Curiosity on test

The May Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test on Curiosity, by Boating Leisure Services.  This boat will also be at the Crick Boat Show at the end of May.

Rain

I came up to the boat after work yesterday.  The Eberspacher took a couple of goes to get running, but everything else was fine.  I was woken several times in the night by torrential rain, and this morning the marina road was more like a lake.

I had to go to Dunchurch Pools for a boat test, but I was ready early so I stopped at the little car park by the penultimate Stoke Bruerne lock and walked along to see how the Tove was doing.  The overflow entry of the river was running, showing how much water there is about.

The boat test went well, and despite there being some rain, the sun struggled out for the five minutes we needed it.

Andy Dence boat on test

The April Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test on a spec boat by Andy Dence.

Halewick on test

The March Canal Boat is in the shops, and includes my boat test on Halewick, by MGM.

Russell Narrowboats on test

The February Canal Boat is out, and has my boat test on a stock boat by Russell Narrowboats. 

Christmas Cruise: Day 4

An alarm at 3.45am, as I had work this morning.  It was a ten minute walk along the towpath to the car, which we had moved into Cosgrove on Christmas Eve.  It was clear and cold, with bright moonlight.

I came back to the marina after my shift, and Adrian had walked along to meet me.  We walked back to the boat, passing these characters in Cosgrove.

After lunch we set off back to the marina.  

The lock needed turning, and we had an audience of walkers to watch us come up.  

Unlike every other day this short trip there wasn’t a breath of wind.  Even the marina was still, which sometimes means it’s harder to spin round to reverse into the berth, but actually it all went extremely well.  An hour after setting off, we were all secure in our berth.

We have nothing planned for this afternoon; tomorrow we head home — me via work, and Adrian via his aunt and uncle in Kent.

1 mile, 1 lock.  (3 miles, 2 locks)

Christmas Cruise: Day 3

Christmas Day, and the wind had finally dropped.  We treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast, then as it wasn’t raining, set off.  We were very shortly crossing the Wolverton Aqueduct.

A little bit further on, we turned around in the wide section at Galleon Wharf, and headed back.  We were very shortly crossing the Wolverton Aqueduct.

We moored up a couple of boat lengths along from where we’d been, mostly to get away from our neighbour’s generator, which seems to be running most of the day.  As we had coats and boots on, we headed off for a walk round the Ouse Valley Park, walking all the way to the railway viaduct.  On the way back, we passed the ponies, in a field up by the farm.

At lunchtime we started cooked our Christmas dinner: rolled turkey breast, massive pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips, stuffing balls and brussels.  With a bit of juggling, everything fitted in the oven and got cooked.  This afternoon it has been raining on and off; we’ve been binge watching series two of Vigil, three episodes yesterday, one so far today, and two more which will almost certainly be completed later today.

We hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas, and if it’s not a good time for you, we hope you are at the very least having a peaceful one.

1 miles, 0 locks.  (2 miles, 1 lock)