FEND HER OFF

Milton Keynes

The tantalising prospect of summer has tickled us these past few of days and a warm sun has been kissing my fair arm. Factor 20 is rubbed on my arms and Factor 45 on my nose!

Della has been to a randomly selected Groomer and we had hopes of a trimmed mini Schnauzer ready for Navigation duties. She has certainly been clipped and I was told she had matted hair and needed a drastic groom to cut out the clumps. She looks a little different but her hair will grow again and we can get her back to Schnauzerville in the future.

Milton Keynes is a ‘new’ town that started appearing post WW2. I remember learning about the new towns that were being built in England, when I was at school, and I had guessed they would not be attractive. Well that was my assumption. The scenery and green space of the Grand Union Canal in the Milton Keynes area is beautiful and definitely worth a return visit. The Canal skirts around some of the perimeter of Milton Keynes before it continues south to Leighton Buzzard. There is moving boat traffic, on this wide stretch of Canal, more than we have seen in recent weeks and there are attractive end of field moorings. It is not difficult to moor up, on the passing traffic side of the Cut but pegs are needed more often than not. Pegs are OK but they react if boats do not slow down to ‘Tick’ speed. It is not uncommon for a boat to get loose i.e. one end of the boat moves out to pole-axe (is that the right word) the Canal as the peg is remotely dislodged by a passing  thoughtless throttle user. We passed one boat that had come loose from its long term mooring. Nothing we could do and it drifted crossways to block the Canal after we passed. The question is Why doesn’t some 'boatie' on shore pull her in? A=path=y?

Albino Mummy duck and babes.

A mile or so on at our chosen mooring we had to bang the pegs in and be aware that they could dislodge. Later on the rain stopped. Did I mention rain? Stepping off DB to take Della for a walk we noticed the boat moored in front of us was drifting out to the Canal centre. This time we could be helpful. I stepped on the stern and gunwale- walked to the Bow and watched the towpath getting further away. Chris collected his handy rope retrieving creation and threw it to me so I could attach the Bow rope and throw his rope retriever back to him to pull the attached Bow rope back to shore. It is interesting to watch rather than reading the description. The words to ‘Tie a yellow ribbon round the old boat rope.....’ comes to mind.

Once Della had completed her appointed close shave with the Groomer we could set off.  We moved on to Bridge 91 thinking we would go to the Pub for dinner. The Pub is closed on Mondays and it was Monday so it was closed. No worries, we had fine dining aboard and planned the next day to get close to Leighton Buzzard and have dinner at the pub near the site of the Great Train Robbery .

Boat Bath

I have succumbed to training for my Wheely Queen badge. I did enjoy steering using a Tiller but DB has the wheel. I stand on a footstool which gives me the height I need for clear-ish vision to avoid hitting any craft that might jump out at me. Not sure if I would see a canoe though! The turn of the wheel, from straight ahead are max 3 whirly wheels to starboard (R) & 3 whirly wheels back to midway & max 3 whirly wheels to port (L). The minimal white matter in my cranium was full of counting 3’s. There is manoeuvrability if you just turn the wheel but for rapid response the whirly handle on the wheel is the best solution. And then a boat came towards me. I thought I’m not magnetic and nor is DB. Maintain position; focus on starboard, moored boats are far enough away, cool bananas! Anything I can do I can do better. Unexpectedly the Narrowboat coming round the bend had a ‘Working boat’ clipped on to it making its combined width 14 ft. Oh crikey, but I kept focussed and no nudging passing boats this time!

We are slowly but effectively Lock and Lol-ing along the Canal. Today we have moved through 5 Locks. Chris insisted I take DB into the first 2 Locks while he worked them. I wasn't overjoyed at the thought of doing this but I did and it was OK. My former experience on AM is helpful and I didn’t scrape into the Lock although it did help having 2 gates open to enter the Lock. 

Chocolate Box cover

Which brings me back to the “Fend her off” shared Lock experience a few days ago. We were sharing a Lock with another boat and the other boat had gone in. DB had to pass the Lock Gate that wouldn’t completely open, to go alongside the boat in the Lock. The woman on the Tiller called out “Fend her off” and I muttered under my breath as I tried to girl handle DB to stay directed starboard! Then I noticed that DB’s side fender, attached to the Bow, had come loose and was floating! How inflection can cause misunderstanding. I think I am dialectically challenged or am I dialectically challenging. The answer will be blowing in the wind!

In the Jungle the mighty Jungle....

STANDS OUT

DB moved us to Crick for our next rest stop. The settled weather means we don’t have to assemble the canopies and can sit out on the open deck. As per usual we talked to foot traffic mostly with dogs walking past DB. Della feels her job is to meet and greet.  Della is interested, sometimes, to meet dogs and she gets very excited the bigger they are. We talked with the owners of Chico, a calm Jack Russell, who is getting fame for ‘his’ Narrowboat diary. It is giving me an idea to pen ‘Paw Prints’ on behalf of Della who is a deep thinker rather than a barker and the delight of the many humanoids, she ‘knee’ hugs.

The weather bode well for the journey through the leaky Crick Tunnel and beyond to the Watford Locks. The Crick Tunnel is a wet ride of 1528 imperial yards, and I’m sure sun or rain makes no difference to the traverse and you can be sure the Captain and the boat get a free wash. Della and I stayed indoors sitting on the Daybed and listened to the whoosh of water washing the tunnel walls. I cast my eye through this week’s ‘OK’ mag, speedily handed to me along with a door stopper of this month’s ‘Marie Claire’ as we left our Crick Mooring. The Marie Claire reminded me why I only bought it when I was living the best 10 years of a woman’s life between 28 and 32. The only substantial thing about it was its size.

At the end of the tunnel, as darkness was replaced with daylight, Della and I went back up on deck, with me mop-handed to put the free wash of DB’s deck to purposeful use. I had hardly begun when we got grounded starboard side. The new Ash pole is securely locked in place on the roof and there it stayed. Chris took hold of the short Blue pole (from AM days) and I used the plastic handle of the mop stick to push the bank away as we floated into position and full speed ahead.

In next to no time at all we were pulling in to waiting position for the first of the Watford Locks. These are 7 Locks of which 4 form the Staircase Lock. The Locks were being manned (they were blokes) by two C&RT Volunteers and were getting busy. It is important to inform one volunteer who acts as Lock Keeper (‘Lockie’) that you were in line to ‘come down’ as it was important for those waiting to come up to inform the ‘Lockie’. It transpired we were now part of organised chaos and boats at the bottom of the locks were moving to the small pond at the bottom of the Staircase Lock before they let the ‘Lockie’ know they were awaiting instruction. I would have organised it differently but that’s my opinion and that’s all I’m saying. We were 2^nd to last in the line of 4 boats moving down the Locks before the boats at the bottom came up! My feathers were ruffled at the end of that work out and the serenity of the remainder of the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal was welcome.

Norton Junction is an easy turn to Port to follow the Grand Union Canal eventually taking us to London.  We were immediately at the ‘Top Lock’ of 7 staggered Locks that leads to a clear Lock free run to the Blisworth Tunnel (3^rd longest tunnel on the Canal network).  A helpful C&RT volunteer arrived at the Top Lock with his windlass, at the ready, and I didn’t need any persuasion to stay on DB as we went down the Lock. The Locks were, again, the size that would fit a Wide Beam boat or 2 Narrow boats again. (Widebeams cannot pass the Foxton and Watford Locks.)

We moored for a couple of nights below the Top Lock with the thought of relaxing. Truth is I rarely relax as there is always something to do but it was good not to be on the move. When we are on the move, Chris spends hours standing at the Wheel and having to concentrate on steering, which is not the same as holding a Tiller. On the ‘To Do’ list the Wheel needs to be raised to give a better steering position.

Chris has the fortune, in his golden years, of having a Bus Pass and used it to free -ride the local bus, to Daventry, with DB’s ropey- looking shopping trolley and did the grocery shopping. His report of the journey was the helpfulness of the other people on the Bus in making sure he got off at the right stop. He returned with a trolley full of groceries and fresh broad beans from the market. The broad beans were good but not on a par to the ones we used to grow in our sustainable garden in NZ.

Later, in the day, we walked the towpath and passed the 6 locks we would do the next day. I suggested we start early in case the day became hot like it was during our reccy. We were down the six locks before we had our breakfast at Whilton Marina. Even better Della enjoyed Rabbit TV in the Pet store near the Marina. She just stands with her paws planted in Fight or Flight position, nose twitching with the smell of live Rabbit and selective hearing in place. The only way to move her is to pull her, by lead, along the slippery floor. Note: To reduce risk of dog choking remember to make sure dog wears harness.

Fool's paradise The M1 is over there 

The day was warm and we cruised on beyond the glimpses of the M1 and the busy railway line. We moored at Weedon and watched a bloke poling his working boat past us.  The conversation went like this

Are you really going to pole the barge to London?

“Yes.”

Have you considered using a horse?

“Yes but they are too expensive to look after.”

Oh well you’ll put muscles in your arms as you train to be a pole dancer. Byeee.

We gave him plenty of chance to pole-on while we went to explore the limited delights of closed antique shops in Weedon. We agreed to move down the canal and found a quieter location just passed the Rugby Boats office. Well it was quieter when the noise of the ride-on mower cutting the massive lawn canal side of the big house, opposite us, had finished giving the grass its No. 1 cut.

Blisworth

Della is booked in for a groom next Monday near Bridge 76 in Milton Keynes which means our stops are limited until then.

Is using strength of arm to pole mean your boat is powered? 

Yesterday’s cruise took DB through the Blisworth Tunnel (3057 yards) to Stoke Bruerne and slightly beyond. Della and I remained calm, indoors, while torch and DB’s headlights lit the shiny walls of the tunnel.

The Black Hole is near 

We met 2 boats heading the other way and passed without incident. Again as daylight got close, Della and I left our comfortable and dry space.

That light in the distance is oncoming craft and not the end of the Tunnel 

Unexpectedly for us, we had gongoozlers greet us. I got mouthy

There is light at the end of the tunnel. We have come out of a black hole. Is this other side?

In their response I heard the Kiwi dialect and then I noticed the map of NZ on a T shirt.

 Kia ora bro!

Yay and they were Mainlanders. We moored up and I walked back and asked if they’d like to have a wee cruise with us to Stoke Bruerne. It was lovely being able to share a snippet of cruising on DB with Maureen & Ray (from Mosgiel NZ) and Jan & Mohammed. Great that DB can take 4 plus us on board in the stern /wheelhouse area not to mention the laundry drying (the Tunnel wasn’t too leaky) on the clothes rack in front of the directors’ chairs. Della took up her cooler weather position as Navigator sitting in prime position on the ledge above the Wheel. The Locks appeared as we arrived in Stoke Bruerne and thanks to Ray for helping with the 2^nd lock. Chris says you guys thought I was strong! Thanks, you should have seen me later! We went down 2 locks with the Kiwi crew, said our farewells and then thought we would find a mooring spot before the next lock.

Chance would be a fine thing but the boats we passed were erratically moored and there was no space for 68ft of DB. I wish people could think to move closer when moored in limited space. No mooring meant we had to go down 5 more locks which was really hard work. We were both tired and I needed to open and close both top gates for DB to enter the lock and to open bottom gates for DB to leave the lock and walk to the next lock to get it ready while DB was going down the Lock and back to let DB out and close the gates and the ‘pounds’ were very full and the locks were overflowing and I lost my cool demeanour if I ever had it...... It was tough but a “Big Up” to the random help I had at the 3^rd and 5th Locks.

Thankfully we found a good mooring where we could bang in our pegs and tie up before it started raining.

And still the complimentary comments and smiles for DolcieBlue keep us buoyant.

“She looks just like my home.”

DolcieBlue is our home.

'ARBOROUGH

Phew summer has tried to arrive and we realised that the heavy rain, while we moored at Kilby Bridge, had put the River Soar into flood and stoppages were happening on waters we had cruised! We had luck to get through the Soar in good weather.  

 I had to ‘work’ 7 locks to get to Newton Harcourt where a scenic mooring spot, near Ivy Bridge, was recommended to us. (The best way to find out the good, the bad and the ugly places is to talk to fellow boaters.)  6 out of the 7 locks were not set in our favour. The top gates were open, due to the high water level in the canal. This meant double the physical effort to shut the gates but I knew by winding up a paddle to open a sluice on the near gate will assist by drawing the water to pull the far gates shut as I begin to close them. No shortage of water! Big BANG as the gates slammed under pressure. The one lock that was in our favour was deceptive. The gate was open and DB crawled in. I put 115% physical effort in to close one of the gates behind DB and it would not budge. Chris tried to lever it using the boat pole on DB but it would barely budge. The solution was Chris climbing the lock ladder and our combined power made it easy. Then he closed the other gate and I got the ground paddle in motion to start filling the lock. Della stayed on DB as we haven’t taught her to climb ladders yet. Chris, on the ground held the middle rope to keep DB secure as the lock filled and raised DB. Once the water is over the ‘cill’ then the gate paddles can be open. Chris got back on DB before I attended to those paddles. Being Lady Lock’n’Lol is a responsibility!

We chose the recommended spot near Newton Harcourt with the free million pound view. We did our best to moor DB snugly on the bend leaving room for another boat should one come along. As long as DB’s stern is close to the bank then it reduces Della’s risk of falling in. She doesn’t find walking the plank to her liking. Well who does?? . Barbie & Mike came and moored in front of us, lovely people and with a recommendation for the Butcher Squ!sito in Yelvertoft, when we get closer to Crick.  

Our view looked over the canal to fields with sheep grazing and people walking. The joy of the Public Footpath, in England, is the ability to walk ‘off road’ and enjoy communing with nature. Della loves the rural walks, and is taking too much interest in the taste of fresh sheep pooh. She has started eating the fresh grass and lying on the ground. Baaah!

We explore the countryside, wherever we moor. I had to bin my favourite shoes after they had got through their first and only recycle fix, at the end of Winter 2013. The re-heeled boots and mastic filled cracked soles were well past their second sell-by date and they went in the big rubbish bin on land. My pair of Gumboots/ Wellingtons/ Muck Boots, whatever their name is, have been put back to use and my dry feet are happy. Della has a useful ‘Happy Pet’ paw rinser when there is no way for her to avoid the mud on the towpath. Sensibly, DB’s floor is a product called ‘Antica’ i.e. non slip vinyl strips that have the appearance of wood, easy to mop and quick to dry. We were close to ordering engineered oak, which would have added more weight to DB and reduced the floor to ceiling height. Comments from taller people are favourable as they notice there is ‘air’ space above their head. Not like in a house but more than a Narrowboat.

The gravitational pull of liquid out of the sky ceased and we left our beautiful mooring on a cool but clear day with the hope of settled weather. I’m continuing to question the creative weather forecasting in this country. “A fine day with a couple of showers possible”.  

 A series of 5 locks, yes still the problem of open gates, a crooked Tunnel (Saddington) and 2 swing bridges brought us to the Market Harborough Arm of the Grand Union Canal. We ticked along to the end of the Branch at Harborough hoping there would be a mooring for us, as it was now late afternoon. We had to ‘wind’ in the Basin and there were a few gongoozlers watching DB go through her manouevers.  The wind was blowing and blew DB in the direction of boats moored in the Basin. Chris did a brilliant job of using the wind favourably and although we got up close to the noses of some boats DB made no contact!! There was applause from the watchful audience.

 As luck had it we got the last mooring at the entrance to the Basin. A little ‘Tupperware’ boat had to move up one bollard so DB’s stern wasn’t kissing it.

Our mate Phil came up to see us for a couple of days and is our first guest to stay aboard DB. We have been told the Daybed is very comfortable!

 ‘Arborough is a beautiful town full of happy chatty people, a lovely park and handy supermarkets. DolcieBlue certainly attracted positive attention with comments galore “Fabulous”, “Very very nice”, “Astounding”, “Love your boat”, “When did she go in the water?”, “Don’t see boats this big around here”, “She’s lovely”, “Do you live on her?”.

We returned to Foxton on DB and spent a couple of days checking out the popular Staircase Locks, the Public Footpaths and enjoying the sunshine. We met Devereau and Patsy who were enjoying cruising on a Narrowboat rented from Union Wharf in ‘Arborough and were heading back to base. We had them round for dinner on DB after we cruised back to ‘Arborough. It was a lovely evening and we hope that our boats pass again somewhere in the world.

2 days later we were back in Foxton to go up the locks in the late afternoon. They are the easiest paddles I have ever wound and the easiest gates to open. A one armed bandit job! There is one C&RT volunteer in charge and usually 2-3 volunteers there to assist. On the day we went up, there was only one volunteer so I was able to work the locks under his instruction. There were a couple of gongoozlers taking an interest in us going up and I started to talk with them. Charlotte was from Auckland and Chris was from Newcastle, they had not been on a Narrowboat so I encouraged them to jump aboard and go up the remaining locks on DB with Chris and Della. Nice to be able to share the experience of a Narrowboat on the move.

Another tunnel loomed and quite a long one to pass through, after a night at the top of the staircase locks. The tunnel is 2 way and takes about 15 minutes to get through. Some plonker couldn’t wait a few minutes to let us get all the way through. He didn’t even give himself enough time to turn his head light on. Of course we saw him but it looked like we were following him as an oncoming light would indicate direction. We ended up rubbing alongside his boat and scraping along the tunnel wall. Oh well, no big problem.  A few metres out of the tunnel we came across another boat heading to the black hole and he had no sign of a headlight. He shrugged his shoulders when I asked him where his headlight was!

We turned into the Welford Arm of the Grand Union, enjoyed another simple to work Lock and moored overnight at the blunt end of the Arm. A tricky 'wind' to get back in the right direction but made simpler with spinning using the Bow rope. Now we are back on the Grand Union and officially in the County of Northamptonshire enjoying a rural mooring for a few nights. We did a circular walk to Yelvertoft and found the recommended Butcher / Deli. We’ll moor here, a few days, and enjoy the view of the field of happy sheep before heading to Crick and an even longer tunnel.

There is more traffic on this part of the Canal but it is still not busy. I managed to call out to the ‘working’ barge that was going past this morning and we filled up with sensibly priced red diesel.

 

Sarah was Wheel'y' reluctant but....

WHETHER THE WEATHER WHATEVER.......

We are moored up at Kilby Bridge on the outskirts of Leicester arriving at the 14 Day Max Stay moorings 7 days ago and, yesterday, moved to the 48 Hour Max Stay mooring (£25 daily fine if you are dobbed in overstaying). The advantage of the 48 hour mooring is we have bollards to swing our ropes around and the bank we disembark to is paved, and not a muddy sludge. DB is groaning with every movement, yeah the ropes must be hurting on the bollards! Tomorrow is the designated moving along day getting closer to the Foxton Locks. 

Spot the Car

We have spent the days, here, wishing and hoping the weather will brighten up. We did get Della out for her twice daily walks but the forecast was almost correct with rain and more rain, and Chris took the opportunity to use his free Bus Pass to pick up our car from Mercia Marina so we can get some unnecessary weight and ‘stuff’ off DB. I know the Band Saw was taking up space and it is still necessary,at times, although we can live without it for the cruising months. It has moved to storage in our car. Now the other Thetford toilet can occupy the space in the energy utilities room.

Our fire was put to bed, albeit briefly, a couple of weeks ago. It is now reinstated and using our ‘wheels’ we could track down some wood and coal. Charcoal was easier to find than coal, but we were looking for solid fuel and not even thinking BBQ. The contents of 2x 20kg sacks of coal are on-board, now, and will serve as ballast in the Bow storage and will slowly be used while we need to keep the Morso Squirrel lit in the evening. Funny how our fellow ‘Boatee talk’ has moved on from ablutions to type of heating. Shock is expressed when I say we don’t have radiators.

Jo Boater “How will you stay warm?”

  “We light the ‘ Morso Squirrel’ fire, DB heats up fast. I’m sure the spray foam insulation and the open plan layout of DB assists her heating.”

Jo Boater “Oh no, you need radiators. We have a Diesel fuelled fire. Have you got an Eco fan?”

“No.”

Moving back to car-ease. The Sat Nav took us around Leceister to get fire fuel, and Chris and I agreed to look at home entertainment. A rainy day bank holiday weekend outing took us to a HUGE shopping park that was over filled with people-in-cars looking for parking spaces. Human kindness, behind the wheel, was underwhelming. A car horn honked at us, the length of the blast indicated an unhappy person. It was almost as loud as DB’s horn.  Enough words of terra firma except to say we bought a TV with an inbuilt DVD player, a sound tube to receive 'Blue-toothed' music, and the unexpected purchase of an indoor tv aerial. “Oh yes” we were told “it will work in a steel boat.” Okay we bought it but we knew, of course not, that we’d only watch tv if we really wanted to watch a program. The next day our future with tv was sorted, the aerial was plugged in and ‘NO SIGNAL’ appeared on the screen. Were we bothered?  I like being with the minority of people who don’t have TV on demand. The DVD screen is on a wall mounted holder that we can pull out for armchair or ‘Couch potato’ viewing.

Blue & Dolcie on the wall. Morso Squirrel pumping up the heat. DVD in stored mode

Something to do on a rainy day was the laundry. Of course I had to do it – too much laundry makes Sarah a dull girl. I thought of waiting for a sunny day but it seems to be a random opportunity as the weather forecasts give the micro climate percentage possibilities of rain and you could expect sun with a couple of showers. I decided to do the Eco wash on my machine while DB’s engine was running, to heat the water for showering. The battery power would be drained if I had relied on Solar energy to keep the batteries charged to run the washing machine (N.B.  I always use cold water  for laundry). I do not have a clothes drier. This was a good experiment to see how long it would take for the laundry to dry with the Morso Squirrel heat. Yes and by nightfall the washing was dry and all was neatly folded. There, that was a bottled blonde rave.

Now on to DB credentials.....

Engine:  Mitsubishi diesel marinised by Vetus.

              -1x Alternator 110 Amp hours  - 4x 110 watts leisure batteries

              -1x Alternator 85 Amp hours     -2 Bow thrusters

                                                                       -1 Starter battery

Vetus 3 KW Inverter

2x  250 watt Solar Panels  

Calorifier    -55 litres with 1kw electric immersion. The Calorifier works like Central Heating in that the water circulates around the engine. So when the engine is running the hot water capacity is 55 litres.

BYE 'Boat on Wheels' 

AMPED

River Soar

It is seven weeks since we moved to live on NB DolcieBlue, and three weeks since we left the locale of Mercia Marina. I have put pen to paper and finger to keyboard, several times, but never managed to complete this Blog. My non-uploaded and un-applauded chronological chart bordered boring, in my opinion, so here’s a fresh start supplemented with photos.

 It is a different life outside Mercia. We have freedom in our movement, we are not in a Boat estate, we have choices where we moor, and we are not rushing the adventure. Practising rest and relaxation is important as the last six months have been very busy. Particularly for Chris who has maintained the energy for the never-ending functional fit-out of the steel shell that is our NB DolcieBlue (DB).

It was a joy to cruise out of Mercia with no pressure to return for the coming months. The ‘pound’ was calmer than a ‘milk pond’ (I’ll remember it as a ‘tea pond’, it is correct to write Mill Pond), on the day we cruised out. I called out to Jean on Destiny’s Dream “Take a photo please” and she captured us cruising out from our mooring.

DolcieBlue, our ‘peachy queen’ is a Narrowboat with a widebeam boat appearance. It’s the Dutch Barge look about her. She gets a lot of favourable comments. A memorable one “She looks like a Boat, not a Caravan!” She is spaciously cosy indoors and the stern and wheel house give a social area whether we are moving or moored. The stern and wheel house canopies are amazing, (made by www.cratchcoversandcanopies.co.uk   ).  Assembling and disassembling the canopies is getting easier, with familiarity, and we aim to have both canopies assembled when moored for more than one day. Our lucky day was cruising from Kegworth to Loughborough, on the River Soar one rainy day, with the canopies in position. The bridges were of a size to more than accommodate us. Joy!

Avalon Mist

We followed the Trent and Mersey Canal to the River Soar. It is a comfortable cruise on the River Soar and we passed NB Avalon Mist heading towards us! It is easy to recognise ‘Arthur’, her figurehead, from a distance. Big smiles were worn on all our faces. Our new cruising style is if we like the location then stop and stay. Unless signage identifies fixed period of stay we can moor for 14 days before moving on. Kegworth was a tranquil location on the East Midlands Airport flight path. The planes were not every 3 minutes, like Heathrow, and being a seasoned passenger of long haul flying I found it comforting seeing the aircraft’s belly and hearing the sound of a jet plane. These were only ‘small’ planes to UK/Europe.

The need of a supermarket visit meant moving on to Loughborough where we stayed at the Loughborough Basin for three nights. The spring weather had moved back to April showers in May and the wind was blowing strong so we overstayed. Only one night, honestly, but it gave us time to empty our capacious water tank and sterilise it, rinse it and refill it with the aim of removing the metallic taste the water has. More work needed on this. Any helpful ideas out there, please?

From Loughborough, canopies removed, we went to Barrow-Upon-Trent. Found a mooring, further on from the Lock and banged the mooring pegs in and stayed there for close on 10 days. Over the towpath and behind the hedge were horses and alpacas. The other side of the canal was a quiet residential area. Down the Canal are the C&RT Sanitary Station and Barrow Boats opposite The Navigation Pub. I think there are a lot of pubs in this country and a lot called The Navigation! Further on from Barrow Boats the towpath becomes fields on the banks of the River Soar and we enjoyed walking Della along there and negotiating the grazing cows and horses. We did walk a nearby designated Public footpath, one day, to Quorn Village and that was through a field of interested cows. I called them murderous, on the day. I had Della on her lead and I knew we were being followed but I didn’t look back. My experience is to give the appearance of being a large person. It worked and we made it through to the next field, in the nick of time. I turned around and saw the cows huddled looking at us through the gate.

We enjoyed several days of spring weather at Barrow and I enjoyed getting to know my proper washing machine and hanging the washing out on the clothes line. I didn’t enjoy it enough to write any more about it. R & R were taking effect and we were ready to do some tasks on DB. Decorating DB will take some time but little by little. My major accomplishment was tiling the bath/shower wall, before we left on our voyage. Now I’m prepping the living room so the woodwork can get painted before the walls are papered.

Meanwhile on the big works front the two Photo Voltaic Units (250 watts each), aka solar panels, are now trickle charging DB’s leisure batteries. This means we only need to start the engine to heat the water. It is still a novelty to look at the solar meter to see what charge is coming through, even on a cloudy day. Chris wired it all up after  I helped him feed the two 70 foot cable lengths, tied together, from the roof and down into the boat and along the cables and plumbing floor line to the inverter room. It was no mean feat of planning, I tell you.

A short cruise from Barrow to the outskirts of Leicester was our next move. A short stop at a Boatyard provided us with the necessary purchase of a 12 ft Ash Boat pole. We had the splinter pole on AM but realised that a wooden pole with flexibility is essential for those grounded moments when tonnes of steel needs human power with wooden leverage to move out of a stuck situation.

Leicester is a definite must see, to visit by boat. The mix of Grand Union Canal and River Soar make the place seem like a Botanical Garden. There are lots of great walks and the Watermead Country Park and lakes shine. On DB we slowly cruised along enjoying the sunshine and the city appearing. We stopped at the pontoon mooring at Castle Park Gardens to eat lunch. We moved on, as rain was forecast for the following day and we wanted to get rural moorings that evening. I was 'cream crackered' after the 11^th lock of the day and we found the worst mooring where we had to walk the plank to get ashore. Next morning the rain had raised the canal water level and we were level floating.

Castle Gardens 

Now we are at Kilby Bridge and will moor here, for a few days. Chris has used his bus pass to get our car so we can take off the Band Saw (It's not a musical variety unless you are into ear piercing) and a few other items that are not needed for this trip. I have spent the day with Della, and we have been home alone on DolcieBlue.

CHILLAX

TWO BOATS ARE ONE TOO MANY

Picture this, if you will, it was 2126 on the Wednesday before Easter weekend 2014, when I started writing this blog! Whoops I could be confusing your time and dateline, but you read this far and I will continue with no more numerical confusion! Another day passes with only dreams of resting while the sun shines. We did stop to have a short lunch break to eat a ‘sarnie’. We are nearing a fortnight of living the ‘dream’ out on the Cut aboard NB DolcieBlue. Don’t get me wrong, you will now, she is beautiful.  We, seriously, do not want to forgo the trials and tribulations of organically moulding DB as she evolves into our home. We’ve done this building process ‘lots’ on land, and once on water with AM’ with her  re-style. Nb DolcieBlue began as a paper pattern and now we are living on her. She is part functional and part building site. We are challenged with the work that needs to be done and the enormity of being a 2 boat family.

We moved on to DB on April 5^th, the day we left Mercia Marina. We cruised out in tandem, Chris steering  DB and I followed as ‘Tiller Queen’ on AM with Della as my navigator. It was a calm day and we turned starboard as we left the Marina and moored  round the bend! We could go no further on DB until we took down her impressive Stern and wheel house covers, to pass under the railway bridge. It was the best location for our first night on the Cut as we could double berth and step stern to stern (the lyrics from ‘the Water Gypsies’  hit off their  pending ‘Magnetic  Attraction’ album)  to transfer our  pre-loved ‘junk’ from AM to DB. The following day we were up early, breakfast eaten and the task of collapsing the pinned, studded  and Velcro pieced stern cover began. Chillax was my mantra and it almost worked. Task completed but it was the first of what will become a hoped for reflex action! I tillered AM under the railway bridge and moored up leaving a mooring space and more for DB following on my tail. Mooring up is easy to write but doing it solzinha (Portuguese meaning on your own, {buy yourself  this record}) was a little tricky! I left the throttle on a modicum of reverse throttle, jumped off AM holding the centre rope and attempted to pull her closer to the bank. Well reverse throttle understood reverse and the tiller swung to starboard meaning AM’s bum was headed for the other side with Della wondering what the heck was going on. AM’s Bow was still a leg stretch in reach and I stepped up to her gunwhale and carefully, but quickly, walked to her stern to take control of the tiller. I moved back on course and this time successfully moored, Della jumped  to the green grass, disguising the muddy bank and I went to help Chris put  DB’s covers back in place. These covers give DB an extra living space and they are the biz. We will wait until we are familiar and competent with this task before we go public in front of the ever so helpful people on the Canal!

AM had to go to Shobnall Marina in Burton-upon-Trent where she went into ‘Dry Dock’ to have her hull blacked. It is advisable to have Hull blacking done every 2 years and we decided, this time, to get the guys at the Dry Dock to do the work.  The price was good and they water blast the hull and apply  3 coats of bitumen over 4 days.  The four anodes, located on the hull, needed replacing as they had served their use .   AM in dry dock gave us the opportunity to paint above the water line and we took advantage of this. We visited AM, daily, to do our bit. We needed her to be presentable for sale. AM was in dry dock for 4 days. On the 5^th day we had to take her back to Willington to rejoin DB. The weather was calm and the day sunny so I suggested to Chris that once we had gone down Dallow Lock I was happy to do the 2 hour cruise to Willington with Della. That would give him time to get the car and do other things until I met him at DB. Cool bananas!  It was a blast to be on my own, in charge of AM. I was fine, no nerves when I met oncoming boats, no close encounters with bridges. All was good. When I arrived in Willington I alerted Chris I was approaching and he indicated for me to go on beyond the railway bridge where I could moor and then help him to take down DB’s covers! Covers off took 25 mins, covers reinstated approx 45 mins.

So moving forward, we were happily moored with DB and AM. We were making plans to get AM to brokerage in Nottingham and I was exploiting my neurotic tendencies to get AM into a tempting state for sale! Yeah right!! We had AM advertised on www Apollo Duck and we had a couple of viewings from some interested people from London. The major missing point was no ‘solid’ fuel fire. Not a difficult thing to install but we weren’t going to do it.

Easter weekend loomed and Chris wentto the Library to print out a bespoke FOR SALE info sign to put in AM’s window. I stuck them in position as we cruised on AM to Willington C&RT sanitary station. There were 3 copies so I taped the last one to the Bow window. May as well use them all, I thought. I had just trimmed the sign, in Bow situ, as we went to ‘wind’ at Willington. The people with their boat moored at the services called out. “How many births?”  I thought they were talking children. Then I realised berths not births and it was boat talk.

To cut a short story even shorter, they had a look at AM. He was interested in the engine,  she was interested in the cabin layout. The overwhelming storage solutions won her over. The next day she phoned, made an offer, we refused. Next thing they appeared at our mooring and went on AM. Della and I went to get some eggs and came back about an hour later. We met the interested party walking along the towpath with glum looks on their faces. He said “You’ve got your work cut out for ya.” I raised my eyebrows and nodded in agreement. For a moment I thought they were talking about Chris. Then they smiled and said “We’ve bought your boat and we coming to collect it on Saturday! “ I was gobsmacked!  I responded with a hug for him and her, and shook the hand of their friend as I’d only just met him. They were over the moon as were we.

The following two days were full on with packing up everything in AM. We worked as we always do, focussed and achieving, needs must. Saturday morning arrived. The excited new owners turned up with a supermarket bag full of real money. Next thing AM became their baby.

Sensibility kicked in and Chris and I decided decided that  we would go back into the Marina for a week, go to the Bank immediately , and that night go to the pub for dinner.

Avalon Mist is sold and now we can concentrate on Nb DolcieBlue our Peachy Queen.

There is so much to share about DB and being able to put pen to paper, finger to keyboard....is a luxury as every day is busy busy busy...........

MARINITIS

Galley. The drawers are NOT blue!

I am learning that if you make up a word and use it often enough it will get added to 'the' Dictionary. 'Marinitis' means inflammation of the Marina. I'm calling our Pier Q, Ward 17. Our Marina is fine but the residentials are getting a little tiresome. A few people have moved out, having sold their boats. The Mercury's sold their Narrowboat 2 days after advertising it. I will be sad to sell AM but it has to be done. Owning 2 boats is greedy, and, I am excited to be moving on to DB. She is a living dream.

Climate has dominated the news in Britain this winter and we see pictures of flooding down south. I am convinced Atlantis is in formation. A boat does seem a safe choice. Winter in the East Midlands has been mild and I believe the rain has mainly fallen at night. The local rivers are running high but not to the levels I recall seeing last year. As far as snow and ice, touch wood and uncross legs, nada (=nothing in English). Wind, yes strong winds have blown and there is a bit of firewood around.

I am fortunate that I have been called back to the outside working world to annoy other people and get paid for it. Although it takes me away from DB fit out, Chris is doing a wonderful job. The electricity is connected,12v and 240v, and the gas connection  is ready to fit to a cooker of our choice when we choose it! The plumbing is in place and we are days away from filling the water tank! We have bought a smoke detector that doesn't react to burnt toast and a CO2 detector-life-saver to warn us of leaky gas or solid fuel fire gremlins. Back to the electrics, I am yet to be convinced that a 3kw inverter is going to be a goldmine of energy but my Yorkshire man lights up when we discuss its potential.

Inverter

Our bathroom is taking stock of goodies from IKEA. We've even got the full length mirror door on a bathroom cupboard. Well hope is eternal that one will appear as one remembers oneself and it hasn't been often that we've been able to view a full height 'selfie'!

Bathroom looking to bedroom

Bathroom looking to living room

The ceilings are starting to look closer to a top coat with the halogen spotlight turned off and I am determined to get a finished coat on the bedroom and bathroom ceilings within the next week! We have got into a spot of colour on the cabin walls, in the latter mentioned rooms, that is reminiscent of former days in Portugal. We've got lots of ideas and plans as we turn DolcieBlue into our living home.

Bedroom