Cosgrove Canal Festival

Yesterday, Adrian was on the boat at Cosgrove while I was still at work.  He looked round the festival and did some work, then entertained Helen and Andy from Wildside for dinner in the evening.  It seems they had a fine time sitting out on the towpath drinking partially frozen prosecco and eating Adrian’s speciality South African dish, boboti.

This morning, once my night shift was over, I came up one the train to Wolverton where Adrian was waiting to meet me.  We took the car back to the marina, then walked along to Cosgrove.  The Canal Festival has quite a few trading boats along the towpath below the lock.  Naturally we stoped by the Jam Butty for more chat with Helen and Andy,

We went back to the boat for lunch, then I washed and polished the towpath side of the boat, which badly needed attention.  We set off about half past two, aiming for the station at Wolverton so Adrian could get the train back to London.  The lock was worked for us because of the Buckingham Canal Society’s lock ransom, although it did cost us a donation.

We continued to the winding hole at New Bradwell, and I dropped Adrian off in time for the train at just after 4pm.  I then carried on back to the Aqueduct and moored up, on pins, just at the end of the reserved moorings.  I then went down to Andy and Helen for conversation, wine, and (it turned out) an improvised meal consisting of things Helen had to hand, supplemented by a few things from our fridge.  It was a really great evening, even though by that time I’d been up for more than 24 hours; it reminded me of another occasion when we’d improvised a meal when we met by accident at Upton on the River Severn.

Now, sleep.


5 miles, 1 lock.  (6 miles, 1 lock)

Rain

It’s the Cosgrove Canal Festival this weekend and we’ve never been, so Adrian went up to the boat yesterday evening.  I’m working a set of night shifts.  Today, Adrian did work and also decided to move the boat out of the marina.  The moorings below Cosgrove Lock are reserved for the festival, so he wasn’t rally that confident of finding any space in the village — but there were several to choose from.  He’s also been catching up with Andy and Helen from Wildside who are trading this weekend. This evening, they were going to get together on the towpath for dinner, but it’s chucking it down.

1 miles, 0 locks.

Two in a day

I came up to the boat after work yesterday, and it was sweltering. I slept with the rear slide open as well as the Houdini.

Today I met up with Andy at Bicester, and we travelled together to Stockton for a boat test. It was sunny and much warmer than forecast. When that was done we continued to Tamworth for the second boat test of the day. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a single photo all day.

Thames Drawing no2

Adrian has a new job in London, so we’ll be spending a bit more time there.  At the weekend, we went to investigate Trinity Buoy Wharf where there’s a pier, a lightship that’s now a recording studio, and workshops made from shipping containers.  But I was particularlybtaken by this map of the Thames on the wall of one of the old warehouses.  The artist spent the summer of 2016 on the Thames, and has used the names of all the boats to mak the shape of the river.

Elizabeth Anne on test, and 21 other Crick boats

The August edition of Canal Boat is out and includes my boat test on the Crick winner, the Braidbar boat, Elizabeth Anne.

There’s also ten pages of mini reviews of other boats on show at Crick.

Crick and Cosgrove

Up to Crick Marina for a boat test today — but it wasn’t until lunchtime, so I decided to drive up this morning.  I called in at Briar Rose on the way, dropping off stuff and turning the fridge on.  As the boat test wouldn’t be done until mid to late afternoon, I planned to stay on the boat tonight.  It was indeed about 3.15 by the time the boat test was done, which wouldn’t have been the ideal time to drive home, so I went back to BR and within a few minutes was heading out of the marina.  I boated down to Cosgrove, turned above the lock and returned to pretty much the same spot we used after the show a couple of weeks ago.

The reason for coming down to Cosgrove was that the loo needed emptying, and it’s much easier to do it at an Elsan.  The waste doesn’t actually go down the Elsan, but it means you can give the bucket a good clean and rinse.  We’ve been trying a new base material in the loo, Tesco cat litter made from wooden pellets.  I’m pleased to say it’s been a great success — it was almost completely dry, and the pellets have disintegrated completely.  This is what they look like fresh out of the bag.

It’s turned into a very nice sunny evening.  The moorings, which had loads of space, have gradually filled up a bit. Tomorrow, I’ll go back home first thing, as i have a set of night shifts starting later.

Today: 1 mile, 0 locks.  Tomorrow: 1 mile, 0 locks.

Silent Waters on test

The July edition of Canal Boat was out at the start of the Crick Boat Show, and includes my boat test of Silent Waters by Bourne Boats.  The front cover is one of Andy the photographer’s drone shots.