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!!

Lockdown preparation and locking up

We had planed to move on Monday, with all this lockdown madness going on, but the winds were reaching 35 mph, so as it was warm Al did another washing load. The washing dried in two hours.. Del was collecting and cutting fallen wood and polished a side and tried the solar panels up in strong winds and they were fine..

 

The following morning we set off after some early morning rain and then made our way to the water point at the bottom of Atherstone locks..

We did a quick pumpout, water, and got rid of out rubbish and then headed up to the bottom lock where we met n.b Nufield and its butty coming out of the gates..

 

This made things a bit easier for us as all the locks were now in out favour, but we didn't make up much time as these locks are all very slow fillers..

It had also turned very cold and we had to wrap up during the flight ahead. We moored up at Lock five and Al got out her little biddy and set off to the Supermarkets here.

It turned out to be a bad idea as the Aldi she was going to was closed until Thursday, so it was option two of using the Co-Op. This turned out to be packed with people panic buying again, so no loo rolls and flour for us.. Al did get a good shop though to last us a week or two. We set off onwards and upwards through the other five locks, again in our favour..

Then there was a knocking from the propshaft and Del managed to get Derwent6 into the lock and took out the weed hatch.

It turned out to be a fender rapped around the shaft, but after a bit of a struggle we got it off.

We then got to Lock two, the one that had held us up over the last week or so.. To be honest you couldn't really see what C&RT had done, which is a good thing when these lock are a national heritage. The vandals had pulled out these twisted plates which lock the hinges in place, and the lock gate fell into the water when used  

It was a bit of a relief when we did the last lock and reached the summit, as with all the leaves it had been hard work.

We were surprised that it was quiet on the Atherstone moorings, as we thought it would be busy with everyone locking down. (there's a joke in there somewhere)

Al did do some lovely sausage rolls with a coffee to keep us going.

Everyone could smell them.

It was easy cruising as we twisted and turned towards Hartshill.

We then looked for a mooring at Springwood and it was so busy we ended up mooring on a bit of a bend. It soon got dark but the fire had been ticking over all day so it was lovely and inviting when we went in..

  Early start tomorrow to get in position..  

Who Nicked the hinges?

So here we are about a mile and a half from the locks at Atherstone where one of the lock gates has been damaged. The first reports were that it had been rammed by a boat and been knocked of its hinges, but on further investigation it was found that it had been vandalised by someone as the bolts that fix the hinges had been removed.. The lock gate had then fallen into the water and it was lucky it didn't hurt anyone.. 

So here we are stuck here for a bit while C&RT do their thing on the repairs. The problem was getting a crane to lift it and then reinsert it back on its hinges.. It had to be on the schools half term break and a lot of hire boats were held up on their holidays..  C&RT have done an amazing job in the time to fix this, lets face it there are some idiots about.. 

So what have we been up to. Well the weather has been pants so we have hunkered down playing the waiting game.. We have got our safety check looming up so Del has been making sure we are in the best shape possible and did jobs like fitting a bulb to the navigation light.. Al caught up again with the washing in between showers. With a bit of luck the locks should be done at the weekend and we will be moving again when the weather clears.. Oopps we had best get the washing in!!!!