Bridge Birthday 61

 Del's plans were to have his 61st birthday in Bridge 61 at Foxton, but due to Lockdown that wasn't going to happen.. So it was going to be the same, but different, for us this year..  The same because we were on Derwent6 in the middle of nowhere all on our own, but different because as always Al had made it special!!

It was difficult this time getting Del's cards sent from Kent, as we didn't know where we would be after filling with water and having to move again, but they are on their way...

We had just had a drop for coal and gas from Mark on the coal boat so we were well sorted.. On  Del's birthday all Del wanted was some new pants and a lovely Sunday roast dinner with all the trimmings.

He had a few cards and presents which somehow Al had managed to get and wrap up and then you could smell the matured roast beef cooking.. We had a lovely Sunday roast and even roast potato's cooked in goose fat with loads of veggies..

  For desert it was no other than Blackberry and Apple crumble, its even making our mouths water as we're writing this..  All this with Sounds of the Seventies playing in the background.. In the evening a birthday cake of course!

As you can see he looks no different to when he was 30..

So we are still sitting things out and keeping ourselves to ourselves till lockdown is hopefully over or our shopping is requiring a top up..

Essential moving in Lockdown

We were up early and sorted out Derwent6 for moving, we were very low on diesel and water and also didn't have any food left on board.. 

It was very quiet with boats and the canal was a bit silted up with leaves and the lack of traffic, but it is very pretty. We pushed on through All Oaks Woods cutting a path in the water..

We had to do plenty of dropping in to neutral to knock the leaves off the prop blades.. .  The weather was very cloudy but we didn't get any rain.

It was then under the bridges to Newbold tunnel.

We then approached Rugby where we could do our shopping and stopped of at Roo's to fill with diesel and top up the spare can..

We had a look first and then managed to moor up right by the alleyway so we could get the trolley right back to Derwent6..

It took Al a couple of hours and she said it seemed very unorganised with people not abiding by the rules of distancing.. She called Del when the trolley was full and we managed to get it up the slight hill back to the boat.. From there it was over to the water point and also emptied the waste tank..

We then carried on towards Hillmorton passing Clifton Cruisers..

We then passed under the new Holton bridge and the new road.

We took the turn at the bottom of the locks, and in this photo it was all going well until the wind took us and pushed us into the bank..

After a bit of manoeuvring we got round and moored up on one of our favourite moorings.. It was just starting to get dark and we felt it was a job well done today...

Sticking and things!

 

So here we are stuck in lockdown again, but this time we are on the outskirts of Brinklow.. We have been told not to move only for food, water, diesel or waste tanks.. We have been static for two weeks which is our 14 days, even though the moorings have been suspended for the month.. Yep we are now running low on diesel (because solar has been poor)  and our water is also getting low, but most importantly food is also low so we will be moving in the next few days. 

So what do you do in a 65 foot x 6 foot 10 inch steel shell? Well we can honestly say we never ever get bored, there is loads to do. Of course there are DIY jobs if you want to do them, but then there are necessities to do like, engine routine maintenance, cleaning leaves out of gullies and off the roof, doing the fire in the morning (including cleaning it out, cleaning the chimney, cleaning the glass and of course lighting it). Another job is sticking, luckily we had a guy cutting the hedges close to us..

Sticking is collecting loads of sticks and chopping them up for kindling and then letting them dry by the fire to light it in the morning..

In the afternoon it was another walk to the pharmacy to collect another prescription. We do this over the winter months so we have a build up of tablets to last us through the summer months.. 

   

Our Boat Safety Done!

Our two reasons for being where we are at lockdown was one, the doctors as we had prescriptions to pick up, and two, our boat safety check needed to be done.. This has to be done every four years and to check all the safety equipment on Derwent6.

 

We were up early on the day and Del cleared out the gas locker as the floor has to be inspected, and also to make sure all the gas pipes and bottle fixings are secure.. Also all the gas pipe fixings are checked and of course a leak test..  Then all the engine access hatches have to be lifted so an inspection of the electrics and battery's can be checked, and also all the fuel lines to engine and boilers. With a quick check of the fire points on Derwent6 we though we were ready to go, but then Del remembered that the lithium batteries had to be amended on the Owner's manual and as he was doing that we got a call to say Nigel our inspector was ten minutes away.. 

Nigel Carton is such a nice guy who does a good job on making sure your boat is safe and secure..  He checked everything and was happy to say we had passed with flying colours. The average price of a Boat Safety now is £160 but for £40 quid a year that's peanuts if it saves your life..

 

So we are good to go for another four years. The new regulations on the way are if you are a liveaboard and have gas, then as from next year a fully qualified LPG gas fitter will have to test your boat unless you have a new bit of kit fitted to your gas bottles so a Boat examiner can then check it (including yourself). It costs between 50 to 80 pounds and is easy to fit, so they say..

 

So how is everyone doing in lockdown? It has been reasonably busy with boats where we are and there has been quite a bit of movement compared to the last lockdown where it was so so quiet.. They have now closed the towpath where the landslip is here, and we are hoping for a bit of wood to go on the roof.. Del has had the chain sharpener out for the chainsaw but needs to give it a complete overhaul as the bar is worn and the chains are on their last sharpening points..

 So not much to say until we end up moving for water and food shopping, which we are allowed to do.. So we are now going to have a glass of wine to celebrate our pass certificate and watch the leaves float past. YAY!

One of our best cruises (and through Nuneaton)

We wanted to leave early today as we had a bit of cruising to do to get where we wanted to be for Lockdown. It turned out to be one of the prettiest cruises we have ever done, and believe it or not it was through Nuneaton. Check out these pictures and judge for yourselves.

We woke up to frost on the roof and an orange tint in the sky as the sun tried to come up..

Calm, smoke on the water, smoke from the chimney, and clear undisturbed water and everything tranquil..

It was just one of those days when the throttle on Derwent6 just wouldn't go past idle and you soaked up what was going on around you as we came into Nuneaton..

It felt like heaven, as we purred along following this line of fog on the water, which was lit up by the sun shining through it, it just felt unreal.

But did become very difficult to see things at bridges, it was a good job we were guided by the swans..

We still followed this light towards Coventry. 

We then passed the Ashby canal and had trouble seeing this tight little bridge after it, and had to creep through as the sun got blocked by the bridge..

 We then got to Hawkesbury junction and stopped for water again, just to make sure we were full to the brim for lockdown, and got rid of our one bag of rubbish we had got from the food shop Al did yesterday..

We took the turn onto the North Oxford and went through Sutton Stop lock where we met our first boat of the day.

Back on old stomping ground we made our way towards Rugby as the sun rose higher and warmed us up a bit..

We still had the place to ourselves as we reached Ansty.

Watched by this beautiful girl.

We then reached Roses narrowboats and the little swingbridge.

We carried on and moored at one of our favourite moorings at All Oaks as we had some prescriptions to pick up at our doctor's in Brinklow. It was such a lovely winters day and it was nice to stretch our legs and walk into Brinklow, BUT! the problem was we couldn't resist the smell of the fish and chip shop to help us on the walk back, they were lovely!!