Loaded!

We woke up to a misty morning and had to get up due to the fact we had a Tesco's delivery coming..
Del did the brasses while waiting for the van to arrive.. We watched him go over the canal, then over the canal the other way, then thought we had better walk down and see where they had got to. Del was shocked to find the van parked up on the A5 and the guy walking over the bridge with one of those green baskets full of our food. "Follow this track" we told the guy and he put his basket back in the van and soon found us..

After we were loaded with food we thought it best to now fill with water. While doing this a boat pulled past us and started to get the lock ready just as we were fully loaded with water.
We pulled into the lock with them and started chatting.. We had both been Auto Electricians in a dealership, we had both moved up through the ranks the same in our work and we had both retired early.. It made the locks very easy as we had so much to talk about, other than boating..

At the bottom lock we said our goodbyes and we pulled over for diesel and to go to the chandlers..

  We got a bolt and some cratch bungee, and then fully loaded with Diesel we set off again.

The weather was just fantastic for cruising, warm, still winds, not as busy, and the scenery was a picture with the trees changing colour.

We moved through Weedon and down towards Bugsbrooke before we found a nice mooring which we had used before at Furnace Wharf.

Tooty was straight off Derwent6 when we tied up and was already hunting.

In the evening we sat and watched telly with a nice steak and salad Al had got from our Tesco's delivery earlier in the day.. So here we are Fully Loaded with everything we need, and happy!

Departing to Norton

We woke up to the rain pouring down and had planned an early start. It wasn't a difficult decision not to move yet and we pulled up the covers. This reminded us of what we love about Mondays and how lucky we are..
The rain stopped at midday and we unchained Derwent6 and then turned around. It was then back through Crick tunnel and then we headed for the Watford flight.. The trees are really starting to change now making it look very pretty going along..

It had seemed very quiet and were surprised to see two boats already going through the locks ahead.

Al spoke to the lock keeper and he just told us to tag onto the end of the queue. The locky's helped us down getting the next lock ready and we did the staircase in record time (not that we were rushing).
Al took over the tiller and Del cleaned the roof going along to get those horrid tunnel marks off from the drips inside..
We got to Norton Junction and moored on the end, we then walked down to see if there were any spaces on the Leicester line side, there weren't!
We then took a walk round on the Grand Union side and there were two available. Derwent6 just squeezed into one of them nice and snug.

With telly set up, Del then walked round to the Blacksmith boat to get a wedge for his hammer. The guy didn't have any, but said he would make one up, so the hammer was left with him..

After a chilled out afternoon, Del picked up his hammer and the guy had done a fantastic job, all for £3.00.

Beer, Racing, and Music with friends

We were up early so decided to get through Crick tunnel and hopefully get a mooring where we could get telly.
It was nice cruising and we approached the tunnel seeing it was empty.

It takes about 20 minutes to get through and was only a little wet for the last 100 metres.

We were catching up with friends Mark and Sian on Mochyn Du and managed to get moored in front of them..
After some breakfast we heard a bang on the boat. They had some friends on board, Sue and Skeggsey, who had been with them for a couple of days and had asked us to join them on the Saturday.
At lunchtime the drinking began and we started in the Royal Oak. Here we were joined by Nick and Juliet so the group had got bigger..

We all had a late lunch in the Wheatsheaf and the food was great. We then made our way over to the Crick Club where in the evening they were having a Race night, where you bet on the horses and they show a film to see who won, it was all for charity.
We had a lot of fun and won £100.00 and a bottle of wine on the last race of the night. As you can tell a lot of beer and wine got drunk and even some dancing took place..

We all then staggered back to Derwent6 and Nick and Juliet went back to their hotel..
In the morning we had organised The Moorings restaurant for breakfast.. It was a lovely morning and we sat outside with a Full English to settle our stomachs from the night before..
It was here we said our goodbyes to everyone and went back to our boats..
Mark had a problem with his toilet seat so we helped them sort it out and then it was back to boat cleaning and recovering for a bit.
At 5.00pm we were back on it, there was a duo playing some Irish Folk in the Royal Oak and when we got to the bar we found out that Pulled pork and chips was also on the menu, and all for free.
What a great evening, Addy and Carroll were just fantastic, Addy played guitar and had just a great folk voice while Carroll played the accordion like it was joined at the hip..

This went on till 8.00pm and it was rude not to have one in the club as we had to walk by it.. We got back at 9.00pm and chilled for a bit before crashing out.. A great weekend guys glad we made it!

Cratch Carnage

We woke up to a lot of banging going on in the cratch and the cat Tooty wanting to come in..  We looked out of the window to a lovely misty autumnal morning.. It had a chill in the air but we still resisted to light the fire..

When we opened the cratch we were surprised (Al was horrified!) to see Tooty had caught a rabbit, yes a bloody rabbit, with four mice. It looked like World War Two! I could take a full picture of the rabbit but what you see is bad enough.

After a good clean up and disinfecting the place Del had his hair cut and we showered before our breakfast.. (and it wasn't rabbit)
We decided to stay put today as we had a nice spot and the sun was out.. 
It was like a Sunday for us, so Al did some home cooking and we had a nice roast dinner which kept the boat warm. Del did some repairs on his servos and also did some little jobs around Derwent6..
Just a lazy day!

Widebeam Eyes

It was an early, early start this morning as we wanted to get through the tunnel before a wide beam which had a passage at 8.00am. We slid out the chains as quietly as we could at 6.30am, and pushed out before starting the engine with eyes like Greyhounds knackers.. 

We sneaked into the tunnel and  Del's eyes turned into widebeam eyes, as we got through with ease, with the waiting widebeam ready to go at the other end..

We then took the turn at a busy Norton Junction and made our way up to the locks at Watford.

When we arrived a guy in a small mustard yellow fiberglass boat was just coming into the lock. The paddles were open and so was his gate, so he was draining the pound behind him.. Al shouted he needed to close the gate or we won't be able to go through, and with that he closed it with the paddles fully open.. BANG! the gate closed, nearly taking the guys legs with it..
He scurried out of the lock and jet skied past us..
As we entered the lock the lock keeper turned up to remove his sign saying "there was no lock keeper". We told him what had happened and he rushed up to let water down for us.. Things were fine till we tried to get out of the lock and the gate that banged shut wouldn't open fully. After a bit of TLC we got it open enough to squeeze out.

After that it was easy as the lock keeper had the locks ready for us.. We got to the top and found a nice mooring with a view..

The weather was going to change at around midday and we were moored up by 10.30am, so more jobs were in order. First Del wiped the roof down with the drips from the tunnel and then went on the hunt for more wood. He found some close by and loaded up the roof till the drain holes of the cratch were just above the water level.
While doing that Del noticed some green in the cratch cover so used the Fabsil to clean it and also did the hatch and horn covers..

All this was done just before it tipped it down..
We had a nice lunch and Al finished it of with some lovely Date and Apple Rock cakes..

With all good signals here we chilled in the afternoon.

Picking up provisions

It was a misty start to the day.

We set off from Clifton at 9.00am and the first thing we noticed was the building work going on at Hillmorton locks.. We posted a post about the new bridge going in at 66a and work has already started and the towpath has been closed in sections here.

We got to the locks at Hillmorton and once again one of the two locks has been closed.. They have drained and fitted gates to these locks just last year and now we are told a balance beam is broken, what is happening with our licence money.

At the top it was washing on and tumble dryer to catch up on our week away.

Also Crumpets for breakfast.

It is getting very overgrown round here and now difficult to pass, come on CaRT.

We noticed something else new, the marina at Dunchurch was open and filled with boats, handy for winding and also a winter pumpout and diesel.

We soon got to Braunston and found a mooring, in fact there were quite a few moorings..

We walked up to the chandlers and picked up a replacement oil and air filter and also picked up some new pins as the ones we had were looking tired and a bit burred over at the ends.
When we got back we decided to get through the locks as it was a nice day and tomorrow didn't look so good..
We paired up with a hire boat and they had boating experience and soon got us to the top lock.

We moored up here for the night as Tooty was chomping at the bit to go out after his week in the cattery.

Al cooked a lovely toad in the hole and Del did some engine room chores, cleaning the bilge and filling the stern tube greaser.
We chilled in the evening. We had no phone signal and no TV signal, and a very poor internet signal. In a funny way, It was quite nice really!

Wild Wedding Week

Derwent6 went into Brinklow Marina for a week and Tooty went on holiday to Lord's Hill cattery.
We had to hire a car and one of the first things we wanted to do was some clothes shopping. We had a few other things to do down in Kent and stayed for the first few days with our good friends Bernie and Sarah.. We had a great couple of days with them.
On the Thursday we made our way down to the Kent coast and booked in a hotel. During the day we went round Folkestone for a quick Fish and Chips on the seafront.

Followed by going to the Battle of Britain war memorial, something Del had always wanted to do..

In the evening we went to the wedding of Sam and Dan (knowing both sides of the family)

We had a lovely time with them and all their friends and family.

In the morning after breakfast we were up and out and over to see friends Zoe and Greg in Whitstable where in the evening we went out to a lovely Thai restaurant.

We left them on the Friday and then went down to Wiltshire where we met back up with Bernie and Sarah and their son David..

David took us to a lovely Italian restaurant and then to a pub with a live band to finish off the evening..

In the morning the boys went gliding over at Pewsey  Hill..

We left to go back to Derwent6 at lunchtime and got back at 2.00pm. Hungry, we went out for a Toby Roast dinner and yep we were knackered by the end of all this..
On the Monday we got up early and collected Tooty, and then the shopping to fill the cupboards on Derwent6, We also had to buy a new satellite dish as the old one had had it day..
We were all ready to go at 3.00pm and fired up the Beta engine and pulled out of the marina..
Mmm it was good to be back on the cut again. We passed through Rugby and noticed all the extra moorings at Brownsover with new mooring rings..
We moored at Clifton and ended up staying an extra day here.. Yep it was a boat cleaning day, inside and out... Hoping to move tomorrow!