On the water again

It’s now Sunday and we are moored somewhere that counts as nearly at Yelvertoft. Since I last posted we have:

·      Spent our last night in the motorhome at a wonderful caravan park at Ingleton

Biggest pitches we've seen anywhere! Could have fitted another motorhome in alongside us easily!

·      Travelled back to Debdale with a stop for a supermarket extravaganza (last opportunity for a while with wheels)

·      Spent a night on the boat

·      Cleaned the motorhome thoroughly inside – it had a good outside wash up in Crossmichael

·      Welcomed John Wiper of John’s Boat Canopies to do the final fitting and installing of our new pram cover – it looks magnificent! And he had repaired the cratch cover too which had its straps and buckles taken off sometime over the last 3 years …

The main body of the pramcover goes on.

David checking that the fit is good ...

Yep, the back part fits.

John, with his large round of a tree trunk as a workbench, is fitting the turnbuttons on the side sections - having marked them up with a china pencil against the main section.

He's a lefty - he tells me all the best people are and I agreed. Our darling Kirsty is a lefty too. 💘

The boat got moved from the jetty to the bank a few times so John didn't have to hover above the water on the gunnels as he worked on the side panels.

 

·      Driven to Corby to finally sort out my HSBC card at a branch with a person (thanks, Anthony!) after David told me the wrong PIN number way back when we first arrived and using the phone app to sort it didn’t work

·      Spent another night on the boat

·      Returned the motorhome in one piece – that drive up the M1 was nerve-wracking – not because I don’t like the motorways here, but because I didn’t want to ruin a perfect driving record!

·      Had lunch onboard Free Spirit – leek soup (Irene’s creation) and home made bread (Ian’s creation – with bread maker though, so not as many points as Irene gets…), both delicious

·      Caught the train back to Market Harborough,

·      Had a haircut in MH before getting the bus back to Foxton

New haircut and my fabulous greenstone earrings from Stone Arrow Jewellery in Takaka. I sent this photo to the lovely Michelle so she knows I am keeping myself tidy in her absence...

·      Had an early dinner at Foxton Locks Inn

·      Spoke to the lockie at the bottom of the locks and arranged to store a mobility scooter at the top of the locks

·      Walked back to Debdale – a much less fraught walk this time as no bus to catch with barely enough time to make it.

 

The next morning, I made a big batch of cheese scones as a parting gift for the Debdale staff and we set off – all of 200 metres to get diesel. 

And we are about to leave the mooring - having managed to drop the pram cover down successfully.

Front rope about to be released. David is in short sleeves and I am all rugged up ...

 

We had arranged to meet Richard and Isla at Bridge 61 at 10.45, but it wasn’t until 11.02 that we actually pulled away from the wharf so we were at Bridge 61 closer to 11.45am …

Rich and Isla were waiting patiently – I think Rich had been chatting with other people outside the café and there were plenty of other dogs for Isla to sniff at and protect Rich from…

 

While David walked up the locks to book in and make sure they knew about the mobility scooter, I tied up with the help of one of the Bridge 61 patrons, and Rich gave me a lesson in how to drive the mobility scooter – it was my task to get it to the top of the locks…

Rich climbed on board, David returned saying that the arrangements for the mobility scooter had been recorded in the log book the previous evening (efficient woman, that lockie!), and off I went, very tentatively, on the scooter. David gave me a push up the first part of the slope – it’s very steep and I was concerned not to be too heavy on the throttle...

I tell you, driving that scooter was more scary than taking the boat up the locks!

I got it safely stowed at Gary’s café up top with the help of a couple of guys to manoeuvre it in behind the fence. Then a brisk walk back down the locks – confusion on some faces who’d seen me driving it up – but to be honest, I think people on mobility scooters are invisible to many who just don’t want to see disability or difference.

So up the locks we went, Rich on David’s seat, Isla on the engine cover, me at the tiller, David working the locks. It’s a lovely trip and the lockies appeared to recognise us, particularly one who was off to NZ on the Friday to visit his daughters who are both there. It is the third time we’ve done them in the last 6 weeks or so and they don’t get many mouthy NZers – David, of course. Not me! I’m the quiet shy one. Anyone will tell you!

Rich really enjoyed the trip – he visits the lock flight a couple of times a week but it’s the first time he has done it on a boat.

Rich on board at the top of the locks. We were going to moor on the disabled mooring - I legally/morally could have, but I decided to move to where we would be staying for the next couple of nights.

Not my most relaxed driving pose, is it?  Trying to make sure I didn't lurch into the cut between our boat and the one behind ...

I retrieved the mobility scooter, had a hilarious conversation with about 7 old guys sitting by the cafe (old bikies on their weekly get together who somehow intuited that I had been a teacher at some point...) and gave Rich a few cheese scones to take home, and then we settled down to do nothing.

Well, the washing went out, I read and probably did something about dinner – what, I wonder... Probably just crackers and hummus or something similar for David and I was satisfied with the Magnum icecream I’d had late in the afternoon.

Since then we:

·      boated to Welford along the very pretty but quite boring long pound from the top of the Foxton locks then down the Welford arm

In the lock waiting area

About to enter the lock. Beautiful surroundings.

·      ate a yummy vege lasagne that I made: my mushroom sauce, a tomato sauce with grated carrot and pumpkin, chunks of cauli, slices of leeks, capsicum and aubergine (yes, I did put it in!) and green beans and fresh lasagne sheets from Waitrose. Delicious!

·      went to the pub for dessert (both), and downloaded US news podcasts and some TV series or other (David)

·      slept in the next morning

·      fretted briefly about there being no internet service (David)

On our way up to the village shop we saw this

 

explaining this. How lovely! I've seen these in New Zealand, but it's the first one I've seen here in the UK, I think.

There are some lovely pavement gardens on the main street of Welford

 

·      sat in the pub garden downloading more US news podcasts (guess who)

·      had Julia around for dinner which we ate sitting in the cratch at the table that Mick made

o   dinner was little pasta parcels with spinach and ricotta (Waitrose) and the leftover mushroom sauce; dessert was ginger cake (made by me) with custard and runny cream, a little port was consumed as well.

·      partly filled with water in the morning at the slowest tap in the universe

·      failed at winding the boat from the watering up position (me) – did it by reversing into the winding area and got stuck, and had to have David pull the nose around – AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

·      went back up the Welford Arm on to the main Leicester Arm of the Grand Union, and

·      boated to where we are now – all of about 1.5 hours

It was (and still is) very hot. I have David's hat that I previously sewed a hanky into. He has another hat that does a good job of protecting his neck and face.

 

·      left the engine running until the last load of 3 laundry loads had been completed

·      listened to the US news service podcasts about the dumpster’s 37 indictments (David)

·      read in the cratch (me)

·      failed on baking my sourdough bread – not enough patience to let it warm thoroughly and rise properly after a night in the fridge. I did try one slice and it was like a rock. I tossed it overboard. It didn’t sink though. Someone has probably dented their hull with it, I reckon (Note, I tried one of the other two loaves of sourdough and they went the same way as the first - so keep an eye out for news of boats severely dented by floating dough mines!

·      decided that we quite like the idea of boating a day, resting a day

·      had salad of grated broccoli, cauli and carrot with sultanas and a lemon, honey, mustard dressing, and pasta parcels with pumpkin and pinenuts (Waitraose) and the leftover tomato sauce – cooking enough for more than one meal is a bonus and this time, made two additional dinners really simple. Dessert was buttered slices of the remaining ginger cake – all gone now...

 

This morning I’ve made the bread I used to make – from about 1984 until I conquered sourdough back during lockdown. Ha, at least I can still do that one!

While I’ve been doing that and making soup – yes I know it’s one of the hottest days of the year, but David LOVES soup - David has been clearing out the engine bay. It’s the last area that we have tackled since getting back on the boat and confronting the mess the boat was left in. We have been avoiding it really – and that was helped by being in recovery mode from Covid, then being away in the motorhome. And we didn’t need it sorted to be able to live onboard or be boating. But today was the time ...

What an oily bloody mess it was left in by the boat’s tenant during lockdown – so far, from about 3cm of waste oil left under the engine, David has fished out:

·      a full dog poo bag (WTAF?)

·      a discarded oil filter

·      two towels – only the texture and shape tell us what they were

·      a face cloth - ditto

·      a pair of rubber gloves

·      two plastic bottles with their ends cut off to be funnels, I guess

The waste oil is either the oil that leaked from a split gasket back in 2020, or it’s the excess from a lazy oil change. Given an oil filter was also in there, I’m betting on the latter.

From the starboard side of the engine, in about 5cm of water, he has fished out pieces of hose. And on the swim there was:

·       a pair of Pierre Cardin underpants – aaarrrggghhh!

·       the pela pump with a hose with a hole (rendering it unusable until the hose is replaced)

·       a broken skateboard

All in all, one and a half large rubbish sacks have been filled. And down in the various areas of the bilge there are still water and oil. The liquids are a job for another day and most likely a job we will pay someone to do.

 

Ah well, I am hopeful David is coming inside now and that, even though it’s hot, a big bowl of soup and some fresh bread will cheer him.

And it did!

I think the afternoon should be spent sitting out in the cratch or in the shade under the trees beside us. David can be cheered by listening to the US podcasts analysing the dumspter’s chances in these indictments, and I will read another book on my kindle.

We will wave and say hi to passing boaters – it’s Sunday afternoon and there will be a few more before the day is out, I am sure.