What a merry day

24th May

So there we were, up Watford Locks at eight this morning, out of the flight at nine, and on to our usual pre-show mooring between bridges 8 and 9. We washed the roof of the boat, as well as the foredeck area, and were just thinking about whether to wash the starboard side before lunch, when Waimaru came round the corner ahead of us.

John and Nev had been round the Leicester ring since we saw them last.

Lots of chat, coffee, lunch. Wash the side of the boat.

"Do you want a beer?" says John.

End of my useful work for the day, though Sheila carried on sewing the last fly screen most of the afternoon.

I'm typing this having just put a chilli con carne on to cook for us all, and before making some garlic bread to go with it.

Posts will be erratic for the next week; the connection at Crick is always dodgy, so it depends what I can get organised. In any event, there won't be anything over the Show weekend itself, obviously.

Hopefully, see some of you there, otherwise, I'll be back on a regular schedule by the middle of next week.

Idle and idyllic boating

23rd May

Yesterday, I had to put a long sleeved shirt on in the afternoon, so warm was the weather. We had a good day, nonetheless, loafing around, basically, watching the traffic through Braunston and nattering to all and sundry.

Today has been one of those days that you dream about in the winter. We both woke early, and after a leisurely breakfast, set off at around seven to boat up to the foot of the flight.

We’d not been there more than 20 minutes, chatting to one of the guys from Wharf House boatbuilders, when Phoenix III turned up, and we shared up the flight.

There was a moderate amount of traffic coming down, so we had a quick trip, and arrived at the top an hour later.

Straight into the tunnel and out the other side, having crossed with just one boat, amazingly not in the dogleg. Then we were boating in idyllic conditions, along the summit pound to Norton Junction, running a washload as we went. I managed the turn onto the Leicester section despite boats coming at me from all directions, and we pottered along in bright sun under dappled shade from the towpath trees, looking for somewhere to tie.

We found it just beyond Welton Haven marina, where we’re going to stay for the night.

This afternoon will be taken up with making a gentle start to getting Sanity Again clean for the show; no point in doing too much until nearer the time, as it would only have to be done over again.

A couple of photos showing the Leicester section at its best:

Sanity Again tied in the peace of a summer's afternoon

... and this is what's just round the corner

It always reminds me of the end of Bill and Ben in the days of Watch with Mother: "and they all dozed quietly in the summer sun." Weeeeed!

Summer Sun at last

22nd May

Suddenly, it’s summer; I’m writing this straight after lunch because it’s a bit hot for me to sit outside. Sheila isn’t bothered; she’s sat on the bow stitching another fly screen. She says quite emphatically that she’s not going to offer them for sale in the way that she does the porthole doilies, but when she’s satisfied with the pattern, we’ll publish it here, along with the links to the suppliers of the mosquito netting and the hanging poles.

Two things to report today apart from the sun.

Firstly, the clans are gathering for Crick Show next weekend. Michael and Val Lees boat Thistle came and watered in front of us, and we had a good chat to Michael whilst waiting for Val to return from shopping.

The other entertainment has been those involved in this year’s Walk4Matt, the charity event associated with the Matt Hampson Trust. A steady stream of boats, each associated with a Rugby Union club, has been coming through, with walkers appearing on the towpath alongside.

Standards of boating have been pretty variable, as you’d expect, but all very good natured.

I’ve taken the opportunity to get a photo of Sanity Again from the other side of the cut:

That's Sheila in the bow, stitching away.

On to Braunston

21st May

We’ve arrived at Braunston; good internet signal via T-mobile, very dodgy voice signal via Vodafone. We're planning to be here for two nights, then on up the flight, through the tunnel and stay a further night at Buckby.

Some things I forgot to mention yesterday, because I was having a rant:

We saw Dave on Anon... at Brownsover and had a quick chat. He makes leather goods, just as good as many others but cheaper than some. He’s got a website, and is very helpful with customising the windlass holders or belts to make exactly what you want.

A striking effect of the warm weather is the sudden cascade of hawthorn or may blossom. As they say, “ne’er cast a clout ′til may be out”, and I’ve started wearing polo shirts instead of the long sleeve jobs.

After I’d posted yesterday, we got the expected phone call from ABNB to say that the purchase monies for Sanity had arrived with them, and I phoned on to Elanor to tell her she could release the keys to Ian when she helps him with his car shuffle today (Friday). It’s both a relief and a sadness to know that Sanity is no longer ours; we just hope that Ian enjoys his ownership of her as much as we did, if that’s possible.

Today’s amazing sight was spotted by Sheila in one of the fields as we approached Braunston: a fox was sitting bolt upright amongst the sheep. After a bit, he got up and strolled around, with curious sheep wandering up to him.

Foxes are blamed by farmers for attacking young lambs, but this was a striking demonstration of how unconcerned the sheep were. It may be that a fox will come and eat the afterbirth in a field where a ewe has lambed, giving rise to that belief, and they will undoubtedly scavenge dead meat, but they are so small, it’s hard to see how they could take on a live lamb, especially with mum standing guard.

Better and better...

20th May

Weather, that is. Can't complain about it now, certainly. As planned, we've come on to the foot of Hillmorton, after stopping at Brownsover to visit Tesco.

It was very busy there, and I regret we saw an example of very inconsiderate boating by someone who should have known better. We were right on the end of the boats moored on the towpath, with another smartly painted boat opposite us on the offside visitor moorings. A Union Canal Carriers hire boat was threading its way rather uncertainly through the pack when Trevor Maggs in Corona came barrelling round the bend ahead of them.

The hire boat sounded his horn, and tried to get out of his way, but Trevor seemed to make no attempt to hold back to let them get clear. The result was a bow to bow crunch, with Corona bouncing off the boat opposite, her high bow scraping the window surround and then scoring the cabin side paint work.

Meanwhile, the UCC boat slammed into us, fortunately only scratching the blacking which will be retouched for Crick anyway. We all gave vent to our opinons of Trevor's boating; yes, the hire boat wasn't in the right place, but it would not have been difficult for Corona to wait; she was unloaded, so no heavier than we are.

I know working boats have big props, and go quite fast even in tickover, but by the same token, that increases their ability to stop.

The impression I'm left with is of that old working boater's arrogance; "I'm a working boater, you know nothing, get out of my way". Well, I've got news for you all: the world has changed, the vast majority of boaters are like us, not you, time is no longer of the essence and there's no reason not to show a bit of courtesy and consideration, especially for novice hirers.

Chilling out in the sun

19th May

Well, I was going to go into Rugby all by myself on the bus today, mainly to get a prescription made up. But when I came to check the script, it was postdated for the 25th, so it will have to wait until after Crick. This is a bit more of a pain, as it means getting a bus from Braunston to Daventry possibly, not something we've done before, though no doubt straightforward. That's unless the Crick surgery, which is a dispensing practice, can dispense against a script from another practice. Only one way to find out, I suppose.

In the event, it's given me an excuse to slob around on the mooring, whilst Sheila finished the first of the fly screens for the side hatches. These are the ones made from mosquito netting and fixed in place with expanding, spring loaded rods, bought on eBay.

It looks pretty good; we'll just have to wait and see if it keeps the bugs away.

Today's picture is a shot of the galley:


Tomorrow, to Brownsover and Tesco, then on to Hillmorton.

Time for a change

18th May

I think I'm going to change the style of this blog for a bit. It's been getting a bit of a chore for me, not what I came boating for, and risks getting too much of the "Got up, ate breakfast, went and bought a paper" style.

I'll still label the posts with where we are, and try to pass on observations about boating in that area, but otherwise I'll try more just to burble on about whatever strikes me, more the way I used to in the early days.

And yes, I'll try to post more pictures, and it may well be every day for a bit and then a gap.

The hassle with the youths at Hartshill didn't develop any further, but I'm not sorry I rang the police about it. It helps if we report this stuff, so that the police and BW get a picture of where the problems are.

We've come on to Newbold, along a very busy canal; much busier than we recall from earlier years here. There were quite a few boats tied here and there in Nuneaton, which we've not seen before, and All Oaks Wood was very busy.

Dave Ballinger (Load of Hay) rendezvoused with us here to collect the old EcoFan we've sold him; hope it works as well for him as it has for us.

Shopping in Rugby tomorrow, then on to Hillmorton on Thursday.

Another brief post

16th & 17th May

It’s a rather unstable connection here at All Oaks Wood, so another summary post, I’m afraid. Highlights of the last two days:

The night before last we had a minor run at Hartshill in with a bunch of youths throwing stuff like lamp irons in the cut, so thought it prudent to move on to a new (to us) mooring just before Springwood Haven. After a good night’s kip, we decided to stay put for another day, so that Elanor could rendezvous with us with some post and an exchange of books.

This worked out OK yesterday, though Elanor tells us that the track down to Springwood Marina (where Valley Cruisers are based) is quite hard on a low slung car. There’s no longer a car park by Bridge 29.

We got some washing and brass polishing done on a very pleasant day, weatherwise.

After a rather broken night’s sleep, we did one of our flying starts today, setting off at 6 on a bright but cold morning. It was an uneventful but pleasant chug through Nuneaton to Hawkesbury Junction, where we refilled the water tank.

We had to wait for a bit of traffic to come through the turn, after which I’m pleased to say that I got Sanity Again through pretty smoothly, despite a boat tied in front of the Greyhound whilst a toilet cassette was emptied.

Then it was steadily on down the North Oxford. We could have stopped at Ansty, but we’ve pressed on to All Oaks Wood. There’s a mixture of lurkers and those passing through here; we’re only going to stop the one night before going on to Newbold for a couple of days and a trip into Rugby probably. Newbold normally has a decent connection, so I should be able to sort the blog out properly there.

A brief note for just now

13th, 14th & 15th May

We’re on a really slow connection here at Hartshill today, and there’s lots to say about what we’ve been up to, so what I’m going to do is post this summary blog today, and then extend it when I’ve got a better connection, which will probably be on Monday, as we’re staying put tomorrow.

Thursday: went shopping with Elanor, a mega shop at Sainsbury’s. Then just at lunch time, Sanity’s new owner, Ian, arrived, and I showed him through his new boat again. It will become all his next Thursday, hopefully, when the money transfer goes through.

Ian moved Sanity down to be next to Sanity Again, where she can stay until he takes her back North.

I did a last job on Sanity, refilling her stern greaser; quite a poignant moment.

We had a good but quiet night on our own. Autumn Years is in the vicinity, but we’re not sure when or if we’ll meet.

Friday; an early night and an early start; we don’t often hear the World Service on the radio. By 6.15 we were off and had a good day’s boating to the foot of Atherstone.

On the way, we passed Caroline Anne and had a quick chat with Chris Brace.

The canal is getting steadily busier, and the weather is improving.

Today, Saturday, we managed to stay in bed a bit longer, then worked up four locks to our mooring for shopping in Atherstone. We posted a CD of photos of Sanity Again to Braidbar, for them to use in publicity for Crick show.

After that, it was more locking on a very busy cut, arriving at Hartshill just on lunchtime. We’ve had a successful trip to Dobbies, and now are enjoying a lovely afternoon. Sheila is polishing brass, and I’m loafing about doing this brief blog.

As I say, I’ll edit this into a more informative job when the connection permits.

Things are looking up

11th & 12th May

Whilst we were cleaning brass and the like on Tuesday, the BW towpath came patrol came by, and returned a little while later. We had a chat with him, and he reassured us that we were OK to leave Sanity here for a bit longer. He explained that, having recently taken over this stretch, he was working on reducing the number of overstayers, for which this towpath has been notorious for years.

We tried running a washload with a pre-fill of hot water poured into the drum from a jug. This very much reduced the amount of time the machine stayed on heat, which can only be a good thing in terms of wear and tear on the charging system.

John and Nev on Waimaru rolled up just at lunchtime, having taken three hours to come from the foot of Atherstone. It made for a very pleasant afternoon, chatting and looking over each others boats as you do.

John and Nev came for dinner, bringing with them a bottle of pink champagne to christen Sanity Again, in addition to a christening present in the form of a tea bag squeezer. Maybe they think that we are so broke after paying for Sanity Again, we need to get much more mileage out of each teabag ;-}}

A very pleasant evening was had by all, as far as I can remember.

Yesterday, I woke early, despite having nothing special to do, drat. I guess I was still fretting over getting the ABNB contract signed and posted back to them. I needn’t have worried, of course. Elanor turned up in the afternoon with it, and stayed overnight. John obliged with witness signatures, and by half three, I was round to the Post Office to send it back Special D.

In the course of the day, the boat felt colder and colder, and in the end I lit the fire in the Squirrel. During the day, Bob and Annie Mayall on Amber Moon came by. They are stalwarts of the IWA National Festival team, and it was good to catch up and to show off Sanity Again.

Sheila has discovered that the cunning plan for fixing the mosquito nets in the side hatches, by sewing magnetic strip into the edges, wasn’t going to work. The strip isn’t powerful enough to work through a layer of netting.

However, in the course of the afternoon, I noticed some spring loaded expanding poles for holding up net curtains on Waimaru, which will do the job even better.

A quick bit of Googling ran some to earth on eBay, and I’ve ordered four.

We’ve had another good evening with John, Nev and Elanor. Today, we meet our buyer to show him how to work Sanity, and then we’ll be free to boat on at last.

Better, but busy

Thanks to the Campbells, things are a whole lot better here today, but by the same token we're very busy.

We managed to get the contract stuff fvia Elanor, John Campbell witnessed our signatures, and all the stuff was posted back to ABNB Special D.

Lots of socialization means not much time to blog, so I'll do a catch up as soon as possible.

Hanging about

9th & 10th May

I never thought I’d have anything in common with Gordon Brown, but all this hanging about is starting to get to me. We’re stuck here in Fazeley until we can have a meeting with our buyer to show him through Sanity now he’s bought it. Until then, with Sanity needing to go North and Sanity Again wanted in the South, there's no point in moving.

Meantime, we sit here; Sanity Again is keeping to the rules, but strictly speaking Sanity is overstaying. Hey ho, not much longer, I hope.

On Sunday, the weather had improved a bit, but there was still a cool wind. We set off at half eight to come back to Fazeley from Kingsbury, and had a pleasant run. I managed to reverse into Fazeley Mill Marina without too much problem, aided by stout work by Sheila on the long shaft at the bow.

We had a pump out and diesel. Must say, now Corinne has gone, the service isn’t as good. The toilet tank got a perfunctory rinse, and although I asked for a full fuel tank, he just filled it until the pump stopped, and didn’t bother to put that extra 10 litres or so in the needs a bit of care and attention.

We chugged on down to the junction, and tied on the Coventry, not far from the Peel’s Wharf BW office. Barbara of Chi-cheemaun came by and had a chat; another blogger to put a face to!

In the afternoon, Sheila got the brass polish out, and I made some rope loops use in the fender eyes. Later on, Sheila started work on the first of the mosquito nets for the side hatches, though the way this year is shaping up, I’m not at all sure we’re going to need them.

At the back end of the afternoon, Andrew Denny on Granny Buttons turned up. After he’d moored Granny, he came back and admired Sanity Again.

Yesterday, after a chilly night, I walked into Ventura Park, did a bit of shopping and then caught the 110 bus back. This works very well; the stop is outside Tolson’s Mill, right next to the junction.

A quiet pm was terminated by two calls from ABNB. In the first, Barry told us that he’d got the surveyor’s report, and that all was well, as we knew from the surveyor. He then told us that they will now post us a contract(?), which will need witnessing, as well as the Bill of Sale which will transfer ownership to our buyer.

We had a discussion about how to hand over the keys once the cash has arrived, which process is going to be facilitated by Elanor, allowing us to start out for Crick in Sanity Again once we’ve had this meeting with the buyer. (I don’t know yet if he’s happy to be referred to by name in this blog, hence the coy phraseology). Barry then indicated that things might take a bit longer than we had understood from our buyer; it all depends on the bank.

As if this wasn’t irritating enough, we had a second call from ABNB, not Barry this time, but Jackie. “Barry asked me to ring to say we need a copy of the Declaration of Conformity for the bank. Can you fax it to us?”

“We’re on a boat in Fazeley!”

“Isn’t there a shop that can do it for you?”

After she’d rung off, we realised that it should be OK to scan the thing and email it to them, so this we did. The whole thing is so reminiscent of selling a house. You think stuff is all sorted and going swimmingly, then there's a phone call about yet another problem.

AAAARGH!

I’ve more or less calmed down now, and when it’s all over, I’ll see if I can do a more measured assessment of what you get from ABNB in exchange for 6% of the price. Meantime, we’ve come off the mooring we were on, which was a bit noisy at night with the compressor in the chilled food store across the cut going off at irregular intervals.

We watered, went on down the canal and winded beyond Sutton Road Bridge, and came back tied on the unrestricted moorings. We’ve the prospect of John and Nev Campbell joining for dinner tonight; Waimaru was at the foot of Atherstone last night. At least that should cheer me up.

Proper post tomorrow

I was all set to do my regular post, but ABNB have just decided they need a faxed copy of Sanity's Declaration of Conformity, as well as her current Boat Safety Cert.

So I'll do this post tomorrow, together with some thoughts about the ABNB quality of service!

Chilling out at Kingsbury

6th, 7th & 8th May

We’ve been chilling out for the last three days, unfortunately literally in the case of the recent weather. On Thursday, I set off to pop round to the Tesco Express for bits and pieces before we came up here to Kingsbury Water Park, and noticed on the way that Sanity’s bow locker was open. Nothing was missing, but it still suggested that it would be a bad idea to leave her all alone on the Birmingham and Fazeley moorings.

Accordingly, when I got back, we loaded all the stuff out of her bow locker and off the roof into the cabin, then boated her round the corner onto the much busier moorings on the Coventry. Sheila then steered Sanity Again down the canal to Kingsbury, whilst I pottered about below.

There was just a GRP hippy hutch here when we arrived, though boats have been coming and going over the past couple of days. Sheila did a bit of bird watching, but it’s not really the best time; most of them are sitting on nests at the moment. In addition, sadly most of the hides have suffered from some vandalism, and one is closed altogether.

After lunch, we took a stroll up the first few locks of the flight, for the exercise and fresh air.

Yesterday was a real pottering day. We searched for a couple of geocaches in the morning (found one, missed one) and left our new Help for Heroes Geocoin in the one we did find.

In the afternoon, Sheila did some brass polishing, and I fiddled about tidying up the odd bit of overpainting from the windows and the brass rails the back hatch slide runs on. Otherwise, we kept up to date with the election results via the BBC website.

Just at the end of the afternoon, Rita and Scobie turned up on Festina Lente. We haven't seen them properly since we were stranded together at Rushden and Diamonds on the Nene three years ago, so it was good to have a drink and natter for a bit, as well as showing off Sanity Again, of course.

Today, the weather has been truly awful. We have to get a pump out sometime in the next two days, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the forecast will be correct and we’ll see better weather tomorrow.

We’ve been sorting out cupboards, gradually moving from the way they were all swiftly loaded during the move to a more rational arrangement. Apart from that, we’ve been doing internet stuff and reading; I’ve lit the Squirrel again, so as to keep us reasonably cosy despite the wind and rain.

I’ve also discovered, quite by chance, that BBC iPlayer now works for TV as well as radio on the T-mobile connection; before, it identified the IP address as overseas, and wouldn’t let you watch. I found myself absorbed in an episode of Dr Who; a classic case of “I’ll just watch a few minutes to make sure it’s working” and coming to an hour later with a not impressed Sheila justifiably complaining that I’d not announced my intention of doing so or invited her to join in.

At three quarters of a gigabyte per episode, it’s not something to do regularly, but it does add an extra option for in-boat entertainment. Mind you, if it’s anything like our DVD usage, it won’t be a frequent event.

Boat cleaning and a survey

4th & 5th May

Yesterday we hopped out of bed quite early, though there was no particular reason to be rushing about. The boat batteries were quite low, not having run the engine the day before, so we started up as soon as it was eight o’clock.

I popped back to Sainsbury’s for a few bits and pieces, and Sheila ran a washload. Then we set off round the corner to Fazeley proper; by the time we got to the water point the washing was done.

Tank refilled, I boated on to the junction, making a much better fist of getting round than I’d done with Sanity on Monday. We tied Sanity Again just beyond her, and spent a fair bit of time removing yet more duck poo from both boats.

In the middle of this, John and Nev Campbell rolled up. They are supposed to be boating, but owing to a slight mishap with a window pane, they are having to kill time before they can set off. It was really nice of them to take the trouble to come and seek us out. They duly admired the new boat and we had a good old natter over a cup of tea.

After they left, we got back to work with the scrubbing brushes and sponges, and made the two boats look reasonably cared for again. As may be imagined, it was a quiet evening and an early night.

Today was survey day for Sanity. Eddie Freeman proved to be a nice guy, who made the whole thing as painless as possible. In addition, he expressed himself well satisfied with the state of the boat, so we can sleep more easily for a bit. It’s not that we had any doubts about Sanity’s condition, it’s just stressful having the result of six years’ care examined in that way.

Before Eddie came, we’d spent a bit of time cleaning yet more duck doings off Sanity Again, and I took down our Festival and other personal plaques from Sanity. Browsing the internet,I found the site where BW is actually consulting on next winter’s stoppages. This is a seriously good idea; it is so good when they get something right for once.

After Eddie had gone, we went for a stroll along the towpath; the weather is slowly improving again, as if Spring is reluctantly returning, like a sulky teenager coming back in from the garden for a meal.

Tomorrow, we’ll potter off to Kingsbury Water Park in Sanity Again for a few days; our next commitment is to meet our buyer here on Thursday 13th, so he can have another look round his new boat.

Busy, dozy, busy, dozy

2nd & 3rd May

It’s been an odd couple of days in a way, the theme being contrasts. First off, the weather. April having been remarkably warm and dry a lot of the time, May has come in wet, cold and windy. I feel really sorry for those taking a boating holiday this weekend; it’s not been nice at all.

The other contrast is indicated in the title of this post; we’ve either been scuttling about or dozing quietly. (Not much change there, some might say.)

Yesterday, we made a lazy start, loafing in bed until nearly eight o’clock, then pottering about in the boat until it was time to start shopping again. Catching up on other blogs meant that I spotted the sad news from Nev Wells that it looks as if OwnerShips is in such a financial mess that it will have to be wound up.

Allen Matthews’s death exposed a degree of financial mismanagement that is really quite shocking. Some people had been expressing unease to me over the last few years, but there was never any solid evidence that things were going wrong. We are very saddened by the turn things have taken, and for the excellent staff like Dave Taylor whose jobs are now at risk.

We do most sincerely hope that a way through can be found; the scheme and business model are just as sound as they always were, and had Ownerships stuck to its knitting, as they say, all would be well.

Slightly stunned by the revelations, we went shopping, making two trips to Sainsbury’s before and after lunch, so that the cupboards and wine cellar are fully stocked once more. The rest of the day was spent on board, trying to keep warm. I’ve been avoiding lighting the fire as far as I can, so as to reduce the amount of cleaning to do before Crick, and we gave the Hurricane a good work out as a result.

Today we had a relaxed start again; the main task was to take Sanity for a last pump out at Fazeley Mill Marina. When we came to move her, however, we discovered that some birds must have been roosting in the tree above, because her roof was an awful mess. It took a deal of scrubbing to clean it up.

Having got her reasonably clean once more, we toddled round to the marina and pumped out. We’ve taken her back to the towpath by the junction, handy for the surveyor on Wednesday.

After buying a paper, we walked back to Sanity Again, arriving just in time for lunch. Afterward, I gave in to necessity, dug out some kindling and the chimney from the bow locker and fired up the Squirrel. Things are much more comfortable on board; hopefully, we’ll see a return to milder weather soon.

We’ve spent the afternoon dozing and proof reading. I did stir myself to revamp the home page of the fixed website. The development of Web 2.0 means that it’s both easier and better to use the blogs and Flickr to tell the world what we are up to, as it lets folk comment on stuff as it appears, so the old site has become an archive of our life on board Sanity.

Tomorrow, we’ll move Sanity Again to join Sanity by the junction, ready for Wednesday. Once that’s out of the way, we’ll probably go off to Kingsbury Water Park for a few days.

On the move with two boats again

29th & 30th April, and 1 May

It’s been a good three days, with a brilliant evening with Gill and Des Barnard last night. In consequence, I’m a bit weary this afternoon, so forgive me if this post is short on flowery phraseology.

Wednesday night, Elanor came to stay, and we had a pleasant family evening. Thursday morning, the cunning plan was to be away at nine, so as to arrive at Fradley around 10.30, with the best chance of getting mooring spaces. This all worked out and came together very satisfactorily. Elanor steered Sanity and I took Sanity Again, whilst Sheila lock wheeled and got well exercised.

Elanor had been a bit unsure about single handing after a break from steering a boat, but in fact dropped back into the swing of it straight away, like the true boatwoman she is (she’s been boating, on and off, since she was six months old.)

The only tedious bit was one of the Hunts Lock moorers, Such As Life, who had decided to wash his boat on the special water point installed for them. Since that point is also the lock landing for Hunts, and there was a lot of traffic, it was, shall we say, not exactly considerate boating.

Safely tied at Fradley, we had a good session off loading all the rubbish that had accumulated whilst we were hanging around Alrewas. Elanor stayed for lunch, then set off to walk back to her car at Alrewas, just as the rain came on, naturally.

We took a walk in the rain ourselves, later on, just to get out in the fresh air, and ended up having tea and chat with Alan and Liz on Streamline, which was tied in front of the shop and pub.

Yesterday, we made an early start, as we wanted to move the two boats towards Fazeley. After downloading a nice email from the guy who is buying Sanity, I took Sanity Again up Junction Lock and round onto the Coventry to the water point here. Whilst the tank was filling, Sheila went back and fetched Sanity, then she led through to Whittington, where we were able to tie just before Bridge 80.

Elanor popped out to see us again, bringing our postal voting papers, then Des and Gill came along to inspect the new boat. As I’ve said, we went to them for dinner, and didn’t get back until after midnight.

Making a rather more leisurely start today, we’ve come across to Fazeley, tying by Sutton Road Bridge as usual. We’re the only boats here, but that’s probably because this is a continuous cruiser’s mooring. There seem to be a lot of hippy hutches lurking between Huddlesford and here, but they tend to congregate by road bridges that have handy parking.

We’ve done two shopping trips, and will fit at least another one in tomorrow. We need to take Sanity to Fazeley Mill Marina to get her pumped out, and maybe to make arrangements to leave her there whilst the survey and final paperwork is done to complete her sale; it all takes as long as selling a house, it seems to me.

Meanwhile, I've done a short additional post on Building Sanity Again, and put another five photos up on Flickr.