Henry H on test

The February edition of Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat review of Henry H.  This one is a bit unusual in several ways -- it's a refit of an old shell, it's only just over 40ft long, and the front half appears to be under cloths.  Some people might know the owners, Sarah (aka Greygal) and Andy.

Being visited and being visitors

Coming back into the marina yesterday was undoubtedly the right decision, because the weather today has been pretty foul: strong winds and heavy rain this morning, and the wind continuing even when the rain stopped.  There have been waves on the marina, and the moorhens have looked a bit perturbed at bobbing up and down so much.

This morning my second cousin Catherine and her family came to visit.  We'd offered to meet them somewhere, but Matthew (who's nearly five) wanted to come to the boat.  He and Grace (and, I suspect, mum) had made some delicious chocolate brownies to bring with them.  It was really nice to have some time to chat, because we really didn't get much chance yesterday at Stoke Bruerne.

Then this afternoon we became the visitors, going to find Jill and Graham who'd moved on to Blisworth.  It turned out that when we turned at Gayton Juction yesterday we were only about a hundred yards from them, but didn't realise.

Tomorrow I need to be up at a ridiculous time to be at work for an early shift.  Adrian is planning to pack up the boat and head home, and I'll go home after work too.  We've had only a couple of days out on the cut, but it's still felt like a nice break.

A very sociable day

We've had a thoroughly enjoyable day -- largely because of the people we've met along the way.

This morning was beautifully sunny.  Once out of the boat I realised how cold it had been, as the roof was very frosty.  I guess it shows how good our insulation is (sorry, Tom, it's not something unique to your boat!)

We boated up to Gayton Junction where we turned in the junction and headed back.  It took about half an hour to pass our mooring place.  The sun was low and bright, and in my eyes, so it was difficult to see much.  At times, there was the added complication of the reflection of the sun on the water.  In some ways, it was a relief to get into the darkness of the tunnel.  Because of the sun shining straight into the tunnel, the far portal looked much bigger and closer than normal; but it also felt as though it was taking longer to get through (it didn't -- the passage was the normal half an hour).  The sunshine made the exit from the tunnel quite spectacular.

We moored up after the tunnel and walked down to Kathryn's house and rang the doorbell.  We knew the Halfies from Jubilee were due to be there -- and we'd timed it just right as the kettle had just boiled.  We had a good hour chatting over teas and coffees in Kathryn's lovely vaulted kitchen.

Eventually we decided we'd better get Briar Rose and Jubilee down the locks.  On returning to the boat, I found I'd missed a text from my second counsin, Catherine, and her family, asking if they could come and see us.  I replied saying we were just heading down the locks.  As I walked back to the top lock, a man called hello from the other side -- and it took me a few seconds to realise that it was Catherine's husband, Nigel.  They'd come to Stoke Bruerne with the children to see if they could find us.

We headed down the locks, with John from Jubilee mostly helping a boat going down in front of us.  We had help at the top couple of locks from Grace and Matthew, who are keen on pushing and pulling lock gates.  The weather was fantastic -- not a cloud in the sky.

At the bottom of the locks we stopped for lunch, and John and Jan joined us.  We had a very pleasant time, and frankly could have stayed there all afternoon.  But we'd made the decision that because of the strong winds forecast for tomorrow, it would probably be wise to head back into the marina today.  We'd have loved to stay out another night -- and at one stage it looked as though the wind would die away after lunch.  But getting in to the marina and our berth can be tricky at the best of times, let alone when there's a strong wind blowing.  So when Jan pointed out that it was already half past two, we all thought we'd better get moving.

On the way back, it was pretty chilly.  The sheltered parts of the fields were still frosty, and the big puddles were frozen over.  We got back into the marina in fading light -- and with hardly a breath of wind -- at the end of a very enjoyable day.

10 miles, 7 locks.  (19 miles, 14 locks)

Up to Blisworth

It was sunny and dry this morning, and we set off at about 9.45am.  Making the turn north out of the marina proved to be a bit more challenging than usual, because of the wind direction.  But once we were on our way the canal looked beautiful.

There were a few indications of the high water levels just before Christmas -- when even out marina was a foot higher than normal.  Water was still going over one of the brick arched spill weirs along the pound, and it was also full of debris.

At the locks, we found a boat which used to be moored just down from us at Thrupp Wharf now has a mooring on the offside.  They said the water there (which is where the River Tove flows across the canal) was four feet higher than normal on Christmas Eve;  it had clearly been up over the lock landings.

The first couple of locks were against us, and then I spotted a boat up ahead -- they agreed to wait for us in the fourth lock.  It turned out to be another boat from Thrupp Wharf, a narrowbeam Dutch barge called Piggin Arkful, which is moving to Braunston.

At the penultimate lock, we crossed with a single hander coming down.  He told us he'd only just bought the boat, and this was his second ever lock.  We gave him some tips, but no doubt he'll be fully proficient by the time he gets to London.

At the top lock we rang Kathryn's doorbell, and she came out to say hello.  After a brief chat we pressed on through the tunnel, which not surprisingly was the wettest it's been for a while.  We moored up just before Bridge 49, on the northern end of Blisworth.

We had a late lunch of breads, cheese, biscuits, ham, and chutney, with champagne.  I said it was a bit like having Boxing Day before Christmas Day.  We're having our 'Christmas' dinner this evening: a duck is in the over roasting.

Tomorrow, we'll turn at Gayton Junction and head back down the locks.  Monday's forecast looks a bit unpleasant (in the morning at least), and I'm back at work on Tuesday.

9 miles, 7 locks.

December 27

Adrian here... Adam has been working today, but is then off for the next three days.  We'll be having our Christmas dinner together tomorrow.

I drove up to the boat yesterday evening after spending a fabulous Boxing Day with my cousin and her family in Kent.  Adam had bought and decorated a small Christmas tree - a really lovely surprise!

The wind picked up again yesterday evening, and there was quite a lot of rain during the night.  The wind has been whipping along the marina today - certainly not a day to take the boat out.  We have also had some heavy rain showers this afternoon.  The weather forecast is for the winds to quieten down over night, with tomorrow and Sunday promising to be quieter days, with more wind and rain coming in on Sunday night through to Monday.  Would be nice to get out of the marina, even if it is just for a couple of days.

After a quick trip to Tesco at lunch time I've spent the rest of the day working, and cooking the gammon joint, which has smelt wonderful as it was cooking, and has come out very well (even if I say so myself).  I was planning to make a chilli for my dinner tonight, but that plan has been shelved in favour of some of the gammon instead.

Boxing Day

When I got back to the boat after work late last night, I could see that the water level had dropped; our ropes were now slack.  It was too late to adjust them, though.  I tightened them a bit this morning.

Before heading to work today I knocked up a quick batch of mince pies.  It seems we still have no pastry cutters on board, so I had to make do with a couple of different sized glasses.

This evening, Adrian has arrived at the boat -- and was delighted to find that I bought a little Christmas tree the other day.  I was going to post a photo on Monday, but decided to keep the tree as a surprise.  If I remember, I'll post one tomorrow.

Tomorrow looks like another bad day weather-wise -- but I'm at work again anyway.  But the weekend is looking fairly reasonable.  Maybe we will get out of the marina for a couple of days after all.

Merry Christmas!