Home alone: Day 5

I liked the mooring at Calveley, and it’s clearly popular with the boats that hang around this area because many of them were there.  It’s true the railway line is quite close, but there are only three or four trains an hour.  Last night at around midnight there were voices outside, a man saying to a woman, ‘we’ve only got to walk a bit further to get to the boat — get up and stop lying on the ground!’  Then a few minutes later a couple of runners pounded by.

This morning was grey again but felt a bit more chilly.  I set off around 9, through the bridge to the services where I set the washing machine going (having got the bedding dry yesterday in front of the stove), filled with water, and got rid of rubbish and recycling.  When I was on the move again I went fairly slowly, as the washing machine still had a bit of time to go, and I wanted to get some battery charging done too.  I decided I’d head along the start of the Middlewich Arm again; it meant I could complete the set of turns here, coming from the north and turning in.

When I got to the winding hole above Cholmondeston Lock I turned around and moored up between there and Bridge 4.  I had the whole length to choose from, so I’m a couple of boat lengths further along than I was on Wednesday.  The hedges appear to have been cut since then too, from the field side.

I walked along to Venetian Marina, partly to do some steps and partly for a bag of logs to top up supplies.  I’ve finished the podcast episode I started yesterday, and have scheduled it.  I suspect I’ll get wet tomorrow, and in fact the forecast seems to be rain for pretty much every day for the rest of the month.

3 miles, 0 locks.  (17 miles, 0 locks)

Home alone: Day 2

I’ve been waiting for a parcel to be delivered to a collection point, and had been hoping it would arrive yesterday.  Of course it didn’t, but was due today — but only before the ‘end of day’.  As I had things to do, I decided to head off anyway, and I’d deal with picking it up tomorrow.  It was very grey and still again today, and I set off at 8.45, heading across the aqueduct to the water point.

Here I filled the tank, got the washing machine on, and dealt with rubbish and a load of recycling.  I also made some tea ready for when I could set off again.  I’d decided to head up to the moorings before Cholmondeston Lock.  This was partly to give the batteries a decent charge, and also because I needed to do an oil change and had run out of paper towels; I knew they had them at Chamberlain’s Chandlers.  On the way, I passed a hire boat from Stone — not normally an uncommon sight, but they’ve been very scarce over this side this year because of the Cheshire Locks on the Trent and Mersey being closed by water shortages.  They’ve now reopened, so I wondered whether this boat was doing the Four Counties Ring, which had been out of action for much of the season.

There were big flocks of geese flying around and making a racket by the junction, and a vast length of the fence on the reservoir embankment was occupied by gulls.  This was only about a third of them.

There were more bird-related sightings once I’d turned onto the Middlewich Arm.  By one of the bridges was a lovely jay, although he didn’t stay still long enough for a photo.  And then just after I’d moored, I was sorting ropes out when a small bird of prey flew low along the towpath between the boat and the hedge before swooping up into a tree.

I turned at the winding hole after Bridge 4, but the official moorings were much fuller than last time we were here, so I didn’t fancy the reverse to a space.  But a boat had just left a decent spot between the winding hole and the bridge, so I went there.  Once tied up, I walked along to the chandlery to get the paper towels, then had lunch back on board, and started the oil change.  It’s always difficult to know how long to leave the engine before starting: you want the oil warm enough to still be loose, but not too hot.  This time I had a bit of a struggle to get the old oil filter off, but it turned in the end.  I had a look at the air filter and decided it had been turned enough and a new one would be a good idea.  And I decided to change the gearbox oil too, as it’s been a little while.  Getting the old oil out is a pain.  There’s a nut to release on the bottom, but if you put an ice cream tub or similar underneath to catch the oil, thee’s not enough room to get it out again.  So I cut a hole in a plastic water bottle, put that underneath, and hoped the hole was approximately under the nut.  I also always forget that there’s more oil in the gearbox than the spec says, because there’s extra for the cooling system, so I had to quickly put the nut back in when the bottle was nearly full, and then repeat the process.  I walked back down to the chandlery and got a new air filter.  In our engine hole, you have to take the whole housing off rather than just the lid, because there’s not enough room between the air filter and the wall.  By the time I’d tidied up and put everything away, I felt I’d done a day’s work, not least because of having to contort yourself to reach most things!

5 miles, 0 locks.  (6 miles, 0 locks)

Chester again: Day 1

It’s six months today since we moved on board.  Up to the end of yesterday, we’ve covered 864 miles and 575 locks.

This morning we had a few things to do in town, so headed off down the steps by the aqueduct.  Nantwich was pretty quiet as it was still early.  Among the jobs, was some food shopping.  We got back to the boat and set off at about 10.45, heading for the winding hole to the south.  It took about half an hour to get back to where we’d started, and a boat had already taken our space.  We then crossed the aqueduct.

There were two boats at the water point, so we didn’t bother waiting.  As we travelled north, we were gradually catching up with the boat ahead, who pulled over immediately before Barbridge Junction.  We turned through the bridge.

When we got to the winding hole beyond Bridge 4 we turned around again, and reversed to the end of the moorings; there aren’t many boats here at all.  After lunch we walked down to the marina to see if there was any news on the bungs we ordered for the portholes, but the place was closed; he’s also not returning calls.  This afternoon I have been doing some writing.

6 miles, 0 locks.

Greater Cheshire: Day 13

Another day with only a modest target, so another pretty relaxed start.  We got another load of washing going so we’re pretty much caught up now, then set off about 9.30.  It was warm but rather overcast to start with.  A couple of bridges further on are the other Church Minshull moorings, which have a view across the valley, with the village looking a bit like a model.

There had been a few boats about this morning, but one of those in front of us turned into Aqueduct Marina.  But at Minshull Lock we still had a boat ahead; Adrian went to help, and discovered it was a Texan with a short Aintree Beetle.  Then it was our turn to go up, with no traffic coming the other way.

Immediately before the next lock we pulled onto the fuel point at Chamberlain Chandlers at Venetian Marina.  Diesel is 97p domestic, which is both a reasonable price and the most expensive we’ve bought since setting out at the end of March.

Being on the wharf seems like quite a vulnerable place to be when boats are coming out the lock.  As we were tying up a hire boat came out and only narrowly avoided hitting us, and when we were ready to go another took a similar line.  Adrian had walked up to the lock and had warned me there was a boat coming down, so I just waited where I was.  Fortunately there were no other boats wanting to go up.  There were two volunteer lock keepers on duty, one of whom we’d seen at Middlewich on Tuesday.  Once up the lock we moved onto the water point.  It’s not a particularly fast tap, and we’ve done two loads of washing since we last filled so we knew it would take a while.  When the tank was eventually full, we moved a couple of hundred metres along onto a nice spot on the moorings.

After lunch, I thought I’d do a job that’s been on the to do list for a while — repainting part of the handrails.  We’d picked up a few scuffs and scratches on the ones behind the boatman’s beam, and I’d done Fertan, primer, and undercoat ages ago.  But since then it’s either been too hot for painting or too likely to rain.  Today was warm but not hot, and there’s no rain in the forecast today or tomorrow, so I masked up the edges, gave them all a light sand, dusted them off, and got the roller out.  Of course the sun had come out so by the time the prep was finished it was perhaps a bit warmer than I would have liked, but they definitely look better, and will be better again when the masking tape comes off, which I will do this evening when the paint is dry but not too hard.

Later in the afternoon we walked back to the marina for an ice cream, and watched the new hybrid Avanti trains on the line that crosses the far end of the marina.  Adrian has alsobeen doing charity accounts, so between us we’ve had a fairly productive afternoon.

4 miles, 2 locks.  (64 miles, 20 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 1

We were up at a decent time today, because we wanted to get things done before it got too hot; the latest heatwave is supposed to peak today.  We beat the crowds and drove into Nantwich to do shopping, then when it was all crammed into the fridge, we took the car back to its resting place and walked back to the boat.  It meant it was nearly 10am when we moved through the bridge and onto the water point to fill the tank and get some washing going.  A boat had come up and the volunteer lock keeper had left the gate open, so when we were ready we could go straight in.

Adrian went down to get the second lock ready, and another volunteer set the bottom two.  

There was a boat waiting on the lock landing at the foot of the flight, so the lockie said Adrian could get back on board, which was good because it’s difficult to get back on board at the bottom.  The lockie also said there was a boat coming south, but it’s impossible to see if anything is coming north.  We turned north, and the boat on the lock landing headed in.

We pootled up past the newly reopened pub at Barbridge, and turned into the Middlewich Arm at Barbridge Junction.

There are quite a few moored boats along here so it’s not quick, but we were aiming to stop before the lockie also anyway.  When a space presented itself between Bridge 4 and the winding hole we took it, not knowing whether there would be another one up ahead.

This afternoon, I have edited a podcast episode about yesterday’s Electrika show, while Adrian read his book on the well deck.  Then we walked along to the lock and the marina, to get a couple of Magnums which we ate sat on a bench in the shade overlooking the marina.  As we walked back, we identified a nice shady mooring a bit further along, so when we got back to the boat we untied and moved forwards a few hundred yards, to the other side of the winding hole.  The towpath is wider here too, which means it’ll be easier to get the Cobb barbecue going.

3 miles, 4 locks.