It's raining!!

We went back home on Thursday afternoon, to fill the car again with things for life on Kantara, and got back here yesterday afternoon. The weather was cold and dull, but there was much talk about the need for rain - serious ongoing downpour rain. One boater observed that he had seen a fall of about eight inches in the level of the canal over the past weeks - bear in mind that canals are usually only waist-deep when they are full, and that the average boat needs about 24 inches to travel in.

But this morning, we awoke to the sound of rain on the boat! Not a lot, it has to be said, and it's stopped now, but... it augurs well for the future, I hope! Forever the optimist, me! Otherwise, we take the advice of many... Head north, and don't stop!

Back at last!

With most of the domestic chores sorted out at home, we returned to Kantara yesterday, with a car full of new cushions, blinds and curtains, along with the essentials for an overnight stay. The weather at Yelvertoft was beautiful - clear and sunny, still and mild - and moving stuff into the boat was not the damp affair I had feared it would be.

We de-winterised the boat almost without a hitch - but I won't give you the pleasure of knowing the rather daft mistake we made! The dinette cushions and all of the blinds were installed - they look superb! - and the bed was made up. It was getting too late to shop for food and do any cooking, so we drove out to The George for an excellent meal.


Back at Kantara, the night was clear and cold, with mist rolling across the marina, we were tired out, and headed for bed early. We'd had the oil stove on earlier, but the boat was cold, and we were glad to get into bed and get warm. Shortly after I fell asleep, however, I was awoken by the piercing scream of the gas alarm. We fell out of bed and investigated. There was absolutely no smell of gas anywhere (propane has a very strong, unmissable smell), but the only way I could get the alarm to stop was to take the back off it and disconnect the power supply. Silence at last! Just to play safe, I braved the cold night in my dressing gown to turn off the gas supply.

We awoke before seven to a misty morning with a touch of frost, and installed the router and antenna for our Internet connection (the router still with an intermittent fault, despite testing by the vendor and manufacturer who could find nothing wrong), and drove home in time for lunch. We've just finished getting together all the things we need to take back tomorrow. I wonder what we'll forget!

Back next week, then!

Many thanks to Mike and Marian, also moored at Yelvertoft, for giving us their first-hand assessment of the water situation - the Leicester Arm is not closed! In fact, the canal is so full at the moment that it's overflowing Foxton Lock. So we can look forward to some good cruising as soon as we return to Kantara next week.

Grace has made new covers for the dinette cushions and eight floor cushions, and new curtains for the seven windows, not including the galley, and two sets of door curtains, so one of our first tasks is to hang those curtains. They all look fantastic here, but they're going to look even better on the boat. I can't wait to see them.

One of the good things we've done over the winter months here at home is to line up a good number of friends to come and spend time with us on the boat this year, all of whom have very little or no experience of canal life. That's going to be great fun.

I went back to the Academy today, to meet with friends with whom I used to work. They are doing a brilliant job in very difficult circumstances, but I do worry for them. I am so glad that I was able to retire when I did, and to be able to take voluntary redundancy as my way out of that particular school. It was sad in many ways that I was greeted by several former colleagues, as I was when I visited after Christmas, with comments about how well I look. It's very good to know, but not good that they know they don't look or feel the same way. I think they all deserve a good holiday on the canals!

Getting ready to return

After what seems like a long time back at home, Grace and I would have liked to be back on Kantara last week. However, our home central heating system has decided to throw a wobbly, and we've had to call in an engineer to look at it. The problem has been occurring on and off for months, but has now developed into a full-on failure, so we'll have to wait now until that's been fixed. We're aiming for next week now, and starting to pile together the things we will want to take back with us.

What awaits us when we return?


Well, the major concern is the news that the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union Canal - the bit where we are moored! - is reported to be closed until April. What's meant by closed I shall discover tomorrow when I phone Jenny at Yelvertoft. I doubt that it will mean we won't be able to cruise at all, but it may well be that we are not allowed to leave that arm of the canal, which will restrict our movement somewhat.  However...

...there is still the problem of the AC generator which Sam at Foxton Boats has had for many weeks. He's not very good at communication, and we have little idea of the current state of things. Whether or not that will be working and fitted when we return, we do not know.

Then there is the 3G router with which we get Internet connection on the boat, which had to go back to the manufacturer because of an intermittent fault we had from it from day one of using it. It's been returned to us now, and they say they found nothing wrong with it. Naturally, they say it is working just fine, and we need to try it again in situ, so... we shall see!

And there is also the matter of the shower room/toilet which we are planning to have altered so that our ridiculous wash basin becomes usable. We've had a quote from one builder, and are still waiting for one from another, but he was a bit of a ditherer anyway, and did little to gain our confidence. We'd like to get the job done fairly soon after our return.

And the batteries! I believe we will return to a set of defunct batteries. Grace disagrees.

New to the boat will be a folding exercise bike. We have such a bike at home, but bigger and heavier, and we've been doing 10 to 12 kilometres each day for some weeks now, striving to increase both distance and speed over time. It's all very well doing daily walks while we're on the boat, but it's just not going to be practicable to do a decent distance every day, and the bike ensures we exercise well wherever we are, regardless of weather. Add to that Grace's weights and my Bullworker, and we should be able to keep fit and strong in what can be at times a fairly immobile lifestyle.

Our cruising plan is to do a number of trips out from Yelvertoft, lasting from one to several weeks, returning to the marina at the end of each one before heading off in another direction. I've said before that the beauty of the spot where we are based is that we can go off to all points of the compass and enjoy months and months of cruising, with easy access to many of the other canals. This is the life!

Roll on next week!

Winter away from Kantara

Before we went up to the Lake District, Naomi took Jess, Grace and me on a late-afternoon walk in some of the country lanes just outside St Albans.  Having published photos of superb sunsets at Yelvertoft, I just had to show some of those I took on that walk - St Albans has sunsets, too!

But, back to the matter of the Lakes trip. On the Thursday of last week, Grace booked a week's stay in an apartment in Keswick, right at the edge of the town centre. It was spacious (for two), modern and comfortable - and warm! - just around the corner from the delightfully retro Lonsdale Alhambra Cinema and within throwing distance of the shops and the eateries. Absolutely ideal! So, last Saturday, we set off up the M1 and M6 to the Lakes.

We've lost count of the number of times we've been there since we were married, but we know it well, and we just keep going back for more. The icing on the cake this time was that the highest parts were covered in snow, and the scenery was amazing. When we returned today, after an excellent winter break, the snow was starting to fall on the lower ground, and it seemed to me that it was following us down the motorways, and, lo and behold, it is now snowing here in St Albans!

I took loads of photos, and show probably too many below - humour me, huh?

Since we were passing close to Yelvertoft on the way home (now yesterday as I type), we decided to go and see Kantara. It was perishing cold at the marina, and it was beginning to snow as we left. The water was frozen, and made quite a sight.

I started this post yesterday evening (Saturday), and said then that the snow followed us down from the Lakes. Just a couple of hours later, it started to snow here, and I've awoken to several inches of snow this morning. I'm so glad we drove home when we did, for the roads up north have suffered badly from the weather.

A quick visit!

We paid Kantara a brief visit yesterday, just to see how she is! The weather was bright and sunny, unlike today, but the marina had clearly had a good deal of rain, and the ground was very soggy underfoot, the first time we have seen it like that. And the canal level is good, too! Let's hope it rains a lot more in the next few weeks.

I spoke with Jenny, the manager, and she said that the marina had been frozen over for two days during the cold snap. But when we boarded Kantara, there were no signs at all of any ill-effect of the weather. I was expecting a smell of damp, but there was none.

What did surprise us somewhat were the signs that Sam Matts had been on board (he must have some "master" key) and taken the generator control box away. He'd obviously refitted the alternator, too, after its service, for there were internal panels to the engine room which had been left off. Contacting Sam, I find that the system still does not function properly, even after the alternator had been serviced at some expense, so we wait now to hear further news.

But hey! - Kantara's there, waiting for us to return and start cruising! We're looking forward to it, but there's still stuff to do here first. Grace has completed all of the covers for the seating in the dinette. Now she's working on the floor cushions... curtains still to go!