Wednesday 28th/Thursday 29th July.....

Wednesday 28th, not much to report, cruised a couple of miles and worked one lock.

Went to Sovereign Wharf for diesel, and, I know it has been published elsewhere time and time again, but, diesel is 70 pence per litre, you can declare what you want, BUT, it is only cash or cheque (no plastic) and they are only open Monday to Thursday, 1000 to 1600 hrs.

The evening was spent with a friend we had made at a previous National. There are so many eating establishments in Banbury to choose from for its 46000 population, but, the TOP WOK chinese buffet was our choice and it was fantastic.

Thursday, left early, so did every one else. Got to Nell Bridge Lock and found a queue, one boat had been in the lock for over an hour as the bottom gate would not shut..... suffice to say common sense prevailed and a good old fashioned 'flushing' of the lock solved the problem, however it did delay us for 2 hours.

We carried on and on, eventually we moored up, after 9 and a half hours cruising, but had only covered 14 miles and 10 locks, a journey that should not have taken us much more than 6 hours.

Tomorrow will be a short day.... it is my 60th birthday and Thrupp is our destination...

The best laid plans...

Today was supposed to be a short day. It started badly and did not get much better. As soon as I cast off the 'shower' started. After about 2 hours the rain stopped, and we reached Claydon Locks, and guess what? You guessed right, there was a queue of boats waiting for the lock. And that was how the day continued, queuing at most of the locks.

Our original intention was to stop at Cropredy, but, with probably 2 miles solid of moored boats there was nowhere for us. On and on we went, until we eventually decided enough was enough and dug the mooring pins out of the locker and moored up not far short of the M40 motorway near Banbury. Someone had moored here before us and had already trimmed the bank leaving a perfect soace for a 70 footer.

Our planned 'short' day turned out to be 8 hours cruising (including a 30 minute service stop). Tomorrow we are going out with a 'new' friend we met at the Autherley National. He now lives in Banbury and that is where we are meeting him. Banbury is now 2 miles and 1 lock away from us, theoretically that is an hours cruising, but, on this canal, who knows?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.... why do BW manage to build service stations in the most awkward places imaginable. Take Cropredy for example, now, if my 70 footer was articulated it would fit into the service area perfectly. However, to reach the water point with my hose means the **** end of the boat is sticking out into the canal blocking other boats. Never mind, the water flow was good and I wasn't there too long!

Queuing at Napton.....

Moved onto the South Oxford Canal today, reached Napton Locks and found 4 boats already waiting to go up the locks. Whilst we waited we filled up with water, emptied the loo, dumped the rubbish and Jenny went to the little shop next to the Folly Pub to get a newspaper.

The couple in the little shop are really friendly and stock all the basics you could need whilst boating. There is another shop in the village but it is a bit of a walk away, that shop is also a post office and has been for sale for nearly 4 years. The Folly shop is much more convenient, the lady in the shop says she is going to write a book about all the peculiar items they get asked for, she also says that a few boaters obviously get a surprise when they get back to their boats.... the couple keep their own milk (for tea and coffee etc.) and their own spread for their sarnies right at the back of the fridge, but the customers still pick up the half used containers and buy them!!

Anyway, back to cruising, it took us 3 and a half hours to work the Napton flight, (including waiting time) there were that many boats about.

Now we are moored in the middle of nowhere between Marston Doles and Fenny Compton at we call 'our aerial mooring'. From here you can see for miles and miles......

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Our 'normal' cruising day is about 4 hours, so, when we get a delay like we did today, we still have plenty of time. Today, however, we met a hireboat intent on completing the Thames ring in 2 weeks... Why do people still try to do this... I know the boat costs a lot of money to hire and you want to get your moneys worth but surely, you don't get a chance to see anything apart from the canal and river, what about all the lovely villages and walks.....

Day 4

I really must think of a more original heading in the future.....

Short day today and a short blog to go with it. Left Hillmorton, worked the delightful Hillmorton Locks and and on through Braunston, mooring early afternoon a little bit short of Napton Junction

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Why do I cruise on Sundays! You would have thought I would have learned my lesson by now. Between Hillmorton and Braunston was one long procession of private boats out for the day and hireboats leaving their bases in the Napton/Calcutt area. Monday tomorrow and normality will return.

Day 3......

A leisurely start today..... it was about time I cleaned the brass so that is what I did. We set off about 11 and stopped at Rose Narrowboats for water. The yard was a hive of activity as engineers and cleaners prepared the hirefleet for its next batch of 'owners'.

Whilst there I purchased a new seal for the porta potti (£9.93!!!!!).... I really must fit it before we get to Beale Park otherwise Elaine and her crew on the Lavendar Boat might well be wearing..... well, it does not not bear thinking about!!

After shopping at Tesco's in Rugby (the walk to the store seems to be getting longer or am I getting older) we set off again.

Then it was on to Hillmorton to moor for the night, where we saw a procession of Viking Afloat and Rose Narrowboats as the new crews find their feet...

By the time I set sail tomorrow they will be long gone.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: What is to stop me going to the supermarket garage with my plastic 5 gallon containers, buying white diesel at £1.15, putting it in my tank and then when I get to a boatyard just adding red diesel at domestic rate?? Will it work, will my engine like white diesel? The fact that I would only save about 9p a litre on propulsion probably makes it not worth the effort, but, is itg legal?

The cruise continues

Day 2 of our cruise, and, it was rather remiss of me to forget that yesterday was a very important day.....!

n.b. GUELROSE came of age yesterday so......


HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY GUELROSE, and here's to the next 21 years (hopefully)

Very little to report today, except that it did not rain. Atherstone Locks were completed with very little trouble and also very little traffic. Is it summer? If so, where have all the boats gone?

2 boats passed us before we cast off and only 2 more boats passed as we climbed the rest of the flight.

Reaching Hawkesbury we found it as congested as ever so continued through the stop lock and onto the Oxford Canal. We eventually moored up on the embankment past Ansty next to the railway, the view is great, and the trains do not really bother us.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: We have now covered about 30 miles of canal. In that time we have seen at least 20 'continuous moorers' (I know as we came this way 6 weeks ago and the same boats are in the same place) Is it time for BW to change their licensing and mooring policies? The average towpath mooring is probably about £1000 (based on what I pay for a garden mooring,) multiply that by 20 boats equals £20000, and, multiply that by the mileage of canals in this country (is it 3000 miles? ) divided by my 30 miles makes 100 times £20000 which equals some £2 million that BW should be getting but isn't. Or have I got it wrong some where??

Continuous cruisers are not the problem (when circumstances are right I shall be one) but continuous moorer are another story.......

GUELROSE is moving.....!

n.b. GUELROSE slipped her moorings at 1130 a.m. and within 5 minutes it has started raining. GUELROSE is now heading for Beale Park on the River Thames. I have spent the winter months since October 2009 planning and drawing moorings for some 500 boats that are attending the National Festival at Beale Park over August Bank Holiday weekend. The moment of truth is drawing nearer - will my plans work or will it be a disaster. Only time will tell but I sincerely hope it is the former rather than the latter!!

Anyway, back to cruising and having to get used to the slow speeds of internet access via a dongle after having the pleasure of wireleess broadband all over the winter months....

Reaching Glascote Locks we joined the back of the obligatory queue for these locks, but, why does this happen? I don't think it was helped by someone getting impatient and working down the lock against the flow to end up with 2 boats in the same pound between the two locks... when will they ever learn that this does not work! During the hour or so I was waiting we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning. It really was quite a show! Once through the 2 locks (it only took 1 hour 35 minutes) the sun came out and shone for the rest of the day.

We are now moored just above the first 2 locks of the Atherstone flight, good tv picture for the wife and a reasonable signal for the T mobile internet connection.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:- when will people learn the right way to moor up a boat, putting the mooring lines at 90 degrees to the boat just does not work.

Another thought maybe tomorrow - I have lots of them I want to air.