Narrowboat Adagio

It’s Day two and our Convoi Exceptionnel sets off for Braunston – the tunnel and the six locks.

A beautiful day and one that was to get hotter and hotter as we went along. Christine has a go at taking the helm in between locks

Busy, busy Braunston as usual. At the iron bridge we carry straight on for a change and up the North Oxford Canal, which only after a few hundred yards became very rural and tranquil

We had two stowaways or hitchhikers: pied wagtails

We chugged on thru the outskirts of Rugby and Hilmorton, reaching the locks – according to CRT they are the most used locks on the WHOLE network! And there was a queue – one set of the duplicated locks was out of action – the coving on the second lock had moved inwards – trapping a boat last week! It took over an hour to get thru the three locks but it was a nice day!

Here’s comes John… .

And finally just round the corner to the visitor moorings, a nice quiet spot. Time for a well deserved G&T.

It’s  Monday 18th April and we’re off. Cruising in convoy with Poppy Eyebright. Crick tunnel then the Watford flight of locks.

Fairly easy trip thru the flight of locks – only those pirates on Black Bart in front of us!

Stop for lunch …

Tilly in her new roof boat box

John rounds the Norton turn …

to our overnight mooring … only been 5 hours but we all feel like it’s been a week on the Cut. Time to walk the dogs down to the New Inn . . so far so good.

View from our window … 

The old starter battery was showing signs of fatigue with the terminal voltage dropping plus I was sick of having to take out the washing machine and floor boards to get at it, in order to top up the electrolyte levels. 

So, I sought out one of the new AGM starter batteries – originally designed for these new stop/start cars. Alpha batteries had one which looked suitable. AGM means it never needs topping up and could, if necessary be left unattended for months without losing its charge.

Three hours later … . and the new one was in – it caused the engine to explode into life when I tried starting – brilliant. A battery with oomph. I also wired in the second voltage cable to the Smartgauge so I can see the voltage.

Yes well, the plans of mice and men. Our tenants didn’t want to be tenants any more and so they’re off at the end of this month. Leaving us with no income and a house to sort. So, no big launch of Adagio to Liverpool but time to ponder the house situation. Sell or rent ? We both have veered towards selling now, getting rid of this millstone and invest the money, probably in this peer-to-peer scheme. It seems to have worked on a small scale, so far. Or we could sell the boat and move to Tenerife? Meanwhile a thin month or two lies ahead.

A day for more chores – Viv tackles what she calls “extreme painting”, rubbing down the tunnel flashing, painting Hammerite and primer then two coats of maroon. These flashings are traditionally done in white over red but we’re not traditional! So maroon it is!

Final top coat of Teamac marine gloss

A proud and happy Viv and so she should be – job well done!

Meanwhile our scaredy dog jumps ship; any bump or knock and he’s off. What a big brave dog!!

Lots of wildlife here … constant mugging by ducks & swans

All very tame and used to boats. A special evening with hundreds of rooks returning to their trees plus a songthrush right by the boat:

Uploaded for J&P !

What is it with you humans? I know we’re probably at the Mecca of the Inland Waterways but give you guys an Idyll and you’ll mess it up. We’ve seen 100′s of boats each day – almost a train of them and only 10% at tick over – mainly private boats too – shame on you! First night, we encountered a chap boating in the dark after 8 pm and the third night, two boats chugging at high speed totally in the dark past 8 pm! And this morning, two boats sailing by at 0650 … must get back to the hire base, must get back to the hire base! I just hope it will get quieter the further we get away from this spot.

Another gorgeous day – even slapped on some sunscreen! We did some chores – Viv cleaned the oak floors and I greased me nipple (again), the water jacket that is our stern gland was leaking ever so slightly on our trip out. I noticed a small red mark, which turned out not to be a red mark but a small red washer that I must have left out when adding grease and re-seating. So, head first down the engine hatch, unscrew the bolt, feed it a bit of grease, add washer, re-insert the bolt. I also squidged some gooey, black bitumen paint over some of the war wounds the boat somehow acquired … sharing locks, tunnel bashing etc.  Then it was time to walk to lock 3 and the Admiral Nelson:

A wonderful watering hole that does food and serves 3 or 4 real ales too. A tad pricey (£12 for a  8 oz Buffalo burger  with chips and slaw) but the beer was good (Thwaites Wainwright & Ubu Purity). Food served was great & tasty but very pretentious, I just wish they’d serve it on a plate: (look at this and then listen to John Finnemore’s song):

We then bimbled back to the boat via the town and the marvellous butchers – bought some dry cured bacon (”It’s ALL dry cured” the lady said!) and some mince.  Back on the very busy canal we met some aliens – can you guess the name of this boat:

Yes, you guessed correctly: Klingon

Still, it was a nice mooring apart from two things: there’s a nasty stone ledge aaaaalllllllllll the way along this stretch which means you can’t moor close to the bank and you then bump all the time when boats move you in passing (and yes, only 2 in 10 pass at tick over!) or just the wind. Toby does not like bumps and will jump off the boat! Poor, big scaredy dog.

Off to buy stuff at Midland Chandlers tomorrow as it’s their Freaky Friday with 20% off everything and we need a new grate for the stove:

Six months of continuous use has worn it out! Oh to be somewhere warm next winter!

With a good forecast, at last, for the next 5 days or more, we decided to stop fretting about our house – sell or rent? And sally forth out onto the cut. We planned to turn left this time and brave the two long tunnels plus the Watford flight and the Braunston six!  Surprisingly no traffic and the lock keeper at Watford saw us thru in record time. A sunny view over Cracks Hill.

A cold start with some frost but it soon turned into a glorious day with the lambs: they skip & play.

We travelled in convoy with Len & Sue, travelling on to their new marina at Welton. We wish them well and will see them at Watford locks again as they are both volunteer lock keepers.

Braunston was busy and lots of boaters were coming up the locks. We met up with “Ruby Tuesday” – two lads doing the Leicester ring. Always easier with two boats – both in the locking and also preventing us bouncing about in the wide locks.

One plan was to moor in the town area – access to the pubs/chandlers/pubs/butchers/pubs etc but alas, no room at all so we headed out (this was Plan A all along) on the G.U. to Braunston Puddle Banks and moored up. Ah, peace & quiet and yet still within walking distance of the town.  That’ll do nicely. 

Well it was a nice day, we had some woodwork that needed sanding down and treating, so we cast off and bimbled out.  First time – shockingly – since last August! So, a good time to test the engine, batteries etc Picked a nice spot by bridge 27 and the lovely wood (Fieldside Covert).

Yep, the front of the cratch needed doing

Beautiful spot – Steve fixed up his ensign & flagstaff . . 

Whilst Viv got on with the sandpaper … dog was happy:

Over the bridge and into the wood – not a soul to be seen

A lot of buds and some flowers – is Spring really just around the corner?

Yes, Viv’s still sanding away – let’s zoom in …

And here’s some organic artwork:

And here’s the “after” photo of Viv’s handiwork and my coat of Osmo oil