Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Fully Loaded

After some heavy rain we thought we would have seen the end of the ice for the time being, but we could still see it in the distance and no boats had passed us for weeks. As we were uncomfortable with being on the lock moorings and water point here, we knew we had to move as soon as possible. We were both feeling a bit better this morning, so Al first walked into town and got some last minutes bits to refill the cupboards but reported that the ice was still bad.

We decided to leave at about 11.30am, as the weather didn't look very good for the rest of the week, and make our way to Alvecote marina. The ice was still two inches thick and had only just been broken by the BW boat that passed us yesterday (he never got very far). It was very patchy with long clear sections and sections packed with ice but we just took it steady and got through to the marina.
We moored up and asked for a full house...fill with diesel, pumpout, a gas bottle and three bags of coal. You would have thought with that lot we would have got a free valet.....

We then got going again and were soon breaking ice.... but it wasn't long before we spotted a few trees down in the nearby woods. We pulled over and got out the chainsaw and added half a tree to the extra weight we had just put on. It will be good to be back on wood, but it also shows how important it is to have some coal on board, you never know! With a very heavy Derwent6 we carved through the ice with ease as we went through Polesworth. We were also very shocked to pass two other boats, blimey movement!!
After a hour and a half cruising we moored up at one of our favourite spots, in the middle of no where. It felt good to be on our own........

We have a good 3G and telly signal so after dinner we settled down to the football in the evening.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHAT A RELIEF - SIGNAL XXX

z

Mike Moorse said...

That looks suspiciously like one of our favourite spots as well - when we leave Hopwas that is always our first nights' stop.

Mike nb GUELROSE

Karen said...

Hi Al and Del,
Great to see you have managed to get moving again. It's been a long time.
Thanks for your blogs we have enjoyed reading them and looking forward to our times on the canal too.
I don't know if you remember Del, but we had a chat with you one evening in early summer about living on board and running washing machines and other bits and bobs.I think we were just above Watford locks GU.
Well, our plans are going ahead and last week I resigned from my school post, Ian is winding down his business and we are looking forward to leaving the bank and coming onto the cut in April. Busy clearing our house ready to rent at the moment. Have just started a blog too as we get ready to join other like minded boating enthusiasts. Will look out for you from April on......
Ian and Karen

Anonymous said...

Not a nice place to be by hudsons safe now,but if I was you I would head to Grendon as all severces there

Sue Hunter said...

Sorry to disturb your peace by mooring not far away from you, but we'll be gone shortly. If you go to Grendon to walk into Atherstone, please be aware that BW have closed off the towpath well before Lock 7 (Barry Hawkins yard) & you have to meander through the back lanes on your left to get into the town. Dave & Sue NB Beefur

Del and Al said...

Hi Z loooool x

Del and Al said...

Hi Mike, yep it's lovely here, nice and quiet and nice views

Del and Al said...

Hi Ian & Karen that's great news, remember chatting to you. Make sure you let us have your blog details and the name of your boat and we will look out for you on the cut. Bet you're excited!

Del and Al said...

Thanks Anon, yep Gendon's good

Del and Al said...

Hi Dave & Sue, thanks for the tip off. Sorry we didn't see you....we didn't even know you had moored up until later that night when we saw lights from your boat!

Karen said...

Hi Del and Al,
Our boat is called Tacet and you can find our blog at
http://www.narrowboattacet.blogspot.com
Ian and Karen