Sitting tight and a car earlier than planned

We like it round here as it is very pleasant views across the countryside.

We even spotted a woodpecker who always showed off his feathers to us early in the morning..

So we planned to stay here for a few days as we needed to hire a car on Monday, first for the doctors and secondly for a funeral we are going to.. It turned out to be cheaper to hire it on the Saturday as it was £20.00 cheaper, we know its crazy!!! So even though we have a car, we don't really need it yet..
We had to collect the car this time so we got a cab into Daventry and picked it up.. We then had a few things we wanted to look at, so we used the time to go to a few stores. We also got our weekly shopping and of course grabbed a coffee in a lovely coffee shop in the town centre..
We then made our way back and Al put away the shopping and Del got cracking on the things we had brought..
Del first spliced the ropes and made two centre ropes which we now have to have due to the solar panels on the roof..

  Also we changed the aerial lead which does go brittle in the weather over the winter..

It hasn't helped that Del has had this cold (Yes only a cold) over the last few days.. So as with everyone in the country we are sneezing into a tissue and then binning it or it goes on the fire.. It seems to have worked because he is feeling a lot better now..

Lets just get there

We woke up to the rain hitting the roof and knew we couldn't move just yet.. It gave us a chance to sort out some other things and also sort out what we needed in Braunston.
We managed to get away at 12.30pm and it was a tad cold and cloudy.

It just feels so good to be moving again even though we have done this stretch so many times..

We saw the church in view and knew we were close to the village, and it appeared to be quite empty..
We moored on the Midland Chandlers mooring and popped in there to pick up a few things we were running out of.

We also got a new rope, but this time got a bigger gauge as the old one snapped in all those strong winds. We managed to get a good deal as it was at the end of the roll..
It was then onto the water point and we topped up the tank so it gave us better options if we wanted to stay somewhere a bit longer..

We also popped into AJ canopies and picked up some cleaner to get rid of the green we had growing on the cratch..

It was then on up to the locks and we waited for a boat to come out. It never happened because he wanted to go up the locks backwards, so we joined him facing in different directions which seemed weird..

It turned out he was going in the shed at the top of the lock..

The locks were all in our favour and we made good time getting to the top.

As the sun had come out, we decided we could get through the tunnel and make it to Norton Junction.

So we prepared Derwent6 for a very wet tunnel. It turned out to be not too bad, and we went through with ease.

When we arrived at our destination there were loads of moorings to choose from..

Tooty was in his element as he hadn't been out for two months, he couldn't believe how he could just go in and out on the grass when he fancied it..

On our way!

Well at last we have left the marina where we have stayed for the last three months, but what a good decision it was.

Again it felt good to be moving as we took the exit onto the cut. The first thing we noticed was the state of the towpaths..

Puddles, mud and even like a river in some places..

The problem with this is it just gets inside your boat. As much as you try to clean your wellies or shoes it still gets into the mats and covers the floor which you end up cleaning all the time.. It was a lovely sunny spring like day and we both had a big smile on our faces as we felt the sun on our cheeks..

The engine had passed its first test and was behaving itself for now, as we took things nice and easy. It was funny to see the popular mooring spots which were a bit muddy were now empty and the dry areas packed to the brim with boats.. Even the mooring at Clifton had a boat under the new bridge which was now fully open..

But there is now a very handy footpath which shortens the route to the station.

We carried on up to the locks and Al had to drain the lock so we could get in.

We soon reached the top and were on our way again, but the scenery had changed here as well.
Houses were now getting close to the canal and the trees and cottage had gone from the corner, sad we know, but it had been derelict for about three years..

  The sun got a little less as the clouds were forming above us which was turning things a bit colder and we needed to find a mooring..

 

It was lovely to be out on the cut in the middle of nowhere again

Widebeam for sale, family and friends come first.

So we are back in the marina for a short time as we organise ourselves to get out of here.. Derwent6 has now got a new kettle, not that the old kettle had broken, just that it was looking very tired from being used a hell of a lot. It's funny how a kettle can brighten up your life and be a feature inside, making things brighter inside.

We are stocked up with coal and logs and hopefully the engine will hold out now as it seems to have sorted itself out.. As for the paintwork and brasses, I'm afraid the weather hasn't let us get outside, so work to be done there..

Another shock was that friends Carol and George on Still Rocking have decided to call it a day in their widebeam.. ( https://www.apolloduck.com/boat/lambon-62-widebeam/631841 )

They have put family first and are moving north to be closer to them. Life is all about people, and not material things, and family and friends should always come first.. So a good decision in our eyes, but they will be sadly missed on the water.. Anyone interested in their wonderful boat should check out this link..

It has been a very difficult year this year with all this water around, but we're sure during the summer we will be in drought mode, this weather is crazy.. We are looking forward to our travels this year, but again its busy with events with family and friends.

Steve's 60th Birthday Bash

We have been off Derwent6 for a few days due to another birthday down in Kent.. It has been cold and windy and it would make a nice change to get with friends for a big celebration of Steve's 60th Birthday bash..

Del has known Steve since he was eleven, and its fantastic that we have kept good friends over all these years.. Steve had arranged his own birthday and everything was top secret and we didn't have a clue what we were all doing as we drove down. All 10 of us turned up at his house, and when we arrived in Gravesend we were handed envelopes to explain what was going on.
We first walked to the Panic Rooms and this turned out to be an escape room in a submarine. You had to suss out the clues and find the codes to open doors and obtain batteries to escape.. Our team failed badly as we had to let Steve win of course..

From there we went and had a lovely curry, all organised and paid for by Steve.. It was just a great night out with friends and very different, we really enjoyed it.. Steve did get his birthday present and we will tell you more about that later in the year..

The following day Bernie and Del went onto the driving range with Steve. He loves his golf and wanted to see if he could play after his operation on his hand.. Del and Bernie hadn't played for over ten years so it was a bit of a learning goal for all of us but such a laugh.. In the evening it was off to see a band. A friend of Steve's, who he played football with, played in the band.

They were playing in Maidstone so we all went down for a good drink with some great sounds and hits in our ears.. Again it was a great laugh and a good time was had by all..

Steve's actual birthday wasn't until the following Tuesday, and his daughter Tanya had arranged for us all to go to Lakeside in Essex where we played Putt Shack, a computerised Crazy golf with a bar and cocktails.. What fun we had there.

We all ended up in Miller and Carter, a lovely steakhouse on a boat on the lakes..
A big thank you to all that were there and to Steve for making it a lovely memory..

We drove back to Derwent6 and this time she was still on her moorings. We used the car and the time to get some food, and bits and pieces we needed for three weeks time..
We plan to get back on the cut next week as we have a gap in our calendar..

40th Birthday and Derwent6 off it's mooring

With Storm Dennis looming up we made the decision to go down to Kent as we had a 40th Birthday party to go to..

We left early and knew we needed to get across the Dartford crossing before it was closed due to the strong winds coming.
We managed to get across at 12.30pm and had a good run, and we stayed at Terry's (Del's Stepmum) as they were away on holiday.. We could also check on Rosie the cat and chill for a bit as the winds picked up..

We went to the party at 8.00pm and Nicola was waiting at the door. She was so pleased to see us and it was nice to catch up with the family..
We have known Nicola since she was five and have been in touch ever since.. We can't believe she is forty, she also has a sister (Abbey) who is three and three quarters younger..

It was such a lovely party and gave us the chance to catch up with friends who were there..

Nicola is such a fun girl, and so are her friends, and we had a really great evening. Reminiscent of our party's back in the day, which Nicola used to go to!

 With the storm getting worse we decided to drive back that night and it was one of the best decisions we made.. Al drove, and we had an empty road, but as we got close to the marina we could see the worst of the storm had passed here.. As we pulled up to Derwent6 we could see something wasn't right as the bow had gone across and was touching the boat next to us.. The wind had pulled the front ring out of the pontoon and it had then snapped the stern ropes and got wedged between the boat and the pontoon..

The wind was still too strong to pull Derwent6 back, so we had no choice but to leave things as they were till the morning. All this was happening at 3.00am in the morning.. As you can imagine we didn't get much sleep with us banging against the boat alongside the next pontoon, so Del was up early as there was a slight lull in the storm. He managed to pull the boat back on the pontoon after a couple of attempts, and tie to the ring on the other side of the pontoon.

We then managed to fit a new rope on the stern and also fixed a centre rope to a ring we had which fitted between the wood panels..

 Phew we were secure again, so lets hope the pontoon holds up.. The guys next to us won't be happy as we had damaged their new blacking, but it was just a bit of paint..

We went back to bed and woke up at 1.30pm, it felt like we had jet lag..