Winter maintenance...

One thing that I have noticed about the Shroppie is the standard of maintenance. I appreciate it was built later than some canals, but, most of the bridges seem to be in good condition and there is a reasonable depth of water in the canal. It has its problems with cuttings and embankments which will always cause problems... The main point of this latest blog though is that the Shroppie where I am cruising has just benefitted from the annual hedge to edge trim. I have first hand experience of this as one side of my boat IS COVERED IN A NICE SELECTION OF GRASS CUTTINGS, LEAVES AND MUD!!!

The Joys of Winter Cruising.....

The weather is mild, okay, there was a bit of a frost the other night and today was a little bit damp, but, the colours of the leaves on the trees up the Shroppie are a joy to behold. Add to this, no queues at the locks and plenty of space to moor even in the usually most popular places. If my memory serves me right, we only passed one boat on the move today. Every season has its moments and winter certainly has its fair share.

Winter is coming....

Well, the boat has been into a boatyard, the old Kabola Diesel heater has been removed and replaced by a brand new Morso Squirrel. And what a difference, the diesel heater was old and was not really controllable, the Squirrel is new and very controllable. We are now entering into our first 'real' winter afloat, we have lived on the boat for several years throughout the winter but always with a home mooring. We are now going to be genuine continuous cruisers. Currently, we are at Compton on the Staffs and Worcs. Been heer a couple of days and moving off tomorrow up the Shroppie. Probably go as far as Brewood, then on to Wheaton Aston and then Gnosall. So far so good. Presently having to rely mainly on coal for heating,apart from not having seen much 'free' wood,seen a bit on the non towpath side of the canal but who owns it? The chainsaw is still down south in the hands of my son and until I can get it back to the boat there is not a great deal I can do with fallen timber. Trying to cut it up with a bow saw just does not seem to be quite the same as using the chainsaw! Anyway, at the moment we are plenty warm enough and I have a long list of jobs that accumulated over the summer months that now need sorting over the winter months.... Speak to you soon...