Back in the marina

We've not been idle this past week. Well, not all of the time, anyway! Washing, cleaning and tidying have been the inevitable consequence of our last cruise. Shopping, too.

We needed a door-stop to replace the one on the top of our small stern hatch, to buffer it against the larger hatch when we hinge it back. We also have still to get engine oil, which needs to be topped up a little, but have so far failed to find oil of the right specification. However, once again Canal Shop Online have come to our rescue, and tell us that they have just what we need. We'll collect it the next time we go out that way.

Yesterday, we were amazed to find what we can only think are mouse droppings on the roof, by the tomato plants (which are now bearing us a good harvest of fruits). There is no sign of damage to the tomatoes, nor to anything else, but we bought a couple of mouse traps anyway, and put them out last night. No catch yet!

I spent some time down in the engine compartment yesterday, tightening the stern gland and drying the bilge underneath it, and doing routine checks. Was it that, I wonder, which aggravated a pain I had in left side of my rib cage, which became agony at around midnight? At first, I suspected that I'd somehow cracked a rib. The pain was extreme, and breathing was difficult. Neither lying down nor sitting reduced it, but painkillers kicked in at around 2:00am, and I finally got to bed and, surprisingly, slept fairly well. When I woke this morning, it felt pretty much better, but as I type it's been hurting again for three or four hours. Very strange.

On Friday, we drove out to Stretton-Under-Fosse to see a boat painter at Oxon Boat Painting, with a view to having Kantara repainted. We've found that her paintwork is very thin, and easily chipped and scratched.

Photos don't show the poor condition of the paint...

and we're happy about that because onlookers so often...

 comment on Kantara's appearance, so obviously...

the appearance isn't a problem yet.

But, though we can keep touching up any damage, that can't go on for much longer.

Furthermore, the pictures and lettering on the sides were messed up by the previous owner, and rust is coming through around many of the outlines. We were very impressed by Chris, the company owner, and are now considering moving forward on this project next year.

Examples of Oxon's work...

Grace has for a long time thought that she might do the signwriting and pictures on the sides of the boat herself. When we were in Stoke Bruerne, we saw an advert for a two-day boat painting course, and thought that might be an excellent idea for her. She's booked now, and we'll cruise back there, starting the day Christine and Michael go home. We'll just have time to get there by the day before it starts.

Meanwhile, the car has to have two new tyres fitted on Monday, then we prepare for Christine and Michael's arrival on Saturday. There will be a Treasure Hunt and barbecue that evening, but they probably won't arrive in time to enjoy that. We'll be taking them on a ten-day return trip to Warwick. We're looking forward to that!

Warwick Castle

Post script

Michelle remarked several times on the friendliness of folk on the cut, how everyone (or nearly everyone) greets each other upon meeting or in passing. She said how she'd miss that when she gets back home.

During the week, she met a man on the cut who made the same observation when chatting with her, and he told her this...

He is a security guard, presumably working at the gate of the company which employs him, and he used to greet passers-by with a "Good morning" or suchlike. One day, he was approached by a policeman who told him to stop speaking to people as they passed, because it "worried them".

How very sad.

Good morning to you all!

Our week with Michelle - return journey

Thursday's travel started with Blisworth Tunnel. This time we encountered just one boat coming in the opposite direction, and two going our way.

We stopped at Gayton Junction services, then moved on to a vacant spot on the long-term moorings for lunch.

The journey to Nether Heyford, where we stopped for a quick bit of shopping, and on to our mooring just beyond, continued hot and sunny, through beautiful countryside.

Normally camera-shy, Michelle allowed me to take one photo of her.

On Friday morning, we moved on to Buckby where, after the bottom lock, we paired up with NB Windsong for the rest of the flight. Pip and Roger were very good company, and we moved along at a good pace with them, with lots of chat on the way. At the top lock, Pip told Michelle that the lock-keeper's cottage there is featured in the book "Lock, Stock and Barrel", a title which Michelle recalled seeing on our bookshelves. It's a signed copy, given to us by brother-in-law Rod - I'll have to read it soon.

Windsong and Kantara left the top lock and made off towards Norton Junction, turning right there onto the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union. Pip and Roger took the last remaining mooring straight after the turn, and kindly invited us to breast up to Windsong, which we did. We all needed lunch! 

Within the hour, the boat next to Windsong moved off, and we hauled Kantara back into that space, where we stayed for the night. When Roger told us that there was a good satellite TV signal at that location, we tried our FreeSat (which we had finally got working back in the marina). Nothing! Roger came along and helped us, but all to no avail, and we concluded that the tuner in the TV has an intermittent fault. We have a standalone tuner in the house, and there might be one still in the marina lounge (subsequently, I found that it had been taken by someone else), so it's not too much of a problem.

Saturday morning, Windsong left before we got up, but I saw them leaving Watford Top Lock as we arrived later, and I went up to sign in with the lockie. Unlike our descent the week before, our ascent was speedy. The lockie took it upon himself to do the locks for us, thus depriving an enthusiastic Michelle of her last locking session of the trip. We had lunch above the top lock, then left for Yelvertoft, arriving there in the sunny and hot weather we had been fortunate to have throughout the whole week. 57 miles and 42 locks.

Michelle treated us to a meal at The George that evening - excellent as usual - and left for home the next morning, feeling relaxed and refreshed. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing the week with us; for your company, the laughs and the fun - and your help on the locks!

She sent me the following photos the next day; her favourites of the many she took during the week.

Our week with Michelle - outward journey

The Yelvertoft barbecue was postponed to Sunday because of the poor weather forecast for Saturday, so we had to miss that, unfortunately. It turned out that they made the right decision; Sunday evening was good for them.

Michelle's arrival on Saturday was delayed some three hours because of Bank Holiday weekend traffic on the M1, but she arrived safely and in good spirits, and we had a good evening together. We left the marina the next morning under a dull sky which threatened drizzle like the day before, but things improved as the day moved on. The sun was out by the time we arrived at Watford Locks. We had a short delay before we could make our way through the top lock, below which we moored, sat out, and soaked up the rays.

We had a three-hour wait there, such was the traffic that day, lunching and relaxing. We were in no great hurry. As we finally left the bottom lock, we passed no less than twelve boats waiting to ascend the flight. Some of them were due to have to wait twice as long as we had.

Moving on down to Norton Junction and turning left, we were unable to find a mooring for the night, so we descended the top lock and moored up about 100 metres further on. Michelle had her first experience of wide locks here at the Buckby Flight. The bottom gate on the towing path side is extremely heavy, as I remembered from my own previous experience of it. I feared she had hurt her back, but no real harm was done, fortunately.

Monday morning started warm and bright, and the day went on to get very hot and sunny. We were really chuffed by the comments on the boat, made by various people throughout that day on on through the week. "Beautiful, gorgeous" was typical, and we beamed proudly. We completed Buckby Flight in good time, although we had to come through solo, but Michelle's help on the locks sped things up noticeably, and we enjoyed the work together. We moored for the night just after bridge 45, Wright's Lane Bridge.

Tuesday morning was beautiful, misty and still, and the day soon turned into another hot one with clear, blue skies. We moved on to nearby Gayton Junction where we availed ourselves of the facilities, then, with Michelle at the helm, to Blisworth where we bought a few items of food from a poorly-stocked shop.

The 3057-yard Blisworth Tunnel was empty of boats as we entered it, and so it remained for the 35 minutes it took us to travel through. Emerging into the bright sunlight at the far end, we stopped at Stoke Bruerne for lunch, sightseeing and delicious ice-creams.

We descended the seven-lock Stoke Bruerne flight solo, the weather very hot by now, but the scenery delightful. Our overnight mooring was at Bridge 58.

Wednesday, and half-way through our week, we continued a further couple of miles to Thrupp Wharf (Castlethorpe Wharf), where we winded, navigating back to Stoke Bruerne (yes, we did the locks solo again) for more ice-creams, and an overnight mooring just before Blisworth Tunnel.

Coming into the pound at the top of Stoke Bruerne locks, and wanting those ice creams, we pulled over to the side to moor. There were bollards to rope to, but not spaced right for us to have one at the stern and one at the bow. I was holding the bow rope and, realising that the only way to get those ice creams was for me to stand and hold the rope, I called out to Grace at the stern, "I'm a bollard!", whereupon a group of folk behind me immediately called out, "Aww! Don't be so hard on yourself! You're all right!"

Metal wire sculptures on the woodland trail at Stoke Bruerne

 

While we were enjoying a drink on the foredeck, a man from the CRT walked past us with equipment on his back that made him look as if he were about to embark on a space-walk. In fact, his large backpack with tall extension was a Google camera. I read just a few weeks ago that CRT were being lent such a camera, for them to add pictures of the canal system to Google Street View. We're looking forward to seeing if Kantara will appear there now.

We ended this stage of our trip on another beautiful, sunny evening.