Crick Boat Show: Day 2

I was up fairly early, and drove up to Crick arriving before 9.  My press pass got me in then, before the gates opened at 10 — and I met up with Andy the photographer.  We were able to look at a few boats before the crowds arrived.  With there being far fewer boats on show this year, we we all done by about 1.30, even allowing for a tea break and a pizza for lunch, so I headed back to Briar Rose.  It was raining, but not too heavily, so we left the marina and headed down to Cosgrove, turning round above the lock and mooring in the village — just so we had a better view.

I began writing up the mini boat reviews, then when the rain had stopped we went for a walk down past the lock to the aqueduct and beyond.

There will be more writing later, in an effort to get the whole thing done as soon as possible.

1 mile, 0 locks.

Crick Boat Show: Day 1

Logistical planning meant we had the car, loaded with stuff, in London this morning — so that after work we could drive up to the Crick Boat Show.  The show is much smaller than usual, with under half the number of show boats, and a reduced footprint for the whole site.  However, it was pretty busy; arriving late meant we were in a fairly distant car park, and the number of people about was bigger than I’d expected.  Lots of the boats had queues of people waiting.

We looked round the show (which didn’t take long) and spoke to quite a few people including the owners of Momentous, which was a boat test boat about a year ago.  After lunch, I contacted the owners of Provincetown, which is moored at Crick, Stu and Peter, who post on Instagram.  We met in the beer tent, and ended up spending several hours chatting together (and those who weren’t driving got through a number of bottles of wine).  We decided to eat before leaving the show, then drove down to our marina, stopping in Towcester for a few bits of shopping on the way.

Stoke Bruerne and back

It was pretty murky outside when we got up, and shortly after we left at 8.30 there was a brief rain shower. An hour later we arrived at the bottom of Stoke Bruerne locks, I winded in the arm there and we moored up. We walked up the locks and along to the tunnel to see what was going on. The cygnets in the swan family up the locks are now huge.

By the time we got back to the boat the sun had come out and the temperature has risen.  We set off about 10.30 heading for our marina. There were plenty of boats moving, but fortunately we met them all either just before or just after bridges, rather than actually in the bridge holes. At Bridge 56 we were being watched.

There was a strong breeze down the marina after we turned in, so I left the swing round to reverse into the berth a little later than usual, hoping the wind would help me line up. I wasn’t that pleased with the turn, but the man next door seemed impressed enough. We had lunch, packed up, and headed home. We’ll be back next weekend for the Crick Boat Show.

7 miles, 0 locks. (10 miles, 0 locks)

Mercia, Great Haywood, and Grafton Regis.

We left the boat at 8am and walked the mile back to the marina and the car — then drove up to Mercia Marina where I was doing a boat test.  We were lucky with the weather, because it was sunny for the first part of our trip on the boat but then clouded over.  We had lunch at the cafe with the boat owner, whom we’ve known for a long time.  We started sitting outside but moved inside when it began to rain.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and drove the half hour to Great Haywood.  We knew Helen and Andy on the Jam Butty were trading there, and as we were relatively close and haven’t seen them for ages, we decided to drop in on them.  We had a very pleasant hour with tea and cake on the back of the boat, while a steady stream of customers bought jam and chutney.

We drove back to our marina and walked the mile back to the boat.  It was 6pm, which is not a time we normally set off, but we decided to move for a change of scenery.  I was aiming for somewhere around Grafton Regis, and much to my surprise, some of the prime spots opposite the Manor House with the lovely open towpath-side views were free, so I pulled in and moored up.

2 miles, 0 locks.  (3 miles, 0 locks)

Fastest ever exit

I have a boat test to do tomorrow, so we came up to Briar Rose this afternoon.  The journey was slower than usual, but not as bad as Google Maps had suggested when we set off.  It was around 6.30 when we arrived at the marina, and within minutes we were untied and setting off.  Adrian reckons it was certainly among our fastest exits from the marina, if not the fastest.  There was a stiff breeze, but we turned left and headed for a mile down the cut, in nice sunshine.

We moored in the same spot I used last month, but facing the other way.  I’ve lined up the dinette window with the gap in the hedge.

1 mile, 0 locks.

Grà on test

The September Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test on Grà by Finesse Boats. It will be their Crick Boat Show exhibit. 

Oleanna

On Friday, I walked from work to Islington to pay a visit to Pip and Mick on Oleanna — an Tilly the cat, obviously. We had a good catch up over tea. 

I walked from there to Waterloo, crossing Blackfriars Bridge — which is not normally a route I take, so there was an unusual view up the Thames.