getting close to winterisation time

Not a lot of boating activity since I have had to return to work

Had a couple of trips to Willington and done some routine maintenance to the paintwork - rusty hand rails rubbed down, rust treated and painted.

I have had some cheap name stickers made for the boat with no name (£2.99 off ebay),  not too bad looking (a bit small, but my daughter, a graphic design student, approves of the font) and not sure if they will last the winter - perhaps I should varnish over the top.

The weather is now getting cold and damp and I will remove all electrical items, paperwork, etc from the boat and drain down the water tank and boiler soon.

Kingsbury water park 28/7/12

After an extended 'rest' period between jobs, I managed to get a final boat trip in (the trip I was going to do three weeks ago which was aborted due to the flooded Trent at Wychnor) to the Dog and Doublet (on the Curdworth flight on the Birmingham and Fazeley canal) via Alrewas (overnight stop).  

I managed to get to Alrewas in six hours for an overnight stop - decided to stay in Alrewas rather than carry on to Fradley due to the need for supplies and cash machine - the co op at Alrewas is very handy as are the two pubs. I felt guilty about stopping in Alrewas so walked to Fradley (two miles) for a pint at the Swan. I helped a crew of ladies down the Fradley flight on the way back.  

On Saturday morning I was joined by a friend Allan and we set off up to Fradley and then down the Coventry canal at the junction opposite the Swan Inn.

First impressions of the Cov were how busy it was (extremely), how poor was the vision due to overgrown trees (there must be a lot of near misses on this section) and how shallow it was (the springer is not deep drafted but still hit the bottome a lot).

We made the bottom of the Curdworth flight in six hours. Total boat mileage from Findern is a surprising 29.5 miles.

The Dog and Doublet is pretty isolated, but, this didn't stop us from looking for another ale house - we were just about to give up when we spotted a leaflet promoting a real ale festival at kingsbury water park. The railway was even operating a shuttle service from the park entrance to the beer tent, but, we walked it anyway.

The beers were very good and cheap and we will watch out for the festival next year.

The walk back to the boat was a bit scary as we had to find the tunnel under the M42 in the dark and then a path back to the canal - without a torch this was difficult but I used the iphone maps app which helped locate the canal.

We set off early on Sunday morning (7.30am) not expecting to get back to Findern by Sunday evening, however, we pushed on (upsetting a few moorers along the way - although I don't think we were going very fast - the engine is very noisy). We got back to findern at 6.30pm after 11 hours solid boating - we were very lucky with the locks.     

 The entrance to the new Streethay Marina

Position 'A' mooring at Alrewas

 
 Kingsbury Water Park - Echills Wood Railway beer festival

 The entrance to the Birmingham and Fazeley canal at Fazeley Junction

 The dog and doublet pub on the Curdworth flight

 Drayton Manor Park bridge

 The 'infamous' Peel Wharf

The Tame Otter at Hopwas

Second solo trip 20/7/12

Made an overnight trip to Branston water park to meet Tim and Jane on their way back from Coventry Basin.
First time I have walked around the lake - a very pleasant mile walk and a bit of an eye opener about how hi-tec fishing has become - one angler had a radio controlled bait boat with built-in fish finder.
Didn't realise that there were well maintained toilets at the car park and the path that goes under the A38 and leads to the village complete with post office, pet shop, general stores, chippy, chinese take away and pub.
Confident enough to do a longer trip solo now.      

New leisure battery

Bought and fitted a new-ish leisure battery off ebay last night Numax CXV 100ah £45 bargain (three year guarantee) - had a suspicion that the old one was dying and sucking the life out of the starter battery - they are wired together at the moment - must get that sorted soon. Hopefully take a bit of pressure off the alternator which has been going at full rate since I installed it a month ago.

Might take the boat out to Branston tomorrow to meet Tim and Jane on their way back from Coventry - they ended up stuck in Barton all last week waiting for the Trent to open at Wychnor. 

Bath and Bradford on Avon 21.6.12

Managed to shoe-horn a canal fix on a weekend in Dorset and Wiltshire.
Bath is a very old and attractive city and we had a very pleasant afternoon walking around it.
The navigable Avon is blocked off at the town centre weir, but, there is a shallow draft trip boat that operates on the other side of the weir.

Downstream the Avon is navigable to Bristol or there is a junction with the Kennet and Avon canal which has some very challenging locks and flights.

 the Avon in Bath

 is this the best located travel lodge? overlooking the K & A

 200th anniversary sculptute

 the church as featured in springwatch with the falcon platform

 Kennet and Avon canal

 the non navigable avon at bradford on avon

 wharf and narrowboat hire base on the right

 the lock inn cafe - note the dining boat in the foreground

the barge inn - would be rude not to have a quick pint

the weir and trip boat in bath

We also had an hour in Bradford on Avon which is not as pretty as I imagined.

first solo trip 9/7/12

First solo trip on Evening Cloud ended in failure as I had to turn back at Wychnor due to the Trent being in flood. On a positive note my locking worked well on the single locks between Dallow Lane and Barton Turns (although conditions were favourable - low wind and rain). This has given me the confidence to try again soon - especially if my current 'between jobs' situation doesn't change. I will be annoyed if the Trent is opened again today, as the BW staff were saying Friday, however, I would be pleased for Tim and Jane on Buzzin Pub who are still waiting at Barton at the start of their holiday.
One other thing learned - I will be ok if the wife ever kicks me out!

The dove in flood

The dove - other side of the aqueduct

Canadian geese infestation in Branston - any poles about?

just thought this was funny

a nice mooring near barton turns marina

Bracket fitted to alternator 10/6/12

Wouldn't win a beauty contest but hopefully will do the job