Author: Mary

I am sitting in the bow of the boat on a camping chair under the cratch cover because I am just too hot to be in the sitting area! R stoked the fire to get it hot enough to cook our pizza. (this is my own narrowboat MasterChef moment and it was an experiment that worked well!) I put a metal trivet on the stove top (having learnt my lesson earlier today heating a mincepie without said trivet resulting in an exceedingly black bottom!) and laid on that some reusable parchment paper and then the pizza. I upended a small deep metal baking tray over the top and left the pizza to heat through. The cheese melted and it was delicious and no soggy bottom ala bakeoff. Am having such fun experimenting with novel ways of cooking food on the wood burner.

Our speedy supper followed a lovely lengthy Zoom call with our friends from Ireland, again sitting under the cratch because that’s where we get the strongest internet signal. Now we are set to watch a film recommended to R by his new best friend, Mir who came on the boat yesterday with her mum and dad and we took them for a cruise along the cut. A big Abba fan, she bluetoothed her phone to the speaker in the lid of my thermos flask (what will they think of next!) and we enjoyed some nostalgic music. Mir has autism and it was her first time on a narrowboat so she was very excited until the rain came and she got a bit cold. She went inside and chatted to R and she recommended ‘Life-Size’, a film all about Barbie doll coming to life. R has tried unsuccessfully to find it so last night we ended up watching a gritty film called ‘The Unforgivable’ with Sandra Bullock. I found it disturbing, but good and it made a difference from the pink and fluffy Christmas movies we’ve subjected ourselves to recently!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Leamington Spa to find some sticky backed battery lights – some areas of the boat could do with being illuminated and I was in search of a few more bits and bobs to get the storage on the boat as organised as possible. Leamington Spa has some very attractive houses, many of them Georgian, and an extensive shopping area although House of Fraser looked incredibly dejected as shoppers looked for last minute bargains before it closes down. Another covid casualty? Carluccio’s had an outside seating area so we treated ourselves to a piece of delicious chocolate and orange polenta cake – worth every calorie and one of my five a day. I managed on returning to the boat to use both the washer and dryer without putting the money into the wrong slot machine so that’s progress!

Today after church I decided to check the engine on the boat and found the area to be rather wet, hardly surprising with the volume of rainfall yesterday and no effective tonneau cover to protect the stern. R switched on the bilge pump to remove the dirty water from the bottom of the hull (it works automatically when we are cruising along) and nothing happened although it made enough noise to reassure us that it is semi working. It may be blocked but R was unable to take it apart and I was slightly concerned seeing him fiddling in the dirty part of the boat dressed in his best Sunday jacket and tie! So that’s tomorrow’s first job – it may require a new bilge pump. I am beginning to understand why boats sink money.

Received an email out of the blue from a lady, T, who found my blog on the internet as she was googling ‘Windrose’, our boat from last year. She is hoping to buy it (I didn’t even know it was for sale!) but is concerned at the lack of paper trail with the boat. Apparently the current owners haven’t got a lot of boat information to share with T who is becoming concerned about the purchase, not only because of a poor surveyor’s report but, in addition, finding and reading my blog and all the challenges we faced. Did I think it was a good buy? Such a difficult question. Narrowboats are emotive. You know when you find the one you want (when I told this to one of our long-standing friends, he likened it to when I met R and just knew I wanted to marry him!) and really you buy on faith because you have no idea when things are going to start going wrong (could be another marriage analegy!). You hope the boat has been well maintained and it’s recommended to have a surveyor’s report but as they cover their backs constantly you have to read behind the lines of what they are actually saying. I think the best advice we were given was checking we had a solid, rust free hull and an engine that runs well.

Grateful for the dry afternoon as I had to do various outside boat measurements in preparation for the covers we are having made on the bow and the stern as they will optimise the areas of living space we can utilise. With the ‘up and over’ stern cover it has been strongly recommended we never cruise with it up – many a framework has been irreparably damaged going under an unexpected low bridge. They also limit one’s line of vision which could prove costly! However one can appreciate how tempting it is to travel undercover when taking to the helm in the wet and wind. Cruiser deck sterns are at a risk of water ingress through the deck boards as these have to be removable to allow ready access to the engine. Some sort of stern cover is therefore a necessity when leaving the boat for any length of time.

The other issue we are discovering is battery power, or lack of it. Our fridge keeps flashing at us and there was disappointment this evening when my gin had no ice! Not wishing this to become a habit I am bowing to the boaters who feel solar power is a necessity for keeping a fridge working effectively when cruising is limited, as obviously the engine has to run to enable the boat batteries to charge. Having said that, the sun has to shine to activate the solar panels so installing them is not a winter priority!

Blue skies and sunshine, we are off on a day trip to Shugborough, the National Trust House close to the canal but so much faster by car! When we were there a couple of months ago they said it was worth a Christmas visit so we will meet up with H and J and enjoy one of her infamous picnics – I am well prepared in many layers as there’s a bite in the air.

It’s been a busy week kitting out the boat in the most practical ways possible. Reusable sticky hooks have become my best friend – so clever, if you want to move the hook you just pull the sticky bit clear of the hook and reposition. The downside is that I have to remember which door various kitchen implements are hidden behind and then hope when washed up they get put back in the same place. I could be doing a lot of searching! Online shopping is also invaluable, finding stools that can double as side tables, fire irons that can be hung on hooks. Just have to make sure we don’t lose the goodwill of the marina reception by using them as a repository.

Our trip to the Midland chandlery at Braunston was a highlight of my week – how sad is that?! I never knew there were so many useful things I could buy for a boat and how long I could browse and chat about the merits of different toilet systems with the very helpful sales person, a boatlubber herself. However what I was chuffed by was going to the Braunston marina and meeting L who can make us a couple of circular rails to circumvent our stove pipe so that we can hang clothing to be dried or, in the summer, use the area for hanging outer garments. L told me he has had the same idea for his boat, just not got around to executing it yet. So satisfying utilising all the heat and ergonomically using the space.

We need to replace the tonnau cover on the stern as it has ripped along the seam and is so brittle it’s impossible to sew. Without it the engine area will fill with rainwater and in heavy rain the water will also come inside the boat through the doorwell. A disadvantage of the cruiser style open deck but outweighed by being able to be sociable when cruising the cut. Seeking advice we have had to try and repair the tear with duct tape and prior to leaving the boat we will fasten a tarpaullpin over the tonnau. Fortuitously the weather was drier yesterday than predicted so we got the duct tape in place, now we have to wait and see if it holds.

Returning from Braunston to the marina on Wednesday, I was reminded that not every day is sweetness and light on the water. R started the day out of sorts as I discerned from the clattering and banging going on in the galley, not helped by his boiled egg being so undercooked he then tried to fry it. Not sure the result was terribly successful. Small niggles can escalate when there are just the two of us and there aren’t many places to hide! He is contending with a post covid cough and a searing on his middle finger from a metal mug used to heat the milk for my coffee so I should definitely be more forgiving. Luckily he bounces back to good humour, probably far quicker than me and so the day improved. It was bitterly cold and steering the boat along the cut for two straight hours had me chilled to the bone even through my many layers of clothing. Operating the three locks, just prior to our marina to assess how difficult they are, soon warmed me up and gave R a break from lock duty. The recent heavy rainfall had helped the water level to rise so we encountered no empty pounds. There is an art to manoeuvring the boat backwards into her berth. Complicated by windy weather and because she is situated behind another boat on the same pontoon, you have to squeeze between the narrowboats on the adjacent pontoon so there is not much room for error. R is much more adept at this than me and managed to guide Naomhog safely home without the air turning blue.

With a measure of trepidation we entertained our first supper guests, not quite knowing how successful I would be at producing a meal for four especially as I decided to do all the cooking on the wood burning stove with the addition of my ‘wonderbag’ to keep the risotto hot once cooked. Desert was an apple flan and I was pleased with the success of heating it on the stove covered by a stainless steel bowl! All was edible, thankfully, but the best part of the evening was getting to know our new friends, C and J, who coincidentally have a narrowboat moored 50yds from us and they are parents of friends of our daughter. Being much more experienced boaters than ourselves, we received many helpful tips and are hopeful that C is going to come and explain to us the intracasies of getting the TV working by the careful positioning of the aerial and retuning the said TV.. He even has an app on his phone which helps with the positioning of the aerial! Having spent the first 30 years of our married life without a TV it seems a strange priority to have now but in the past we’ve been more readily distracted by having people around to keep us entertained.

Much later the same day:

Would you believe by the time we got to Shugborough the rain had set in and it was noticeably fresher. We did enjoy the decorated trees followed by the said picnic in the back of the car – accompanied by steamed up windows, the careful balancing of hot coffee from a thermos, cheese and ham sandwiches and mini cold sausages which Pluto happily devoured. All very British! We did bow out early and forgo an afternoon walk which meant en route back to the boat we had time to call in on R’s uncle and aunt in central Birmingham. They have recently moved to a high ceilinged Georgian terraced house in the city centre which is full of character and whose four floors are connected by a narrow spiral staircase providing ample opportunity to keep them both fit.

A phone discussion about the merits of solar panels, a much more successful visit to the on site launderette and then grilled salmon on the wood burner completed the day although R did insist on us watching one of those schmultzy Christmas movies set in Brooklyn New York which was more like a modern day Barbara Cartland story. I was going to liken it to a Mills and Boon romance but it definitely was not X rated enough!

A wet start to the day in more ways than one. Returning to the laundry with my recently acquired tokens (and half price milk because I cheekily asked for a reduction when I saw the sell by date was today!) I once again put the token in the wrong coin slot on the wall, this time the one next to my washing machine so I had to move my sopping washing into the other drum, wetting the floor in the process and no sign of a mop! Then I discovered there was still water in the first machine. My used disposal able coffee cup from yesterday was luckily the only thing in the nearby bin so I transferred the water by the cupful to the sink, thus making the floor even wetter – at least the next punter won’t be wondering why there was 2″ of water left in the washing machine!

It was wet and a bit windy but if we never travel in the rain we won’t be going many places and we have good waterproofs. The boat batteries needed a good charge and I wanted to return something to the chandler’s in Braunston. What could have been a ten minute car journey only took us four and a half hours by boat!! The reason soon became clear. As you exit the marina, immediately there is a flight of three locks and as it was quite windy the boat was veering to the left accompanied by driving rain. I suggested to R this might not be quite such a good idea afterall but he thought we should at least go through one lock and then return to the marina. We entered the lock and it filled with water but instead of R opening the gate he suggested I got off the boat – he wanted to show me something. I was rather surprised to see a widebeam and a narrowboat both beached on the mud in the pound (pond) above, leaving a narrow shallow course of water between the two locks. A bit like the reverse problem of wondering if a puddle in the road is too deep to drive through! Until the water level rose we were going nowhere, so R went off to let in 3 or 4 locks worth of water by opening up the sluices of the upper locks, making sure the pounds above were not drained in the process. R met up with a boat coming down the flight of locks so assisted him through the shallows but all this took quite some time. Meanwhile I tried to find a number for the CRT to let them know about the low water levels. Having been thus distracted I was alarmed to see Naomhog at least 7ft below ground level, yet all the sluices and gates were closed. Images of her stuck in the mud at the bottom of the lock flooded my mind. Fortunately R came into view and I waved at him like a maniac to get his attention. Far calmer than me he explained one of the lock paddles was faulty thus continually letting out the water. By now the boat was back to the level of the water on the other side of the bottom gate so R opened the gate and I reversed out. Another twenty minutes of refilling the pounds and all was well, including a brightening in the weather so we decided to continue to Braunston, a good decision as the afternoon sunshine enhanced the beautiful autumnal colours. Murders of crows (rooks?) circling leafless oaktrees and gathering in the bare branches was an uplifting sight.

We weren’t quite sure where to moor up for the night as Braunston itself is a junction meaning we could go in three different directions. What we didn’t want to do was find that we were unable to turn the boat when we want to go back to our marina in a day or so (very windy weather forecast tomorrow so we may just sit tight) which meant a reckie was in order.

Leaving Naomhog, we trudged along an extremely muddy potholed towpath, R almost slipping into the canal at one point! Dusk was falling as we got chatting to a boater who was just leaving their mooring to move slightly further along the cut. P had horror stories to tell and not many a good word for the CRT who she feels wastes money and doesn’t prioritise the right issues. Over the past 13 years she has seen such changes that she’s going to sell her boat and buy a campervan to travel around Europe, as many of her boating friends have done. The final straw came in 2020. She had booked a passage through a long tunnel in the North (some tunnels you can only go through with permission so that boats don’t collide) in preparation for getting to the Midlands to start a new job. Just before the tunnel were some locks which had been closed with no prior warning, due to a lack of water. Infact, P told us, this was poor management by CRT as these locks are fed by their own reservoir. If the CRT had restricted the movement of boats to one or two a day, traffic would have freely flowed, instead of which they closed the flight for seven weeks and a backlog of over twenty boats caused an additional waterflow problem. As a result P lost her job, her income and covid has hampered her efforts to find alternative employment. This led to a bout of depression and the decision to quit the waterways. All a bit depressing to hear when you have just bought a boat a few days previously! Lots of surprises though – she has three sewing machines and an interlocker on her boat, a table 8ft by 4ft, so that she can upcycle her copious supply of denim jeans, to make bags to sell on Etsy. She then plans to make cratch covers – very enterprising on a boat only 6ft wide! On reflection, I think it hardly surprising she has fallen out of love with the boating way of life. Perhaps a decade of living fully aboard is hard work, especially if you have a job that necessitates you not being held up by stoppages. In all walks of life our plans can be thwarted and changed and it is our attitude towards new challenges that may determine how resilient we become and thus how content we feel. Having been busy and task orientated for so long, it is a welcome change to start most new days with no set agenda, trying to live in the moment and be exited by what lies ahead and the people we may meet. Trusting our time to God!

Enough of philosophy! A very inviting looking pub bedecked in Christmas lights and a big sign saying ‘gin pub’ tempted us to moor nearby, but not so close that we would be bedazzled. However getting there proved problematic as the bridge to it was further along the cut and the incessant rain was a dampner. Internet in the boat was strong, enabling us to Zoom with the family to wish our eldest daughter a happy birthday. I still find it amazing that we can connect together all around the world – Jamaica, Spain and even on a London bus (admittedly being rather silent!), whilst we are in a tin can! With the pub out of the equation I set about trying the boat oven: roast chicken and a brown rice pudding (didn’t have any pudding rice so substituted short grain brown!) using dried figs for sweetness and a touch of cinnamon. I was spurred on by my short-dated milk and my mother’s voice ringing in my ears that you don’t put an oven on for baking just one thing! The wood stove had sufficient heat to boil the vegetables and I even made chicken stock which is slowly simmering in my Wonderbag (suggest a google if you are perplexed!). It will be interesting to see if that works! I was also delighted to see my milk kefir had thickened during the day proving that you don’t need warmth for the kefir seeds to ferment. My kefir has accompanied me on all our recent travels so I am chuffed to have kept it alive. Not sure that pleases R. Another strange substance his wife is feeding him. A couple of years ago it was green porridge but thankfully that fad has passed!

A Christmas movie finished off the evening but it was a bit too smultzy. For those of you who are unaware, there is a channel devoted to showing at least four different American produced Christmas movies a day! By the way we solved the bed issue last night – when R got up in the night I just moved across to his side of the bed so he didn’t have to clamber back over me. That way I am on his left and right and he spends a proportion of the night fully stretched!

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What a comfortable night with the new mattress topper and the king size duvet. However I throughout our married life have always slept on R’s left. Now we have a challenge because the right side of the bed has a cupboard at the foot whereas on the left you can hang out your feet – quite an advantage when you are 6ft 3″ on a 6ft long mattress. So I tried sleeping on the left but last night we reverted to our usual bed position and R slept diagonally. He said it was fine, the only concern being a night visitation to the small room when I awoke to find him half straddled over me and the floor, not quite sure what limb to move to get out of his uncomfortable pose! Perhaps I just have to learn to adapt.

I have been like a kid with a doll’s house, playing around with everything to find the ‘right’ home. So satisfying finding solutions for small spaces. We’ve put the table away on the wall where it fits perfectly preferring to use a smaller picnic table with only the two of us. This folds away leaving us a little more space to move around and maybe encourage me to restart Jo Wicks for the over 60’s before I seize up altogether! I bought some resistance bands a few months ago but needless to say they are still in their packet as I have no idea what to do with them! Back to tabletalk – R was concerned as to where my coffee cup would go after supper so today I have found 2 stools, one that will double up as a side table and one I can use in our cabin for my early morning tea! In my search I found a camping armchair, padded for comfort with an extra high back. I think that’s R’s Christmas present sorted!

Getting the washing done has proved a bit of a challenge as the tumble dryer seemed to be full of clothes but no one around to claim them. I waited patiently for a couple of hours and then decided enough was enough so removed and folded them before putting in my damp clothes. In my absent mindedness I then fed half my tokens into the washing machine, not the drier! The Scot in me came to the fore and I went to find more washing so as not to waste my two pounds. Only problem now is the electricity tokens ran out before the cycle ended and the office is shut until tomorrow! We are fortunate though to have an actual airing cupboard on the boat which gets toasty warm when the engine is running – how convenient is that! I am now on the lookout for a spin dryer that we have enough power to actually run. It will have to live in the shower but small price to pay so that I always know I can wash out my smalls!

Our boat batteries are running a bit low – indicated by a light on the fridge flashing indignantly so we are going to go on a little trip tomorrow to Braunston and maybe even Rugby. The weather is set to rain hard on Tuesday so it depends how hardy we are feeling as to whether we stay a couple of nights away from hookup and marina comforts. I’m learning alot about batteries and engines. This afternoon found me topping up the engine coolant with antifreeze and also the radiator water.

In the car we passed a pub on the way to church that we called in on our way home for internet and my Sunday sherry. (Impressed that they stocked it – not many do). I realised it was the same pub I had walked to from our boat in April when moored at the top of the Napton flight. It’s so strange marrying up the geography of where we are. It had been a very strenuous walk just to get some supper – the nearer pub to the flight, the Folly, was unfortunately shut at the time.

Going to church we were welcomed like long lost friends because they remembered us from our visit six weeks ago when we were awaiting DayDream. (The day I also broke the CoOp’s frozen yogurt machine – we cruised slowly past just to make sure it now looked to be working, loathe to show my face!) One lady at church, P, told me she is involved in a week long Christian rally at Napton next Easter for caravaners and only yesterday had remarked that she would love a narrowboat to give little cruises along the cut during the week. I think that sounds an excellent idea so I may have a part to play and once again the timing feels like a Godinstance. It really excites me to think how Naomhog may be used in all sorts of ways. P’s daughter who has special needs was very excited by my Christmassy sparkly gloves, given to me by a friend in Farnham before we left home in October. Today was their first outing as I feel Christmas really is just around the corner. I suggested to P that she bring M, her daughter, to visit us this week and we may be able to go on a little jaunt along the cut. M was super excited by this idea so I hope the weather plays ball – it looks set to rain for most of the week.

Well, what an exciting, exhausting and exhilarating five days. Our lovely daughter and son in law lent us their car (our car being unfit to drive at speed on the motorway due to a very loose bumper) and we drove to the marina near Rugby on November 30th to have an extensive boat handover of Naomhog. All quite daunting, especially as this is very much ‘my boat’ so my responsibility! This is deliberate as I do not want R feeling he has to fix everything and do all the worrying. Obviously he is an amazing support (I still have to learn how to light the woodstove and my grasp of batteries and electrical circuits is very limited, not to mention my lack of mechanical knowledge, such as how the engine works). Hu, the previous owner and his wife, have kept the boat immaculately (no pressure then!) and are selling after ten years because they are upgrading to a new boat. Naomhog (knee-vogue) was built in 2006 for a retired midwife from Woking, who then sold it to a couple living in Farnham (small world!), who then sold it to Hu who lives in Cobham. So very much a Surrey boat – must be why I like it!! It is very compact but the storage is so well thought out that there is no shortage of space. I am just so happy to only have 43ft of boat to navigate the cut. Somehow it feels much more manageable. Yet we still have a 5ft wide bed and R can stand up everywhere without hitting his head. Oh, except the shower rose – it comes up to his chin. Don’t expect to see him clean from the neck up!

So bidding farewell to Hu, the previous owner, we faced our first challenge – all our belongings, including bedding and housewares were on DayDream, 11 locks and 5 or 6 hours travel along the canal. We decided to spend the night at the very same BnB we stayed at prior to going on WindRose, over a year ago. We even ate at the same pub and discovered the village shop was in the pub carpark and opened at 8am. Useful as we had no breakfast, other than snackbars and chocolate! The forecast looked dry so I suggested to R we leave at 8am via the shop to pick up victuals and then get to the marina, ready to move asap. As daylight hours are limited getting to DayDream well before sundown was a priority because without an engine Day Dream has no power and I didn’t relish packing up by the dog chewed head torch we’d recently bought.

It didn’t bode well when we awoke to a layer of snow on the roof of the car! Then the village shop was closed – winter hours meant it opened at 9am! Fortified by chocolate we arrived at the marina only to realise we didn’t have the code to get through the gate, which would be opened at 0930. Luckily I spotted a boat owner out walking his dog who gave me the code for the security gate but the cold weather meant the gates weren’t working! I did manage to prise them open enough to squeeze us both and our belongings through. Then we set about readying snow-laden Naomhog for her maiden voyage. It was a beautiful, cold and crisp sunny morning and I was eager to get cracking as I knew I had quite a journey ahead, complicated by having to operate the locks in icy conditions, which is not ideal. I was traveling alone to begin with because R had to take the car to another marina which will be our winter quarters, and then walk along the footpath to meet me before we reached the first of the locks. As we were short of time there was no opportunity to stop for refreshments and although R managed to pick up some food, we had no means of boiling a kettle, so by the time we completed the last of the 11 locks I was truly chilled. My trusty thermals and waterproof trousers were on DayDream so I lacked the insulation I would have preferred! We only passed a couple of moving boats coming towards us but I got very excited as I spied a boat ahead – if I could catch him up, we could buddy up down the flight of locks (they were wide locks for two boats). So full speed ahead and we were on his tail. Sadly he was only going down one lock and then turning around! Still it was better than nothing as the lock gates were heavy duty and R was exhausted by the end. I offered to do some but he said my work would begin once we got to DayDream and I had to pack everything up! The locks made Naomhog look very small and it was quite hard to stop her bouncing around when the water whooshed out of the gates. Owning a boat suddenly makes you much more aware of bumps and scratches!

Despite the weather we made excellent time and by 1430 we were reversing along the narrow arm to where Day Dream awaited. Reversing is another learning curve in a new boat but we managed to do so without mishap and then we found ourselves alongside DayDream with the realisation that the only way we could get our belongings from one boat to the other was bow to bow, both boats having cratch covers which limited the freedom of access. I’m amazed the only casualty in the water was my furry hot water bottle! It was a precarious couple of hours, time being of the essence. I was amazed at the quantity of belongings we had to move (a mini houseful) and repulsed by having to throw away the contents of a fridge that had been switched off a month previously. By the time dusk had fallen we were faced with our new boat in absolute chaos. I felt incredibly daunted at the prospect of finding a home for everything and yet miraculously all our belongings were accommodated, with space to spare. Just as well as R wants to bring his accordian!

So the last task of the day was to move the boat in the dark to a proper mooring which we found opposite the Blue Lias pub. Grateful of our short length we squeezed between two bigger boats. It wasn’t until we emerged in the day light that we found we had moored in a long term permit holders only space. Fortunately noone came banging on the door! We went across to the Blue Lias for supper and I have never seen such a bedecked dazzling pub. Talk about a Santa’s grotto! It was a sight to behold. Apparently there is not a pub to match the gaudy light display when it comes to the Christmas season.

There was a niggle in the back of my mind that I had left something on the boat – I was fairly sure I had not seen my bottle of rather lovely Welsh Blue Slate gin. I recalled having hidden it in the bed before we left as it was the one thing of real value to me! So in daylight, we returned to the boatyard and asked if we could do a final sweep of DayDream fearing we may have overlooked some things in the fading light of the previous day. It involved a precarious trip across narrow steel girders and gang planks but it was worth it – there in the far corner of the bed was my bottle of gin. Phew!

Returning to Naomhog we awaited the arrival of our friends BBT and PJ. It seemed very fitting that they should be our first guests as BBT is so named because of his extensive knowledge of boats and trains. He was incredibly helpful when we first decided to become boaters and has always taken a keen interest in our progress. He is also a very willing helper when there is a flight of locks to work so he kindly agreed to come with PJ to help us up the flight we had just come down the previous day. What an amazing difference a team of four makes. A rhythm is formed with one member of the team going ahead to prepare the lock above the one that the boat is currently going through. Although the person on the helm has the least physical job, they do have to navigate the entry and exit to the lock, trying not to bang into the gates and as it is filling with water it can be quite tricky to steady a single small boat in a double lock. The force of the incoming water can push the boat sideways and even the use of the mid rope around the bollard can be insufficient in keeping the boat steady.

In no time at all we had completed our mission and all that remained was a short cruise along the cut to the marina. Feeling slightly peckish we moored up to eat and very thoughtfully BBT and PJ had come armed with their own sarnies, correctly assuming that we might have limited food aboard having had no time for a grocery shop.

Just before the marina, Jules Fuels the supply boat, was filling a boat with diesel. We manoeuvred Naomhog alongside and as well as a diesel fill-up of about 165litres of fuel, we also stocked up on coal and kindling. Thus fortified we entered the marina, quickly found our allotted berth and reversed into our mooring spot. Thinking it would be straightforward to connect to shore power we were slightly disconcerted when we discovered we just couldn’t get the electricity to work. Eventually we admitted defeat and decided instead to return BBT and PJ to their car. It’s funny when you think you haven’t traveled far and yet it takes twenty minutes by car to get back to the start of your journey. We all then went to the Potting shed at the Folly pub in Napton for supper before BBT and PJ returned home and we found out way back to Naomhog.

A lengthy and helpful telephone conversation with Hu ironed out many of our problems and soon we were confidently connected to the shoreline. His wife gave me helpful tips on organising our small galley which actually has ample cupboard space and she was very encouraging about the baking potential of the oven. It was also strongly recommended that we purchase a mattress topper to ensure a much more comfortable night’s sleep.

So this morning we headed off to Rugby to one of my favourite bargain shops and I was not disappointed, arriving back with a bamboo mattress topper, a larger duvet and cover and other ‘essentials’! A food shop completed the outing so that I could make our first home cooked meal, testing out the cooker. I then sat down to write this blog which I finished well after midnight!

Waiting, waiting, waiting!

It’s been a very strange month and seeing as we weren’t afloat, I didn’t feel you’d be interested in my day to day life. However a bit of backstory might give context to where we are now!

We had a lovely week in Ireland, visiting R’s cousins who were very hospitable and there were a lot of laughs to be had. Visiting R’s aunt for supper without an address and R thinking he’d remember where she lived proved slightly problematic, until we knocked on a stranger’s door and fortunately they knew her! We then spent a weekend in Dublin, returning to our friends, H and J in Cheshire because we had no good news re the boat, DayDream. Instead we were offered an alternative boat, Priscilla, which we could use until DayDream’s engine was sorted. All set to do this, a spanner was put in the works by R developing covid. He’d had his flu jab followed by his covid booster jab so no one was surprised he felt abit under the weather. However his cough alarmed us and following a positive PCR he had to isolate for ten days and we were going nowhere! Fortunately H, J and I remained in the clear but we were blessed that they are very good friends. Offering to have us to stay for a few days which turned into nearly a month could have tested our friendship to the limit. Instead we kept our distance from R, walked Pluto the dog daily as the rules allowed, drank plenty of liquid refreshment and binged watched TV! H found all sorts of meals in her freezer which needed eating so every night was a culinary surprise. We were very relieved to reach day ten with negative lateral flow tests. I had spent the entire time imagining what it would have been like if we had all gone down with covid one after the other. We surely would have out stayed our welcome big time! As it was H and J could not have been kinder and we certainly had plenty of time to catch up on each others lives. Pluto kept us all amused – he eats absolutely anything. I had bought a couple of beanie hats with lights attached and before we knew it Pluto had one in his mouth and at first we thought he’d eaten the batteries as there was a big hole and no light. Luckily we found the light and it still worked. I had plenty of time to mend it! Then when we had three negative lateral flow tests I decided to take a picture for posterity so lined then up on a bench in a row and went off to fetch my camera. On my return all the tests had vanished – it transpires Pluto had eaten one, which came out whole the next day – we were relieved to see it was still negative! (It goes without saying we were also relieved he had come to no harm).

So, we never got on Priscilla and to complicate matters I saw a boat in late October that I decided to buy and by the time we had finished isolating the sale had almost completed so I no longer wanted to rent anything! It was what I would call a ‘God-instance’. As we awaited the repair of Day Dream we stayed the weekend with friends near to a marina that had boats for sale. On enquiring as the availability of any 40-50ft boats, the salesperson said one had just come in, so recently that the particulars of sale were not even typed up! We viewed the boat with our friends J and M and we were all instantly captivated (well maybe R less so – he says there are only two happy days owning a boat – the day you buy it, followed by the day you sell!) and even the name seems appropriate: Naomhog (impossible to pronounce unless you are fluent in reading the Celtic language!), which means ‘little holy one’ or ‘little saint’. Not that I am!! It’s just that I have always imagined hosting a prayer boat on the waterways and this feels meant to be. My mum left me a small legacy and I like to think she’d approve of what I want to do with it.

Meanwhile Day Dream is currently in the boatyard moored next to the boat shed making her inaccessible from the shoreline, so in order to reclaim our belongings we will have to approach her on the canal once we have purchased Naomhog.

Once again on water I thought I would recommence my blog, although this time we are on a ferry crossing the sea to Ireland and going on a roadtrip, courtesy of our lovely northern friend, S, lending us her car. We’ve had fun this last week but not in the way we had planned on the waterways. The boat engine is a conundrum to all and so we wait…..

H and J rescued us last Tuesday when it was obvious nothing was going to happen fast with the engine and we decided to have a couple of nights away. We made use of our National Trust cards and visited Chirk castle in Wales. Seat of the Myddleton family we found a couple of coincidences – R and I lived in Myddleton Square when we first married and Sir Hugh Myddleton in the 18th century was responsible for the project of taking fresh water from the River Lea in Great Amwell to London. As my dad was vicar of Gt Amwell for nearly half a century, this is where I grew up. We combined our trip with lunch in Bala, so I could buy a bottle of the local Blue Slate gin, one of my favourites. The old fashioned tea shop next door served us an amazing omelette with delicious homemade chips – extremely good value but sadly rather empty. It may be my last excuse for visiting the beautiful Bala lake as my friend F, who ran a fantastic bed and breakfast overlooking the lake moved house the day after we visited. I did ascertain though that the gin can be mail ordered!

Friday we visited the Shrugborough Estate en route back to the boat. Short of time, we did not do the visit justice but as it is walking distance from the canal I am sure we will do a return visit. At Christmas they have an amazing display of decorated Christmas trees so perhaps we can time our next visit to see them. Home of the photographer Patrick Lichfield, the house boasted an extensive collection of his work and many fine paintings. Between the downpours and wind, we managed to eat a picnic in true British style outside!

Arriving back at DayDream, a day later than planned, we discovered it had been moved and the engine taken out, awaiting collection for further investigation. J was surprised to see us not realising we had only taken one change of clothing with us and that we had hoped to pick a few things up from the boat. Due to the current placing of the boat ‘health and safety’ made this inadvisable so we still only have one change of clothes and are no further forward knowing when we can return to the boat! At least we had booked, with friends J and M, two nights at The Red Lion at Hellidon, a charming country pub. We were made to feel very welcome in the recently refurbished accommodation and enjoyed some good food including an ample breakfast both mornings.

What better way to spend a Saturday than looking at secondhand narrowboats with friends who are just as keen on boats as we are (well perhaps as I am – still not sure about R!), even potentially finding a boat to buy.

Sunday there were downpours but we managed to walk to The Folly Inn at Napton escaping the worst of the weather and arrived just as their ‘Potting Shed’ opened – I’ve mentioned it before – light and airy, it is a wood and glass construction which allows far more space than the original public house although the owners are planning to reopen this in due course. When I asked for a sherry they searched around for a bottle and then gave me a drink on the house when they heard I like a Sunday tipple to toast my mum!

So near and yet so far….

Great excitement this afternoon after the engine fired up with it’s two new fuel injectors and we waited with baited breath. All was going so well. J told us he would run the engine for a couple of hours but then we should be almost set to go. Hooray! Or so we thought. A deafening silence suddenly descended on us as the engine came to an abrupt halt for no known reason. So we are back further than square one! Every one is perplexed and at a loss as to know where the fault actually is. My knowledge of engine terminology is coming on in leaps and bounds, for all the good it is doing me! Angels from the North have said they will collect us tomorrow so we can have a couple of days away whilst the saga continues. Compared to the pandemic and global warming we really have nothing to complain about and we have been able to enjoy the dry weather and do some walking. Albeit only to Southam, where I popped my head into the CoOp to see if the yogurt machine was mended. Alas not. I do feel rather guilty, especially as it’s half-term and all those little children who were probably looking forward to being treated to a frozen yoghurt!! Disappointing for them just as it is for us not to be able to get going….

On a positive note, R decided to give the stove a good clean and was amazed at the density of ash lining the base. What a difference it has made to the heat source. Suddenly we can feel the warmth all around the boat and I’m even in danger of discarding a few layers!

We agreed before we went to bed that we wouldn’t set an alarm but if we woke up in time and it wasn’t raining, we would walk the 45 minutes to a local church I had checked out on the internet, whose service began at 0945. I really should get more adept at reading webpages. Leaving the boat at 9am it took me a while to work out the direction we should be walking as my skill with Google maps is equal to my ineptness with reading webpages! Having lost vital time I then frogmarched R along the road, not wanting to be late for the start of the service. I need not have worried. The detail I failed to pick up on was that coffee was from 0945 – the actual service started at 1015! We were warmly welcomed with the bonus of coffee immediately. The 14century Anglican church of St James, Southam reminded me a little of our home church – ancient, large and costing a fortune to keep in good repair, being a grade one listed building. Interestingly one of its former vicar’s was Justin Welby, our present archbishop. S, who spoke to us, explained that even with the benefit of some large legacies, the size of congregation could not meet the present outgoings and the church could benefit with some modernisation. A few years ago a very large section of plaster just fell off one of the walls, fortunately when no one was around and on inspection it was found that the Victorian plastering was not very substantial so the whole church had to have the plaster removed. As of yet, they have not had enough money to replace it and probably never will. I mentioned crowd funding, which is something I think all beautiful old churches in need of repair could benefit from. There is no way dwindling congregations can afford to upkeep these amazing buildings and yet so many non regular church attendees want the benefit of them for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Post church we popped into the CoOp where I was intrigued by a self service frozen yogurt machine and set about treating myself to one. Unfortunately I had no idea how to use it and managed to get the paper cup which received the yogurt stuck in the part of the machine where I should have put a frozen pod. The young manager was very good tempered with me even though his machine is now out of order until someone can come and fix it as he was unable to do this himself. I left the shop rather sheepishly!

We had a choice of three local pubs offering us Sunday lunch and choose the one some of the church members frequented, although it didn’t appear they had ever eaten at any of them! I hoped they would have a bottle of sherry, it being Sunday and wanting to toast my mother, but sadly they didn’t. They did have rice pudding and jam though, which I absolutely love and gleefully are a large bowlful. Passing another pub en route back to the boat we saw they had bingo at 6pm so R suggested we returned then and maybe could combine bingo with sherry. Not only were they bereft of sherry but the pub was packed with locals all ready for their weekly bingo session. No room at the inn for us! To be honest the moment I saw the crowds and the absence of any face masks I was quite happy to about turn and return to the boat.

R has continued to forage for small bits of wood, he just can’t help himself. He says he is having problems keeping the stove alight and he thinks this is due to using just coal. The stove was the right temperature overnight to reactivate my milk kefir, which I was worried had been killed off when I was not around to tend it earlier in the week. I now need to find ways to sneak it into our meal plan as there is rather a lot of it and only two of us to consume it. One of us is much keener on it than the other!

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An episode of the new Endeavour whiled away the evening as we wait to see what tomorrow brings. I am hoping a working engine! I also managed to measure up the old boat moored next to us which J is planning to rebuild and if I plan the interior we may be able to do some kind of deal! It’s a great way to get back to sleep in the early hours of the morning – working out the most ergonomic use of space and the most efficient and practical layout! My only concern is if it has taken J this long to fix our engine, how long will it take him to kit out a complete narrowboat!

Late evening: Awoke to lovely weather and ahead of us lay an unplanned day, hoping the fuel injectors would arrive in time for us to move before the end of the weekend. J kindly lent us his small white van and we tootled into Royal Leamington Spa, a journey of about 20minutes, to see what delights it had on offer. We were pleasantly surprised and spent an happy hour pottering. At least I did, not so sure that was R’s idea of time well spent. We were successful in finding a few more bits for the boat and we then enjoyed a great cup of coffee and a delicious pear and ginger cake in a community cafe that supported independent crafts people and sustainable projects. It has been running for three years and looked to be well frequented. I particularly liked their non gel hand sanitizer which you sprayed on with the added bonus of a pleasant fragrance. Usually in stock, it had sold out but they have given me the mail order details. Slightly tricky on a boat!

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No news was not good news and to compound matters R dropped his metal specs case with glasses into the canal as we were entering the boat. We hunted for the magnet we thought we had brought with us for emergencies such as this but to no avail. The electric cable J kindly supplied to the boat also got trodden on so we are not sure how effective it will now be in powering up the boat batteries so our mobile phones may go flat and the lights may dim before long. On the plus side, R toasted me a crumpet with nut butter and banana which made me feel very ‘at home’ as did watching an episode of ‘Vera’ from the current season. Supper was simple – heating up the frozen homemade curries we had bought in anticipation of a microwave meal at the pub we were staying in, but then got evicted because of a double booking. Never one to waste anything, I just hoped they would still be safe to eat as not only had they been unfrozen but they hadn’t been in a fridge for a day or so. R said the boat was cold enough to act like one!