We have continued our slow progress northwards to Hurleston and then on to the Llangollen Canal. Still being towed by Kathy, as our attempts to track down a second-hand injector pump have been unsuccessful. We don't have the money for an exchange replacement one at the moment.
We spent nearly a week at Tyrley while Destiny's water pump was fixed, then a few days in Market Drayton before moving on to Audlem. We spent a few days at Audlem, celebrated Imbolc, enjoyed the folk music at the Shroppie Fly on Monday night after Ray and I had been to Mandy's place for the weekend.
We moved on to Nantwich on Tuesday after the wind had died down. Thursday saw us move onto the Llangollen and we are now just outside Whitchurch "enjoying" yet another windy day. I have to work tomorrow so it will be at least Tuesday before we move on. Kathy and I are starting to feel Spring is on it's way as we saw snowdrops on the bank at the bottom of Audlem flight, catkins on the trees on the Llangollen and even our first daffodil.
We are now famous (or infamous!) as someone posted a photo of our boat convoy on Canal World. I'm not blogging very much, as nothing much is happening.
Since my last post we have travelled 29.7 miles, 46 locks and 4 lift bridges.
This year we have travelled 37.2 miles, 46 locks and 4 lift bridges.
Since Ray retired we have travelled 777.5 miles, 688 locks, 55 swing bridges, 8 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Friday, 14 January 2011
It wasn't us - we never touched it!
This week has seen our first cruising of 2011. Our trials and tribulations continued as we developed a diesel leak from the injector pump on the short hop from The Anchor to Goldstone Wharf on Tuesday. Ray tried to resolve the problem on Wednesday intending to carry on towards Market Drayton on Thursday. After trying, unsucessfully, to continue, "the comittee" decided that we would carry on with Destiny towing us. This worked fine and got us as far as Tyrley Top Lock on Thursday where we stopped intending to continue northwards today.
About an hour after we had moored a gentleman in a rowing boat came along and told us there had been a rockfall in the cutting we had just passed through. Hence the title of this post! This has now closed the canal to the south of us for, according to BW, an indefinite period. Apparently there is a risk of further collapse.
None of this really mattered to us as we are past the closure. However, as we attempted to continue, with Kathy towing us, she noticed steam from her engine bay! Her water pump which was only replaced in October had failed! So we are now moored up, Morgana with dodgy injector pump and Destiny with dodgy water pump. Luckily Calcutt Boats who supplied her pump are happy to replace it so we should be able to resolve that problem soon.
This week we have travelled 7.5 miles
About an hour after we had moored a gentleman in a rowing boat came along and told us there had been a rockfall in the cutting we had just passed through. Hence the title of this post! This has now closed the canal to the south of us for, according to BW, an indefinite period. Apparently there is a risk of further collapse.
None of this really mattered to us as we are past the closure. However, as we attempted to continue, with Kathy towing us, she noticed steam from her engine bay! Her water pump which was only replaced in October had failed! So we are now moored up, Morgana with dodgy injector pump and Destiny with dodgy water pump. Luckily Calcutt Boats who supplied her pump are happy to replace it so we should be able to resolve that problem soon.
This week we have travelled 7.5 miles
Friday, 31 December 2010
Goodbye to 2010
It is New Year's Eve, the ice has eventually started to disappear from the Shopshire Union and maybe, just maybe we will be able to move on next week. After nearly five weeks frozen in here at The Anchor I will be glad of a change of scene. Pretty though the view has been! The company has been pretty good too, but I think we are all starting to go a bit stir crazy!
Unfortunately the thaw has come too late for us to hope to get onto the Llangollen and past the closures before January 4th so we will be on the Shroppie until February now. The snow has all gone and everything is rather grey and dismal outside.
2010 has not been a brilliant year for us, we have had some really good times and some really bad times. Ray says he will settle for mediocre in 2011 but I think you appreciate the good times more if you have to suffer a bit. There are things from 2010 I will treasure, like the good friends we have made and my memories of the places we have been, ther are things I will gladly leave behind particularly those people who are less than honest and the problems we have had!
However, I don't want to end the year feeling down so I will think about all the good cruising we have done and that which we have to look forward to next year. I will, hopefully, be working from February through until the end of May but we should manage to explore the Llangollen and Montgomery Canals while I am working and maybe the part of the Shropshire Union towards Chester. We haven't made up our minds yet where else we will go. Plenty of time to decide.
During 2010 we travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Cancel Murphy bring on Shakespeare!
" When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions"
My last post listed our trials and tribulations and things happening in threes.
Ray managed to semi-resolve the problem with the car, we are now mobile but not completely fixed. Our Renault has two fuse boxes, one is mentioned in the owners handbook the other isn't. The first is a fairly normal car fuse box, little blade fuses for lights, horn etc. The second, cunningly concealed behind the battery, acts like a distribution board and has large blade fuses. One of these had corroded and broken off, problem is Ray cannot get the broken bit out! He has bypassed the fuse and we have a mainly working car, all the essential bits at least. The central locking doesn't but that is a minor inconvenience.
Luckily the car was running before my hospital appointment to have the stitches out of my finger so I didn't have to get to Stafford by public transport. All seems well with my finger except for the fact that they tell me it will be nine to ten months before the nerve is fully healed and that during that time I will experience various odd sensations ranging from numbness to pain! At least the scars seem to be healing nicely thanks to Doctor Lesley's scar treatment oil!
At long last the gearbox was put back on the boat last Monday, a bit of a pain to get everything lined up but working well. Problems solved you might think, however, on the previous Thursday Kathy's boat Destiny had refused to start we thought it might be her starter battery but even connecting her up to the generator didn't solve the problem. We charged all her batteries via the genny so she had power as Ray was tied up working on the gearbox. Then, on Tuesday,once we were sorted he started to try and resolve her problems. He thought the glowplugs might be the problem and luckily we had some spares because two of those he tested were duff. Those were replaced, Destiny's was engine running, the plan was to collect some wood, move down to the boatyard ready to fuel up on Wednesday morning and move to the Anchor at High Offley.
Wrong! When Kathy came back from wood collecting she could smell diesel! A split fuel line! So on Wednesday morning Ray and Kathy went off to get a fuel line, by the time that was sorted we had just enough time to get to the boatyard and get both boats fuelled up before they closed. Kathy and Ray then did a bit of night cruising to get to the Anchor while I took the car there. That was interesting as the pub is set back from the road, closed except at weekends in winter so no "pub" lights and looks just like a large house. So I thought I had taken a wrong turn and was at the wrong canal bridge so went off in search of the right one! After getting completely lost I found my way back to the Anchor and managed to park.
All well with the world at last? Not quite, when Ray turned our engine off on Thursday he found we had a diesel leak! As we were heading for Peterborough for the weekend Ray had no chance to even look at it on Friday morning so he is now in the engine bay trying to find the leak. This weekend was, as everyone knows, very cold, so we came back to a frozen canal. Also, in spite of Kathy's best efforts to keep the chill off the boat without burning too much wood and coal our water pump had frozen and so had the pipes! The pump has thawed but so far the pipes haven't. At least the boat is warm, although Ray isn't!
We did have a lovely weekend with Mandy, Tony and the kids to celebrate Mandy's birthday. One thing I do miss is having enough money to go visiting whenever I feel like it.
In the past three weeks we have travelled 3.1 miles
So far we have travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
My last post listed our trials and tribulations and things happening in threes.
Ray managed to semi-resolve the problem with the car, we are now mobile but not completely fixed. Our Renault has two fuse boxes, one is mentioned in the owners handbook the other isn't. The first is a fairly normal car fuse box, little blade fuses for lights, horn etc. The second, cunningly concealed behind the battery, acts like a distribution board and has large blade fuses. One of these had corroded and broken off, problem is Ray cannot get the broken bit out! He has bypassed the fuse and we have a mainly working car, all the essential bits at least. The central locking doesn't but that is a minor inconvenience.
Luckily the car was running before my hospital appointment to have the stitches out of my finger so I didn't have to get to Stafford by public transport. All seems well with my finger except for the fact that they tell me it will be nine to ten months before the nerve is fully healed and that during that time I will experience various odd sensations ranging from numbness to pain! At least the scars seem to be healing nicely thanks to Doctor Lesley's scar treatment oil!
At long last the gearbox was put back on the boat last Monday, a bit of a pain to get everything lined up but working well. Problems solved you might think, however, on the previous Thursday Kathy's boat Destiny had refused to start we thought it might be her starter battery but even connecting her up to the generator didn't solve the problem. We charged all her batteries via the genny so she had power as Ray was tied up working on the gearbox. Then, on Tuesday,once we were sorted he started to try and resolve her problems. He thought the glowplugs might be the problem and luckily we had some spares because two of those he tested were duff. Those were replaced, Destiny's was engine running, the plan was to collect some wood, move down to the boatyard ready to fuel up on Wednesday morning and move to the Anchor at High Offley.
Wrong! When Kathy came back from wood collecting she could smell diesel! A split fuel line! So on Wednesday morning Ray and Kathy went off to get a fuel line, by the time that was sorted we had just enough time to get to the boatyard and get both boats fuelled up before they closed. Kathy and Ray then did a bit of night cruising to get to the Anchor while I took the car there. That was interesting as the pub is set back from the road, closed except at weekends in winter so no "pub" lights and looks just like a large house. So I thought I had taken a wrong turn and was at the wrong canal bridge so went off in search of the right one! After getting completely lost I found my way back to the Anchor and managed to park.
All well with the world at last? Not quite, when Ray turned our engine off on Thursday he found we had a diesel leak! As we were heading for Peterborough for the weekend Ray had no chance to even look at it on Friday morning so he is now in the engine bay trying to find the leak. This weekend was, as everyone knows, very cold, so we came back to a frozen canal. Also, in spite of Kathy's best efforts to keep the chill off the boat without burning too much wood and coal our water pump had frozen and so had the pipes! The pump has thawed but so far the pipes haven't. At least the boat is warm, although Ray isn't!
We did have a lovely weekend with Mandy, Tony and the kids to celebrate Mandy's birthday. One thing I do miss is having enough money to go visiting whenever I feel like it.
In the past three weeks we have travelled 3.1 miles
So far we have travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Murphy is alive and well and living in Staffordshire.
Murphy's law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time. I'm not sure who's law says things happen in threes but they are doing their bit too.
At the moment we have an immobile boat, problems with the gearbox, an immobile car, problems with the electrics and an injured me, sliced finger open on baked bean tin lid and had to have surgery to repair the nerve. The lack of car means seeking work is virtually impossible, wouldn't be so bad if the boat was OK, at least we could go somewhere where a car was less essential. As it is we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, unable at the moment to resolve any of the problems, and unable to earn any money so exceedingly broke. Add that to a two mile hike to the nearest shop, apart from the limited tinned groceries available at the boatyard about half a mile away and the nearest bus route is about a mile and a half away. Life is not very good at the moment.
In the past four weeks we have travelled 7 miles and 1 tunnel
So far we have travelled 737.2 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
At the moment we have an immobile boat, problems with the gearbox, an immobile car, problems with the electrics and an injured me, sliced finger open on baked bean tin lid and had to have surgery to repair the nerve. The lack of car means seeking work is virtually impossible, wouldn't be so bad if the boat was OK, at least we could go somewhere where a car was less essential. As it is we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, unable at the moment to resolve any of the problems, and unable to earn any money so exceedingly broke. Add that to a two mile hike to the nearest shop, apart from the limited tinned groceries available at the boatyard about half a mile away and the nearest bus route is about a mile and a half away. Life is not very good at the moment.
In the past four weeks we have travelled 7 miles and 1 tunnel
So far we have travelled 737.2 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Busy doing nothing!
In the two weeks since my last post we have travelled not very far and done not a lot!
On the Monday after my last post we did a bit of shopping, then moved the boats about three and a half miles north so we were somewhere we could let the kittens roam. We stayed there until Friday and then moved the huge distance of one and a half miles to Brewood. High speed travel that, five miles in five days!
We spent the weekend at Brewood, Kathy and I hopped on the bus to Penkridge for the market on Saturday and Sunday it chucked it down. On Monday (October 4th) we moved to Wheaton Aston where we did the empty loo,and rubbish, fill up with water routine. Most of the time we have been busy doing nothing. Kathy is waiting for Barney to come and fix her exhaust and we have spent a few days away from the boats going to Peterborough to see the Hobbins' and collect my car.
We arrived back yesterday, and so now the search for work begins. Oh dear, summer is really over.
In the past sixteen days we have travelled 8 miles and 1 lock!
So far we have travelled 730.2 miles, 643 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 24 tunnels.
On the Monday after my last post we did a bit of shopping, then moved the boats about three and a half miles north so we were somewhere we could let the kittens roam. We stayed there until Friday and then moved the huge distance of one and a half miles to Brewood. High speed travel that, five miles in five days!
We spent the weekend at Brewood, Kathy and I hopped on the bus to Penkridge for the market on Saturday and Sunday it chucked it down. On Monday (October 4th) we moved to Wheaton Aston where we did the empty loo,and rubbish, fill up with water routine. Most of the time we have been busy doing nothing. Kathy is waiting for Barney to come and fix her exhaust and we have spent a few days away from the boats going to Peterborough to see the Hobbins' and collect my car.
We arrived back yesterday, and so now the search for work begins. Oh dear, summer is really over.
In the past sixteen days we have travelled 8 miles and 1 lock!
So far we have travelled 730.2 miles, 643 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 24 tunnels.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Back on the Shroppie
Kathy rang me just as we were heading back to the boat with our shopping to let me know they were on their way to meet us. By the time we had stashed the shopping and made a cuppa to get on our way they must have been most of the way up the flight. We were almost at the junction to go back onto the BCN and we saw Scott running towards us. We stopped at a narrow spot, probably an old stop lock, to pick them all up and they rode with us to the top of the flight.
We had only gone down a couple of locks when we caught up with another boat with only two on board so Kathy went ahead setting locks to speed their passage down so we wouldn't have to wait at every lock. It made it quicker for them and us. Scott, Kaia and I took it in turns to walk on and open up so Ray could go straight into the next lock. We were down the flight in about two and a half hours and then were quickly round the corner and onto the Shroppie moored up with Kathy. It is good to all be back together again.
Today's journey 4.6 miles and 22 locks
So far we have travelled 722.2 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 24 tunnels.
We had only gone down a couple of locks when we caught up with another boat with only two on board so Kathy went ahead setting locks to speed their passage down so we wouldn't have to wait at every lock. It made it quicker for them and us. Scott, Kaia and I took it in turns to walk on and open up so Ray could go straight into the next lock. We were down the flight in about two and a half hours and then were quickly round the corner and onto the Shroppie moored up with Kathy. It is good to all be back together again.
Today's journey 4.6 miles and 22 locks
So far we have travelled 722.2 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 24 tunnels.
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