The wind doth blow.

I was woken last night at 1:30am by the wind which had torn open my cratch cover on one side of the boat and it was flapping and slapping on the roof, it was already damaged, the zips have come unstitched and a few of the press studs are either missing or unable to connect properly due to shrinkage in the cold weather, I guess after 13years of life it’s to be expected, so it’s on my list for replacement at some stage or I may get rid of it altogether.  Being as the boat is  a large steel container all the noises are amplified and it sounded far worse than it was, I did look out but there was no way I was getting dressed and venturing out to attend to it, so what with the noise and the rocking of the boat it was a rather restless night. This morning I went out and rolled up the offending section of the cover so it cannot repeat the disturbances tonight.

I walked the towpath this morning for a couple of miles, it was extremely windy and in a couple of open areas it was fighting to push me backwards, I passed two boats on the move, both attempting to get into locks as I passed, the first boat had two ladies on it and while attempting to get through just one gate they barged open the second gate a bit, not much they could do about it, the wind was the master, the second boat had a couple on it and they decided to haul the boat in using the ropes, a sensible method when there are two of you but not something to attempt if solo when the wind is so powerful, I did wonder why anyone would want to move in these conditions but I suppose they had their reasons, I haven’t seen anyone else moving today.

Having walked a couple of miles I turned and set off back, now the wind was behind me and it blew me right into The Three Horseshoes at the Winkwell locks, so I had no choice but to indulge in a pint of Bombardier, another first for me since taking up this life, a lunchtime pint, I tried to avoid it but the wind was master again, it was my sort of pub 16^th century, oak beams, open fireplace sadly unlit, quiet background music and no machines or TV’s to be seen, and complimentary newspapers to read, a lovely half hours stop.

This lovely old boat caught my eye, it looked absolutely beautiful and well maintained, the owner should be proud.

And this house had its own bridge onto a little island in the river that runs alongside the canal, a delightful spot for a glass of Pimms when the sun is shining.

Back on the boat I intended to look around the area but the weather turned wet again so I’ll keep that for tomorrow, 

it’s sunny again now but the wind is still very strong, hopefully it will die down in time for Easter.

A lovely weekend

On Saturday I visited my son and his partner and held my granddaughter for the first time, I took my son out for a beer (wetting the baby's head it's a tradition).

Saturday evening I visited my sister and enjoyed her company along with a Chinese meal and an introduction to the new man in her life.
Sunday lunchtime I met up with the ex and both my daughters and we went out for a quick meal as my youngest was working starting at 1pm.
I was back on the boat by mid afternoon having thoroughly enjoyed the visits, and surprisingly it was not as cold as I thought it might be, but I still got the stove lit straight away.
This morning I was watching the weather closely, the forecast for today and the next couple of days is not great and it was quite windy but I decided to move today and hope the wind died down a little. So at 10:30 I set off past

Apsley marina







then underneath the very modern pedestrian bridge

and through the first lock (67) then a short stop on the Sainsbury 24hr moorings to get supplies, you can get your shopping trolley right up to the boat so I took advantage and bought a few bottles of the cheap french lager along with my food.

I have to say that overall I was a little disappointed with Apsley, I was expecting a more oldey worldey place when in fact it is mostly retail parks and fairly modern.

Lock 66 is immediately after Sainsbury and the services are after the lock, so I moved into the lock and just as I started to fill it a C&RT work boat appeared so I stopped and waited for them sharing the lock. Once through I filled the water tank, emptied the rubbish and used the elsan point and then put a load of washing on before moving off again.
Through locks 65 and 64, leaving lock 64 it all went a bit pear shaped, the wind caught the bow as I was closing the gates and blew me around into the trees, I backed up a bit to clear the trees but when I moved forward I became grounded, after a struggle with the wind not helping I eventually got free and moved on to tonight's mooring

at Boxmoor just before lock 63 and almost opposite the Fishery Inn pub. It's winding but I am moored on chains to the piling so I will be fine. Once I was safely moored I swept off the roof, tomorrow I may wash it because the last mooring was beneath trees and the birds have left their mark, or marks, lots of marks!

My back is still a bit sore so tomorrow I will have a walk around and decide whether to stay a few nights or move on Wednesday, the time has come really to begin cruising properly which for me will possibly mean moving on every other day.

Totals Today: 2 miles : 4 locks

Missed the boat

Here is the last picture in the current series of painting the rear deck, all done!

I annoyed myself this morning, somehow whilst sorting out the stove, which entails adding some coal and emptying the ash tray, I managed to tweak my back, I have to be very careful when lifting anything as when I do more than 'tweak' it I am out of action and in some pain for a week or more, but this was a warning shot, so I lay down on the seating area and read my book, as I was doing that, a beautiful looking boat passed my window and I was just admiring it, but as it passed I saw the name on the back, "Still Rockin' "  it is a Wide Beam that was built and launched last year (they previously owned N.B "Rock and Roll") and although I don't follow their blog I have read about it often in other blogs and would liked to have said "hi" and got a decent picture, but by the time I had carefully got myself up and camera ready and out onto the rear deck they had got quite a distance away, just managed to snap the rear of them on 16x zoom as they disappeared around the bend.

I have just checked their blog and they had moored up just one lock away from me, so I missed the boat, maybe another time.

That's not right.

After the excitement of the birth of little Hazel the last couple of days have settled back into doing little chores around the boat, almost finished painting the rear deck but not quite, some shopping for wood and screws for a tiny project and some oil for an oil change due tomorrow.
But this afternoon I looked out of my window and saw the green widebeam who was moored in front of my boat across the canal and thought 'that's not right...he can't be attempting to turn here surely'.

Looking out of the side hatch I realised he had come adrift from his bow mooring and was blocking the canal, with no other boats moving on the canal I went to investigate, first a couple of hard knocks on his hatch, no answer, then assess the situation, a centre line was on his roof so I could use that to pull him around, but his TV ariel was caught in the overhanging branches and I didn't want that to end up in the cut, assistance was required, so I walked back along the moored boats until I found a willing lady helper, together we re-secured him, all adds to the fun of canal life.

Ta Dah...............

Let me introduce Hazel.

My first Grandchild.

Daughter of my son and his partner.

Born at 7:11pm - 23rd March 2015

Weighing 5lbs 11ounces.

How cute is she !!

So much better than pictures of my painting handiwork.

Beautiful days.

Here is the third picture in the current painting series, undercoating done.










I was just gazing out of the side hatch taking in the tranquility and I took this picture

It's not upside down, it's just a reflection in the still water, it may not be snow capped mountains or some other very arty view but I thought it summed up the piece and quiet serenity, I thought it looked great.

Here is the true image:

Just a bit more......

....painting.

I got up today at 7:30am, it was chilly and I did not feel like going for a long walk but I mustered enough enthusiasm to find a motor parts shop and buy some de-ionised water to top up my batteries if needed. 

Back on the boat around 10am I set to, I have 6 x 110Ah domestic batteries with 6 cells in each.

that’s 36 in all, checking each one is a pain in the...acid levels, but it’s done.





Having decided it wasn’t walking weather I set to again prepping the rear deck ready for painting, I should have taken a picture first but forgot,
here it is with the rust removed
, and here again primed, I have already painted the tiller arm.



Undercoat tomorrow weather permitting, I will do the other seat later as I needed to tie up on that while I painted.

A couple of pictures of my mooring from the side hatch I forgot to post yesterday.

Apsley

Today I moved on to just before Apsley, I was getting very low on water and much as I wouldn't have minded staying in Kings Langley for another day I thought it prudent to move and top up.
So at 10:30 I set off, only about a mile to the first of the two Nash Mills Locks, the view as you approach the lock is obscured by a road bridge and I took what would be the easiest route for me moving over to the left even though it was a short landing area close to the lock, but just as I got to the bank I could see someone opening the paddles to come down the lock on the side that I was now partially blocking, so into reverse and I moved back out of his way onto the right hand lock landing, a short wait for him to exit and then I was straight in and through to the next Lock (68) which was my destination for water, a very large construction site alongside the canal here

which meant I had an audience of builders viewing me from their vantage points on the scaffold, I am glad I am not a lone female!






The lock was in my favour thanks to the other boat having just come down, I still had to stop and open the gate before entering but that is normal unless the other boat sees you approaching and leaves it open. The Water Point was right alongside the lock keepers house

and as it was quiet I filled the lock and remained in there whilst the hour passed filling my tank, and taking these pictures,I kept a good lookout for approaching boats but none appeared.





Once that was all sorted I moved off again just for a short distance spotting some acceptable potential moorings before the town itself and without any of the previous shallow bank problems I was soon alongside and moored. TV and Wi-Fi both ok so I may stay a few days but I will have a look around tomorrow.


Apsley is one of those names that has cropped up many times in my following other boaters blogs, along with "Cowroast", "Thrupp", "Crick", "Braunston" and "Hawkesbury", among many others and it seems odd that I am now actually travelling to and through these places that I have read about so often, tomorrow I will have a wander and see what it's like, I may also do a bit more painting if the weather holds dry.

Travel Today 1.5miles : 2 Locks

P.S. I have just noticed my 1000th blog view, so thanks everyone who is looking in, especially those of you who return, feel free to comment !

Kings Langley day two

With a bit more time available today I had a look around Kings Langley beginning with a trip to the barbers

<<<< I went in looking like this

and came out like this >>>>


I think the lady did a good job, she located a few brown hairs still kicking around and treated them extra carefully.

I had a walk along the High Street and there was a bright pink Range Rover parked up, I was too self conscious to take a picture but on the rear bumper nearside corner it had the words “you’ve just been overtaken by a girl” and then in the centre of the bumper “the fairies made me do it” with little darker pink fairies flying around, it made me smile.

There was the usual mix of shops, a nice looking butcher’s, those are getting rarer by the day, restaurants, coffee shops etc, almost everything you need although I need a hardware store and it did not have one of those, but it did have this very well named Gallery.

This nice looking pub which stated it was children and dog friendly with all “home cooked” food,

it looked very pleasant and I’m sure if it had been a hot day I would have gone in and partaken of a quencher or two along with the “home cooked” food, but I had a date with some Cod and Chips, the “chippy” was a mix of Kebabs, Burgers, and Fish, as so many seem to be these days, you have to diversify to stay profitable, the portion was a “medium” cod with “regular” chips, good job I didn’t order the large, there was enough for two people, is it just me or do all chip shops these days give huge portions of chips? Anyway after walking it back to the boat I tucked in and was very satisfied I washed it down with a cuppa, well only tea will do with fish and chips, then struggled to keep my eyes open for the next hour.

All in all I like Kings Langley, I think it would make a nice place to live, not tiny village but not large town, sort of right in the middle, if you happen to boat through it’s worth a stop, over bridge 157 and up the hill. 

Kings Langley

Saturday morning I woke up with a bit of an upset tummy, fortunately I did not intend to move anyway but mid afternoon I decided to go for a walk around Hunton Bridge and see what was about, just a little village really, a convenience store, pub, Indian restaurant and not much else so my circular route took me back to the towpath just before the Hunton Bridge Locks (72&73) where I saw Karen (N.B. Avalon) was preparing to go through, she’d had the same intentions as me the day before, do 3 locks and moor up, she also had the same problems and couldn’t get to the bank anywhere, so after a quick chat I helped her through the locks and she moored up a couple of hundred yards in front of me, it’s really very shallow at the bank around here in lots of places, you see a nice gap in the moored boats and then find out why it’s a gap.

Sunday was raining on and off so it was a lazy day, a longish walk up to see what was around at Kings Langley, there was a Launderette so that was decision made, I am low on water, too low to use my washing machine, and low on clothes, so this morning I asked Karen what she was doing and she was just going to move up one lock so we set off together and shared North Grove Lock (71) then I continued on alone passing under the M25.

I have driven along this flyover many times so it was nice to see the view from underneath, although why would anyone would want to moor there?

Then passing this ferocious beast, luckily he wasn’t hungry.




On through the next two locks Home Park (70) and Kings Langley (69A) mooring up just after the footbridge leading to the town, I can still hear the trains but not so loud and it seems like quite a nice spot.

Once I got sorted with the mooring I did my visit to the Launderette and found a barbers and a “chippy” so I will stay tomorrow and get a haircut, and test out the fish and chips, then see what the weather is like on Wednesday before deciding whether to move again.

Tonights mooring, as the view from the side hatch is just towpath and hedge.

Totals Today 1.5 miles : 3 locks

Away again

The weather has been remarkably good during my forced stay opposite Cassiobury Park enabling me to get the painting finished in the ‘cockpit’ area,

I have left the ‘roses’ panels as they were as I quite like them and didn’t think I was up to replicating them! The weather also meant my neighbours had the BBQ on the go most evenings with the requisite beer flowing but I never indulged too much, it turned very cold once the sun disappeared and the draw of the warm boat was stronger for me than the alcohol and company, but they enjoyed themselves until about 10pm most nights.

I was keen to get moving so this morning about 9am I walked to the lock to get confirmation that we were all systems go again and about 10:30 I said goodbye to Dirk, Declan and Karen who were the only members of the group up and around and set off, I will miss their company they were very helpful, Dirk took us all to Morrisons in his camper van whenever he was going and picked up some smokeless fuel for me when I was running low, unfortunately his boat engine has died, the mechanic gave it the last rites and he now has to find a new one, so until then he will be towed around by one of the group, I hope he gets it sorted soon.

My tentative plan for the day was to get through the next 3 locks and find somewhere to moor for the night but I did not see any suitable spots so plan B was rolled out, this plan is simple, keep going until you find somewhere! So through a further 3 locks and try again, 2 attempts to get to the bank failed and finally I am moored between Hunton Bridge and Kings Langley, there is now a main railway line tracking the canal for about the next  12 miles, hopefully it won’t keep me awake.

A couple of pictures of the journey,

as I was lining up to take the picture of the bridge a walker distracted me by asking for directions so it’s not the best shot, in fact it looks like I am about to plough into it but I wasn’t.

Views from the side hatch

Totals today: 3.5 miles : 6 Locks

Ever get that feeling...

.........that something is not quite right.

Yesterday when I woke up and stumbled off to the loo something felt wrong, I wasn't walking straight and I was sober, nothing to cause a hangover, the boat was definitely not sitting level in the water, so I had a quick look out of the window and I was still moored where I was the night before so after breakfast I went outside and the water level had dropped about three inches, no real problem, but I was sitting slightly on the bottom.
I am painting the area at the rear so I carried on with that but by 2 o'clock the boat was tilting rather alarmingly, the water level had dropped about a foot and I along with many others was now sitting well on the bottom, making moving around the boat quite a chore, the boat was listing probably 10-15 degrees, the topic of conversation along the tow path was the lack of water, to work on the lock causing the current closure meant draining the lock and obviously stopping any further water coming down, someone apparently had left a paddle open on the next lock down the canal, rapidly draining the section we were all moored in, I along with many others had to loosen my mooring lines and push the boat about a metre away from the bank back into deeper water, which took quite some effort but everyone mucked in and helped each other, fortunately someone took action and either opened a paddle on the sealed gates or got the workman to pump some water through but by 9pm we were back to normal.

New gates fitted

They have got the new gates on now so I am hoping they will reopen the lock earlier than planned but I don't know what they still have to do first.
Fingers X'd as I want to get moving.

Still Here

Ok so it’s been a while since my last post, I arrived here on Monday 23^rd Feb and was only stopping for a look around on Tuesday moving on Wednesday subject to weather, so on Tuesday as planned I walked along the towpath to Iron Bridge Lock (77) and crossed over the canal to investigate Cassiobury Park, I would imagine that in the summer this would be a very popular destination for picnics, a very large open space with a river running through it, a large well laid out children’s play area with paddling pools and a miniature railway, all sadly closed for winter, I may have spent the £1.50 and had a ride on the railway J there were lots of dog walkers and joggers, it took me about two hours to wander around and then rejoin the canal at Cassio Bridge Lock (78) on my way back to the boat.

Having a cup of tea on the rear deck I got chatting to a neighbouring boater who told me there was a closure at Locks 72 and 73, about 3 miles in the direction I wanted to go, until 27^th February, I hadn’t had an email (I am registered for updates) so later I checked the C&RT website and he was correct, so I thought I’d do some more painting, and having walked about a 5 mile round trip to Brewers I got started,

the area I needed to work on was the rusty floor and drainage channel around and under the engine cover,

if you like it’s where I stand mostly when on the move. In between rain showers I eventually got all the rust removed and the paint  on and dry by yesterday, I thought I would give it today to harden and be on my way tomorrow.

Whilst all this was going on I had some new neighbours turn up, a friendly little group who travel around together, a German, an Irishman and an Englishman, no joke coming up I promise.

Today whilst chatting with them I mentioned I would be off tomorrow and they looked surprised asking me where I was going and then informed me that the locks either side of us were closed for gate replacements, again I had not had an email about this, I had plenty of other emails for this canal but not this particular closure, I checked the website and it’s closed until the 13^th March so here I will stay.

This is the German chaps boat, those of you familiar with Kevin ’Bloody’ Wilson may recognise the meaning of the boat name 'DILLIGAF' but I won’t explain it here, (google it) he does get a lot of interest shown in his floral roof garden and it’s nearly all positive.

Passed this house which looks like it could have been owned by someone wanting a log cabin.

So that’s it for now, not much happening until 14^th March