Well, how was your Christmas?

The Christmas tree, fairy lights and other decorations went up around the house three weeks ago. The turkey was ordered for delivery on the 23rd, presents were bought, though entirely online, and all was going smoothly - though nothing like normally. Then Naomi and Eddie had Covid symptoms.

We all had to isolate. It was easy enough. Nome and Ed live in a totally self-contained annexe to the house; Grace, Jess and I had the rest of it to ourselves. Eddie's sister shopped for them, and Steve picked up a Sainsbury's click and collect order for us.

None of us is vaccinated, so Naomi and Eddie's symptoms were very mild, and their temperatures were back to normal by day six. The PM hadn't announced that Christmas together had been banned, so, after our compulsory test results - all negative, of course - we all emerged from isolation on Christmas Eve, and our friend Michelle set off to join us. Steve, Karolina and Nina arrived the next morning.

Nina had just seen her first Christmas tree. I think she was impressed.

For the first time in very many years, we didn't go to Church on Christmas morning. Some folk are very wary of the unvaxxed, and we didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. But the day went on otherwise as normal; a lot of chat and laughter, a wonderful dinner, crackers (each of which contained a number relating to a bag that contained an eighth of a jigsaw puzzle which  we created together after the meal), presents distributed from under the tree, and various games. All accompanied by much laughter.

The jigsaw puzzle

Some while after a late tea, we all headed for our beds, tired (especially Grace, who had done most of the cooking) and very happy.

Boxing Day requires a good walk. Ours this year was in the late afternoon. Naomi knew that barn owls were to be seen at dusk in the Heartwood Forest, a short drive from home, so just before sunset, off we went.

The owls put in no appearance, but the walk through increasingly thickening mist was very enjoyable - and much needed!

So, how was your Christmas? Please, tell us about it in the comment box below.

Christmas 2016 on board NB Kantara

Snow good

 It's a bit sad, isn't it, that the most exciting thing that I can report since my last post was the snow that graced our world a while back. It snowed heavily overnight and for most of the day, and it got washed away by the rain overnight. It was good to see, and we were sad to see it go.

It brought back memories of  those occasions that we've been in Kantara during snow. It's not a rare seasonal occurrence in the Midlands, and there were reports on this occasion that it fell spectacularly on the marina. Our favourite snowy experience was back in March 2013, when we took the boat to Debdale Wharf to have the hull blacked. We awoke the day after they'd finished to job to find this...

We decided to go ahead anyway, and get back to Yelvertoft before conditions got worse.

It was a magical journey through a wondrous winterland.

Foxton Locks were a bit hazardous. The volunteer lockies - vollies - said, "No, you can't come up today. You don't look mad enough!"

A persistent wind was bringing the snow down off the field to the canal.

On the whole journey, we saw just one other boat on the move.

Needless to say, rain washed it away before the end of the day.

I've just read today's weather forecast. Rain all week.

The OTHER Kantara! (real time)

We saw the other NB Kantara twice in our first year on ours. On neither occasion were we able to meet the owners. We've scoured the web, but found no mention of her apart from her entry in the registry of UK boats. Imagine, then, my surprise and delight when David Martindale, a mutual Twitter follower ("Loving reading your book"), contacted me to say he'd found her. On Ebay!

 
Any potential buyers out there? The advert answered a number of questions we had about her - age, interior layout and appearance, specification. The price sounds a bit high to me, but she's up for auction. I'll be watching.

Some weeks ago, I posted a video on YouTube, a short, speeded-up clip of the first few minutes of our latest cruise. Nothing big or clever, just a bit interesting, I thought. Later that day, we descended Watford Locks, and the dashcam on the front of Kantara captured those 40 minutes, too. This is now posted on my channel, too. 10 minutes of speeding down an iconic flight of locks. You might want to watch out for the Charlie Chaplin antics of a couple of vollies and me!

720 degree panorama of Yelvertoft Marina

I'm not one for making videos, and that shows when you look at this one! It's rather jerky - I was standing rather precariously on the bow of Kantara - and I panned too fast when I was zoomed in. I'll do better another time. But I just wanted to record how lovely it is here in the marina on a beautiful, sunny morning. The sound is recorded, too, but I've not listened to it. All I know is, it was very quiet!

Well, THAT didn't last long!

The weather continues to be quite unsuited to cruising, the main problem being the biting wind which has whipped up the marina pound into quite a storm on occasions. It's quite entertaining, watching people's attempts to moor at the service platform!

It's not all been bad, however. On Saturday, we walked to The Moorings at Crick for lunch, and the weather was pleasant, albeit still rather gusty on the highest point of the route.

As we started for home, however, it started to drizzle, and the wind got up again,and the drizzle turned into a downpour pretty much as soon as we stepped onto the boat. And this kept up for the rest of the day. The wind was ferocious, and continued that way throughout Sunday. There were moments when walking into the wind was actually difficult. The ducks were a hoot!

So, we're not encouraged to go out on the cut at the moment. Trevor and Sarah on At Last have set off for Oxford. I hope they don't regret it. And Nick and Margaret on Jasmine are planning to go out for a week from next weekend. We're in no hurry!

Simon came to sort out the problem with our battery charging circuit, so all's well with that now, except... He pointed out that whoever wired the domestic battery bank had used cable of inadequate gauge to be entirely safe, so he's coming back at the beginning of March to put that right.

We're going back to the house this weekend, to give Jess lots of driving practice before her test on the last day of the month. We'll be there until the day after that. Maybe, when we return... who knows? A cruise? Several cruises? Winter??

I had to laugh at a jar of Fair Trade whole cloves from Sainsbury's. Do you see anything wrong?

Oh, and I've broken the new exercise cycle! I've recently stopped doing my 15km hard cycle five days a week, and started doing High Intensity Interval Training three days a week, with more moderate cycling on the other two days. One day, the cycle started to make a nasty grating sound, so I contacted the makers in complaint and carried on using it. Until it ground to an abrupt and total halt, making a very terminal-sounding crunch, and shedding metal shavings onto the floor! I'm clearly far too energetic for it!

Better weather - let's make the most of it!

Yesterday was positively mild! I went for a walk in the afternoon, with T-shirt under a shirt, no jacket. The sky was blue, the marina was a hive of activity, and one could almost feel Spring in the air!

  

We even had the heating off for several hours.

Today, the weather was not quite so good - there was some cloud, and it was somewhat colder - but we took the opportunity to get out and enjoy a visit to Upton House and Gardens, a National Trust property not far from Banbury which we last visited 7 years ago. The gardens weren't much to see because growth had been hindered by the prolonged winter, but the house was interesting, and the stroll around the grounds was very pleasant.

Fingers crossed for more weather like this - AND BETTER!

What's happening?

Well, there's not a lot to report since the last post. On Easter Day, we went back to St Albans to spend the day with the kids, and with our niece Kathryn, her son Jake, and boyfriend Alistair. Naomi cooked a wonderful meal for us all, and we enjoyed a really good day together. We've not seen Kathryn for some years, so there was much catching up to be done. Steve was recently back from a snowboarding holiday with friends in the French Alps, and he had a lot to relate. Then there was Jess with Said the Maiden news, and Naomi with her foodie and growing interests. Lots of chat and laughter!

Back on Kantara, the weather's been the biggest issue, as it has around the entire nation. We've had snow, bright sun and blue skies, but always a strong, biting cold wind, with frost most nights and frozen marina pound in the mornings. We're discovering how expensive it can be to keep warm in these conditions. We've used far more gas than ever before in the same amount of time. Likewise, diesel for the bubble stove, and electricity. We're using the bubble stove during the day, and the gas boiler set low overnight. A small electric fan heater raises the temperature in the bedroom quickly when needed.

We've been able to do a few jobs around the boat, but most of the remaining jobs on our list require better weather that we have at the moment. We went to Braunston today, to visit AJ Canopies, a company which specialises in making and repairing canopies of various kinds. Our cratch cover needs some minor repair, and we want to have fasteners fitted along the bottom edges so that it can be clipped to the hull, making it sturdier in strong winds and under the weight of snow. The office was unexpectedly closed, so we'll have to go back next week.

Over the past year or so, we've passed on a number of occasions a narrowboat cafe, The Gongoozler's Rest, which is permanently moored just outside Braunston Marina. Today, we went in for lunch, and were pleasantly surprised. Seating a maximum of just 14 people, it offers a good menu of breakfast and lunch food, and we were impressed with the size and quality of the toasted sandwiches we had. It's been busy each toime we've passed, and even at this time of year, and in this weather, there were ten of us eating there this afternoon. I'm sure we'll be back sometime.

Last week, we went to Rugby Cineworld to see "Trance", a strange but entertaining film with a twist or two - an afternoon well spent.

An art auctioneer who has become mixed up with a group of criminals partners with a hypnotherapist in order to recover a lost painting.

We also bought a new mattress for our bed. After a year of use, we finally decided that the one which came with the boat is really too hard.

It has to be said, we're getting restless. Having done the couple of days cruising to and from Debdale, we have a taste for more cruising, but the weather really needs to be more clement before it'll be enjoyable. Roll on real Spring!

Postscripts

Just a couple of things I'd forgotten to post...

>> Congratulations to Bob Hurst, husband of Jenny (Marina Manager), who has recently qualified as a Boat Safety Scheme Examiner. When you boat owners need a BSS certificate, Bob can be contacted as follows...

Bob Hurst
BSS Examiner
Yelvertoft Marina
YELVERTOFT
NN6 6AL 

07720424396
01788822568

robert.hurst.bss@btinternet.com

>> Before we went to Debdale, I reported that our trusty Bubble stove had stopped working, the fuel oil simply would not flow. We arranged for this to be dealt with when we got to Debdale. However, arriving there and needing some heat in the boat, we tried once more to light the stove - and it worked straight away! And has been ever since. I have no idea what was wrong, but it's back to its normal self now, and keeping us snug and warm. Odd, huh?

The job continues

Thursday's hull survey went well. Paul was incredibly thorough, and talked over a few minor issues with us. We still have to see the full report, but he assures us that all is well.

Gale finished the first side coat, applied a very thick bottom coat, then did the second top coat. Meanwhile, at Paul's suggestion, we had an anode fitted in the bowthruster tube, to reduce corrosion there. We also had a piece of metal cut off which was protruding a few inches from the front of the bottom plate. Paul considered it a safety issue.

Finally, Gale cleaned and painted the weed hatches, and we shut ourselves in for the night. It's very odd, moving about in a boat which doesn't rock, but vibrates as it sits on its supports!

On Friday morning, there was a thin covering of snow (which later melted fairly quickly), and a strong wind. Kantara was lowered back into the water, with a very clean and tidy, black hull. The wind was far too strong even to contemplate starting our way back, so we negotiated with Nicky, Debdale's administrator, to moor outside the wharf, where we had moored when we first arrived. She kindly gave us a mains electricity hook-up. It snowed again that afternoon, and the strong winds continued into the night.

We've awoken this morning to more snow, and I took a broom to clear quite a lot of it off the boat. As I write (11:30am), the snow is melting, but the wind has increased again. The forecast is not promising, but we'll judge the conditions day at a time until we deem it sensible to get back to Yelvertoft - which we'll endeavour to do in one day. Since we have to be moored, this is a good place to be.