Still cold, but an end may be in sight

9th & 10th January

We’ve seen a bit more action over the last couple of days, especially yesterday. I’d set the heating to come on at half seven, and by eight we were drinking tea and thinking of getting up. The boat now being reasonably warm, we were able to wash, dress and breakfast in comparative comfort.

Shortly after nine we set off down the hill to the bus stop, where we caught the 9.25 into Poynton. Visits to the butchers, the bakers and Morrisons (no candles were required) meant that we had sufficient shopping to see us through the weekend.

We found ourselves with over half an hour to kill before the bus back to Higher Poynton, so went into Cafe 31 and regaled ourselves with a luxury hot chocolate and a decaff latte. The buses had managed to keep to time quite reasonably, and it was just after half eleven that we got back to the moorings.

Here we discovered that a cunning plan to supply all the boats with water had been put into effect. 60 metres of hose pipe had been passed across the canal to the water point, being brought ashore just at the start of the moored boats on our side. One of the 4x4 SUVs was loaded up with 25 litre water containers and was shuttling backwards and forwards, leaving a full set at one boat and collecting the empties from another.

We went back to Sanity, unpacked and put away the shopping, and managed to get a soup and sandwich lunch before it was our turn for the water. Having filled our tank, we went and did what we could to help with what was now a very efficient operation.

It was another good example of members of the boating community helping one another, like the fact that we found that one of our neighbour boaters, Will from Badger, had swept the snow from the edge of the mooring alongside both our boat and his.

Today has been quieter; the weather is noticeably less cold, though paradoxically it makes the packed snow trickier to walk on, as it is becoming wet on top. Up until now, the cold has been so fierce that the snow has remained dry and crunchy even when stood upon or driven on. We’ve spent most of the day in the boat, mostly doing internet stuff.

I had remembered some things I had meant to include in the Building Sanity Again blog, so I’ve done an extra post there. We’ve also caught up with various emails, and Sheila has started a new crochet pattern.

We did venture out this afternoon, with the excuse of taking some rubbish to the skip, but the weather is now rather damp, windy and generally not encouraging, so we’ve been happy to stay in by the fire for the remainder of the day. The forecast is gradually becoming more hopeful, with some strengthening indications that we can look for a thaw to start next weekend. Even if this comes to pass, it is likely to be a couple of weeks before there is any prospect of moving the boat, so thick is the ice.