Nov 11th - Dec 29th

Rather more than a month since our last post, but Christmas preparations and activities have taken up time, and the days have just slipped by.....We feel well settled in our winter mooring spot now. After all our travels about the canal network over the summer, our movements are currently limited to a half-mile trip to the Saltisford Canal Centre every ten days or so to fill up with water. After each trip Benny is amazed to find that  we're in the same place when the doors open again - very boring!

In November we were treated to a delicious Sunday lunch at Robert's pub, the Crowd of Favours  (www.crowdoffavours.co.uk) along with David, Lizzie and James

Landlord Rob with some customers...[don't ask]

James and Lizzie

So far the winter has been relatively mild in comparison with last year, but we still need to light the stove every day, and have been grateful for donations of wood when friends/family have felled a tree or taken down a fence. Roger spends a lot of time out on the towpath chopping logs!

Roger's daily chore

 No joy with getting a TV signal through the aerial - if there's a programme we really want to see we have to download it to Roger's phone to watch later, which involves a trip to some public building with Wi-Fi such as a pub, library or swimming pool, or the house of some long-suffering friend.  Sue and Dave kindly invited us to watch the Strictly Come Dancing Final live, which was a highlight of our autumn viewing schedule!

We have had lots of visitors, family as well as friends, including David (with and without Lizzie and James),

Roger with Jenny and Richard, Joseph and Samuel

Jenny and Richard with Joseph and Samuel,

Roger, Robert, Moira

 Robert and Moira (Roger's brother and step-mum) Peter and Di

Note Di's look of amazement - Pete is drying up!

Jill, Caroline, Alison and Jane ( ex midwife colleagues of Jean),

Davinder

Davinder and Liz Tebby with daughter Ruth.  Liz has just published two books "Distant and Dangerous Days in Burma and China",and a short book of historic photos from Burma.

Ruth, Liz holding her book

 Details on her website (www.elizabethtebbygermaine.com) which also shows examples of some lovely paintings (she takes commissions for pet/house/garden portraits)

The boat is currently looking fairly festive, inside at least - the tiny tree we bought last year has survived outside in its pot and come in to be decorated again, and we even have fairy lights powered by AA batteries!

It's Christmas!!

 The sloe gin and crab-apple vodka which we started off in October are going down a treat ( the rose-hip wine is still fermenting gently in a corner). We spent Christmas in York with David and Robert plus extended family,

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, it's David in his Christmas onesie

then returned to Warwick to rescue Benny from a cold boat and give him his present of a 'catnip bomb'!

Benny's catnip-filled bomb

Then on Boxing Day we enjoyed another family party in Cropredy to celebrate Joseph's 7th birthday.

Joseph whupping Granddad at table football

Now we are looking forward to 2014, and wish all our friends a very Happy New Year!

19th Oct - 10th Nov

We moved on from Braunston as planned, on a beautiful crisp sunny day and were delighted to spot "Knot So Fast" en route.

Knot So Fast

This was Roger's previous boat, now owned by our friend Jill, but since she has been away most of the summer and autumn, another mutual friend Tim has been enjoying some boating on it.

We moored for a few days at Napton, intending to go up the locks to Fenny Compton where we'd planned to overwinter. However, we changed our minds and headed to Warwick where we are settled (we hope)  for a few months during the worst of the weather.  We have paid for a CRT Winter Mooring, and think we have found a spot  near the Cape of Good Hope, which complies with all the regulations, but still gives us fairly easy access to water, sanitary facilities (!) car parking and a pub!!  

 Winter mooring - complete with useless aerial

 We have good phone and Internet signals - BUT no television, despite investing in a new aerial, and aiming it at all points of the compass.  We're really not a pair of square-eyed TV addicts, but it's  nice to have the option to watch from time to time.

Benny the Boat Cat is also happy with our new location, another important consideration.

Benny exploring one of our temporary moorings

He has done so well to adapt to the transition from house to boat, and survive several dips in the canal, that we feel he deserves that his needs as well as ours should be accommodated.

It's lovely to be back within reach of friends and at least some family. Karen and Roger, accompanied by Roger's son Simon and grandchildren Arlo and Marlene joined us for the journey between Leamington and Warwick.

Arlo and Marlene, with dad Simon

 We also enjoyed an outing to Birmingham's ThinkTank Science museum with Joseph and Samuel at half-term,

Joseph at the ThinkTank

 and a visit to Beningbrough Hall, a National Trust property near York, with Lizzie and James.

Lizzie and James

Sloe gin and crab apple vodka infusions

Now we're settling down for the winter, and making important preparations for the Christmas festivities : sloe gin, crab apple vodka and rose hip wine are all maturing nicely!

Rose-hip wine bubbling by the stove

Mark arriving to make a delivery

We have also had a delivery from "Mark the Coal"who runs Star Class Carrying, delivering fuel in all weathers along the canal between Warwick and Leicester.  He stocked us up with diesel, bottled gas and several bags of coal -smiling cheerfully as always.

Since we shan't have so much to report while moored up for the winter, we plan to update the blog approximately once a month.

8th -19th Oct

The gaps between posts are getting longer!  Blame it on lack of internet access, then Jean being struck down by a mystery lurgy, which has held back our progress.

Anyway, our return journey up the Nene, retracing our steps from Peterborough to Northampton, is complete.  The first few days were sunny and peaceful - on average we met only one boat a day, and only shared a lock on a single occasion during the entire trip.

A bored heron

Swan taking flight

Pair of hopeful ducks

We saw river birds aplenty, and herons especially seemed much less nervous than on the canals, where they invariably fly off just as the boat approaches - on the Nene they appeared quite uninterested in our passing

We had a slightly scary experience exiting a lock, when the current caught the boat and carried her against the boom cordoning off a large weir.

Roger, Dave and Jean hauling the boat in

We managed to get away unscathed, but follow this link to see what might have happened - there but for the grace of God, went we!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2226937/Shocking-moment-14-tonne-narrowboat-smashes-river-sluice-gate-Northamptonshire.html


The weather, which had been glorious for so long, broke eventually just before Sue and Dave were due to come and join us for couple of days.

An ominous sky

 Rain hammered on the roof all night of Sat 12th, and although it stopped as they arrived at lunchtime on Sunday the river was extremely full.

Stuck!

 We had been warned of several low bridges along the way which could cause problems when water levels are high and discovered why when we got wedged solid under a footbridge.

We finally regained Northampton on Tues 15th, and Roger spent the afternoon driving the car over to Braunston, then returning [slowly!] by bus.

Vincent Joseph looking lonely at Northampton

Next day we locked back on to the canal system with some relief - it feels much safer than the deep, fast-flowing  Nene,

River speed limit

although it has been exhilarating to zip along at the heady speed of 7mph [as against 3mph on the canal]

Not canal related, but an amusing memory
 from Northampton

We had grown accustomed to floating on  water so clear that we could see the riverbed - the Grand Union seems very murky in comparison!

We completed the 17 locks of the Northampton Arm on the Tuesday, but since then  our progress has been slow, due to Jean's feeling rough!  Now about to head up the 7-lock Buckby flight, followed almost immediately by the downward flight into Braunston, where we shall have a bit of a breather before continuing homeward.

29th September to 7th October

This week we have pressed on down the Nene to Peterborough, travelling over 60 miles and through 37 locks, gradually getting used to the differences between canal and river! Locks take a lot longer to operate;

Guillotine lock gate

most of them have "guillotine" type vertical bottom gates and even though most have been electrified the process still takes quite a while. A major difference to the canal system is the lack of moorings - even those marked in our guide book are often just a short stretch of grassy river bank, where we had expected a proper landing stage and mooring posts.

Weirs can be quite scary...

Moorings are pretty few and far between, so no stopping whenever you feel like a break - we have had to keep going today for six hours non-stop, eating at the tiller!
.
 On Tuesday we started the day by picking 4 lbs of rose hips in readiness for some winter wine - hope it's worth the scratches.... We then encountered the first manually operated guillotine gates - instead of an electric motor to raise them, a 3ft wheel is provided which has to be turned many, many times!!

Help!!!

At another lock, access to the pick-up point for the crew (ie Jean) was through a gate marked "Bull in field" - fortunately he must have been dozing. Eventually we managed to find moorings at a pub so we could reward our efforts with a pint (and scrump some fallen apples for a blackberry and apple crumble)

The weather has been beautiful and the landscape gorgeous, the river sometimes tree-lined, and sometimes passing through open fields giving lovely vistas as  it twists and turns past many pretty sandstone villages, although frustratingly one often can't moor to visit them.

So near and yet so far

However we have enjoyed Wadenhoe, Elton, Fotheringhay and Oundle ( home of a famous public school, many buildings of which are scattered through the town)

Ferry Meadows

We spent Friday and Saturday nights moored at Ferry Meadows Country Park, and took a trip into Peterborough on the Nene Valley Railway, who were holding a "Diesel Gala Weekend", with lots of  train-spotting enthusiasts.

Peterborough Cathedral

Today we're moored on the embankment in Peterborough centre, a stone's throw from the magnificent cathedral, having trundled 9 miles to and back from the amusingly named "Dog in a Doublet" Lock which marks the beginning of the tidal stretch of the Nene.

End of journey - Dog in a Doublet lock

That was the most easterly point of our journey, as we now have to start heading back towards the Midlands to settle down before winter sets in!

6th - 28th Sept

Another long gap - result of poor signal, and being away.  We spent a couple of days earlier in the month visiting Stoke Bruerne, to look at the excellent canal museum,

Stoke Bruerne

and then returned to Gayton Junction, where we enjoyed seeing Denise and Rick (but forgot to take a picture!)  We also had a VIP overnight guest, namely Sam, aged 4 years, doing his first solo sleepover without big brother Joseph, who was away at a Beavers camp.

Sam with his suitcase full of toys

The middle part of the month was taken up by a trip to France to visit Alex, Guillaume and Louis in Vannes -

Alex and Louis

Guillaume's foolproof  barbecue-lighting technique

this involved two different types of boating for us, on the car ferry, and also an outing on A&G's boat, to picnic on an island in the Golfe de Morbihan.

Roger surrounded by more water than normal

On our return we headed immediately to Leeds to celebrate Robert's 30th birthday, and to see David, Lizzie and James.

Birthday boy Rob with Mum

Now we're back on Vincent Joseph, and - WOO-HOO - we're on the River Nene!  The 17 locks down into Northampton centre were peacefully rural, and we left the canal system with some trepidation to emerge on to the river, which thankfully is flowing very gently at this point. We plan to spend a couple of weeks cruising to Peterborough and possibly beyond - more updates as and when signal allows.

26th August to 5th Sept

Long gap since our last post, mainly because we haven't been doing anything in particular!  Vincent Joseph is still moored at Norton Junction in a lovely location overlooking fields, and we've been enjoying the glorious weather, waking to misty mornings, baking in the midday heat and watching the swallows skimming over the water in the evenings.  Not a bad life ....

Jean and Barbara

Peter and Roger

 We have also been attending to various bits of business while within reach of Leamington and Coventry, met up with family and friends, and had a great day out with Joseph and Samuel at the Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Roof-top wood box, still awaiting cover

Roger, Samuel and Joseph

 AND Roger spent a couple of days constructing a huge roof-top box to hold all our winter firewood.







Unbelievably, we celebrated the one year anniversary of our move to the boat on 28th August - we have enjoyed life aboard so much that we've decided to do another year, and have rented the house out to new tenants until September 2014 [a decision which may come to seem misguided come December ice and snow, but too late now!] Giving ourselves another year afloat will also allow us to travel to a few more places which we haven't managed this season.   (See Miles and Locks and Things for technical details)

We plan to move on down the Grand Union today, to Gayton Junction, where we will branch off through Northampton and on to the River Nene.  However, we are going to France for a week mid-September, so we shall postpone the Fens adventure until our return.

16th to 25th August

Luke at the tiller

The day started with heavy rain but fortunately brightened in time for our journey from Atherstone to Hawkesbury Junction in Coventry. We were accompanied by friends Tony and Jan and their 4 year old grandson, Luke, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy his first boat trip.



Peter joined us for a cuppa the following day, and then on Sunday Roger did a basic engine service! Oil change as well as oil, air and fuel filters change. Unfortunately air got into the fuel system and we couldn't start the engine, until help arrived in the form of Andy and Barb from the next boat. a thankyou drink in the Greyhound was obviously essential!

Megan, Darcy and Sharon

One of Jean's midwife friends, Sharon and her children Megan and Darcy came for a short boat trip on the 20th






On the 21st Roger took the car to Braunston (following a swim with Joseph and Samuel) and then returned to Hawkesbury by means of four bus journeys, taking about 4 hours!

Extra cargo on the roof ( Amy and Harry)

Carole (another midwife friend of Jean's) her husband Tim and kids Harry and Amy came for the journey from Hillmorton, Rugby to Braunston

Carole ready for locking

In the evening we drove to Leamington Spa for a reunion with the 'Red House gang'

Roger, Sarah and Nigel

Saturday 24th we were joined by Sarah and Nigel who helped us through the 6 Braunston locks and the tunnel, as far as Norton Junction