HIgh Time at High Line

Friday 6 May 2016

You may have seen from my recent facebook status that that we were booked in for an engine service at Highline Yachting's Cowley Peachey base. I took the photo while we were waiting. It was such a lovely morning. We left our overnight mooring in West Drayton and cruised the short distance to moor and wait in glorious sunshine for the place to open. 9 o'clock came and our engineer for the service popped up from his boat and got started. It was Bob,who used to work at Tooley's yard in Banbury but has now moved to the metropolis to earn some real dosh. He said he never gets a break he is so busy. After re-acquainting ourselves he settled down to the essence of his business.

Our engine has been described as "the best little BMC 1500 I have seen, mate!" by a RCR mechanic who fixed the engine stop cable so I didn't expect any problems. But Bob found a couple.

One was that the top sealing plate was missing from the fuel filter. Without it the fuel short circuits the filter and can flow straight from the inlet to the outlet. Why have a filter? Bob searched the oily engine bilge for any sign that it may have fallen off and not been noticed when the filter was last changed. No joy, so he went away to look for a replacement or to make a new one, as getting the correct spare would mean we would not finish today!

The other was a diesel leak on spill rail return to the diesel tank. No problem remaking the screwed joint but a little problem making an adequate support to stop it rattling loose again. No problem to Bob. The spilled diesel was aquavac-ed from the bilge, new absorbent mats fitted and the job was done. Just two hours or so longer than expected.

While all this was happening in the engine bay I was using the lovely dry day to remove the sealant from the windows, add Jenolite rust treatment, apply a coat of hammerite and re-seal with mastic sealant. This all went to plan except that I have not had a chance to see whether there are any leaks. It all looked very good! While in the mood I painted the handrail too.

When Bob had finished his stuff I had the tanks replenished with diesel and we were on our way, thanking him for a good service. Maybe he will return to the Oxford some time. He said he missed it.

So we cruised to Cowley lock where we stopped outside The Malt Shovel in the sunshine and had an ale and a cider with some locals before progressing onward to moor before Mill Road Bridge No 187 for the night before return to Banbury in the morning

Friday: 2miles, 1 lock and 1 pub                   Total So Far this year: 145 miles, 112 locks

Now, where are we?

I have been back in Banbury for a couple if days. I feel that we have not really touched down yet!

We arrived here on Saturday and I write this in Monday evening. On Saturday I was welcomed by a pile of mail and 154 emails in my inbox.I was working all day trying to clear them and deal with the pile of paperwork, real and virtual. The Best Mate set about loads of washing. Exhausting to the extent that we had to go out to eat as we had no energy to cook for ourselves. We went to a favourite country pub, The George and Dragon at Shutford: never disappointing.

Yesterday was a good day. Church was great: real worship and praise; specific and directed prayer; a sermon/teaching on the apostle Paul's view of church and our desire to bring about the reality of a New Testament church in the 21st century; sharing bread and wine together and chocolate cookies and coffee after. And all with people who are joined neatly and carefully together by Christ the Cornerstone!  Then we had a roast lamb dinner with my mother and sister. In the afternoon we prepared the same for our son who returned from his football tournament in good spirits having won three of his four games and scored a goal to boot! Yes a very good day.

Today we went to Kings Langley to a Waterways Chaplaincy meeting and then to a funeral in Putney this afternoon to honour the life of a friend from the Boaters Christian Fellowship. Can a funeral be good? Yes when one knows that the friend was at peace with God and ready to be with His Lord for ever.  HIs life was one of a faithful servant, described as a plodder and the Lord needs them in his church!

But it all leaves me drained and wondering where we left the boat. Oh yes, we have got it to Uxbridge. But I have already told you that, haven't I?

Little Venice to West Drayton

Little Venice to West Drayton
We had to leave Little Venice after the IWA Canalway Cavalcade 2016 at 4pm. We were offered an overnight mooring breasted up to nb Miss Mattie who had been our neighbour for the weekend . However as we passed Delamere Terrace she was outboard of two other boats already.
Our exit from the Browning Pool was interesting. As we had been moored stern on between boats nb Lotus and nb Miss Mattie, who had already left, the remaining boats drifted to starboard, away from the direction we wanted to leave. The wind was from the West too. So I had no option but to make a turn to starboard, reverse, turn 180deg and leave. Frank, skipper of Lotus, popped up to ask what I was doing as I turned across his bows. The Best Mate thought I had lost control and shouted CONCENTRATE! as it must have appeared that I had lost control as I was answering him.
Unfortunately half way through the turn another boat down the line decided to come out to go East! I turned away from her course and ended up calling for assistance to keep my bow clear of Lotus. I heaved  to and waited, completed my turn and exited without a collision.
°
We stopped at Sainsbury's to do some shopping and as they close at 7 pm on a Bank Holiday we decided to stay overnight.

Tuesday morning was sunny but cold. We moved a little  further  west to Kensal  Green Sainsbury's. Here we moored and I we t in search of Zoë storage boxes. I was persuaded to sort out The Man Cupboard. I did find a few less useful  items to throw away. In the main the need was for boxes to replace some crumbling plastic catering trays that I rescued from a pub bin about seven years ago. Wickes had nothing suitable but Sainsbury's had some toy boxes. I did rationalize the contents of three trays into two boxes.


Wednesday was a free day. We left early. Too early to call in on nb Shiraz for coffee. We watered up in Greenford and moved on in sunshine to Willow Tree marina where we pumped out, bought gas and deposited our rubbish. Then cruised a little further and stopped at very green spot near Bridge 2. Here the portside gunwhale received a glossing over. Then we moved to West Drayton via Bull's Bridge  Tesco for some fresh chillis and mint needed for an on board Balti chicken supper.
14 mils 0 locks 2 restful and rewarding days

Cowley Peachy to Bulls Bridge

I made a mistake yesterday about how long we had been in Uxbridge . We didn't need to move because I had mixed up my weeks. But Crowley Peachy is a quiet location. We enjoyed our evening and were asleep by 10pm.

This morning we were up with dawn after a really cold night. The stove needed immediate attention. Relighting was   necessary but se soon warmed up. The clear sky and north wind sere more like December than April.

After a  light breakfast set about better now.. I did a few drilling jobs and then s0 Sawing and splitting firewood and the interminable cleaning and sorting out.

The Best Mate needed more stove blacking so we went to the Packet Boat Marina but they do not have a chandlers. We got some at High Line Yachting next door.
Then we looked in The Waterside Bar and decided that we might try it for lunch when we pass again on 6 May and High Line service our engine.

Then we headed off to Bulls  Bridge. We were invited to moor alongside Nb Brandywine who  is also heading for Little Venice. After shopping we backed perfectly, winded faultlessly ( no one was looking) and started up Paddington Arm. We   stopped for a Cumberland Sausage in French bread with mustard and decided not to move  again today.

More chores this afternoon. The brass looks better now.                          3.1/2 miles 0 locks 2 hrs

Uxbridge, Cowley Mill Road Bridge 187 to Packet Boat Lane  Bridge 190

At about 4.30  this afternoon  we thought about how long Sonflower hadbeen in Uxbridge. Oops! It may take a little time to get used to this moving every 14 days. So at 5.00pm, just short of 15 days after we arrived here, ewe left and moved to the next  place: Cowley Peachey. Here we moored behind a South  African  boater who came out to help us  moor, pointing out the various pieces of rope that others had left for us to moor on. He also pointed out a submerged wall that we just  cleared at the stern of the boat.

We did a few chores then got ready for dinner .

We decided to visit The Packet Boat pub. This is a real ale (Fullers) pub with Thai cuisine. We had the Korean chicken and riche off the Specials Board, economically priced at a fiver. Washed down with red wine (best mate) or London  boat and concluded Pride (the skipper) it was a lovely meal. We left before the poker started.

We returned to the boat and concluded the day with a game of Yahtzee and a glass more of red wine.                                                                                         1.1/2 mile 1 lock 1 hour

Rickmansworth to Mill Road Bridge No 187 (Cowley Mill Road)

Today we boated the bit of the Grand Union Canal we should have done last Friday but chickened out in the torrential rain. Saturday morning was no better with snow showers where we were.

Fortunately I had a good friend who has Mondays off. So we boated to Uxbridge and enjoyed each other's company. My crew is an outdoor type but usually enjoys hill walking in remote Cumbria rather than the flatness of the Thames Valley and its tributaries, in this case the Rivers Colne, Chess and Gade.

Thanks to Henry who helped at Stokers Lock.

 Thanks to Lyn who waved from Trinity as her husband walked away with the dog.

The weather stayed dry and we noticed Fran's Tea Garden. Pity the Best Mate was not with us today.

We had a good run onward even though every lock was against us and there was no traffic on the cut until we got to Denham Deep lock.

View from the top of Denham Deep

Waiting at the bottom of Denham Deep

Here the crew of an oncoming boat berated my crew for not engaging a pawl before winding up a paddle and suggested we wasted a lockfull of water when we filled the 11ft deep lock with TWO feet of water. They had left Uxbridge Lock with a top gate open and all top paddles raised!

We had a lovely day! We saw cormorant, grey heron, mallard, pochard, tufted duck, canada goose, white goose, mute swan, moorhen, coot, chifchaff, reed bunting, loads of little brown jobs, red lite, buzzard, parakeet, african grey parrot and amazonian green parrot.

Near  Mill Road Bridge No 187

                                                                                    7 miles, 5½ furlongs and 7 locks  5hrs

Marsworth to Rickmansworth

We rose early on Wednesday and got started as soon as the greaser was done and the bilge was pumped out. We passed our previous day's locking partner, nb Jess after two locks and settled into a routine.

Going up in Lock 37

Between locks, Marsworth flight

We ascended the main flight with a little assistance from the lock keeper who passed us after the first lock and told us the remainder would be set for us. We got to the summit at 9.15, just as the CRT volunteers were coming on shift. They did close the last gate for us after we left!

They told us a boat was being craned out at the yard as if that was exciting. We told them to give assistance to nb Jess as the crew were not well.

We navigated the Tring cutting and noticed a pair of kingfishers. One of them sitting on a branch in full view as we passed him or her. The other buzzed past the boat in a characteristic blue flash and disappeared into a tree. Their nest hole was easily seen and recognisable. It was quite a treat and the subject of conversation for a long time with a lady on Cowroast lock later in the day.

sunshine Spring cruising

The visitor mooring at Tring looked in a really sorry state. It would be difficult to get alongside to moor there at all because the bank edge is in such bad condition.

Across the lock, why not

We arrived at Cowroast Marina and entered to use the pump out facility. DIY, £15 cash only excluding blue (not provided since BWML took over). With fresh tank and no list the entry and exit maneuvering was worth it even if we did nearly hit Eric and Sally on the way out as they passed the marina entrance.  Our progress was soon halted at the lock where the paddles were chained shut because CRT were working on the next lock down. Sally and Eric were across the gates.

"No problem", we thought but soon heard that the stoppage would be until 6pm the following day (Thursday). To achieve our plan we still had at least 30 hours cruising to do by Friday evening!  I moored on the waterpoint above the lock. "Tut tut" I here you say! A first for me!

If you have time to lean you have time to clean

We settled  down to wash and clean the boat and decided to get food at the nearby Cowroast Inn. However their kitchen is not open on Monday to Wednesday! So we took a bus into Berkhamstead and dined at Porters. Very nice too. Two steaks and a bottle of house red was just what we needed.                 4 miles, 6½ furlongs and 8 locks  (4hr)

The next morning, Thursday,  we continued to fix and clean giving the brass a first clean of the year. We went into town again for lunch. Again at Porters. You can't have too much of a good thing. The hand raised steak, guiness and mushroom pie was delicious and I had another lemon creme brulee!

We returned to the boat from Berkhamstead after a nice lunch in Porters and a visit to the amazing WAH DIY shop. This is two floors of floor to ceiling shelving with just about everything you need. And if you haven't found it they will tell you "upstairs, centre aisle about a yard from the end, on the second shelf up" (that's for 0 gauge wire wool: the 00, 000 and 0000 gauge are below and the 1, 2 etc gauge are above!). It was about 2pm and there was a boat in the lock!

We quickly made ready and were there to take our place as the second pair of boats to descend. No-one was coming up though which as disappointing. And so it was all the way into Berkhamstead and beyond. We had great partners. Nb Pavo (of Idle Women fame when it was Kit's butty; GUCC No 327.) She now is a motty boat with a restored Lister JP2 and blows smoke rings at will.  Their crew stopped for provisions at Waitrose so nb Aloysious took their place. Their locking partner was delayed by the loss of spectacles into the cut. They were retrieved by paddling and feeling with bare feet!

paddling for specs 'tween boat and bank

So a very successful afternoon making past Winkwell Skew Railway Bridge just after sunset.          5 miles, 5½ furlongs and 15 locks

We rose early on Friday and found it was raining. We thought we would try to get to Uxbridge or at least to a convenient place to get the bus to retrieve our car. We needed to be back in Banbury for Saturday morning. Light rain turned into torrential rain and then we had a short sunny period before more rain set in. We were soaked and soon our waterproofs were letting in water at the seams. With only a short stop for breakfast in Common Moor Lock we worked on, finally succumbing to the weather after Batchworth Lock. We moored on the visitor moorings here, changed our clothes and left them dripping on newspaper in front of the fire to dry and walked to Rickmansworth Station to catch the Green Line bus back to Uxbridge. The day was completed with fish and chips in the comfort of our little flat!

                                                 10 miles, 6¼ furlongs and 21 locks  (9.1/2 hours)

Leigĥton Buzzard to Marsworth bottom lock

We are moored t the foot of the Marsworth flight The Sun has gone down.  The fire is glowing and we are shattered

Public transport is not relaxing. We drove to Uxbridge and left the car outside BCF Friends hous near where ẃ we want to be by Friday evening. We started with a nightmare. Sheila the Sat Av did not know the road we wanted to park in was closed at the end we arrived at A three mile diversion put our schedule one hour out. This is not good when the Best Mate takes frusimide.  Happily no problem today  We got on the train at Carriage C which is the  one with the loo.

So, we got to where the  boat was moored. Setting off we lunched off left over kebab sandwiches and made wonderful progress. We shared locks with nb Jess for six of the locks from Slapton to  Seabrook. We had a letter to deliver at Dunstable Cruising Club and duly executed  this  duty. We then moored for a while and met with BCF members on a new boat  Also involved with Waterways Chaplaincy they are on their way to Crick.

Carp fishermen were having some success opposite the Club mooring but we left them to the twilight and pottered to the foot of Marsworth locks which we will mount in the morning.

We dined on pasta chorizo and ham. Delicious. Washed down with Chilean Red.

Pics will follow when I can connect ny phone to the tablet. One thing at a time!

Bletchley to Leighton Buzzard

4 April 2016
We drove to Leighton Buzzard and had a dickens of a job finding somewhere to park near Tesco. Only 3 hours allowed in Tesco, 1.1/2 in Aldi, 2 hours in Waitrose, 2hours on street parking so we ended up in a multi story at £6.50 for over 5 hours. "Still cheaper than a £70 fine" my First Mate for the day philosophically mused.

Then a 70 bus to Bletchley Bus Station and a longer than necessary walk to the boat via Bletchley Centre and following directions to the canal from a postman.

The boat was ok and so we put the kettle on and prepared her to depart. It was sunny when we left at 11.45am but showers followed occasionally through our uneventful cruise to Stoke Hammond lock. Here my First Mate for the day, Stuart, helmed the boat and I worked the lock. Stuart has experience of SONFLOWER from the past having cruised on her with his wife on several occasions.

We saw quite a bit of wild life. A pair of mandarin ducks were probably the highlight but a heron stood firm on the bank as we passed and we watched a wheeling buzzard for a time getting ever higher and higher. A moorhen guarded her three chicks in a reed bed and ducks chased each other around the skies.

We moored below Soulbury Three Locks and went to the Three Locks pub for a very nice lunch. The ale was very nicely conditioned and enjoyed by us both.

John a cheery CRT Volunteer prepared and helped us through the locks. He skillfully used the off side gate paddles to keep us against the near wall so we only used one gate but were not unduly slowed by only using the ground paddles on one side which is my usual careful modus operandae. Here Stuart helms the boat in the Soulbury Bottom Lock while John closes the gate behind him.

Having risen the 20 feet at Soulbury we cruised on to Leighton Lock. This is just before the Wyvern Shipping Company hire base and training on lock working was in full swing and there was a party of schoolboys fishing for carp at the lock entrance. When I say fishing for carp, their gear and bait indicated that this was their intention but the location was definitely not where I would expect any self respecting carp to be at that time of day! Their gear was good and new and I had the feeling that they were in their first outing. They littered the place with wrappers from Tesco barbequed chicken which I picked up, put in their carrier bag and gave to them to take home.    

Sonflower waited for the hire boat pair to come out and then we worked through, The enthusiasm of the next crew to open the paddles to fill the lock was calmed by my shout "Hey, that's my boat in there! Not until we are ready!" Sometimes there can be too much help on hand!

We thanked Wyvern Shipping for their help and negotiated their base where boats were moored four abreast leaving little room to negotiate the floating tree trunk that happened to be in the remaining passage. As we left the base we heard the first chiffchaff of the Spring singing in the tree tops over their car park.

We then looked for a mooring as the sky darkened again. Long term moorings abounded until the 2hour linted shopping mooring at Tesco: thence through  Bridge 114 and past the services to the Leighton Linslade Visitor moorings. These are signed "14 days per Year"! Where did CRT get the authority to make that sort of a declaration? I bet the hire boats are moored there waiting for turn around day more than that each year. We moored between a narrowboat and a wide beam, closed up the boat and went to retrieve the car as the rain started in anger.

8 miles, ½ furlongs and 5 locks  in a day mooring at 5.30pm.

Milton who?

We left Stoke Bruerne at about 7.30am today. Cosgrove was soon achieved and we decided to lock down and forgo the facilities. There was little traffic on the canal although we were followed by a boat for about two miles. We caught another up soon but it moored at about 11.30 at a pub on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. Alex noted that there was no Milton Keynes in the USA but there were several Miltons. No, there wouldn't be as both Milton and Keynes were British economists in the twentieth century. Milton was a playwright from the 17th century. There is a Milton in Ontario!

We pushed on until we arrived at The Plough in Simpson where we stopped for a light lunch. Re-energised we negotiated the swing bridge to nowhere in the middle of Fenny Stratford lock and the 12 inch rise to moor at 3.15pm close to Watling Street Bridge No 96.

I then walked to the station at Bletchley, caught a train to Northampton and a bus to as near Gayton as you can get at that time in the afternoon and walked for about hour to retrieve the car from the BW car park.

Successfully completed we arrived back home at 9pm after a dinner in the Pickled Ploughman in Adderbury.

Bed time.
 
Cruise total to date:  66miles and 43 locks and 2 tunnels  

Braunston to Stoke Bruerne

March 21/22

We left Braunston on Monday and headed East for 250 yd. 

We stopped outside the Stop House for breakfast at the Gongoozlers Cafe. 

Well one has to doesn't one? And who should be about to shut the door to keep the frosty morning air out, but Maffi. A quick rebuke suggesting he didn't want our company was rebutted and we settled down at tables adjacent to order the requisite perfect breakfast. The Gongoozler's breakfast includes black pudding which is not exactly to my liking but Maffi soon laid claim to it to put in his double bacon and egg baguette.

We had a lovely meal together and afterwards Maffi accompanied us up the locks, with Molly jumping on and off our boat as the mood took her. We were also accompanied by nb Darth Wader with Matt and wife, two punny residents of London Tattooie. 

Sadly we parted company at the top lock 

and Alex took over to navigate his first tunnel on the tiller. Only one boat came the other way but he did a very good job of steering the bat around the many twists and turns that this snakey tunnel offers. It was quite dry for a change.

We boated on and had different partners for the Buckby flight down to Whilton Marina. Here Sonflower enters the bottom lock with Alex on the tiller.

 

 Here I left the crew to boat on toward Gayton while I retrieved the car from Braunston. This was achieved and I was at Gayton by 5.15pm. A quick call to the Best Mate ascertained that the boat would not get to Gayton before dark and possibly would not make The Wharf Inn at Bugbrooke. Sonflower arrived in the dark.

We agreed to both aim for there and walking and boating we met at 7pm. This left only a few miles to do in the morning.

No ice to break at 6.15 am but frost in the ropes and the roof. After stoking up the fire we set off, the crew dozing and moored on Gayton 14 day visitor moorings. We went back home to fulfill a commitment and returned at lunch time to progress to the water point where we filled and washed the towpath side of the boat before cruising on. Our target was made before sunset this time and we moored on the visitor moorings below Stoke Bruerne locks, which we did on our own, at 5.30pm.

We settled in to eat a home cooked paella.

The fire roars away and we are all ready for bed!

18 miles, 19 locks, 20 hours

Ice Breaking

We awoke to a red sunrise after a chilly night. The fire was still alight but had not been fully effective at keeping our noses warm throughout the whole of what was probably our coldest night for some time.

We needed to get to Braunston to retrieve the car as we needed to be in Banbury this morning at ten. So we had to break ice! I don't like doing it but needs must.

We arrived in Braunston and found a spare length of 14 day mooring. Of course the rings in Brauston appear to have been put in haphazardly. Some are 10 ft apart and some are 40 ft apart. We happened to be next to two of the latter and the next ring is twenty feet from our bow and useless to us. So we are moored on the stern rope and centre rope. I do not like to use this but, once again, needs must! There is nowhere to drive a pin into on the concrete pileing cap of the GUC and no piling rail to clip to either.

We got back to Banbury in time for our appointment and then went to London to visit the Best Mate's mother. Another sucessful day.

But my nose is still cold!

The car is in for MoT tomorrow!

Braunston or Bust

We tried to do a bit of Car hopping today. We drove to Brauston with the plan to get back to the boat at The Wharf, Fenny Compton by public transport. Well we both have bus passes so why not? Traveline told us it could be done in 1.1/4hrs with two changes. We were delayed getting to Brauston by roadworks with temporary traffic lights jamming a roundabout up. The Best Mate needed a loo before the bus journeys so we pulled into the Marina and used the facilities at The Stop House. Then we parked in a layby near the church, as my choice of parking spot was full and we rejected the pub car park which was signed patrons only, and went to the bus stop to get the 0824 No 12 bus toward Rugby to change at Dunchurch. The bus was late. We watched a large group of nordic walkers park their cars in the pub car park so we could have put our car with theirs, no one would have noticed!

We got to Dunchurch in time to get the 63 bus to Southam only because it was also running late. But the 66 bus in Southam was on time and we could not get off the 63 because a lorry was parked on its bus stop. The bus could not get round it until the 66 bus had moved! "It happens", the driver said. We went to The Corner Cafe for a coffee, a bacon and egg bap and to use their facilities. They gave us the number of a taxi firm. We left a message on their answerphone and phoned another. This one rang me back and said it would cost £25-35 to get to Fennny Compton from Southam as they had to come from Leamington Spa. We rejected this offer and decided to wait the two hours for the next 66 bus. Then the first firm phoned back and said they could be there in 5 minutes. They were almost true to their word and a quarter of an hour later we were in Fenny Compton for a tenner and the good offices of a very courteous driver from Premier Cars.

The day's cruising was lovely and we had a reasonably good road. We didn't get to Braunston and moored just before Nimrod Bridge, No 108 at  sunset.

So bust!

The best mate produced a evening meal from the remains of a meal from The Raj Tandoori in Banbury on Saturday evening. It was delicious. We watched "The Firm" on DVD and snuggled down for the night.

Pottering

It is good to have the time and freedom just to potter.

Fenny Compton Marina were good to their word. They opened the Gas Enclosure exactly at 10am and we exchanged an empty 13g Propane for a full one. The chandlery is quite reasonable and we needed a chimney so I took advantage of it and bought a cheap one to get us by untul I can do a proper job on an insualted double skin with Twin copper bands and a red band too. I also invested in a cooley hat but  I couldn't get any brass chain to link it all together and stop it blowing off into the cut. Another thing for the list.

I stoked the fire, (alight all night I proudly say so I haven't lost the knack) and then the sealing rope fell off the door. The Best Mate reminded me that we had some of teh glue for that under the sonk with the sove blacking. So I got it out, opened the top and the brush stayed in the bottle with the hardened cement.

So I went back to the chandlery and purchased another 25 ml bottle of glue for £6.50! But there is no price on safety and poor seals mean the SILENT KILLER CO could escape during the sleeping hours. Too risky even with a new CO alarm (which I must get round to fitting sometime!)

Next job on the lost was to fix a tidy screen to hide the clothes hanging rail. Then a curtain rail for the shower room window. Htere was a sunny oeriod so I went round the windows with  Capt Tolley's Creeping Crack sealer becasue there is ecidence of water ingress from quite a few of them. (Jobs were flying by) A quick break for lunch and then next I turned my knees to the floor boards and laid carpet tiles on the shower room floor. Quite a lot of trimming and fitting was required and a few part ties were wasted before I got it all right to boith my and the Best Mate's satisfaction. It was not a particularly easy job.

Lots of gash wood from the moat now needs processing as firewood. All things to keeo us busy.

Now to relax.after a very satisfying day. A glass of Corbiere is in order. Or may be even two!

On our way: Banbury to Fenny Compton

I lit the fire as the first thing this morning. To do it I had to clear out an accumuation of soot and rust on the baffle plate that was bocking the chimney above.

We left Spiceball Long Term Mooring site beside Bridge 163 at 11 am today. As we were preparing to leave, sawing some gash pine for the fire, we met the crew of the passing nb Wren's Nest and told them our plans. They wished us well and said "keep up the blog".  So I am trying. As we left the mooring the crew of nb Athco were on the towpath waving us "goodbye". I told them we will be back but we don't know when and probably we will not be returning to the moorings.

Our aim today was to get to Fenny Compton and we arrived on the Wharf at Fenny Compton Marina at 4.15 pm. There was a sign in the office window inviting us to call for attention. I did but was told that they close at 4pm on Fridays and would be open again at 10am. Bill told us we were welcome to wait  on the wharf. We accepted his invitation and walked the quarter mike to The Wharf Inn where we had our evening meal.

It was a "good road" today: the only locks against us were Cropredy Lock (left with the top gate open) and Claydon Bottom Lock but here we left the top gate open (for an oncoming work boat, hired to CRT and crewed by volunteers). We had left Banbury under blue skies and with the sound of birdsong everywhere. We arrived in a snow shower. On the way we chatted to Malc and Dink at the White Cottage, the master of nb Sawdust, the master of nb Samara and many others that we have become familiar with.We love this part of the canal.

I watched buzzards wheeling over Little Bourton Lock and met a spinning angler who said he had thrown back a zander he had caught earlier. I was thoroughly at home on the tiller or lock beams and paddles again.

The Best Mate spent most of the time, outside of locks, tidying and cleaning to make the boat habitable once more after the winter of our neglect. I did do my bit, messing up the clean lounge carpet by chopping some pine sticks! And I did fit coconut matting to the back steps to try to keep the mud off the new floor. The bilge pump did not work so there is another thing on our chandlery list.

Exciting.

This afternoon I have to move the car to Fenny Compton in preparation for the great escape. The list of things to do gets bigger not smaller. I have added:

• "Take mooring permits off boat to return to CaRT" and 
• Remove "SONFLOWER" sign from the mooring.

Oh dear! That is scary and exciting at the same time! A sense of leaving and permanancy. Sonflower has been moored there since August 2005.

We have been happy there, in residence for some quite lengthy periods, and at other times we have cruised away for some time. But the furthest we have ever been is Middlewich. There is a lot of the country still to see.

Exciting.

But here is the sign ignomeniously dumped on the roof of the boat.

It served us well.

Varnish for all

A quick trip to B & Q today to find a few items of import. Firstly two brackets to secure the rail for the shower curtain to the roof lining. We looked at curtain rails, expanding rails, net curtain rails, hooks, eyes, shower curtain sets, shower hose and shower head support rails and then at the very back of the shop against the rear wall we found wardrobe hanging rail supports. To make sure I got the right size I walked all the way back to the car in the car park to retrieve the shower head support rail that I had retrieved from the recycling bin this morning. Do they know how far it is from the back of the shop to the car park? Miles! But on my return with the rail, the Best Mate checked the size, gave me the nod and asked me to make up my mind between brass, chromed steel, enamel painted brass, enamelled steel, nickel plated, stainless steel, end fitting or eye fitting. We have bought brass end fittings; they were two for cheaper than anything else and they will do the job and look nice.

Then to buy some varnish. Yacht varnish is always a good bet so we bought a pot of that and then I checked out the sample of pine that I had taken from the boat to the shop. The colour chart on display indicated that "natural" would be a good match. So this afternoon I applied varnish to the new pine and it looks OK.

Our shower room door

Now to come out with the fantastic innovation that makes our shower room really spacious and cosy at the same time. Our carpenter made us a new door. There it is! Yes, it is round.                  

 What a great idea! How clever is that?

We bought a brass hook and eye for the Best Mate's security too.

BACK AGAIN

Hi! Are there any bloggers out there?  It is so long since I have posted anything that you have probably all gone away!

This is a picture of our new shower room.

No it isn't quite finished yet! Don't be silly! We have only been working on it for 15 months! But it is really looking as though it is ready for use even if there are a few things that will need sorting out: like a loo roll holder and towel hooks and a latch on the door.

But the better news is that we might be ready to move away on our travels again soon. With that in mind we have given the CaRT their required one month's notice that we will not be needing the mooring any longer. How will people know that they have arrived in Banbury without seeing SONFLOWER moored adjacent to the footbridge? It will take some getting used to won't it?

Merry Christmas

The Best Mate gave me this small but powerful book for Christmas.

 I may treat you to an exerpt on occasion as it is a very fitting.
                                                         

Under Refit

We visited the boat for a couple of days in the Autumn: cleared a lot out and contemplated the refit at the back. I returned for a wonderful hour with a carpenter who came up with exciting ideas that I had never thought about. I then spent many more hours on the web trying to make them become real.

It was easier to get the project started on paper than to get it started practically!

A few minutes with a tape rule did reveal some interesting features of the present set up. The starboard bunk space is 5' 10" long. So the modulised drawer based 6ft  beds that we have been offered by friends will not fit! The port bunk is 7'4" but has an overhanging cupboard. The bed will fit but would not allow enough headroom to get into it! So, therefore we are back to the drawing board on that one.

The winter saw little done but new floors are now in place throughout the rear of the boat and we have made progress on re-furbishing the shower room. We have installed a new sycamore bathroom counter with a basin sink and pillar mixer tap. The water system is back on and leak free!

We have put some some ideas about improving the ventilation to the bilges into practice with holes in the new floor under a redesigned staircase which eases the acess to the boat from the rear.

Today we spent a happy couple of hours removing the pvc/lino that was glued to the shower room walls. In doing so, we found that the control panel electrics are accessible from within the bathroom by a hinged cover! Also, the main wiring loom is secured to the ceiling int eh corner of the boat by three inch nails at foot intervals rather than a proper trunking.

We will be recladding the walls with rigid pvc marble look sheeting. A few more problems to tackle: the dreaded "no more nails" holds the "coving" strip at the ceiling as well as beng screwed up/ The screw head countersinks have been filled with the stuff! It looks as though I will need to hack it all off with a bolster. What shall we do around the windows etc. where the curves at the corners will not be easy to follow with the new sheets? Something will turn up.

We have had new batteries this year as the old ones did not last the winter. I tried to start the engine but found that neglect has hit the engine bay as well. The decompressor was stuck out and needed freeing off. Little things like that take care of themselves with the use and constant tending when you are in the boat. Leaving things in one place for so long really does not it any good.