no reason to waste it, though. The roof of the boat was the area most in need, and I tackled it by taking buckets of water up there and cleaning by hand. It took a long time, but the result is very pleasing.

I'm so glad I did that yesterday. Being on the roof today would be dangerous!

Oh good! It's looking as if it might rain again!

Foxton Locks at Easter

Easter Day had a gloomy weather outlook. Heavy rain all day from about 10:00am onwards. Grace and I stopped to talk with Roger and Cindy on NB Blue Belle at around 1:30pm, and it hadn't rained a drop. Business was going fairly well for Roger, though he said that he'd sold more paintings on his way to Foxton than he'd sold since his arrival on Friday. He was a bit concerned about the weather forecast. I assured him it was not going to rain!

Apparently, other floating traders there had complained to the Foxton management because the market had not been very well promoted, and they felt that they weren't getting value from the fee they'd paid to be there. And it was true. A visitor to the Locks could have a really pleasant wander up to top lock, buy refreshments there, and not see any reason to go any further. The trading boats were hidden from view at that point by the bend in the canal. It was shame.

Steve, Jess, Naomi and Eddie arrived before 2:00, and we had a really good Sunday Carvery Lunch together at the Foxton Locks Inn before sauntering up the locks, looking at the remains of the inclined plane boat lift, enjoying the panorama from the viewing platform, and perusing the floating market before crossing the bridge and boarding Kantara for a family catch-up over tea and coffee on board Kantara.

When they left at about 6:30, it still hadn't rained!

On the move!

Yesterday's beautiful weather was just right for us to get out onto the cut and do the touch-up work needed on the hull. We seem to have had far more scrapes last year than ever before, so the job's going to take a few days. While we're doing it, we'll be moving in steps towards Foxton Locks, where we'll be meeting up with the kids, and having lunch together.

Our first step was to the stretch just after bridge 27 (GU Leicester Line), and we were amazed to find that there was no-one else there, painting their boat. The bank there is quite low, which means you can paint right down to the water-line quite easily.

Approaching Bridge 27

Moored against the low bank

 

 After sanding down on the port side, we winded just beyond the next bridge...

 ...and returned to the same spot to do the same job to the other side.

And then we went back to the marina! This hadn't been our original intention, but we hadn't realised before just how dirty the hull was, and the marina was the very best choice of place for washing it.

The spring-swept countryside was absolutely glorious.

On our way back, we passed Roger and Cindy in NB Blue Belle, who had spent a few days in the berth next to us. They're on their way to Foxton, too. Roger's an artist, a painter, and they're going to be part of the floating market at Foxton over the weekend. Because they'd left the marina, we had the empty space next to us back again, so today I've been able to wash and apply rust remover to both sides of the boat by moving her from one side of the double berth to the other. Most convenient!

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we'll be applying the hull paint back at bridge 27. One side, anyway. To do the other we'll move on to Welford Junction, turn around,  and moor against the low bank there. That done, we'll wind again and carry on to Foxton Locks. If the weather's good over the weekend, there'll be lots of visitors there. Here's hoping!