Noah

Yes, it’s raining. And it hasn’t stopped. My ickle weather station light up yesterday with 2 new records – highest monthly rain (hang on it’s only 11 days in!) and highest daily rain. Tuesday we moved on to Ellesmere – slight drizzle but hardly any boats and, oh, joy, going with the flow is soooo different, can’t quite put the water skies out but there’s no slowing down at bridge holes.

If you want to know what a hail storm sounds like in a boat . . . .

After a night of non-stop rain, and another visit to Tesco! We pushed off from the Ellesmere arm and heading down the Golli to Whixall. Meanwhile observing the art work alongside the canal – “looks like sommit dragged owt of t’canal” said Steve
Thanks Mum for the Gill ocean yacht tracing-type coat – very handy!
It’s not long before we are back at that fascinating peat bog area Whixall Moss
This time we divert off the main canal, down the Prees Branch to the marina – Viv drives – note the coal fire is still on!
And for our listeners at home watching on the home service . . . here’s a map – see the diversion? We turn right down the branch rather than carry on down the Llangollen. Hmm, two lift bridges
Steve’s turn to do the wind up
Approaching the marina we notice a new venture for the marina – shepherd’s huts – see https://whixallmarina.co.uk/shepherds-huts/
And here’s the marina – bit damp but very welcoming. The manager, Darren helped us with fuel and sorted a berth for the night (£10) – he couldn’t have been more helpful. There’s toilets & showers (all very modern) plus a laundry and a smart cafe too.
Marina website: https://whixallmarina.co.uk
Time to walk the Boggle – let’s go down the disused arm (Steve cycled this last time) – damp but very pretty and you get the feeling that all around here, nothing has really changed for 200 years.
Toby liked it.
What can I say? It was on offer (it was honest) or Steve does like a little cider (little? this is 5 litres !) but you’ve got to keep him happy!
I mean it’s not as if it’s that strong (7.4%!! That’s half the strength of wine… and he’s drinking it by the pint . . . nurse, nurse!) but it is very tasty . . . even Viv tries some, oh dear says Steve, is nothing sacred? Cheers to Gail & Jess – hope the rum goes down well and you get out at the weekend 😉
Time to do some washing and here’s another boater’s tip – the elastic trickery here is only 8 amps, so we were reluctant to run the washing machine – 8 A means around 1800 watts of power, so we did do 2 washes but switched the machine to a cold wash but used the (very) hot water from the tank to supplement the filling of the washing machine. It all worked and here’s what a boat looks like with it all hanging up! With the stove on, it should all be dry by the morning.
I was going to do another “boaters notes” but have completely forgotten what it was – a warning to youngsters – this is what happens if you drink tooooo much cider whilst bloggin! Meanwhile, it is someone’s birthday next week and many thanks to Max & Colin for their fantastic card & present! Cheers