Another wet one

Another soggy day, but hopefully our last in Braunston for the time being. We had a good meal last night – the Old Plough seems to have changed hands or managers again. Last time we were in there, a few years back, a couple of lads had just taken over and it showed with a rather amateur feel to it. Either they've improved or been replaced as it felt much better last night.

In addition, they were offering this steak meal deal of two rump steaks with the usual accompaniments, plus a bottle of house wine, for £24.95. I asked for red and had a choice of Merlot, Shiraz or Malbec. We went for the Malbec which proved to be entirely acceptable – not the best it can be, but perfectly good plonk.

I ordered a nachos starter which Sheila shared with me – just as well, one each would have been too much. The steaks were cooked as we'd asked and the only down side as far as I was concerned were the chips, which I thought odd and soggy but which Sheila liked. All in all, a very pleasant casual meal out.

We had a lazy start this morning to the sound of the rain on the roof. It's never completely let up, but did ease off enough in the late morning to let us get up to the village one more time for a second session at the butcher. He now stocks a good range of local veg, so we bought a selection of those with some more meat.

We've stayed on board since then, looking out at some very damp sheep and boaters going by, some in the field opposite and some on the cut, fortunately the right way round. We've not been totally idle. I had an idea for another quiz round, stimulated by something I'd read in the Indy as so often, and put ten questions together.

Sheila has advanced my Guernsey right up to closing the shoulder seams in the arcane way used for that kind of jumper – she's always glad to get it done successfully.

Tomorrow, an early start to the water point, before the Saturday hordes descend on it. We'll have breakfast whilst filling up then move on to wait for a locking partner at the bottom of the flight.

Location:Braunston

Taking advantage of better weather

It's been a very different sort of day today. We woke this morning to bright sun which persisted into the afternoon, though it's clouded over now, presumably because of the vast amount of moisture steaming back up from the sodden fields.

We've put this weather to good use, walking up to the village first thing to get another load of supplies, then starting the engine on our return. This enabled a wash load to be run. We'd already deployed the whirligig to finish drying the last load which had been hanging about indoors, rather. The new load was done just in time for lunch and was hung out this afternoon.

Meantime, we swept through the boat, getting rid of the accumulation of dried grass and general dirt that collects as a result of steady boating at this time of year. Whilst Sheila was hanging out the washing, I brushed the mats and cleaned the mud off our boots.

That felt like enough serious work for one day – since then, we've been sitting out in the well deck, knitting and reading, until the clouds got too much and we retreated indoors once more. After reviewing the various pub options, we've settled on the Old Plough for tonight. We did think about taking a walk up to the Admiral Nelson for lunch, but an examination of its website made it plain that it's now very much a gastro-pub, not our sort of thing at all when boating, not to mention the prices they charge.

The Plough, on the other hand, is offering a deal on two steak dinners. A steak would go down well after all this work...

Location:Braunston

Sitting tight in the wet

"You can tell when it's summer in Swansea," the barman at a conference hotel in that city once said to me, "the rain gets warmer!" In the same way, you can tell when it's summer on board Sanity Again, my hair gets shorter. After blogging yesterday, Sheila gave me my first summer trim of the year, 3/4" all over and very comfortable it feels.

I've also trimmed my beard nice and short so I'm ready for anything. Talking of Swansea weather, it has rained non-stop today, as forecast, real monsoon standard, but it's not proper Swansea weather as it's expected to stop tomorrow.

We took advantage of what seemed like a lull after breakfast to get out for a quick walk, taking a bag of rubbish to the Stop House skips. Naturally, it waited until we were there before persisting down again – our trousers and water proofs have been hanging up to dry in the engine room ever since. I lit the Squirrel before coffee this morning to dry the boat out a bit as it was feeling very clammy.

For the rest, it's been a quiet day on board, reading, doing puzzles and the odd bit of housework. Tomorrow, we'll give the engine a run (the solar panel's not contributed much today) and run a wash load to keep on top of it. We're planning to treat ourselves to a meal out in the evening, probably at the Old Plough.

Location:Braunston

Back to Braunston

We weren't completely idle yesterday, though we didn't actually leave the boat all day, so wet it was. Sheila did her online tax return and I took a look at some more rust, this time in the storage area between the starboard swim and the engine bay. A good wire brushing revealed that it wasn't too severe, there being no pitting, just surface rust running under the Danboline bilge paint, but also that it was impractical to try and do the complete job whilst cruising.

Parts of the space are inaccessible without removing the hexagrip decking from above it, so I got as much of the loose stuff off as I could reach and gave it all a good coat of Rust Konverter. That should hold it until we get up to Braidbar in August when the guys there can do the proper job with primer and undercoat.

Not surprisingly, having had little exercise, it wasn't a brilliant night and we were awake quite early. So we put this fact to good use, getting going promptly, moving onto the water point and breakfasting whilst letting the hose dribble into the tank (it's not very good pressure at Hillmorton). By twenty past eight the tank was three quarters full and we decided to get on.

It was my turn to lock and we had a good run with all the preferred, right hand, towpath side locks with us. I gritted my teeth working the middle lock, trying not to think about the officially sanctioned graffiti that besmirches both sides of the top gate balance beams. It's ironic – there is so much that is truly poetic about the cut, the lapping of the water on the hull, the antics of the water fowl, the rippling pattern of light and shade on the cabin ceiling when the sun is shining on the water outside.

But all the official poetaster could come up with is banal gibberish such as "THIS DOOR MAKES DEPTH". I ask you...

No matter, on we went in slowly deteriorating conditions. I got the washing machine on the go then alternated between bow lookout, baker of part baked petit pains for lunch and coffee supplier to the steerer.

We got to Braunston just a bit after eleven with the wind becoming more and more of a problem. We've found a good mooring after Bridge 89, our favourite length as you can walk up the fields to the village, an easier approach than slogging up the hill from Butchers Bridge to Nibbits Lane. Better, as last time and this, to walk back that way so as to have a snoop along the GU towpath and see who's about.

Not many at the moment. We went shopping after lunch as an alternative to dozing off and the butcher was commenting on how quiet it was just now. It will get busier next weekend and the following week, of course. We've started playing the game of spotting the show boats on their way to Crick, but haven't seen any definites yet.

We'll sit tight here for the next few days, unless we need to move to get more water. I'll try and do at least a quick blog every day as there'll then be a bit of a gap once we're actually at Crick and working.

Location:Braunston

Slogging on to Braunston

It's been a very different day from yesterday, cold and with a biting nor'easterly wind. Setting off at eight and expecting to take a couple of hours to Braunston, it was a case of wrapping up in fleece and waterproof to keep the wind out and chugging grimly on.

This section is fine by me on a sunny day, but all too often I seem to end up doing it conditions like today's, when it's frankly a bit of a drag. What's more, there are even more moored boats to creep past than I ever recall before. Most of them were on the towpath side and a fairly complete mixture they were.

Near convenient bridges there were the usual liveaboard lurkers, mixed with the other form of bridge hopper, the leisure boat being moved around enough to satisfy CRT's minimum requirement of a cruising range of at least 20 miles in the year, saving themselves the cost of a marina or long term online mooring in so doing. There were also a goodly number of holidaying boats, many of which passed us yesterday. I must give a mention to the crew of Bristol Cream – glad you enjoy this blog!

I can understand now why passing speeds tend to be a bit high on this section – the parade of moored boats just exhausts the patience of the holiday boater with a schedule to meet.

Finally, there were the long term offside moorers as we approached Braunston, There's always been a group of them along there, but I'm sure that the line has extended over the years. All in all, it was as bad as cruising those lengths of the Shroppie which are heavily populated by long term moorers. I must have been in tickover for at least half the time this morning.

It did indeed take exactly two hours in the end, which at least gave Sheila time to run a wash load, it being Monday. We had thought of stopping on the puddle banks on the approach to the Turn, but we'd forgotten just how manky those supposed visitor moorings are. Indeed , they are just a length of unimproved Oxford canal towpath, sloping washwall and all.

So we stuck to plan A and found plenty of room just north of the turn. Sheila found a neat 70 foot space on the first section of mooring, pacing it out to check. It's a good tip to make sure you know your personal pace count for the length of your boat for just this sort of situation.

Braunston has a fair few boats tied here but is by no means full. We had a restorative coffee and then took a walk along the towpath to Bridge 89, up the field path to the village and bought bread in the convenience store and pasties from the butcher. We had a quick natter with him and reassured him that we'll be back in a few days time to stock up with his excellent meat.

Then, to make a decent walk of it, we went down Nibbet's Lane to Butcher's Bridge and so back along the towpath. Back at the boat, we got sorted out just in nice time to make a mug of soup apiece and eat lunch.

This afternoon, I've done an engine and gearbox oil change which was due. The weather is showing some small sign of improvement, boding well for Sheila's stint on the tiller to Hillmorton tomorrow.

Location:Braunston

Heading back

We had a good meal in the Boathouse last night, though going early meant that there were quite a lot of noisy kids about. In fact, such was the volume from one young man at an adjoining table that I turned my hearing aid off for a bit. Sheila was quite envious. After our hard work, we rather stuffed ourselves with three courses and two rounds of drinks, though the bill still only came to around £35 including tips. Now that's boater's fare at boater's prices – shame the Boardwalk at Mercia doesn't see it that way :(.

Notwithstanding all this decadence, we managed an early night and a decent kip, rising quite early to move onto the water point before eating breakfast whilst the tank filled. We'd used three-quarters of a tank between the Wednesday before Crick and the Friday after, including two washloads.

It was a very pleasant day for boating and there was plenty of traffic about. We had a good run to Hillmorton and worked down in fine style, crossing with uphill boats at every lock. The towpath below was pretty well full, making us a bit anxious about finding somewhere to tie at Brownsover. I baked some more petits pains as we went along.

We've tied on the parkside for once, initially at the Clifton end, but several impacts with hireboats failing to get round the bend made us decide to move to the other end after lunch. Once that was done, we walked to Tesco and bought quite a lot of grub as well as some more cough medicine for Sheila, whose cold is proving a bit reluctant to clear up. Both day sacks and both green cloth carrier bags were full so it was a very gentle stagger back to the boat.

Tonight, spaghetti carbonara and tomorrow, on to Sutton's Stop.

Good day if wet

We've had a great day's boating with Richard Parry, all objectives achieved even if it tipped it down, especially when we were locking, naturally. As before, Richard was very interested in our thoughts about CRT and the canals.

We made it to Braunston by mid afternoon, having stopped at the top of the flight for lunch. There's a 3 signal and an EE signal here, so it feels like we're back in touch with the world.

We're both pretty weary, though, so it's off to the Boathouse for a meal shortly, then an early night, methinks. On to Brownsover tomorrow to do a bit of restocking.

Good planning

Having clocked that the weather was going to start out not too bad and then deteriorate as the day went on, we devised a cunning plan and put it into effect. This involved getting up at six and dressing whilst drinking the first thing tea, then boating round to the Stop House water point to fill the tank and dump rubbish. We ate breakfast whilst there, then carried on to the foot of the locks, arriving just after seven.

There being no sign of any following boat, we decided to carry on up the flight on our own, Sheila steering and your correspondent twirling the windlass. The first two locks were with us. I duly drew the nearside ground paddle first, which in theory should pin the boat against that lock wall. Instead, the bow drifted slowly across until it nudged the offside wall and stayed there until I'd drawn the full paddle, when it drifted back.

We reckon that if the water level is a bit low, the flow from the culvert doesn't pass under the boat and reflect off the opposite wall as it should, instead pushing the bow across.

No matter, it wasn't a big deal. More problematic was the very low state of the pound between 2 and 3, the Nelson Pound named for the Admiral Nelson pub by lock 3. Sheila managed to persuade Sanity Again to get along it, though she said it was like boating through treacle. Once mostly in the lock, I hauled on the centreline to complete the entry. We crossed with another boat between 3 and 4 and were joined by the lockie who was sorting out the levels by running water down from above.

On we went, meeting another boat above 4, who were told to wait until the levels were right. A volockie was in control at the top lock, so altogether an interesting transit of the flight.

Sheila carried on steering as I started the washing machine, pre-loaded yesterday. I didn't quite finish adding hot water before we got to the tunnel mouth, but took over steering just after we entered. We crossed with a couple of boats inside, neither of them in the dog leg for once, and emerged just over thirty minutes later. It was raining a bit, but soon stopped.

We had an uneventful run to the junction, thinking of carrying on a bit as the machine hadn't quite finished rinsing, but the wind was rising and the clouds threatening, so when we saw a space on the towpath just beyond the visitor moorings, we hopped onto it. It's been chucking it down on and off ever since and I've had to light the fire.

Cala with Peter and Gill on board have been past this afternoon; we should see them tomorrow when we get to Crick. I've also had a phone call from Peter Mason, who plans to arrive with hired van and marquee on Thursday morning. I should be able to blog as usual tomorrow, but after that it may be a bit hit and miss, depending on work and social commitments.

Staying put in the rain

This is going to be a short one, as I'm feeling quite dozy, can't think why. We did the right thing by not moving today as it fairly chucked it down most of the morning. We did get some jobs done, loading the washing machine ready to run tomorrow and the like, but otherwise took it pretty easy.

Just after half twelve we had a text from John and Nev to say that they were in the pub, so we got all togged up and walked round there. It was a good meal and a good old session, not finishing until gone three. The Boathouse has had its good times and less good but it seems to be doing well at the moment.

It looks like the weather will be better earlier tomorrow, so a very prompt start is indicated in the hope of doing most of the boating before it gets too windy.

A Balmy Day at Braunston

What a lovely day, the kind that rewards you for living on a boat, as you're guaranteed to be aboard when it comes. The sun has shone, mostly, we've had some pleasant exercise and then done a bit of boat cleaning this afternoon to give us that shiny halo feeling. Admittedly, the guy on the boat in front spent a lot of the morning running a Honda suitcase genny (neeeeeeeeeeeeeee........) so as to power the wet and dry vac he was using to clean his bilges out and presumably other bits of his boat, too.

But we didn't want to sit out in the well deck anyway just then, as the drying rack was occupying much of it. Instead we walked up the hill, bought bread, new potatoes and a lettuce in the shop and came back via Nibbits Lane to Butchers Bridge and so along the towpath to the boat.

The genny had been put away by lunchtime so it didn't disturb my post-prandial ponder. Well rested, we set to and cleaned the front of the boat, washing down the bulkheads, the foredeck and the well deck and polishing the main bulkhead with the Bullet carnauba spray. It's OK, but nothing like as good as using Craftmaster Carnauba. It just doesn't get a good depth of wax on to the surface.

There have been loads of walkers and boaters going past so there's been the odd occasion for a chat as well.

Tonight, grilled chicken fillets, tabouli and green salad. It's going to rain tomorrow, a lot, so we'll stay put and rendezvous with John and Nev, probably in the Boathouse pub which is having one of its better times at the moment, we're told.

We'll work up the flight first thing Tuesday; it's scheduled to get very windy later in the day, so we'll see if we can get to Norton Junction and get tied before it gets too bad. Then on Wednesday we'll finish the trip by working up Watford, through Crick Tunnel and on to the towpath by Crick marina.

It's Saturday

So this must be Braunston...

Things actually went well to plan today; we had a moderately relaxed start and were boating just on half seven. It took forty minutes to get up the flight, all the locks being with us and no sign of another boat moving. Once through them all, Sheila decided to steer for a while (her foot is really a lot better) and I went to get the washload under way.

The only thing was, the water wasn't yet hot enough, so I started the Hurricane running to move things on a bit and did look out duty for half an hour. Once the heating had finished, I got the washing machine running and then divided my time between chatting to Sheila at the back and looking out at the front. I took over steering after a while and we plodded merrily on through the rolling fields to the hub of the southern system.

We arrived just as the wash programme finished. A boat was leaving our favourite mooring, just through Bridge 89, and we managed to squeeze the seventy foot of Sanity Again into the space. Braunston is a bit busier than it was this time last year, but not heaving. We had time to walk up to the village and buy meat (the butcher recognises us every year) and some salad stuff from the village shop.

After lunch we took a walk to Midland Chandlers the scenic way, along the towpath to the second road bridge. We found Hadar tied on the 48 hour moorings and had a good old natter with Jo and Keith. We've not seen them for a long while for the very good reason that they are only just back out boating after spending a year tied on the Saltisford Arm. Keith had a very close call with the guy with the big scythe 15 months ago but is well fit now.

Finally tearing ourselves away, we finished our walk and got two replacement buffers for the door catches on the stern doors. I only needed one, but buying two increases the chances that the first one won't follow its predecessors into the cut.

Since then, we've had a quiet time on board. We'll stay put tomorrow and then carry on up the flight and through the tunnel on Monday. Unless the weather looks as if it will be better on Tuesday, in which case we'll stay an extra day. Or not. It depends.

 

Busy Braunston

We've had an excellent day today, sitting on the towpath in Braunston watching the world go by. We'd had a lazy start after a late night last night; it's amazing how time flies when you're sharing wine and chat with good friends.

Speaking of which, in my need to summarise a week's worth of events yesterday, I didn't get round to mentioning all the folk we met, blog readers and book buyers and all. Some I didn't get a name for and others I did but I would have no chance of remembering them all if I tried to list them.

So I'll just say that it's great to meet with everyone who finds time to look at this stuff; it really does make it all worth while. I can't recall a weekend when so many folk have stopped by, not to mention all the ones from Crick.

To those of you who do not yet have a boat, may that happy day arrive soon, and to those who are already afloat, good cruising.

Sally has given a flavour of the stuff she and Elanor got up to, but I must also express our appreciation of Elanor's work during Crick. She was much more than a guest, taking most of the boat keeping labour off us. We could go off in the morning leaving the boat untidy and the washing up to do and know that by coffee time it would be immaculate again.

Less happily, we've just had a pair of PCSOs do boat-to-boat enquiries along the towpath. Seemingly there was an armed robbery in the Boathouse pub last night and they were asking if anyone had seen anything unusual around midnight. Our party had broken up just after eleven, so we were in bed by then.

Initially, seeing them interviewing Martin I did wonder if CRT were getting heavy with him for mooring on a vacant long term mooring, but they've not resorted to using the police to do their mooring management.

Yet...

:)

Back again

It's come to something when I've got a better internet connection in Braunston than I had in Crick, but that's how it is. Both 3 and EE have decent signals here by the Stop House, whereas neither was much use last week.

It was another good show, despite horrible weather on both Saturday and Monday; Sunday was very pleasant. Bad weather does mean that those asking to see the boats are more likely to be serious about it and Sunday was very busy indeed. We had a good few coming back for second and even third looks and some have promised to come to the Open Day in September or have made separate appointments to visit the yard.

Santiago was a great boat to show, not flashy but a classic testament to Braidbar quality. The only thing missing was a cratch, which would have helped a lot during the downpours. As it was, several stalwart owners earned much gratitude by standing holding golf umbrellas over the workers and visitors. A new, larger marquee also earned its keep, even if erecting it without benefit of instructions kept us all occupied on Wednesday afternoon.

I'm sure I don't need to say much about the socialising, which was a joy on every night between Thursday and Monday inclusive.

All in all, we delivered a thoroughly professional effort with a volunteer workforce and never a cross word was spoken.

We got away on Thursday after discovering that pump outs would not be available on Friday, so, having gone into the marina for one, took advantage of the fact that we were in cruising mode to carry on through the tunnel and tie on some good Armco between bridges 10 and 9. The only downside to that was getting covered in hawthorn blossom; the boat looked like it had been to a wedding.

Yesterday we moved on down Watford (no queuing) and tied just beyond the entrance to Welton Haven marina. Here we had a chance to look round Summerborn, the Fernwood boat, with her owners and designers Gary and Julie. It's a classic Fernwood, very nice indeed in a very modern idiom rather than Braidbar's classic timeless look.

We also brushed all the hawthorn confetti off Sanity Again and rinsed the mud off her.

Highlights of today were Sheila's brilliant turn through Norton Junction without reversing, an easy run through the tunnel without meeting anyone and a good run down the locks with Black Velvet.

We've got Ice Breaker ahead of us and Cala behind, so a final bit of socialising is in prospect tonight, after we've scoffed Aberdeen Angus rib eye steaks bought from the Braunston butcher this afternoon.

It's not over until it's over, folks.

Where is everybody

Mooring in Braunston can be tricky, especially this week with all the boats on their way to Crick, so we set off at a carefully calculated 9.30 so as to arrive between ten and ten thirty. This worked out exactly, the trip taking just one hour.

We were pleased to find a space just through Bridge 89, our favourite spot as you can walk up the hill towards the church from here to get to the shops and there is at least a bit of mobile reception. There were even two bits of poly string threaded through the old style piling (concrete with an old railway line as waling) just the right distance apart to tie to.

After a trip to get meat, bread, cheese and stuff, we ate lunch and relaxed for a while. Finally stirring ourselves, we walked round to Midland Chandlers to buy the replacement bump stop for the back door catch and carried on to the bottom lock for ice creams from the shop there. We sat and ate them whilst being entertained by the antics of a large scary woman off a privateer laying the law down to a Canaltime crew about the right way to draw a top paddle.

Her advice was perfectly sound, it was just the way she started shouting from halfway along the lock side and continued with undiminished volume when on top of them. And this with two Volockies standing by...

We walked back along the towpath to discover the whole length from the road bridge to the Turn past the pub deserted apart from one small boat at the further end. I can't recall seeing Braunston so quiet, not even in the middle of winter.

The wind continues very gusty; I just hope that it calms down a bit before tomorrow.

Back to Braunston

It was a long old day yesterday. The pound from Braunston to Napton Junction or Wigram's Turn seems to have got shorter, or maybe it's been dredged so that Sanity Again made better speed over the ground. At any rate, we arrived at Calcutt just after nine instead of at ten as we'd planned. We stopped on the water point to fill the tank and watch much manoeuvring of boats; they were having a photo session with the hire fleet.

This involved locking boats up from the service wharf below and posing them in mid channel for the photographer. Once we'd got a full tank, we joined one of the smartly painted fleet going back down. It's the first time I've worked into a broad lock worrying whether I'm going to hit the hire boat.

/wahaha

We were sat on the service wharf for quite a time, not leaving until half three. In that time we got a pump out and a fill of diesel, and the excellent Dave Evans sorted the Hurricane and gave me a master class in servicing it as he did so. The air compressor had joined the choir invisible, but the beast fought back for a while after it was replaced. It's fine now. Particular points of interest:

• Unless going into the silver control box, it's enough just to turn off the remote switch to work on the boiler.
• Air locks in the fuel feed are very uncommon unless you run right out of fuel.
• If you are VERY careful, you can check if fuel is reaching the jet by leaving the igniter in its burrow, taking the fuel block out and turning it so that the jet points away from the boiler and getting a mate to switch the remote switch on. After the start up drill, atomised fuel should spray out of the jet, at which point you shout "OFF" to your mate. Get this wrong, however, and you'll probably set fire to the engine room when the atomised fuel reaches the hot igniter...

When we got away we just popped through the junction and tied on the first Armco we saw.

Today, Sheila steered us back to Braunston, apart from a session whilst I drove and she made up a bread kit. We've done some restocking and will carry on to Hillmorton tomorrow.

Not our salad days, then...

"If I start looking behind me 

or begin retracing my track 

I'll remind you to remind me 

We said we wouldn't look back."

(Reynolds and Slade)

Retracing our track is exactly what we've been doing, though at our age we certainly can't claim to be in our Salad Days anyway. We're back in Hillmorton, on almost exactly the mooring we used on our way to Crick. It took a bit longer coming back, as there are now loads of boats tied on the towpath at various locations between here and there, it being a fine weekend in June.

The day started reasonably well with an early move to the water point by the Stop House. Whilst Sheila supervised the tank filling and took the opportunity to rinse the dust and muck off the side with the aid of a bucket of water and the Washmatik, I walked up the hill to get a paper and some top up supplies of ale.

The paper was no problem, the beer more so. The shop had Bass in cans at £4.96 for 4, not bad for a local shop, but couldn't sell them to me as it wasn't yet eight o'clock, the hour at which the Law says alcohol may be sold off licence on a Saturday.

/floor

Heigh ho, it made an excuse for a walk after lunch, when we went back up the flight and along the towpath to the Canal Shop behind the Old Royal Oak, where I got four cans of John Smith's Original for £5.16.

We'd run a washload on the way and it's now drying on the rack in the well deck, there being too much wind to risk the whirligig.

There's a lot of traffic to and fro, some of it struggling with aforesaid wind,  which can indeed be a problem around here.

Tonight, pork chops; tomorrow, so much more.

Well, a run to Newbold to do a bit more shopping (the Tesco won't be open when we go through Brownsover, it being Sunday) and then on towards Ansty. We'll stop when we feel like it, but are now committed to getting to Springwood Haven on Monday to meet up with Chris and Anne Blaydon off Thomas Tallis that evening. We owe them a hangover from the last time we saw them in Poynton…

/wahaha

Anything but boring in Braunston

Not everyone likes Braunston, but we're very fond of the place. Admittedly you often have to turn up in the middle of the day to get a mooring in the high season (though there's a 60' space in front of us as I type this). Today, we were able to loaf in bed for a bit, drinking tea and listening to Today, before rising at half seven to get breakfast.

Afterwards and after checking emails and so on, we ambled up the hill to the store to get a paper and loaf of bread. By now the weather was improving steadily, so on our return to the boat we rigged the whirligig to finish drying yesterday's washload.

There followed a bit of loafing on the bow, chatting to passers-by and watching the entertainment provided by the proximity of Butchers Bridge to the marina entrance, often used for winding as well as the access to the service wharf.

The moral of the story, guys, is that if you hadn't been speeding past the moored boats, it wouldn't have been such a hassle stopping when another bow appears in the bridge hole.

/no

After lunch, I ran the engine for 20 minutes and then did an oil and filter change. I found another slight weep in the cooling system and nipped it up and checked the colour of the fuel in the bottom of the agglomerator/filter by draining a little out into a glass jar. It was crystal clear, always reassuring.

Just as I was finishing, who should come chugging through but Peter and Gill on Cala on her way back to Calcutt from Crick; safe journey home guys, and enjoy the match tomorrow.

It's now really sunny out there; I suspect we'll behaving a small(ish) glass of chilled white on the bow whilst the curry cooks today.

Yum.

Back to Braunston

7.30 start this morning, drizzly rain but not cold or windy. A steady plod to Norton Junction and on to the tunnel, through which we followed one boat and were in turn followed by another. The former stopped on the moorings at the top, but the latter, Thistle Do, shared down the locks with us.

We had the flight to ourselves at first, but it all got both busy and chaotic by the time we reached the Admiral Nelson, with boats moving in all directions, sometimes deliberately…

Shortly after, who should we see but Sue off No Problem walking up to exercise the dogs and look for us. With only a little persuasion she borrowed a windlass and gave Sheila a hand with the locks. No Problem was waiting at the bottom, having had her engine replaced under warranty and now much better for it.

We found a mooring by Butchers Bridge and NP was seen boating past shortly afterwards. Thanks again Sue, and have a good trip to the Thames!

The bow locker is now stuffed full of recycling as we haven't seen a recycling bin since Newbold. There is a helpful sign at Crick:

I guess if you are a moorer and have a car that's OK (but wouldn't you take the stuff home with you just as easily?) but for the passing boater it's quite pointless.

/floor

This bit of the system must be the least helpful for recycling – almost all other CRT areas seem to make some provision, so why not around Braunston and Crick?

Into Rugby

Things actually worked out OK today, wow. I just love it when a plan comes together, though any resemblance to the A Team ends right there.

/wahaha

My repeat prescription was indeed waiting for me at the PO. After we'd collected it and whilst buying a traditional media item, we asked about the best place to catch the bus to Rugby (there are two services from Braunston to Rugby now). The assistant on the till said "Ooh, I'm not sure, it depends." Odd, we thought, but she was right. Let me give you the benefit of our experience:

The better service is the 12, not the 10. The 12 is like the old service which goes pretty well straight there, apart from a tour round a housing estate on the Dunchurch side of Rugby. The 10 goes a longer route via some of the local villages.

To catch the 12, either be at the bus shelter opposite the Wheatsheaf just on the hour or, if going straight from a boat tied on the towpath, catch it a minute or so later at the stop on the A45 outside the Boat House pub. There is a choice of stops to get off at in Rugby; if the bus is at all busy it will stop at all of them anyway.

Coming back, the 12 leaves at 13 minutes past the hour from a stand in North Street on the Clocktowers shopping mall side.

We'd got all our shopping done by half eleven and decided to get an early lunch. There's a good choice of eateries and we went for the Gallery Restaurant in the Clocktowers.

Bit of a mistake, frankly. We'd been attracted by the special choice of pork and stuffing bap or chicken and stuffing bap, with chips, salad and a drink. The place had all the ambience of a 60s bus station and when we tried to order, first the stuffing was off, then the pork was all gone.

So we both had a chicken bap without stuffing. The 'bap' was in fact a burger bun apparently made from cotton wool and the chicken was about as tasty. Still, the chips and salad weren't bad, but we won't be going back. McDonald's would have been better.

We did get through in time to get the 12.13, getting off in the village again and raiding the butchers. In a fit of enthusiasm, we walked back to the boat the long way, down to Butchers Bridge and along the towpath, with the result that we were very ready for a long sit down this afternoon.

No matter, that's us sorted – tomorrow, onwards to the Watford flight, and then arriving at Crick on Wednesday, after which this blog will become a bit erratic, I expect.

Oh look it's Braunston again

Yet again we found ourselves chugging along from Hillmorton to Braunston, this time in ideal conditions, warm, calm and sunny. A 7.30 start got us here between ten and half past; as we hoped, there was a space on our favourite stretch between bridges 89 and 90, so that we have the choice of the long walk to the village along the towpath to Butchers Bridge and then the slog up that footpath, or the quick walk up the fields to come out by the church.

We didn't get up Hillmorton quite as quickly as usual, as the pound between the top and middle locks was a good foot down, and I had to creep Sanity Again along, dropping into neutral from time to time whilst we ground over something below us.

I began to think that Sheila was going to have to run some water down from the pound above, but we just made it over the cill and into the lock.

On a more positive note, the collapsing bridges, 79 and 80, now look very much better thanks to the combined efforts of the CRT contractor and WRG. It's a good prognostication for future collaborations, hopefully.

Apart from popping up into the village for bread and stuff, we've been alternately relaxing in the sunshine on the bow and doing a bit of internal boatwork. This latter involved removing two of the mushroom vent covers and four cupboard door knobs which either hadn't been lacquered at all or where the lacquer had worn off.

Sheila blazed away with the Brasso getting them shiny again and I then applied two coats of Incralac to keep them that way.

Tomorrow we'll collect my repeat prescription from the Post Office here, catch a bus into Rugby to get it filled and do a bit of other shopping in the big metropolis.