Tunnelling to friends in Crick

It was up very early for us as we wanted to get to the Watford flight. Sunday was going to be the best day weather wise over the Easter period and we wanted to make the most of the day and get to our destination by midday.
It was a bonus as Braunston tunnel was also empty as we crept about in the early hours..

We passed a lot of sleeping boats as we got to Norton Junction and made a turn onto the Leicester Line..

We got to the bottom of the locks just before 8.00am when the lock keepers started, with nothing in front of us and the locks in our favour.. Al walked up and found the lockie walking down to us and before long the gates were open.. True to his word he got us up in 40 minutes, a record for us, not that we are breaking records..

Ahead of schedule, we pushed on into Crick tunnel which was very wet after all the rain.

We only passed one boat here, and then a boat pulled off of the moorings we like in Crick. Mind you we still have no phone signal and a poor internet signal and no telly. Still we were going out in the evening anyway..
After wiping down Derwent6 from the tunnel we got ready and found Mark and Sian on n.b Mochyn Du, together with Mario, a friend of theirs on board..

We walked up to the Wheatsheaf pub and then decided to eat. While eating we found out there was some entertainment and it turned out to be a lad, Matt Thorpe, who was a finalist on  "Let it shine"

Last night he appeared on Saturday Night takeaway with Dec and he was singing in front of us while we ate..
He was very good and another bonus for us.. We even had his Mum and Dad sitting next to us to have a chat with. His Mum & Dad live in Crick, and Matt started by working in the Red Lion in Crick..
Our plans were to see a good Blues band called the Bearcats in the Royal Oak at 8.00pm and we walked round to see them.

We had a few more beers and then we had another bonus.. Clive and Jackie turned up off n.b. Welsh Wizard (which they have now sold) and they now have a fantastic new Hudson boat which we can't wait to see. It was so great to see them and as you can guess a raving night was had by all till 1.00am in the morning..

Back on the flooded cut

The next morning we were up early and getting a pumpout, coal and gas before we left the marina. It was then a good feeling to be moving again and Derwent6 seemed pleased to see us back.. Tooty had settled back on board and didn't even want to go out as he was used to being in his cat hotel..
The first thing we noticed was how flooded the towpath was and how full the canals were, there has been a lot of rain here..

At Clifton it felt that not much progress had been made at the new bridge even though the canal had been closed for six weeks.

There were some new hazards to contend with.

We could tell it was Easter with all the traffic passing us in all directions. We had to wait to go through Hillmorton locks with three boats in front of us..

It was then clear to Braunston, which was busy and had a fallen tree to make things interesting..

We then went up Braunston Locks on our own as it had seemed to quieten down for a bit during lunchtime..

We moored at the top as it was starting to rain, where we chilled as we were still feeling a bit tired still adjusting to the time changes..

Jet lagging Birthday

The next day we sorted ourselves out and returned the car but got a lift back to the station where we got the train down into London.
We met up with Tanya as it was her Birthday and she had brought along a few friends and family to make a bit of a party of it..

We started in Flat Iron for food and then moved on to TGI Fridays for cocktails..

It was then onto Dirty Martini and then finishing in the Roadhouse, by this time a little drunk with our chilli cocktails..

Our diet wasn't going too well..
We arrived back at Derwent6 at 11.00pm, knackered from our jet lag.

Some Beach, Somewhere!

Well we're back home to our lovely Derwent6 and it was a bit of a shock from 80 degrees to three and wet and very muddy.. Our other shock was the drive back took us six hours and being jet lagged that wasn't easy.. but we had just the best 35th Wedding Anniversary anyone could wish for..
He's a quick recap of what we did, starting in Nashville.

Then it was on to Chattanooga via the Jack Daniels distillery at Lynchburg, seeing the Ruby falls and Mountain Lookout





Then it was on to Atlanta where we saw Blake Shelton and went to The world of Coca Cola and Martin Luther King memorial, then out to Stone Mountain the biggest rock in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was on to one of the best beaches we have ever been on, 50 miles of it..

So when you're stressed and looking at the rain in your wellies, think of this song and your time will come..

Some beach, somewhere

There's a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair.
Palm trees are growin',
A warm breeze is blowin',
I picture myself right there,
On some beach, somewhere.



Our 35th Wedding anniversary present, Nashville to Florida..

Well folks Derwent6 is resting for a bit while Del and Al have some fun for their 35th Wedding Anniversary..  Check us out on facebook if you want to catch up with our adventures heading south.. YEE HA!

Spoilt

I think we have been spoilt, we have enjoyed having shoreline and not having to worry about the batteries for a bit.. We use the time to first do all our washing and getting it dry, also we do a few jobs that always need doing..
Del had to make up a trestle for cutting up the wood.

Also we had to make a temporary cratch cover as on our original one the stitching had perished.

Ahead of the cold snap

The weather looks like we have another cold snap ahead, and as we didn't want to be iced in where we were we decided to move on..
Al went down to Tesco's and got a shop to keep us going, and Del checked the anti freeze levels and then met Al to carry the bags back to Derwent6.
We set off at midday through an empty Brownsover and made our way back to Brinklow going over the two aqueducts.

Where the canal hasn't been used it is getting a bit mucky in places..  There are some tricky turns in places and you can see where the hire boats have hit the bridges.

We went through the tunnel at Newbold which again was full of broken branches and rubbish, its amazing how much the boats keep it clean.

 

 We then made our way past Cathiron and towards Brinklow marina.

After a tricky turn in we got on to our pontoon which Eric had organised for us. It is always windy up here and it took us a couple of goes to get in, but after Al did a bit of pushing off we reversed into our old original slot.

It was nice to be back on shoreline and we had a good telly signal. So with batteries charging back up we chilled with the Olympics and football..

Gas Leak Detector

Our main objective today was to sort out this gas leak.. We could smell it out in the cratch area and also round the fire which was a bit of a worry.. We didn't sleep very well and run the fire so low it was a bit of a chilly night..
Del ordered a Gas leak detector tool from Screwfix which cost £49.00 yesterday, and picked it up in the morning.

After getting back Del was sniffing around and found the leak easily.

It turned out to be a loose nut under the gunwale where the seats fix in the cratch.. After tightening it up the gas tester confirmed it was fixed..

To any boat with gas fitted we would recommend everyone having a tester on board. Its very easy to test the pipes and bottles for leaks. Even the new bottles have leaks and it is very dangerous as it is invisible..  So worry over for us at the moment..