A few maintenance jobs

We have stayed put since Friday, moored close to the entrance of Yelvertoft marina. The weather has taken a turn for the worst with some quite heavy rain, and a blustery wind blowing. Inside the boat however with the stove lit it is warm and cosy. 

Prior to the arrival of the rain I bought a hat for our chimney. This is designed to just balance on the top, and a good gust of wind I suspect, would deposit it in the canal. Currently I have it clamped with a G clamp, but today I took a trip into Rugby and purchased some self tapping screws which should make a more permanent solution.

Yesterday I spent doing a few jobs in the boat. The main one was balancing our radiators so that the heat output is mainly concentrated in the living area and the bathroom, with slightly less in the bedroom and rear room. I have also been reading up on battery maintenance and it can be a minefield. It is however important if you want to get the maximum life out of your batteries, as they can be expensive. Therefore, the engine was run for nearly 8 hours yesterday whilst the travelpower generator, and mastervolt inverter/charger performed what is called an equalisation charge. Fortunately this only has to be done every so often.

One of the benefits of having the stove lit is that you can cook on it, so today sitting on the stove is my tea, beef and ale stew. It certainly smells nice bubbling away in the pot. I will let you know in my next post how it turned out.

Tomorrow we are intending to move as we need water soon and will also fill up with diesel. I have found out speaking to some neighbouring boaters, that there is an unofficial winding hole by bridge 22 so we do not need to go as far as we thought. This move will be subject to the weather.

Bridge 18 Yelvertoft

Weekly update - On Monday we departed Foxton on a general return journey. We stopped again at North Kilworth and then on Tuesday I took a trip by road to Market Harborough. This appears to be an attractive small town with decent shops and we will be visiting it by boat later in the year. On Wednesday we moved again stopping overnight near a previous mooring spot at bridge 28. Unusually for us we moved again on Thursday this time passing Yelvertoft marina before winding (turning) at Cracks Hill winding hole. We did this to beat the bad weather that is forecast to arrive by the weekend. We plan on staying here for the week as family are possibly visiting us next weekend. I have however made a basic error as after this visit we intend on heading back down the Watford Locks to Long Buckby and then continue south on the Grand Union Canal towards the Northampton Arm. I am however facing the wrong way and the nearest winding hole is 3 miles away so a 6 mile round trip which is a days cruising for us. We will only have two weeks or so to explore as the Watford Locks are to be closed at the beginning of November as part the Canal and River Trust winter stoppages for maintenance. We need to be back on the summit level before then for our mooring in Yelvertoft Marina.

Today, Friday 3/10 we walked into Crick and found that the Red Lion pub has a nice atmosphere and that on the first Sunday of each month they have a pie night. The selection looked very good so i am sure we will visit them again. There is also a well stocked mini co-op so it is good to know we have good pubs and shops all with in walking distance for the winter.

                          View back towards bridge 18 and the marina entrance.

That's it for now as we get ready to batten down the hatches for the wind and rain that is forecast. Tomorrow we have birthday to celebrate. Oscar is one year old and we have got him a nice chewy bone for his present.

Totals 14 Miles 1 Tunnel

Foxton

Well this morning after five days it was time to move on. We had exhausted our water supply, so we now know that we can go six days between fill ups without having to be careful with our usage. We set off for North Kilworth Wharf to obtain water, and we also took the opportunity for a pump out. After concluding our business we continued heading roughly north east, and soon entered Bosworth Tunnel. This is a relatively short tunnel at just over 1000 yards and took us 12 minutes. Once through the tunnel it was only five miles or so to the famous Foxton flight of locks. There is a winding hole just before the flight, which was handy because we do not intend descending the locks until December when we head for Market Harborough. We had spotted a nice, sunny, south facing mooring on the way to Foxton, and it was still vacant on our return. This was another first for us using mooring pins instead of the chains. I just hope I have banged them in well, or we may float off during the night.

Anyway now some pictures of our garden for the next few days.

Finally the solar panel got a polish ready for tomorrow because if the weather reports are to be believed, we should get quite a bit of power produced over the next few days with the sun on the panel all day.

Totals 8 Miles 1 Tunnel

Bridge 43 nr North Kilworth

Well after posting last night two boats turned up where we were moored so we were not alone for long.

Stayed in bed this morning as we could hear it raining outside. This stopped however after we got up so a quick breakfast then a short walk past the junction towards North Kilworth. We noted some mooring places but as we got to bridge 43 there was a secluded single spot available. A quick check with the compass showed that there were no trees in the line of sight to the sky satellite. We returned to the boat and brought her forward the half mile or so to what will be recorded in our route guide as a good spot.

                  Signpost left to Foxton,right to Welford and return to Norton Junction.

                              Oscar being walked to our next location.

                        Looking forward towards bridge and North Kilworth.

           View from above. No neighbours for the next few days unless on a small boat.

After securing the boat and lining up the sky dish it was lunchtime. Both of us are surprised how quickly the time seems pass. In the afternoon we walk upto the boat yard at North Kilworth to see what the facilities are like. We will need some of their services in few days time. Once back at the boat I put the chimney up just in case the stove needs to go on this evening. Oscar went to sleep on the sofa.

Totals 1/2 Mile

Welford Junction

Set off this morning at 10 am with grey sky and a chilly breeze. The intention was to continue north towards Welford Junction. This is where a short one and a half mile stretch of canal leaves the Leicester arm and terminates at a wharf in the village of Welford. Just prior to the terminus is a single lock. We moored before the junction as it is our intention to continue our journey north for a while and there where some handy mooring rings where we were stopping.

                                         Welford Junction ahead in the gloom.

                                 Our mooring - As you can see all alone for now.

The trip took took two hours and on route we noted some very nice secluded moorings that we shall use in the future. After lunch we walked upto the junction and then down the Welford Arm to the terminus and the pub. The Wharf Inn had been recommended so we rested there a while before walking up to the village shop.

On our return Oscar saw another dog on the opposite bank of the canal and this dog was playing with a frisbee. Now Oscar has one of these and he decided to play as well only between him and the other dog was about 20 feet of canal. The obvious happened whilst running full speed and unable to stop Oscar ended up 7 or 8 feet from the bank in the canal. His head disappeared and when it bobbed up again he swam for the bank. He looked like a drown rat when first pulled out.

                    A dripping wet Oscar.

Still at least we now know if he falls in that he can swim ok. Fortunately the sun was now shining and our walk back was in the warm giving him time to dry before we got home.

Totals 5 Miles

Leicester line GU nr bridge 28

This morning was very misty when Oscar got up for his breakfast, so I am told. By the time I awoke the mist had cleared over the marina but it still looked grey and overcast, not the fine weather promised in the forecast. Still at least we could now see the exit onto the canal. After moving the car to the long stay area and refilling the water tank we departed the marina at 11 am. We had been in the marina since Friday and although it is very nice we definitely prefer to be out on the cut.

An hour and half later we had travelled the 3 miles to our mooring spot. Today is the busiest day we have seen on the canal. We had at least 6 boats opposing us and someone told us we were the fifteenth to pass them that day.

As we moored the sun came out and so we had an enjoyable afternoon chatting to other boaters on the towpath. Oscar was also able to try out his sun hat which had arrived in the post a few days ago.

                                                Oscar wearing his new hat.

                                             A couple of photos of our mooring.

We will probably stay here for a few days before we continue our journey north towards the Welford arm.

Yelvertoft

We set off this morning at 7.45 am. You could tell the weather was going to be good as the sky was crystal clear blue and mist appeared to be rising from the canal.

                                                The start of a glorious day.

We approached the Watford flight of locks and were first in the queue for going up. After checking in with the lock keeper we waited until the two boats descending the flight had finished. Then it was our turn. Each lock had two set of colour coded paddles, red and white. You open the red ones first then the white which balances the water in the side ponds, so the lockie told us.

                                  Entry point to the first lock of the Watford flight.

                                  Waiting for boats in the staircase to exit.

                   Halfway up the red paddles being opened with lockie looking on.

                                             Top of the flight looking back.

Having ascended the locks it was not long before we entered Crick tunnel. We were nearly through thinking we had got away without a drenching and then it happened near the northern end of the tunnel. Oscar had sat just inside the boat rather than in 'his spot' but he seemed ok with it. Once clear of the tunnel we passed the marina famous for the annual boat show and pressed on towards Yelvertoft.

We needed a pump out and also took the opportunity to refuel. We had used 56 litres of diesel on our journey from Tamworth. After re acquainting ourselves with the staff at Yelvertoft marina we continued heading north on what is going to be our home water for the winter. It is very tranquil a little overgrown and shallow in a lot of places.

                                 View from side hatch of night time mooring.

We are planning to stay put for a few days maybe only moving for a refill of water when needed.

Totals 10 Miles 7 Locks 1 Tunnel