Retirement Beckons
In less than a month we will be setting off on the longest boat trip of our lives! I will be retiring on my 55th birthday and to celebrate both occasions, we will be untying Caxton and then heading off into the wilderness for six months.
We’ve not published any blog posts since last summer because it would have been difficult to write without mentioning our plans. The company that I work for have known since November that I had planned to retire but the wider announcement has had to wait until now. The news is out now so there is no reason not to mention it freely on here.
We haven’t done much boating anyway, most of our time and energy has been devoted to making all sorts of preparations for this big change in lifestyle. We’re almost done now with only a few bits and pieces to complete before the great voyage begins next month.
Three men in a boat
Three men and Caxton
Stan, Dan & Derek
No, nothing to do with George, Harris and J as chronicled by Jerome K Jerome but all about three gentlemen from the USA on vacation here on a narrowboat.
Sue knits – a lot. Socks, shawls, scarves, dishcloths, if it can be knitted, she will knit it. She frequents the Knitting Paradise website and over the years has made many friends, learned new techniques and made a lot of her own contributions which have helped other fellow knitters and crochet enthusiasts. A few months ago she was contacted by a fellow crafter, Fran, from America whose husband was planning to have a narrowboat holiday with two of his friends. Fran wondered if Sue could provide some information for her husband, Stan and his two compadres which would help them with their trip. As it turned out, they were hiring a boat from Valley Cruises in Coventry so we were able to email them with a fair amount of information relating to the Coventry, Ashby and North Oxford canals.
Stan called on Thursday and we arranged to meet up on Sunday (today) at the Lime Kilns on the Ashby canal. These things can be difficult at the best of times but with none of the three amigos having a mobile phone (cell phone for our American friends), we hoped that it would all work out.
I was in Winchester on Friday night attending a retirement dinner and didn’t get back to Hinckley until Saturday morning. I pulled Caxton out of the marina and moored in the usual place on the corner by the apartment before returning home. We delayed our departure until after the televised football match between Manchester United and Leicester City. A defeat for the blues brought into question our decision to watch the game!
We were on our way by three o’clock and heading for Marston junction, the problem with heading in this direction in a 68′ boat is that it can’t be turned before the junction. No matter, we wanted to have a run out and fancied a night in the wilderness. We had to contend with a fierce wind as we made our way in a south westerly direction but with very few boats on the move, we were presented with no problems at all. We moored just after bridge three, had dinner and settled in for the evening.
It rained overnight, heavily and therefore noisily but by the time we were ready to set off at eight o’clock, the weather was cheering up a little. We made the short hop to the junction, emerged on to the Coventry canal and quickly turned around before slipping back under the bridge and back on to the Ashby. Sue, the galley slave, soon produced a couple of bacon sandwiches which were much appreciated by the crew in the engine room. Fully fortified, I steered Caxton to a good mooring on the visitor moorings opposite the Lime Kilns.
I walked home, picked up the car and a few bits and pieces before going shopping. On returning to our mooring I could see that the intrepid travellers had arrived and found a mooring space behind us and they were on the towpath talking to Sue. I joined them and we all had a a good chinwag inside after the gents had had a tour of our vessel.
Stan, Dan and Derek have been friends since their schooldays and despite them now being scattered from the east coast the west, with Dan somewhere in the middle, they have maintained their camaraderie over the years. Stan captains a tour boat on the Hudson river, Dan lives in Michigan and restores automobiles, Derek lives in California where he designs and builds sail boats. Stan brought me a book that he co-authored with Derek’s brother about the Hudson river as well as some yarn (hand dyed in New York state) from Fran – for Sue of course! There was also some of Fran’s home made “Apple butter”, a delicious spicy apple purée concoction that is proving irresistible!
We chatted for a while and then headed to the Lime Kilns where we had lunch in the garden. The time flew by as we talked about canals and listened to the boys’ stories, one of those afternoons that you wish would never end. But end they must and so we returned to the other side of the cut where we said our goodbyes to our new found friends. We have stayed tied up here but Derek, Dan and Stan have moved on now, we wish them all the best on the rest of their trip, it really was a pleasure meeting these three interesting characters – the three men in a boat.
A long and sunny day
When we looked at the weather on Thursday morning and saw that we were to expect rain and high winds on Friday and Saturday, we decided to make the best of the weather and head for home.
Nasty looking weather forecast
It was nine o’clock when we got underway, later than we would have been had we been planning to travel but still early enough to get some distance behind us. We weren’t alone, it seemed like fifty percent of the boats in Braunston had decided to leave the area at the same time so there was the usual chaos at bridges, water points and of course at the junction. The traffic soon settled down as we got out into the open countryside and although there were plenty of boats on the move, we encountered no problems and reached the locks at Hillmorton just two hours later. A sufficient number of boats and lock keepers meant that we cleared the three locks in forty minutes before pulling on to the water point. The great progress that we had made thus far was wiped out by the slow running water tap, taking almost an hour to fill Caxton’s tank. By the time we set off again, the sun was beating down and the temperature was soaring with just a light breeze blowing to keep things bearable. No mooring space at Rugby and nothing really suitable at Newbold although we did tie up temporarily before the tunnel for a shopping stop at the local Co-op. We were on our way again just after three and had decided to aim for somewhere between Ansty and Hawkesbury. Sue took the helm for a few hours to give me a break and we had a great afternoon. The miles and hours flew by as we listened to music in the afternoon sunshine. We passed through Ansty and sort of forgot that we should have been looking for a mooring spot, suddenly we were at Hawkesbury and had to stop for the shallow lock there. Safely and smoothly around the 180 degree turn in front of the Greyhound pub where the outdoor customers always take an interest in boats in the hope that there will be a mistake made. Their heads automatically turn towards the water but soon turn back again when they realise that there is no entertainment for them. Clouds were starting to build and the sun was getting lower in the sky by the time we turned at Marston junction on to the Ashby canal. Finally, we stopped and tied up just before bridge three, had something to eat and then flopped in our chairs for the evening. Our twenty six mile trip with its six locks had taken us ten hours, an average of three lock miles per hour – not bad going at all.
The rain came overnight, the heaviest being just before five o’clock but it had slowed to no more than a steady drizzle by the time we awoke on Friday morning. I got up and dressed at half past seven, Caxton’s engine burst into life fifteen minutes later and we were off. The cabin door opened a few minutes later and a coffee appeared, a short while later the door opened again and this time a bacon sandwich was thrust into my hand with the promise of another when I was ready. As expected, the trip back to Hinckley was quiet enough with only a handful of boats on the move, partly due to the time of day and partly down to the rain. We were back on our berth in the marina before ten o’clock and back home a short time later. Two hours of rain in two weeks is a pretty good result and we were glad that we made the long trip on Thursday because it has rained all day today.
A short cruise to Braunston
We had a peaceful night on our mooring last night and awoke to a beautiful clear blue sky. We only wanted to get to Braunston so we didn’t set off until nine o’clock, thinking that it would take about ninety minutes to get to our destination. In the event, it was ten o’clock when we arrived and we couldn’t see any spaces that were big enough for Caxton, so we carried on until we reached the second entrance to the marina and luckily enough, found the perfect mooring right on the end with a perfect view of the canal up to the bottom lock.
Last night, we encountered a couple on a hire boat from Kate boats, today we bumped into them again as we tied up. They’re thinking of buying a boat and have hired this week to see what it’s like to live afloat. Grab your dream folks, jump in, the water’s lovely!
We walked to the bus stop by the Boathouse pub only to discover that the services have changed and there is no longer a bus into Rugby from there. We walked up into the village instead and did some shopping before returning to the boat where we had a sandwich for lunch.
At four o’clock we decided to take a walk up the locks and ended up assisting a couple on a share boat up through the first three. We had an ice cream along the way and once we saw that the share boat had help from oncoming craft we retreated to the Admiral Nelson and had a refreshment or two.
We returned to Caxton and after sitting on the front deck for a while, we went back inside and settled in for the night.
More Expense!
One of the hidden joys of boating is the odd unexpected expense or two. Things go wrong, equipment fails, bits break off and they all have to be fixed. This happens in houses and with cars as well of course but with a boat it is different, with a boat, the cost is always eyewatering! We’ve already forked out nearly £700 for a new calorifier (hot water tank) this year and today another £300 went on a replacement water pump for the Hurricane heater. There’s a problem with the large domestic alternator which we’re hoping will be a cheap fix, if not, another four hundred quid will bite the dust.
After we moored up yesterday at Napton, I called Calcutt boats who are the UK and European agents for the Hurricane heater to see if they could take a look at the problematic unit. The result was that we would take Caxton there this afternoon. This morning, we took a walk up to the village shop at Napton, we first visited it about five years ago when it had just changed hands and what a transformation there has been since then. This once run down store is now a little treasure selling the full range of groceries and speciality foods. It’s a post office and a cafe too so well worth the ten minute walk from the canal. Once again we lunched at the Folly Inn before setting off for Calcutt, a destination that we reached just after two o’clock. After descending the top lock, we pulled on to the wharf and then sat in the sunshine as two engineers fiddled with and diagnosed the problem with the hurricane. Two hours, a new pump and three hundred pounds later, we were ready to leave. Before then, we met Barry and Sandra from the home brew boat who had pulled in for diesel and while we were waiting, passed the time of day with them.
We went back up through the top lock at Calcutt just before five o’clock and made our way back to Wigrams turn where we turned left and looked for a mooring. We found a spot, actually one of our old haunts near bridge 103 where have settled for the evening. There are tractors harvesting corn in the fields around us, the moon is almost full and we have seen a beautiful sunset.
The moon
The sunset
Harvesting
Tractor
Tonight’s neighbours
If the price of this lifestyle is the odd bill for a few hundred quid, it must be worth it.
Week 2
We had another day off yesterday, for no other reason than we could, so we did! We had booked a table at the Wharf Inn for Sunday lunch so after a lazy start, we got up and dressed and eventually made our way along the towpath to the pub and had a fabulous roast dinner each. The rest of the afternoon was spent just lazing around until it was time for bed.
This morning was a different story, we were awake early and moved on to the water point for seven o’clock where we brimmed the tank before setting off half an hour later. The weather was already amazing, blue skies and blazing sun with only a slight breeze to keep matters cool. The crossing of the summit on the Oxford is a bit of a chore as far as I am concerned and today was no exception. One overgrown blind corner follows another and there’s bugger all to see in between, making for a tedious passage to Marston Doles and the top of the Napton flight.
We made steady progress down, meeting boats at most of the nine locks so it all seemed very pleasant in the August sunshine.
The last couple of locks at Napton
With a bit of collaboration with the volunteer lock keepers, Sue managed to ensure that the elsan mooring was free for us as we left the bottom lock. It took us four minutes to pull over and empty two cassettes and be on our way again – the boating equivalent of a formula 1 pit stop. We rounded the corner and found a mooring straight away so we had no choice but to tie up and head to the Folly Inn again for lunch.
Today’s mooring
After lunch we went our separate ways, I wandered up to the village shop in Napton while Sue bought an ice cream from the Folly Inn shop for the kind lock keeper who had looked after us on the way down.
We’ve been leapfrogging nb Indigo Dream for the last couple of days and today was no exception.
Indigo Dream
Another one dives into the jungle
All that remained was for us to be entertained by the numerous boats which failed to take the bend behind us.
Tickover Alley
We pulled our pins out of the ground this morning at seven o’clock and started the long slog through Cropredy. As we got closer to the village, we saw more and more people, many with bleary eyes, yawning as they walked towards one of the many places selling breakfast on the festival weekend. The first three locks were in our favour but by the fourth, we realised that we were following another boat. As a result, we had to turn the next four but as we made our way up the five at Claydon, we started to meet oncoming craft so progress seemed smoother. We reached the summit just before eleven, ten locks – not a bad morning’s work! We made our way to Fenny Compton tunnel and although we had to wait for a couple of minutes until another boat emerged from the narrows, we made good progress, only meeting one more boat on the way and at a section that was wide enough for two boats to pass. We next passed Fenny Compton marina and crept around the final bend before the visitor moorings came into view. As we reached the end of the fourteen day section, we saw a space but were unsure if Caxton would fit but we gave it a go anyway. It worked and it was the tightest fit we have ever managed with the front fender ” button to button” with the boat in front and the rear resting on the stern of the boat behind. If the bank had been straight it wouldn’t have worked because our fender would have lined up with the one behind and there just wasn’t the space for that. I tied the boat up but in all honesty, we were wedged in and probably didn’t need to.
Wharf Inn Fenny Compton
We went straight to the Wharf Inn and had lunch by way of celebration, the meals being as good as they were a couple of days ago. Fed and watered, we returned to Caxton by way of the towpath – all 100 yards of it. Luckily enough, I had tied the boat up as the boat in front had gone and the one behind had moved forward a few feet so we were wedged in no more. I reconfigured our mooring lines and then we settled into our chairs on the front deck for another afternoon of relaxation.
Breakfast at Tiffanys
Yesterday we went to Oxford by train, it took twenty minutes and cost us £6.20 return each – bargain! We had a wander around and eventually, Sue found a yarn shop. Handily enough it was in a lovely little side street with a pub opposite so while she browsed, I sat across the road and enjoyed a pint in the sunshine. Well, two actually because it was a very interesting shop that needed some dedicated investigating apparently.
The Yarn shop that needed to be investigated
The “man-creche” across the road
The spoils of war!
We’ve been to Oxford on many occasions so we weren’t too bothered about trying to do all of the touristy things. As we walked back towards the station, we became aware of a major fire, streets were being closed and traffic diverted. Soon we could see a huge amount of smoke which was filling one street, making it impossible to see more than a hundred yards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-37047141
Smoke filled street
The excitement didn’t end there because as we waited on the platform for our train, four police officers ran past us, presumably chasing someone. We didn’t witness the outcome because our train arrived and we got on it. At four o’clock we were back in Banbury and heading for our mooring, too much excitement in Oxford for us. That was it, we settled down for the evening and then went to bed.
This morning, we moved Caxton down into Castle Quay and then went shopping but not before we treated ourselves to breakfast at Wetherspoons, this is just like breakfast at Tiffanys but at a fraction of the price. The visit to M&S yielded a couple of meals for two for a tenner – including a bottle of wine. We decided to leave Banbury and head for home so once we had everything on board, we untied and chugged towards the lift bridge and then the lock. The winding hole below Banbury is the best part of a mile from Castle Quay and for most of the way the towpath is lined with moored boats so it was slow going there and back. Two hours had elapsed by the time we escaped the clutches of Banbury but when the sun is shining, who cares? Our plan was to get as close to Cropredy as possible without going so far as to have to carry on through what has become “tickover alley”. We moored just below Slat mill lock and although further investigation revealed that we could have gone through it, there was only one space above and then the long line of boats begins.
We had dinner at four and then walked along the towpath to Cropredy passing a few trading boats along the way. The festival seems to take place all around the village and there are many stalls selling food, clothes and memorabilia. The village shop was doing a roaring trade having cleared most food from its shelves and replenished them with beer and wine. Both pubs in the village appeared to have staged their own mini festivals and again were very busy with the graveyard opposite the Red Lion being used as a beer garden. Hmmm! Not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, it seems like the whole village is cashing in on the festival and why not?
We returned to Caxton a couple of hours later having enjoyed our wander around, at the very least we managed to get a walk of around three miles in and that was the main thing. We plan to be on the move early tomorrow and get through tickover alley before anyone else is on the move.
Another early start
We were up and away just after seven again this morning with the intention of getting through the narrow section that is all that remains of the old Fenny Compton tunnel before boat traffic started building up. We were successful and were on the approach to Claydon top lock an hour later. The air was cool as we travelled but the sun kept peeping through the clouds and bit by bit, the air warmed up for us. Our run down the five Claydon locks was swift and straightforward as they were all in our favour and there were no other boats around. We were assisted at one lock by a couple who were camping nearby and after that, we started to meet boats heading for the summit so our progress was improved. We had a vague notion to stop near the village of Cropredy for no other reason than it would leave us with a short-ish run into Banbury tomorrow but our plans had to be revised when a boater that we met, informed us that the annual Fairport Convention festival was starting and that there was mile after mile of moored boats in and around the village. She wasn’t wrong either so it was tickover all the way for about three miles or so. We decided to top up the water and by the time we reached the Cropredy service wharf, the Rose narrowboat that we had followed down through the village lock had winded and was taking on water too. We breasted up to it and while we waited, we chatted to the holiday makers on board. As they moved off, we moved in and started filling our own tank. In the meantime there was a steady stream of boaters with all sorts of water containers turning up to get water, all of them afraid to move their boats in case they lost their mooring. An hour had passed since we had stopped but we were finally on our way again, passing the seemingly never ending line of narrowboats moored to the south of Cropredy. Along the way, we saw nb Derwent6 complete with crew, Del and Al. We used to read their blog when they wrote it and although we haven’t met them before, we had a brief conversation with them as we passed by. Suddenly, the line of boats ended and normality was restored, leaving us with just over an hour’s cruising to get to Banbury. We were a little concerned in case we wouldn’t be able to find a mooring but we needn’t have worried as Banbury was almost devoid of boats. We tied at the beginning of the visitor moorings adjacent to Spiceball park but we could have had the pick of spaces from here to the lift bridge at Castle Quay. We had a late lunch or maybe it was an early dinner but whatever it was, it wasn’t a pub meal! After we had eaten, we walked into Banbury and did a little bit of shopping before returning to Caxton’s mooring. We sat in the cratch for a while and relaxed as the aroma of bread and roasted coffee wafted on the breeze from the Fine Lady bakery and the Kenco factory respectively. We became aware of a strange noise coming from the trees on the other side of the canal and soon, Sue spotted where it was coming from – it was a squirrel! Now I can’t say that I’ve ever heard a squirrel make any sort of noise before but there was no doubt that this one was making itself heard. An internet search revealed that this could have been a young one calling for its mother, an adult calling for its mate or sometimes if they spot a predator, squirrels will make a noise to let the predator know that they have been spotted. After a while the squirrel moved off and the noise stopped, by that time the air had cooled down again so we retreated to the comfort of the lounge and settled in for the night.
Up the hill and another pub lunch
We did very little yesterday evening, boats kept coming and going but eventually everything quietened down and we went to bed. We were awake by six thirty so we decided to get up and get going. We were underway before seven and crept past the line of boats moored to the corner below the bottom lock of the Napton flight. We pulled up and filled the water tank, ready for the ascent that lay before us. It took half an hour to fill the tank and then we were off again and into the chamber of the bottom lock which was already empty. We made great progress as we worked the locks between us, Sue preparing each lock and me finishing off. We had help at the sixth lock from someone who was camping there, as a reward we filled his water bottle and gave him some milk. We only had to turn the last two locks and we were able to leave the top lock open as we left for a boat about to start the descent. The nine locks had taken exactly two hours, not bad going at all.
It’s three years since our last trip along here and it’s our first time with Caxton, a boat sixteen feet longer than our last boat, Phoenix III. This shallow canal twists and turns its way across the summit through overgrown areas and around tight blind corners, not easy in a boat of this length. However, we spend a lot of time on the Ashby canal so none of this is new to us and as a result we reached Fenny Compton unscathed. Surprisingly enough, we were able to find a prime mooring at the start of the fourteen day stretch so we tied up, closed up and went to the Wharf Inn for lunch. If yesterday’s meals at the Folly were very good, then today’s by definition must have been excellent. Home made steak pie, mash and veg, all cooked to perfection. Nothing like a flight of locks to build up an appetite but we went for a long walk straight after to burn up some of the calories!
Back to the boat to relax again in the evening. Like yesterday, the boats keep coming and going late into the day. Each to their own but we much prefer to do our travelling in the morning so that we can secure a good mooring early enough and then give ourselves options for the rest of the day.