A WINTER OUTING

Monday, 8th December
Today we set off for our first winter voyage.
We're going to Warwick, as we have quite a few things to do there.
We needed to be there by Thursday evening, so set off on Monday,
in case the weather turned nasty and we had to moor up for a day.
This proved to be a good idea, as it turned out!



PREPARING TO LEAVE THE MARINA

It was a bitterly cold day today.
We filled up with water and we pumped out the toilet.
The weather was so cold, that, as we spilt water on the ground, it froze.
We had to take care as we walked on the boat and the canalside,
to make sure we didn't slip.
We filled up with diesel at Ivor Batchelor's.
I must take a photograph of Ivor & Mel's colourful barges,
so that you can see some proper working boats.
They are usually to be found on the Grand Union, just outside Braunston Marina.
They sell coal, wood, diesel, etc.
We try to patronise them as much as possible,
as we like to see working boats on the canals.
They also come round the marina on Saturday mornings
to sell to the live aboard boaters.

Then we set off. We know the route pretty well by now!
We went through the three Calcutt locks--I steered,
I'm getting quite confident now! I hope that doesn't forebode bad news!
We moored just below the locks and went below to try to warm up.
We were both frozen, having stood on the back of the boat
in below zero temperatures for about three hours.
The multi fuel stove was banked up and turned up to maximum,
the Whispergen was turned on to give us central heating,
and, within a couple of hours, we had to open the windows!

Tuesday, 9th December
A much warmer day today, the sun was out and it was a delight to be travelling.



TREV IN SHIRT SLEEVES--ON DEC. 9TH!

We went throught the Stockton Flight of locks--ten in all--
and then through the four at Bascote, including the staircase.
We moored up at our favourite spot, Splash Bridge,
right out in the country, perfect peace!

Wednesday, 10th December
What a morning!
Thick frost on the trees and hedges, and ice on the canal!
This was the coldest day we had experienced.
Trev got up to make a cup of tea--he's very good to me........
only to discover that we had no 240v electricity.
There was a fault with the inverter.
Trev tried all the things he knew to try, but to no avail.
So it was a telephone call to the long suffering Dave.
He came out and couldn't fix it, so he sent an electrician.
He couldn't fix it, so he sent another electrician!
He couldn't fix it either, because there was a fault with the actual inverter.
He had to take it out and it has to go back to Holland!!!!

I couldn't believe it. It will take several weeks.
I would have thought that there was a spare one somewhere in the UK,
but apparently it has to go to Holland to be investigated
and then repaired if possible, or replaced under warranty.
The electrician connected up the electricity so that we can have
240v electricity when the engine is running.

The 240v is for the fridge/freezer, washing machine, microwave, radio, computer, etc.
So it's rather annoying that we have to run the engine when we want to use those things,
especially given that it will take a couple of weeks to get it sorted.

So it was lucky that we had allowed the extra time for our trip to Warwick.
We also had an arrangement to meet friends for lunch today.
Fortunately, they were boaters, so understood our predicament,
and came to pick us up.
We had an enjoyable meal at The Stag at Offchurch. In the afternoon, the weather thawed, the trees dripped and the canal melted.
We got the fire nice and warm and settled down for a cosy evening!

Thursday, 11th December
A thoroughly wet and miserable day,
and we had to be in Warwick this evening, as we're going to meet friends.
So we soldiered on and got wet and cold.
We did a pump out at the Fosse Wharf.
Now, what I haven't told you is that we've bought ourselves a self pump out kit!!!!!!
Is there no end to the excitement of life on the canals, I hear you cry!
Well, as you may recall, we have to have our toilet pumped out
every fourteen days or so, and it can cost up to £15 a time.
So, for an investment of £150, we've bought our very own pump out kit
and so no longer have to pay anyone to do it.
We have to find what is called a sani-station, run by BW, and then away we go!
We connect it up to the outlet on the top of the boat,
Trev stands there pumping away and I hold the hose over the pan
and Hey Presto, away it all goes!

We arrived in Warwick around 3.00 p.m. and moored up at The Cape of Good Hope pub.
We banked the fire up, each had a shower and felt more civilised.

We stayed in Warwick for six nights,
visiting friends and enjoying pre-Christmas jollifications.
Cherry, our friend who came to stay with us in the summer,
kindly let us put all of our frozen stuff in to her freezer.
And Janet, another good friend, lent us a cooler and ice blocks
so that we could to try to keep milk and butter, etc. cool.

However, on Tuesday we had good news.
The 'motherboard' on the inverter had been the problem,
the inverter was repaired, and the electrician came and installed it.
So now we have 240v electricity again.

Wednesday, 16th December
Today we set off for Braunston.
We were glad to leave the mooring at the Cape of Good Hope in Warwick,
it's pretty dismal.
Overhanging trees prevent the light reaching the canal,
and there is no tv reception.
Add to that a very muddy towpath, which meant it was very difficult
to keep ourselves and the boat clean,
and you can understand why we were glad to go.

However, there were a few logistical complications to attend to
before we set off, one of which was getting the car sorted out.
As a rule, we keep the car at Braunston Marina.
However, since we were going to be in Warwick for a while,
it made sense to bring the car too.
Sadly, the car won't fit on the back of our boat, as they do in France,
but fortunately, we have a friend who lives in Kenilworth So Trev drove the car to Cynthia's house, parked it on her drive,
and came back to Braunston with her on her way to work.
Then he did exactly the same, but in reverse (well, not the car in reverse)
to get it back to Braunston.
I'm sure you've followed that!

So it was lunchtime by the time we set off.
We dropped down through the two locks at The Cape,
went through Warwick and Leamington Spa,
and on through the six Radford locks.
It was getting dark, so we moored up at one of our favourite mooring spots,
Splash Bridge, at the bottom of the Bascote Flight.



OUR MOORING AT SPLASH BRIDGE

Tonight we have a new toy to play with!
We've bought a digi-box, so that we can watch the Freeview programmes on tv.
An unexpected perk, when we got it all going,
was that we had the most fantastic picture!
Television reception is pretty hit and miss on the canal
depending on where we're moored.
In Braunston Marina, it's near enough non-existent, as it's in a dip.
But with the digi-box, we have fifty-nine channels!
Quite a few are ones we would never watch, but there are some
which will provide entertainment during the winter nights.

Thursday, 18th December
There was a heavy frost overnight, and the canal was frozen this morning,
but only a fairly thin covering, may be a quarter of an inch thick.
As we travelled along, we broke the ice
and it made some pretty eerie sounds.
When I was inside the boat, the noise of it
scraping alongside and underneath was quite alarming.

We stopped at Bascote to fill up with water, but the tap was frozen.
So we went on up through the Bascote flight,
and met friends on 'Willow Dreamer' at the top for coffee.



LOOKING BACK DOWN BASCOTE FLIGHT

We set off again after about an hour, as we had more friends to meet for supper!
It's just a non-stop social whirl on the cut!
We went through the locks at Long Itchington,
and up the Stockton Flight of eight locks.
We found our friends on 'Alexandra Jayne'
at their mooring by Gibraltar Bridge, and breasted up.
We spent a very pleasant evening with them.
It was the first time we'd ever tied up against another boat overnight,
and were surprised how quiet it was.
We had an idea we'd almost be able to hear them breathing!

Friday, 19th December
In the morning, we bade farewell, Happy Christmas, etc.
to our friends, Peter and Claire, and set off for 'home'.
The ice had melted and the day was wet and foggy.
It took about three rather uneventful hours
to get back to our moorings at Braunston Marina.
On the way we stopped off at Ivor Batchelor's, the working boat, to buy coal and diesel.

I don't think we shall go out again now for some time,
unless there is a beautiful sunny day to tempt us.
But come and check from time to time!
We intend to do some cruising in February, if the weather permits.

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