So, its 29th December 2012, and today was to be the start of our second cruising adventure. We had intended to cruise to Stoke Bruerne for The New Year, but have you seen the weather out there.

Last night was the worst nights sleep we had, since moving on board. Not because of the wind (should that be howling gale) and the various increase in noise that the wind brought, but because of our wimpy dog, Tam. What a poof. The whole night was spent reassuring him that the world wasn't going to end within the next two minutes. With a 5 stone dog trying to leap onto our 3/4 size bed every 5 minutes so he could lay in between Gail and I, shivering and slobbering, (Tam not Gail, that is) I soon gave up and resigned myself to a sleepless night on the reclining chair in the saloon.

So the question now is, do we go for it in the wind and rain, or do we sit it out for a day in the marina hoping for more clement weather. Gail is dead set against going, so I guess that answers that question. Hopefully the wind will die down a little later on and we can at least make it to Norton Junction.

So with nothing planned for the day I might suggest we nip into Daventry to get some cheapie reading glasses for yours truly as I've managed to loose two pairs in the last two days.

I'll let you know later what happens

Here you go folks, the long awaited story of our first epic adventures on The Grand Union Canal(Leicester Section). I’ve only just managed to get a decent internet connection and we’ve been that busy with getting the boat to our liking and work as well. Eventually I hope to write a daily blog as every body wants to know how we our doing, so you’ll be able to follow the daily happenings.

 

 

 

 

Yes we finally made it and so far we couldn’t be happier.

 

 

We picked the boat up from Braunston Marina on Friday 30th November, “a day that will live in infamy”. Oh no, sorry that was Roosevelt after Pearl Harbour. But we have had our disasters along the way. We can look back on them now and smile, but at the time they seemed pretty serious. In fact if you have a minute:

 

 

 

 

On the first night we stayed in Braunston Marina, it being too late to move. We had to nip into Daventry to get a couple of bits and pieces, so before we did I really banked the stove up to get the chill off the boat. After a successful shopping trip we returned to the marina. As we walked back to the boat, Gail remarked. “Listen, can you hear a couple of fire alarms going off?”. Not being deaf, I thought that was a pretty stupid bloody question, as I sprinted in the direction of our new home. The whole boat was absolutely full of steam, not smoke, thankfully, but steam. The pipe thermostat that controls the CH pump was buggered and had not circulated the hot water to the radiators. It just boiled the water in the header tank and  liberally spayed it all over the walls at the front of the boat. We obviously had to allow the stove to cool overnight, so the first night on board was reminiscent of Scott’s last night. Bloody cold. Morning came and the Marina sorted our problem. I have to say they were very good about it and did not make me feel too much of a plonker.

 

 

Putting this problem behind us, and finally grinning like Cheshire cats we left the marina at about midday.  And travelled the fantastic distance of about 1 mile before somehow, and this is kind of spooky, Jolli had moored herself up just before Braunston’s small flight of locks and we found ourselves in the Admiral Nelson Pub. A couple of pints of Guinness and a large red wine later we continued our epic journey to Yelvertoft Marina. Convinced that we were now experienced boaters we happily managed to almost empty most of the middle pond at Braunston. almost flooding the canal below us. That was our first lesson, always check that the previous boat has lowered the paddles and closed the top gate. Never mind, onward and upward (literally). After running aground in the middle pond and sitting there like a beached whale, a kindly, more experienced boater opened the next lock and allowed us to carry on.

 

Carrying on we got through the Braunston tunnel and with light fading fast moored up at Welton Wharf for the night. Both of us being too hyped up and knackered at the same time we decided to walk into Welton and grab something to eat at the pub. Very nice it was to.

 

The next day was pretty uneventfull really. We negotiated the Watford Flight with only a small amount of help from a CaRT worker and arrived at our home marina about 2:00pm.

 

There we discovered that our inverter/charger had packed  up, and we had no hot water for various reasons. Both these problems have now been sorted and at not too much expense either.

 

We did cruise up to Foxton Locks last weekend and spent Saturday night in Bridge 61 where we had arranged to meet friends from our old life and met new friends from our new life.

 

The return to Yelvertoft was again uneventful and we are now on our home mooring for the winter. However if we do get a convenient break in this God awful weather we intend to go to Stoke Bruerne for the New Year.

 

So far I haven’t hit anything with the boat and my helming skills are getting better all the time. Gail is enjoying the new life enormously, even the long journey for her into work does not seem too bad. She is just happy not having to worry about money every month. She stays with her mum a couple of nights a week when she finishes late and starts early. Saving both petrol and time. I am quite happy with the dogs and my own company, and the local pub, I hasten to add.

 

Tam took a while to get used to all the different noises and settle in but even he seems to like it now. Tess just got on board and fell asleep, so shes happy enough.

 

If you like you can follow our journey in more detail using the following link. Just go to plan a route and start at Braunston Marina and finish at Yelvertoft Marina.

 

 

http://canalplan.eu/