Tuesday Wormleighton to Napton

It was a full moon last night but you couldn't see it because of the cloud. When I took the dog out last thing it was fine drizzle, he wasn't too impressed and went on strike, digging his paws in and putting his head down. The third time he did this I gave him another pull and ended up taking a lead and collar for a walk, leaving a dog on the towing path looking at me, as soon as I stopped and turned round he picked up his collar and we walked back to the boat. This morning when we got up it was still raining.
This clock change is giving me a problem, half of me is on summer time and half on winter time still, the other half hasn't a clue what its doing. As we don't use an alarm clock we have been sleeping late, but then we go to bed by the clock and cant get to sleep, meal times are not to bad,I suspect it would be worse going the other way.

We set off at about 1030 and by then the rain had stopped, we had a gentle run back to the moorings only meeting a couple of private boats and a British Waterways work flat being powered by an outboard motor. At Marston Doles locks we caught up with another boat, it was about the 5th or 6th time we have seen them, the first time was at the bottom of the Foxton flight last week and since then we have been leapfrogging each other or meeting each other.
We just arrived at our moorings as it started to rain and it has done this on and off all afternoon. While Diana was getting lunch I took the opportunity to fit the solar panels and was pleased to see 1.5 amps going into the batteries between the showers.
After lunch it was time for an oil change,this didn't go quite as well as planned as the filter wrench pierced the filter case allowing oil to leak out, luckily I had already put my tray made from plastic guttering under it so all was not lost.

Monday Wormleighton to Wormleighton via Fenny Compton

We woke to rain,only to be expected as it was very cloudy last night and the pressure has been falling steadily. so we were in no hurry to get up and away. We heard "Albert" go by with his lovely sounding Ruston & Hornsby engine, much nicer than a BD3.

The rain stopped and we set off at twenty past ten and made our way to Fenny Compton where we winded,this operation would be a lot easier if there wasn't a boat permanently moored in the end of the winding hole or even if he moved backwards as its very tight to come through the bridge and get your bows in behind him. There is room for us to wind without having to get tight in to the bank, but anything over 60 foot would need to. Once round we tied up and filled with water.

We had just completed filling up when a boat came backwards along the canal, waited until we departed and then also winded to follow us northwards along the cut. Once past the long term moorings 2 Hare's came out through the hedge and bundled off along the towing path, unfortunately I was to slow to get a photograph. It then started raining again. We continued on to moor about a 200 yards south of where we were last night at about 12 30 pm. by which time the rain had stopped again.  The boat that came backwards, winded and followed us, came by and moored in the spot we were in last night.

Sunday Braunston to Wormleighton

We woke at a reasonable time considering the clocks changed last night, I do wonder if the boats each side of us forgot to change there clocks as dead on 9 am i.e. 8 am yesterday's time their engines started.

We set off at ten past ten in sunshine, just before we left a brand new boat came passed us,no licence disk and no number plates,we seen several like this now. Is it a case of the tax is in the post or are they just getting a few free weeks. We met quite a few boats during the morning, most of them in good places for a change. Napton Narrowboats had about half their fleet out when we came passed but there were very few boats in the normal places like by The Bridge at Napton and The Folly.

We had Sunday lunch in the Folly complete with a couple of pints of Hooky before getting on our way up the Napton flight. We met three boats on the flight so all the locks were with us for a change. The first two were hire boats and I was glad we met them as opposed to following them. At Marston Doles I though I would check the winding hole for length. The notice says 50 foot so I thought I would try to get round, what's 7 foot between friends? It's slightly more than the distance between the towing path and the point of the winding hole. It was a very pleasant afternoon and we continued southwards finally mooring at 6 30 pm by the radio mast at Wormleighton

Saturday Crick to Braunston

This morning started much brighter and we were away just before 10 am. We arrived at the Watford flight just as a boat was coming into the top lock, Diana fond the lock keeper and we were on our way as soon as this boat had cleared the lock. I upset the lock keeper by not drawing the red paddle first, there was no point as the next chamber was full to overflowing and when I did draw it to keep him happy the level actually fell by 6". I wasn't happy as he had seen me do it but went to tell Diana off. I think its a case of red before white is the only way to do it, don't think, just like some people walk up to a lock, raise both paddles before trying to open the gate when a lock is already full.
At the railway bridge there were two long lengths of tree in the cut, one was long enough to almost stretch from bank to bank, I guess they must have come down in the recent winds. At the winding hole I met a boat coming very slowly through the bridge, I held back to let him through only to find he was followed by two more, I don't know how far they had been following him but the back one looked right cheesed off. We met several boats between here and Braunston Tunnel but nothing in the tunnel which was just as well. I had not seen any boats ahead but half way through the tunnel I could see a shape silhouetted in the distance. I thought that maybe the contractors were working at the tunnel mouth but by the time we got there it was all clear. At the top lock there was a cruiser waiting to enter the lock and they were to wide to get through one gate so went down alone, it was them that I had followed through the tunnel and if they had met anyone it would have been tight. There were a few boats coming up the flight so at first it didn't make much difference to us letting them go ahead and a second boat joined us going down. Once we stopped meeting boats it became a pain as the lads with the cruiser left both bottom gates open as they went and just to top it all the boat we were sharing with stopped at the Nelson for a few days. We pushed on alone,finally meeting a couple of boats coming up at the bottom lock.
A short stop was made at The Stop House to fill with water before heading for the open countryside. Tia was moored opposite The Boatman on his way to Foxton for the weekend extravaganza so we stopped for a while to catch up on the new and examine his new "Bio degradable dog poo bags". We continued on our way to moor for the night just before bridge 99. There was only one other boat moored on this stretch when we arrived so we were able to moor well spaced out in the piece and quiet. Since then there have been several other boats arrive and until 10 minutes ago we had one each end running their engines. They stopped them at a few minutes to 8.

Since we have been moored here I have put a bit more paint on the roof over the rust patches, refill the stern greaser and cut the keep for the rear door bolt into the step. Its only 3 mm brass but it felt like standing on a brick.

Friday North Kilworth to Crick

last night the wind blew and the rain hammered down, it was a good job we were eating on board and apart from walking the dog we didn't need to go out.
This morning started bright and we set off at 10 30 am but soon the clouds were gathering  and just before Yelvertoft it turned quite cool and started to rain. The new marina at Yelvertoft now has about half the electric points installed on the jetties and they have moved a lot more soil. The earth dam is still across the marina entrance but the water level looks good inside, I don't know how long BW will make them wait before allowing them to remove it.
We moored at 3 pm in almost the same spot that we moored in a week ago on our outward journey. No one complained that we were in their winter mooring then so I don't expect they will this time.
As I sit here typing this I have a good WiFi signal on an unsecured network, the only problem is they want £3 an hour to access it. I will stick with 3.

Thursday Foxton to North Kilworth

The heavy rain of last night lead us to a very spring like morning,warm and sunny with very little wind. We said goodbye to Clive and Rita over coffee and chocolate biscuits and headed off towards the lock flight at 1045 hrs. We were straight into the locks but as we were following another boat they were all against us, we were the third through that morning. We had just completed the second lock when the keeper walked down to tell us that there was another boat coming down and that we would have to pass in the middle of the flight. We were to remain in the lock and the other boat would pull over in the basin to let us pass. We continued up the flight arriving at the basin while the boat coming down was still a couple of locks away. The basin was very low and if we had not been instructed to wait in the lock it is debatable as to whether we would have cleared the cill. As the other boat dropped down to the lock above the basin, the outfall between the basin and the side pond above started to gush water and Harnser started to rise in the lock.By the time the gates opened on the next lock we were well up and could clear the cill with ease. The lock keeper who was accompanying the boat coming down laid down at the mouth of the lock with an arm stretched down as far as he could reach ready to take the centre rope of the descending boat as he left the lock. this was to enable him to pull them against the side of the basin and allow us to pass.
We were now on the top half of the flight and of course all the locks were now at their lower level so drawing the red paddle filled the lock we were in while the white paddle only had to drop the chamber by a few inches. We were just about to leave the top lock when 2 boats arrived to go down. We pulled in for water just in front of the "Cheese" boat and while the water tank was filling bought 3 Welsh cheeses from them that we hadn't tried before. The water pressure on the taps up here is far better that that to be found at Market Harborough which was bit of a relief. Once full we continued on towards Welford and through the Market Bosworth tunnel. By now the sun had decided to play hide and seek with the clouds and the temperature had fallen a few degrees, looking to our left it looked decidedly unsettled with rain in the distance and that was the direction the weather was coming from. After a bit of discussion we made the decision to moor just passed the Welford arm against the concrete edging. Like all good decisions this was changed and we moored about 200 yards before the arm. The reason for this was that the wind and rain that was just starting would be against the side of the boat and not the back doors. So at 1500 hrs we called it a day and sat down for a glass of red wine and a piece of our Welsh cheese.

Wednesday Market Harborough to Foxton

Last night we went with Clive and Rita for a meal at The Waterfront and were most impressed, for the type of establishment and food it was very good value. We started with a plate of rolls and an offer of extra if required, a nice bottle of house wine, 4 starters and main courses for less than £60. The portions were so generous that Clive had to finish Rita's main course, Diana asking for a doggie bag and none of us being able to manage a sweet.
It rained heavily over night and was still drizzling this morning but it had cleared up before we left. We made our way back to Foxton and I was very pleased to see a Kingfisher swooping towards me along the canal, but only one. Once in Foxton, Clive and Rita pulled over for the night and we continued on to Debdale to fill up with diesel. While we were there I took the opportunity to examine a boat they had out for blacking and sitting on a pair of trestles about 6 foot high, these are to facilitate the cleaning and painting of the base plate. There is a lot of discussion about whether on not its worth painting the base plate and if it all gets scraped off on the canal bed. All I can say is that all the mussels hanging on the bottom had not been scraped off so I can only surmise that the paint wouldn't be scraped off ether.
Once full of diesel we headed back to Foxton in nice warm sunshine, we moored with Clive and Rita and while Diana and Rita took the dog for a walk I took the opportunity of the warmth to prime the areas of roof that I had scraped back to steel yesterday. I also replaced the seal on the weed hatch, a job I have been intending to do for sometime. While I had the weed hatch top off I checked the prop for fouling and found a load of blue material with plastic piping and zips which I think may at one time have  been a bag.

Tuesday Foxton to Market Harborough

Last night we had an enjoyable meal in The Foxton Locks Inn with Clive and Rita. It was a lovely clear star lit night which caused the temperature to fall to below freezing. We were disturbed some time after midnight by an engine running and this woke me several times over the next few hours, I think it was moored somewhere behind us.
This morning started very sunny, so much so I thought I would have a ply with the solar panels while Diana took the dog for a walk. When she returned we had another changes of plans and joined with Clive and Rita in a trip to Market Harborough, we didn't get away until about 11 am and took a slow run down mooring just out side the basin. Diana steered all the way and I scraped the lose paint from the roof and treated it with rust killer ready to prime, needless to say at this point the sun went in and it started to drizzle, so the patches are still waiting for the paint. This afternoon was spent in Market Harborough with a trip to the towns museum followed by a run round Sainsbury's to top up the food store.

Monday Market Harborough to Foxton

After walking round the the BW office to buy a new pump out card we set off at about 10 am. Although it was sunny it was quite windy which made it interesting passing some of the moored boats slowly. Not far out of town I spotted a Moorhen sitting on her nest,I couldn't tell if she had eggs or not.I can only assume that the poor old Kingfisher has a hard time with the canal freezing this year as I haven't seen a single bird and normally we spot a few below Watford and again on the Market Harborough arm.
After yesterdays problem with the road swing bridge we both got off to open it.Diana at the operations end,releasing the lock and me pushing at the towing path end. As we passed through Foxton I was hailed by another boater, Andy. He has been following us all the way from Napton, always being about one day behind. We have never met before but he has followed my postings for several years. Once through Foxton we carried on to Debdale Marina where I had a word with Dave about our paint work, it has gone from micro blistering to the paint on the roof coming off in hand fulls leaving shiny bright steel below,it is even obvious to me that there has been very little adhesion between the primer coat and the steel. There is still talk of this being due to the exceptional winter we have just had, the paint didn't fall off the last boat when it was iced in for 6 weeks of my friends boat in Belgium where they have been able to walk around the boat on the ice, or maybe its the wrong sort of cold. Whatever it is its obviously going to cost me lots of pennies to put right. After talking to Dave we winded and headed back to Foxton just as the rain started. We are now moored just before the locks with Clive and Rita again ready to go to The Foxton Locks Inn for a meal tonight.

Sunday North Kilworth to Market Harborough

We looked out at about 7 am and it was decidedly foggy, but very bright above with all the signs of being a grand day. By the time we were up the fog had lifted but looking out it remained misty until lunch time. 
At twenty past ten we said goodbye to Clive and Rita and set off on our way. It wasn't long before we came across our first fishing match of the season. I don't think I have ever passed through such a friendly bunch of fishermen, there were about 30 of them in all, but they were in 4 small groups, each group being between a quarter and half a mile apart. This meant that you were not on tickover for yunks but just a short stretch followed by a bit of ordinary cruising, even so, poor old nb. Balmaha managed to end up in the middle of the last bunch.
We stopped at the top of the Foxton flight to finish our lunch and set off again a 1 o'clock. There were no boats coming up so we were able to set off as soon as we arrived at the top gate and a volunteer lock assistant offered to help us down, he didn't have a windlass but took care of the gates on the towing path side. It took us just 50 minutes to do the flight and when we got to the bottom we found the boat ahead of us moored on the lock moorings drinking what looked like their G&Ts. A tight right hand turn and through the new swing bridge on the Market Harborough Arm before mooring on the visitor moorings to walk back to Bridge 61 shop and the museum to purchase some reading material. The visitor moorings were all empty, they were moored on lock moorings or the water points just at the bottom of the locks.
The next swing bridge which carries the road across the canal is very stiff and Diana couldn't move it. I had problems with it and had to pull from the towing path side to get it to move at all.Once I got it started it was OK, but once Diana had taken the boat through I had to get it closed again,all went fine until the last few inches which I achieved aging from the towing path end. There are stories of boaters having to use the boat as a battering ram to get it open and closed.
We continued on towards the end basin passing Dewern6 on the way, another boat we had not seen for some time. Once in the basin we made good use of the BW services block as we were in a desperate need of a pump, luckily I had a BW card in my file, it was a bit ancient and I was not 100% sure it would work, but work it did and in a few minutes we had an empty tank, I am sure that if there had been a second boat waiting it would have been sufficient to do their tank as well,an excellent unit, well done BW. It was gone 6 30 by the time we had finished this so we just drew backwards out of the basin to moor for the night. In the basin were more old friends that we had not seen for some time on nb. Hadar, so we walked round to see them and partake of a cup of tea while we caught up on the past year.

Saturday Welford to North Kilworth

Not much of a trip today really, we woke at a reasonable time and the weather was fine,but it didn't last long and soon we were in steady rain, so much so that we intended to stay put for the day. Diana took magic out for a walk and brought him back half drowned with mud all up his back legs, it didn't bother him but he needed a clean up before coming in.
At about half 10 I decided to start the engine to charge the batteries if we weren't moving, but by 12 it had brightened up and the rain stopped so we pushed off.  Once out of the end of the Welford arm.we turned right towards Foxton. We had only done about 500 yards when I spotted a friends boat moored ahead. We slid in close behind them and moored up before going to bang on their widow. If I say Mary Celeste you will know what I mean, no sign of life. They had had lunch and the porthole curtains were drawn, so may be they had gone for a sleep. A few good bangs at the stern and still no sign of life. We returned to Harnser and employed modern technology, the mobile phone. The had decided to take a walk to North Kilworth and were now on their way back.
On their return they came round for tea and biscuits, later we will go round their for a couple of beers,not a bad deal.
So that's it really, just one lock and the Welford Arm, it must be one of our shortest days ever.

Friday Crick to Welford

Last night we moored nose to nose with a boat painted in an almost colour scheme to ours except they had a red roof where as we have a grey and rusty roof, it was even painted by the same person as ours but 12 months earlier. This morning they set off quite early, I don't know what engine they have but I can think of a lot of worse sounding alarm clocks.
We didn't set off until 10 30 on a warm sunny morning. Work is cracking on at the new marina at Yelvertoft with the pontoons all in and the basin full of water. It looks as if they filled it using pumps as there are three large pumps with their suction lines in the canal. All the temporary dams in the canal have been removed and all that is between the basin and the canal is an earth dam in the marina mouth. There is still a tremendous amount of landscaping to do and they are moving large dumper truck fulls up the road away from the site. The marina offices look a bit out of place in the middle of it all.
We pushed on along the Leicester Arm and as we did so the weather turned markedly cooler until we turned right into the Welford Arm when it was quite overcast. We made our to the end of the arm, meeting one boat on the way "Ubique" there is another boat of this name in Crick Marina.At the end of the arm we winded and the first boat on the visitor moorings offered to move back to make room for us, we declined his offer as that would have put him very close to the winding hole and there were plenty of spaces a bit further along the arm. The strange thing is the mooring rings continue right across the winding hole and if boaters use these I would think it would make it very difficult to turn. We moored for the night opposite the layby a little after 3 pm. Not long after mooring up it started to rain again, still it stayed dry while we were travelling.

Thursday Braunston to Crick

9 am and I am off out with the dog walking with Brian from RN and his dog Ghost, Diana is off to the village to get a few odds and ends with plans to meet at Butchers Bridge. 9 30 and I am off, hardly any boats moored in the village and several people enjoying breakfast in the Gongoozlers Rest now under new management. Just past the marina entrance I met the freshly stretched Caxton coming towards me. I hovered at Butchers Bridge as I could see Diana coming down the path. The boat moored just through the bridges was untying so I was hopeful of someone to share the locks with. Wrong, it was Matilda Rose and they were waiting for me to pass before they reversed back to the water point, so we did the flight alone. Needless to say all the locks were against us until the second from the top where we met two boats, There was a short delay at the top lock as the BW contractors were loading a pair of gas cylinders onto a short tug to take them to the tunnel mouth. There is still a lot of work ongoing here and speaking to the chap supervising the moving of the cutting equipment they will still be here for another 6 weeks or so. They are relaying the towing path between the top lock and the tunnel, installing culverts and drains in an attempt to cure the muddy mess that I have always known. On the off side they are installing the flexible fabric piling but instead of using the normal wooden stakes they are using scaffold poles driving them in with a pile driver. At the tunnel mouth there is still bit of a Temporary dam where the ground water is being drained into the canal but they have built a brick sluice to allow this to happen when work is complete.
We met one boat in the tunnel and this was the only boat we saw on the move until we arrived at Crick. On the Watford flight BW are hard at work painting the lock gates and as it was lunch time when we arrived I had to walk right to the top of the flight to find them before starting our climb, needless to say, yet again all the locks were against us.
We stopped outside Edwards to fill with water and then moved on to moor for the night opposite the two marina entrances. There is a sign that says its winter moorings until the end of the month all the way along this stretch controlled by Crick Marina, so I am not sure if we should be here or not, I am just waiting for a boat to come along and the steerer to shout "O you are on my mooring" if he does we will move, if not we will just stay until the morning.

Wednesday 17/03/10 Napton to Braunston

We actually arrived at the boat last night at about 6 pm. While I filled the water system, no leaks this time and lit the stove Diana trundled back and forth with the wheel barrow unloading the car. The battery voltage was still quite good when I turned the power on but lost half a volt running the water pump. The engine fired up first shot and pushed a few more amps into the batteries. As time was getting on and the stove was not up to temperature we decided to drive down to the Folly pub to eat as we have heard some good reports about the new management. Where the top dining room use to be is now the pool table and food is served in the lower dining room round to the right as you go in. I don't know if they are still claiming to be a pie pub, but they have dropped the large range of pies from their menu, however they had beef and ale pie on the special board so we gave that a try and it was worth  it. The pie contained lots of large pieces of meat in a very tasty gravy. The chips were hand cut and nice and long and it was all fresh and hot. I would say its the best pie that I have eaten there for 12 or 13 years when it was a pie pub. The beer was good as well with a nice pint of Hook Norton. To finish off I had a nice fresh pancake with ice cream. We will defiantly visit again.
We returned to a nice warm boat and settled down for the night.

This morning the weather was grand, nice warm sun and just a light breeze, during the night the inverter had shut down on "low voltage" the batteries were sitting at 20.5 volts. We started up and moved down to the lock where I loaded our 4 new Trojan batteries aboard, the only down side that I can see with these batteries at the moment is that they don't have lifting handles, just two slots where a removable strap handle is fitted. We then drew back along the towing path clear of the lock moorings to fit them. I was a bit concerned that they would be to tall and I would have to modify the battery box, but the lids went on with at least a millimetre to spare above the terminal posts, these batteries have both posts and bolt, as I used the bolts it meant the top of the post was the highest point. Being American the terminal bolts are probably AF, luckily a 14 mm spanner fitted nicely.
This all done we were on the move, I unloaded the old batteries while we were in the lock and then moored below the lock both to carry the batteries from the lock side to the car and also have a bit off lunch. I returned to the boat after moving the old batteries only to see that the Sterling Battery Management panel was showing zero charge. First thought was that the alternator had packed up, so I stopped the engine but the readout was still zero, no discharge. The next thought was the panel was faulty, but on investigation I found that I could rotate the signal wire connector on the shunt round the screw. Now the mystery bit, the screw was dead tight, but I could still move the connector, this connection has not been touched since I put the panel in about 6 years ago and in that time it has never failed to give a reading. The problem was cured by putting a washer on the terminal screw to make sure the ring connector was tightly nipped up.
We set off again  at 2 pm  down the flight. It looks as if the bywash culvert has collapsed on the second from the bottom lock, lock 9 and the boat in front of us flooded the towing path. seeing this we waited until they had left the lock and Diana had drawn the top paddles before dropping down lock 10.
There were three boats moored opposite the towing path below the Napton flight, one of them had his front mooring rope right by the "No Mooring" sign.
As we passed under bridge 107 there were two dead foxes floating in the canal, I found this quite unusual as I very really see a single dead fox in the cut, but two together seems most strange, I wonder how they got there.
By now I had expected them to have lifted the sunken butty on the puddle banks,but no,its still there, out side the motor with a dumb barge on the out side of it making the channel quite narrow, it was like this last time we passed through. We carried on into Braunston mooring for the night just after 6 pm opposite the old "Mill House", I can't remember the new name, I hope they don't leave the extractor fans running 24/7.

Observer Ethical Award nb. Tia

Many of you in the Braunston/Napton area will have come across Graham on Narrowboat Tia selling Ecover cleaning products. Graham has put his name forward for the Observer Ethical Award in the "Local Retailer" Category.
To win this award which would give not only his business but also the Inland Waterways good green publicity in the National Press, Graham  requires people to vote for him.

If you would like to support Graham in his environmentally friendly business then please vote for him  on the Observer web site at
https://www.global-research.net/oea/details.asp to vote you need to register, but you only need to put in your name and email address to do this, the other fields can be left blank.

Once registered click on "Best Local Retailer" and "Vote Now" The details to enter are:- Tia,  South Midlands, CV47 8HU

More details are on Tia's web site at http://www.tiacares.co.uk/

Tuesday Fenny to Napton

Last night we ate in the Fenny Wharf,it was curry and a pint for £5 - 95 followed by a sweet which was not included. We had not been in bed long when it started to rain quite heavily. The overnight temperature only dropped to 0.9 deg. but there was still a good ground frost which resulted in several stretches of the canal being covered in ice. The first job was to fill with water before setting off to Napton. The first boats we met were quite close to Marston Doles and they were 3 canoes, shortly after that we started meeting narrow boats, 5 in total before we reached our moorings, After loading stuff from the boat to the car it was a case of draining the water system again, this time making sure the length of copper pipe in the toilet was also drained. This all done we were on our way home at 2 30 pm We had missed the rain but we were going to find plenty between Napton and Suffolk.

Monday Cropredy to Fenny Compton

We set off at our normal 10 o'clock ish, there had already been a few boats past. Diana discovered the British Waterways Lock Garden that nether of us new existed before, for those of you who don't know it you can find it between the church yard and the canal just below the bridge at the tail of Cropredy Lock. There are a couple of round picnic tables as well as 2 bench seats overlooking the canal.
We met a steady stream of traffic which resulted in all the locks being with us. One of the boats I met in the top pound at Claydon was called "Wild Kitten", I wonder if it belongs to Wild Cat Boat Training?  if so it could account for the queue of two at Claydon Top Lock waiting to come down.
The summit pound is down by several inches which is probably to an unexpected increase of boats at both Napton and Claydon as we have seen more boats on the move today than the rest of the week put together. The low water made it slow going just prior to Fenny Tunnel as we dragged the mud a bit . We moored just before the Wharf pub at Fenny a little before 2 pm and I installed the wiring for the pair of solar panels that I intend to install, I managed to get about a tenth of an amp out of them at 4 pm. I hope it improves when the sun shines a bit. The plan is only to have them on the roof of the boat when she is at the moorings to reduce the self discharge of the batteries while the boat is not in use, but first I have to get a method of securing them.

Sunday Kings Sutton to Cropredy

Not long after we moored up yesterday evening two other boats joined us,one in front and one astern.  We set off this morning at 10 am and stopped to get a few bits and pieces in Morrison's at Banbury, making good use of the new piling outside Travis Perkins right by the bridge leading to Morrison's. When we returned from shopping our two neighbours from last night were moored behind us. We had lunch while we were stopped and then headed off towards Cropredy where we had decided to stop for the night, we would probably stopped below Slat Mill but BW have back filled  the piling with dredging's completely covering the towing path, not the best place to be with the dog. We finally moored up around 3 30 pm. on the visitor moorings at Cropredy below the lock, hopefully this is not some ones long term mooring who has just gone for water of something.

Saturday Lower Heyford to Kings Sutton

Last night we ate at The Bell, both the quality and the quantity was of their normal high standard. We had a table for 7 in the restaurant, with an imitation open fire burning gas so were nice and warm.
Funny Old Day.
This morning Magic decided that he would like to go out for a wee at 6 am. at that time everywhere was wet and it was drizzling. He then decided that he would like a drink followed by early breakfast. Once this was all out of the way we were allowed back to bed for a few hours.Next time I surfaced it was white with frost outside, so I hate to think what the roads were like.
It was gone 10 when we set off, me steering and Diana working the alloy lift bridge,she had just lowered it and crossed back to the towing path when a boat came the other way. BW have piled the towing path to the north of the bridge for a couple of hundred yards so I decided to come along side to check the depth,it was fine and would provide a much better and quieter mooring for visiting the Bell.  Thanks to meeting the boat the next lock was with us, but after that it was a bit hit and miss, some full, some with us and some half and half. We only met a couple of boats today but there were moored in places like Aynho than when we came down. At Aynho Wear Lock there was a full flock of sheep around the lock with only a couple left in the field. A foot path joins the towing path here and someone had failed to fasten the gate. Diana did excellent service as a sheep dog and soon had them back through the gate where they belonged, far better than some of the 4 legged varieties on One Man and his Dog. We decided to moor just above Kings Sutton lock as we didn't want to be to close to the motorway overnight. There is a well piled edge along here, but it is well used for dog walking with lots of evidence left between the canal edge and the path,the bit you step onto as you get off your boat.
O I forgot to mention yesterday that I bought coal and diesel from Dusty, who plies the canal from Oxford to Cropredy selling such things from his working boat, so we can have the boatman's stove alight again to keep our legs warm as we cruise along, I will just have to try to get some more fire lighters in Banbury tomorrow.

Friday Thrupp to Lower Heyford

Last night we decided to eat in The Jolly Boatman as it is now under new management. It was quite busy for a Thursday evening and by the time we ordered several things were off the menu, including the specials, which is a good sign as it shows its not just an endless supply of frozen dishes. We both decided to have shoulder of lamb, what were not expecting was a whole shoulder each, there was a huge amount of meat. We met the crews of Narrowboats Bones,Milly M and Oakfield in the bar and had a few drinks and an interesting chat both before and after our meal. We returned to Harnser  at about 11 pm by which time the canal was completely frozen over with a temperature just below -2 so we were a bit concerned what we would find this morning.
I looked out this morning to find a lot of last nights ice had already gone and what was left was very thin and didn't cause us any problem. We left about twenty past ten with Diana steering so I could open the lift bridges. I heard last night that BW plan to automate the bridge before Easter, I wonder which side they will put the controls as the towing path changes side on the bridge. I also worked the Shipton lift bridge although that is now a lot easier than it was a month ago. BW have now installed rings to fasten the bridges open, unfortunately they have mounted the rings in concrete directly under the bridge arms, so once you have opened the bridge the ring is covered by the bridge arm about a foot from the end of the arm, so you cant get to it to fix the bridge open. I think they must have lined it up with a plum bob while the bridge was closed. All the locks except one were with us today and of course we had to punch the flow on the Cherwell, it was still in the yellow but had very little effect on us. Just before Lower Heyford we met to hire boats on their way out for half term week. The started at Lower Heyford and chatting to the chap that had been instructing one of them I found out they have 9 boats out this week so maybe business is looking good for them this season. We filled with water just before the Lower Heyford Wharf and then made our way past the wharf to moor for the night opposite the church at about half two.

Thursday Pigeon Lock to Thrupp

Last night there was no 3 internet signal at all below Pigeon Lock so yesterdays report was sent this morning. It started to freeze early yesterday, well before dark as I nearly slipped over on the front deck. By 9 o'clock it was almost -3 but it warmed slightly as the night progressed. We left at 10 this morning making our way down to Dukes Lock, there were a few places where the canal was frozen over but it was only about 4 mm thick. We didn't meet any boats today but we were aware of at least one behind us. The river Cherwell was still in the yellow but didn't feel to be moving very fast at all. The first time I came up this river I remember thinking,its a good job those reeds are there or I wouldn't know were the banks are. It must have been in flood but there were no indicator boards then and I didn't think anything of it. I just got on with it and pushed up against the flow. I also remember the river and flooded fields were only separated from the canal by a very narrow pathway.Today, older and wiser, I would tie up and wait for the levels to fall.
As we passed through Thrupp I noticed that their were several vacant moorings, a couple right out side The Jolly Boatman, about 4 by the cottages and even more at the north end of the moorings, so we shouldn't have a problem finding an overnight mooring, unlike last time when I had to borrow a club mooring for the night. We continued on to Dukes Lock where I winded in the entrance to Dukes Cut. Here BW were cleaning up around the lock which had got into a terribly overgrown state. I complained to BW about it last time we came this way, but they past me over to the EA, neither of them seamed to know which one of them owned the lock. It looks as if it has fallen to BW to sort it out.
With no other boats on the move both the locks were as we left them ready for our return. The BW chaps who had been working at Dukes Cut even opened the lift bridge for us as their lorry was parked beside it. The two moorings outside the pub were gone, with a boat mooring right in the middle,had I have really wanted to moor there I would have asked him to move up a bit to one end, but we would prefer the quieter moorings by the cottages, these are 48 hr moorings, but we only want to stop over night. At 4 pm we tied the stern to a ring and put a stake in for the bows. It much quieter here well away from the main road, only the trains going by and there are not to many of them overnight.

Wednesday Aynho to Pigeons Lock

We started a bit earlier this morning at twenty to ten, its was a very bright morning with no sign of ice on the canal. Aynho road bridge is quite low so I removed both stove chimneys and the engine exhaust before setting off, a few years ago I put a good kink in the engine exhaust pipe going through this bridge and I didn't want to repeat it.
Just through Souldern Bridge number 192 the fields were still flooded following the River Cherwell flooding and the shallow water was full of ducks, lots of the Widgeon all whistling  away.At Lower Heyford just below the lift bridge BW are building a flood prevention wall from sandbags between the towing path and the River Cherwell. They are filling the bags at Allen's Lock where they have a cement mixer and a very large pile of sand, they are then stacking the filled bags beside Allen's Lock, so I assume they are transporting them down by boat, but none was in evidence.  Although it was mainly a sunny day we did have some very heavy snow shower and one of these occurred as we passed through Lower Heyford. Negotiating the road bridge by the station is a bit problematic as the boat yard has 3 boats moored stern on, herring bone style with there bows well out into the channel right in the mouth of the bridge, that and a boat moored on the towing path side makes it almost impossible to get through the bridge without rubbing the moored boat, the towpath under the bridge or the bows of the boats. During the winter months the hire base just doesn't seem to have enough room to moor all their boats including the ones they are fitting out. Once through the bridge we stopped to top up with water still in the driving snow. By the time the tank was full the snow had stopped and we were on our way again.
At Dashwood Lock 2 BW men had just completed cleaning under the bottom gate as they had received a report that it wouldn't swing. We had just met a boat so expected the lock to be full, but when we arrived BW had just drained it to check the gate was now OK and refilled it for us as we approached. Whilst talking to them, one of them spotted a heard of deer on the hill side, there must have been about 20 of them including one that was snow white. As you approach Pigeons Lock the market garden/tea rooms on the left now has a collection of fowl in multi coloured wooden houses and runs. The cock bird in the first enclosure had the most magnificent head dress and looked if he was straight from the rain forest, I will try for a photo on our way back. By the time we had worked through Pigeons Lock it was 4 pm so we decided to moor below the lock for the night as there is a decent stretch of piling, as the weather was still nice I reconnected the TV aerial cable, I only cut it through it last January for the boat to be painted. We tried the TV but the picture was rubbish with lots of ghosting so we gave up on that idea.

Tuesday Claydon to Aynho

We set off this morning around 10 am with very thin ice by Clattercote on what must have been an exposed bend. There was ice on the boat as well but it was much brighter than yesterday. Overnight the temperature dropped to -1 but today it been + 7 with some bright sunshine. Diana dropped me off to work Varney Lock and I noticed a large sign saying "Ongoing Work Ahead" but no sign of life so I assumed BW had done some work and left the signs. As I approached the lock a head popped up inside the lock,BW were replacing the bumper on the cill from the back of a boat and were struggling to remove the old one. The chap said they would only be about 15 minutes and we would be able to get through, so we tied up for a cup of tea and gave them a cup as well. It was probably about half an hour before we were on our way and as they had come from Cropredy we expected the locks to be with us,but with the rate of leakage on the bottom gated of Broadmoor lock there was no chance. We stopped for a few moments to dump the rubbish at Cropredy Wharf, BW now have recycling bins here for sorted waste.
The cottage at Bourton  Lock is still looking quite sad, I fear that if the owner doesn't get a move on renovating it,it will suffer even more vandalism, already there is a notice  saying it owned by a local boater and please report any suspicious activity, but places like that are just a magnet to some people.
We continued on to Banbury, I was hoping to fill with diesel but it looks as if Sovereign are hibernating for the winter. We contemplate stopping for the night but as it was such a bright day and only two thirty in the afternoon we decided to push on to Aynho Wharf. BW have piled the visitor moorings both sides of bridge 168 on the edge of Banbury which is very handy for visiting Morrison's. We met 3 boats on the move today, that's 2 more than yesterday,the last one we met was "Dusty" the diesel and coal boat. We met him between Nell Lock and Aynho Weir lock so he left the gate open for me which was very useful, we did a slight wiggle going in as the Cherwell is just on the yellow and it pulled the bows over a bit. Had I met Dusty anywhere else I would have stopped him for a bag of coal and fill up with diesel, but the light was going and I wanted to get of the river section before dark. There was only one boat on the visitor moorings at Aynho Wharf so we were able to get on the rings, just passed the winding hole, in the failing light at about quarter past five. 

Monday Napton to Claydon Bottom Lock

The day didn't start well, Before we were up I could hear the wind blowing and when I opened the rear doors it hit me, Diana opened the front doors to come in with magic and the through draft caused a back draft in the Dickinson that in turn caused it to go out.I threw a match into the stove full of hot diesel vapour and was reward with a satisfying whoosh as it relit. I had been in the process of lighting the back cabin  stove and that had also decided to go out, well not quite out as some of the edges of the coal were smoldering so I couldn't relay it, what I did was to place a burning fire lighter in the ash pan and slide it under the coals. This worked a treat and the flames made their way up through the smoldering coals increasing the head and inducing a but of draught. The result was a nice warm fire.
In the meantime it had started to snow, that very fine, powdery snow that gets in everywhere.Just on 10 am and we pushed off, Marston Doles bottom lock was empty as was the pound above it. When I say empty it was a good 2' 6" down and we couldn't get over the cill, so I had to walk up to the top lock, draw all 4 paddles and then walk back to close up behind Diana when she was finally free, walk back to the top lock, close the top paddles and set the lock for her to come in. We needed to stop at the water point to top the tank up,we were only about a quarter down but it was slow slow we still had plenty of time to sit down in the warm and have a coffee.By the time we set off it was snowing proper snow,big white flakes of it but the wind had dropped, the back cabin stove was warm and with the rear doors shut steering was quite pleasant. Going round Wormleighton Bends it was nice to see that the old wooden footbridge has been replaced, it now has a steel span that has been clad with timber to make it look like a wooden bridge and the end supports are wood, so I suppose its as good as we could expect, I wouldn't want to source a piece of timber long enough to make the span.
As usual we had lunch on the move,home made soup, fresh bread etc. what could be finer. There were several spaces on the Fenny visitor mooring but two of them were right in front of the boat we moored behind last time we came this way, he was still in the same spot and still had his generator running. It was also surprising to see the spaces on the long term moorings, I find it hard to believe they are all out cruising in this weather and I have not noticed that many up for auction. You don't think BW would be rationing them to keep the price up, they wouldn't do that sort of thing ,would they?  We pushed on to Claydon Locks which were all against us so every one had to be filled before we could enter, I was locking and Diana steering and having to hover while I set each one. We decided to moor at the bottom as its a nice stretch of piled towing path and it was 3-30 pm.the next decent bit of mooring would be Cropredy and it would probably take us an hour or more to get that far.

Sunday A cruise round the village

This morning we set off about 10 15 on a rather dull morning, the glass has fallen and the bright clear weather left us. We heard a boat pass shortly before we were ready to set go so it was fairly safe to assume that the Napton flight would be against us. The first lock of the flight was about half full due to the bottom gates leaking, that is one advantage of going up the flight as opposed to coming down,most of the locks tend to empty due to leaky bottom gates, the second lock was completely empty. A bit further up we met a boat coming down,the lady of the crew walked down to our lock as the boat was leaving the next lock up, but the crew she had left behind shut the gates. I pointed this out to her but she said not to worry they would wake up in a minute and open them, she was right. The cause of the problem was the crew was suffering from "Game Boy" withdrawal syndrome because the had been kicked out bin to work the locks. We carried on to the top of the flight and moored against the towing path almost opposite our home moorings for the rest of the day as we spent the afternoon visiting my son and his family. For those of you that know this area will now understand what I meant by the title, as the canal goes around the hill while Napton stands on the top.

Saturday 6 The Ownerships Show

Last night we had a very enjoyable meal in The Bridge Inn, Napton, washed down with a couple of pints of Story Teller, I have never tried this beer before,its quite light and slightly flowery. There were three other couples in the bar, all boaters, a couple from Calcutt and one from Wigrams, there were also three other people in the restaurant sitting behind me who were having a slight domestic but they kept the noise down so it wasn't to bad. The night was very clear and the pressure on the rise so it turned quite cold, but by this morning it was misty. unlike yesterdays sunshine so I decided to light the stove in the Boatman's Cabin to keep my bum warm.
We set off about 9 30,and saw several boats on the move on our way to Braunston arriving a little after 11 am, the Ownership boat trips were in full swing, going from the marina to Braunston Junction and back. We moored at the first spot we found just before the bridge opposite The Boat ex Millhouse and wandered down to the marina chatting to several people we knew as we went. There were the normal stands in the marquee and the cheese boat in the marina doing cheese tasting. At the far end of the marquee was the bar/eatery where we partook of a coffee and burger, both good value and very tasty. There were quite a few people about and Ownerships had filled the end of the arm with their boat as well as about 6 outside all manned by volunteer owners eager to tell prospective new owners how great the boats and operation was.
There was not a great deal there to interest us so once we had spoken with old friends and acquaintances we headed back to the boat to continue cruising. I followed one of the trip boats down to the marina entrance where he reversed into the marina to collect another batch of waiting passengers,I had just completed turning when the second trip boat came into view,so I drew back towards Butchers bridge to allow him easy access to the marina, again he put his bows into the offside bank and reversed in, as I came forward passed him the second one started to come out with fresh passengers onboard. He followed us as far as Braunston Turn where we went towards the South Oxford, he went straight by and reversed back into the S Oxford to head back to the marina. There were even more boats about for our return journey. The sunken motor is still on the Puddle Bank,but now there is a dumb barge moored on the outside of it as well as its butty on the inside, so I assume they intend to salvage it shortly, it looks to be in quite deep water where it is with only the cabin top and bow above the surface. We arrived back at The Bridge at about 4 pm and dropped into the last vacant visitor mooring.

I forgot to mention yesterday that Harnser has the dreaded Paint Pox and her roof, handrails, slides and cants are covered in blisters, some micro blisters and some small bubbles. There is a lot of this around from what I can understand , see here and I spoke the the chap that painted her, just 12 months ago about it this morning. Watch this space.

Friday 5 February 2010 First time aboard this year

We left Suffolk in pouring rain and arrived at Napton in the sun shine. The fist thing we noticed as we drove through the village was a sign saying that The Folly is now under new management. I don't know if this means its been sold or the owner has just got someone to manage it for him, it will be interesting to see what happens to the place.

The boat was reasonably warm and after a quick check round I started the water pump to refill the system, everything went fine until I flushed the loo. This identified that a plastic elbow had failed in the frost and shot water over my foot and the bathroom floor. I quickly turned the taps on to relieve the pressure and went and turned the pump off before remaking the pipe work with a new fitting.
The engine fired up first shot and was soon putting some amps back into the batteries, not very fast but I do need a new set sometime soon.  I light the Dickinson Stove but the diesel was very reluctant to flow into the burner. At about 2 pm we slid down to the top lock and loaded up from the car before making our way down the flight on a spring like day. Diana steered the boat while I walked with the dog and did the locks. We met a boat coming up at the bottom lock just as we had a few spots of rain, although we only got a few spots it was obviously doing a bit more a short way to the east which resulted in a spectacular rainbow over the BW building against the black sky. We continued on as far as the Bridge Inn where we moored at about 4 pm. The Dickinson was still protesting so I decided to change the inline filter, I have never done it since I fitted it so it didn't owe me to much. I even managed to do it without  the stove going out but then had a bit of hassle bleeding the air out so that the burner would pick up instead of looking like a candle.

I had a look at the history on the weather station, since we were here on the 18 December , outside it had been down to -11.5 and inside -5.5 today its +9c

Winter Comes Early Fri 18 Dec 09

The weather forecast for the Daventry area where Harnser is moored indicated that Friday night could well have temperatures in the region of -6 and day time temperatures not getting above Zero. I use Metcheck to keep an eye on the weather for the area I am cruising in. From this on Thursday we decided that we would go to the boat Friday and drain the fresh water system, a job I normally do after Christmas. The weather station on the boat indicated the the lowest outside temperature had been -3 and inside the boat -1.

It is relatively easy to drain our system, I just isolate the main tank, remove the cover from the inline strainer to let air in and start the pump by opening a tap. This allows the pump to pressurise the system with air, I then open the cold taps to blow as much water out as possible before switching the pump off. I then open the hot taps and a valve between the calorifier fill connection and the bath drain. This allows water to drain from the calorifier into the bath and air to enter via the open hot water taps to prevent a vacuum being formed inside the calorifier and causing an implosion. To speed things up I can put the waste plug in the bath and start the bath emptying pump,this then sucks water out of the system and pump it overboard.
Once it is all complete I replace the strainer cover,close the valve between calorifier and the bath waste, so when I return to the boat I just have to open the isolation valve on the tank and switch on the pump to refill the system, as water starts to come out of the taps I just go round closing them in turn, wait for the pressure to build up and the pump to stop to ensure there are no leaks.

Whilst we were there  we also ran the engine for a bit taking the boat down to the top lock and back, this not only charged the batteries a bit but saved us carrying the nonperishable things we had taken to  the boat over the lock and down to the moorings.