Braunston to Whilton

Sunday 26th March

Not such an early start this morning, we were off at 9am and passed The Milly M moored further up the canal, we started to make our way up the Braunston locks when Maffi and Molly arrived to help us. 

At Brauston top lock - thank you for your help Maffi

We said our goodbyes at the top and no doubt he will pass us in a month or so as he heads south. Next came Braunston tunnel and we were soon at Norton junction where we carried on and down the Buckby flight. I still can't believe there's only seven locks in this flight, they are so tough going and again we were following a boat down so they were all against us.

We made it to the bottom and moored up opposite Whilton Marina where it all started for us five years ago.

A fat boat stopped in front for a quick break

6 miles and 13 locks

TOTAL 51.5 miles and 78 locks

Stoke Bruerne to Weedon to Whilton

Just behind our mooring at Stoke Bruerne there was some kind of overflow or canal top up from the River Tove, when I looked our this morning there was water being pumped into the canal, I haven't seen this before when passing so not sure if it was because water levels were low in the canal or if it was a timed daily/weekly operation.

Water being pumped from the River Tove

Into the canal

After taking Dudley for a quick stroll we set off round the corner to the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne Locks. Luckily as we got round the corner a boat just pulled off the water point so we had someone to share the locks with, it happen to be a boat we've been playing leap frog with for the last couple of days. It was slow going up the flight as we had a couple of long waits for boats coming down, we finally got to the top where our lock partners stopped at Stoke Bruerne. We continued on to the mouth of the tunnel and the Old Stables where Martin has set up the Ark Stained Glass Studio, he was open so we called in to say hello and put faces to names.

James and Martin outside the Studio

There was a boat stopped just in front of us who had problems with their tunnel light, he had been trying to get it working, as they had been there a while and had no joy they decided to use a mains lamp and one of them sit at the front holding it, they seemed quite pleased we were setting off at the same time and asked if we would like to go in front in case their system failed, luckily they were successful. We only passed two boats in the tunnel and made good progress through and it didn't seem as wet this time. 

The Blisworth side of the tunnel

And the stable on the Blisworth side

We continued on our lock free way passing a few unusual boats, here are some of them.

This one is steered from a wheel at the front - it's even got side mirrors

Remember Reckless?? The boat that Guy built

I got off and took Dudley for a walk it was turning out to be a much longer day, in both time and miles, than we usually do so he (and I) needed to stretch our legs. 

I love this camp site right on the canal side, it's usually pretty empty when we have been by before, but that hasn't been in school holiday time, today there was quite a bit of activity there.

We finally arrived at Weedon, the moorings on the long straight were full so we went under the bridge and moored just after, really handy for the Indian restaurant we visited, also it was much quieter from the train which is just across the canal on the other moorings, there was a bit of traffic noise this morning but not as loud as the trains. There has been a Tesco Express opened in Weedon since we last stopped here a couple of years ago, they have converted the old tatty Globe Inn and it looks good now, it's quite big for an Express so we were able to top up the cupboards a bit before we left.

Moored at Weedon

12.5 miles and 7 locks

Today we did the short hop to the bottom of the Buckby flight outside Whilton Marina again, James needs to catch up on some pen making before we arrive in Brauston.

And moored by Whilton Marina again in the sunshne

3 miles and 0 locks

TOTAL 439 miles and 397 locks

Whilton to Bugbrooke

Yesterday Glen of Elite Furnishing turned up, did a final measure up, we re-checked the fabrics and the sofa has now been ordered. Only problem is we have to wait 6-8 weeks as they are made to order. Never mind, as the old saying goes ... Good things come to those who wait ... 

This morning before we set off I took Dudley for his morning stroll back up to the locks, a hire boat had past us yesterday and gone up the locks at 9:20pm, it was almost dark and not a good time to be starting a flight, they had left the top gates open and due to leaky bottom gates the pound between 12 and 13 was very low, the lock was only half full and at times yesterday we had noticed water coming over the gates so a lot of water has been wasted from the pound. I closed the gates and walked to the next one, the level wasn't too bad here so the gates were obviously not leaking as much. I didn't go on any further as we wanted to be away early.

This was full yesterday

Hopefully won't take too long to refill 

We passed a few boats on the move, a couple of them typically at bridge holes. We stopped off at one of James' timber suppliers who are actually just off the canal, so we had a nice stroll up there and a good look around. James was also after a particular wood which they didn't have in the shop so they went to their workshop and cut some for him, very helpful.

In the workshop

I noticed this old post box on the way back to LJ

After a bit of lunch we continued the short way to Bugbrooke. The moorings opposite the pub were full so we stopped just after, there are only two other boats here, when we've been down this way before it has always really busy.

Love this tent

Moored at Bugbrooke

7.5 miles and 0 locks

TOTAL 381 miles and 379 locks

Last day with leccy...

We have promised Ray that we will be off the marina by early Monday (not too early though as the locks won't be open until 10!) so today was mainly spent relaxing in the morning getting the last few jobs done (and making use for the last time of our electric fan heater). 

It has been another blowy day here, enough to give the wind generator a good try out as it will get a lot of use from now on. They don't generate that much power but every little will help, if it is going all day and only gives me an hour of TV I will be happy.

No reply from a company that I emailed yesterday asking for a quote for fitting solar panels so I will give them a call when I can. Hopefully as soon as we have sorted solar charging we will be closer to self sufficient with out too much engine power generation; even with the 80/20 split (red diesel/white diesel) we bought the diesel at it will still put us over budget until we are part sun powered.

Deb made the most of the provided water on site to clean the Bongo ready for sale and I, in a bit of role reversal made some shortbread biscuits to go with a cuppa later (well in about five minutes time actually! doesn't time fly)

We will be heading towards Norton junction through our first flight of locks so I am glad the wind is forecast to drop overnight and I think it will be the driest day of the week. With falling wind and clear sky the temperature is dropping quickly tonight and its forecast to be as low as -5 during the night!

In readiness for leaving tomorrow we have moved the van up to where we intend to moor tomorrow so we can make our way early doors on Tuesday to meet up with mum and dad and on to the funeral in London. Luckily near the Bongo's parking spot was a very nice little canal side pub where we relaxed for an hour over a Sunday afternoon pint and the papers before a nice stroll back to Lois Jane (LJ)

Now time for that cuppa and my biccies.

Good drying day!...

Windy in Whilton today, great day for drying so Deb has put a couple of loads through the washing machine, dried and stored with a third load drying in the bathroom.

Lots of bits and pieces finished off today and a big dent made in the log pile (hopefully another pile about that size tomorrow).

Part of the canal north of Leicester is closed due to water shortage so we will be heading north along the Oxford canal via the Braunston  tunnel which will be a bit intimidating 2042 yards of darkness! hope the lamp fix yesterday was a good one! 

We hope to meet up with Mum and Dad next week for a day on the canal but that will sadly follow our first family funeral for a very long time.

Last day on the marina tomorrow!

A lay-in at last...

I really can't remember how long it has been since I had a lay-in (or is it lie-in?) several years at least; probably closer to a decade! Managed 9.30 today!

Luckily only a few jobs for today. Get the washing machine in, plumbed and working. Go to Daventry with the bikes and trailer to get some shopping. Still got to split some logs tomorrow but we are quite happy with what we have done.

Getting the washing machine through the bow doors and under the worktop was easier than I was expecting but by this time the clouds were parting and the day warming up nicely so we brought forward the shopping trip by a few hours and left all the tidying and checking the washing machine until later in the day.

We tried our first shopping trip with the bikes and trailer as the bongo is now on borrowed time (note tomorrows log pile). The trailer worked really well but unfortunately my legs didn't. It was hard enough work with the thing empty but by the time we had been to Aldi and filled the top-box up my legs were burning; even pushing up hill was hard work. Hopefully as we get fitter it will all be easier but at the moment I can't imagine shopping trips on cold wet winter days (I think Ocado deliver to marinas) 

It was a nice afternoon out though, and the rolling fields either side of the pretty little village of Norton were a treat. It looks like a village with lots of history having more than a couple of large manor houses set in sprawling parkland. They have a village open day on Sunday so we may go back to have a closer look.

Luckily the trip back from Daventry was more down hill than up so we made fairly good time and got straight back to the washing machine which pleasingly all works as it should. 

Whilst Deb was busy putting everything neatly back in cupboards, I sparked up the cobb BBQ to cook some pizzas we had bought (intended to make them fresh but time was going fast). The cobb was fuelled today on a mere three lumps of charcoal and some pieces of chopped up branch picked up from yesterdays walk.

Very still here on the marina this evening, but as the sun dipped down you could really feel the temperature drop.

Two days to go until we cut the umbilical cord of the marina!

Week one in the big blue boat...

We have made it through our first week aboard Lois Jane. Lois Jane is a 60ft cruiser stern built/fitted by Alexander/Sandhills to what I now realize is a very high standard. The equipment levels are also quite impressive and I particularly like engine heat exchanger that runs the radiators whilst motoring; and the hydraulic engine drive.

There are two schools of thought with owning what many people would consider luxury items like boats bikes and cars. Buy it, use it and enjoy your time with it; or polish it, maintain it and try and keep it as close to new condition as you can. I still haven't decided if one is right and one is wrong yet, but whilst Lois Jane does have a considerably long list of jobs to do I hope I don't get too paranoid about every little mark and scratch. It took days to get the iroko floor scraped of brittle old varnish and back closer to its former glory (including 300 mile round trips after work to lay another coat of woodskin varnish) but only minutes to cure leaking radiators that have left damp patches. The outside looks great from a distance but up close the battle scars are looking rusty and will get attended to over the summer months What I do know is that we couldn't have afforded a boat of this quality if it was in any better a condition. 

We are still at Whilton Marina (where we bought 'LJ') near Northampton and will be until this weekend. It has been another fairly busy week trying to get the jobs done that have been on lists of varying sizes for the last few weeks but nothing like as busy as the previous few weeks trying to condense the contents of a four bedroom house into a narrowboat, small cupboard at the back of the garage and rather more of the mother-in-laws loft than was intended (thanks Pip)

So what lead us to this slightly belated gap year (or so)? Of course the usual stresses and strains of working  over 100 hours a week between us since we were teenagers. But, in brief.......

• look to move to France and possibly start a B&B/gite business
• decide seasons are too short and risks too high, look at smaller properties
• visit lots of towns on rivers and canals.
• decide that we can't decide what region we are agreed on to move to
• consider living on a Dutch barge and tour the inland waterways of France
• visit Southampton boat show to look at nice shiny new boats
• decide that the purchase price and running costs of a dutch barge of any condition is prohibitive
• research British waterways and narrow boats
• book a couple of narrowboating short breaks
• plan to buy a narrowboat in 2017 once we have saved some more money
• remortgage now and buy a boat
• HERE WE ARE! 

It has been a typical April showery kind of day here in Whilton, and not too warm either! Travel reports on the radio today contain lots of bulletins detailing accidents from torrential rain and hail storms so I think we got off lightly.

The marina received another containerized delivery of new boats (presumably) from the Far East which was interesting to watch, they appear well fitted and the bamboo interior certainly looks hard wearing.

Deb dodged the showers and managed to get another coat of varnish on the workbench, small table and the woodwork on the bike trailer.

The bathroom looks much cleaner with fresh grout (silicone sealant tomorrow) and the tunnel light is now fully functioning. All sinks now hold water so the DIY list (at least on the inside) is getting shorter by the day. Tomorrow is fitting the washing machine day, log splitting and, if the weather is as forecast, a bike ride up to Watford locks to see what staircase locks are all about. We even managed an evening canal-side stroll!

Looking forward to getting onto the cut next week, now where shall we go......