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Yesterday, stopped in Rugby and sorted out the phones and in the Trafford Centre in Manchester on the way to Liverpool ferry  for a Costa's coffee, all in  glorious sunshine.

Liverpool water front.

Today its peeing with rain !

So home for a day will take back a few more tools with me an orbital sander, a mouse sander,angle grinder, flat and round files and some paint brushes. That should help keep any rust spots at bay. 

Syla is growing fast he will be visiting the boat with Nikita in July.

We all took Syla for a walk down Port Sodrick and Nikita has done a good job with his obedience training  as he is a pleasure to take for a walk on and off the lead.

Tomorrow is and early start to get down to the airport for 0730am 

Buffalo

This morning I finished the polishing, hopefully it wont need to be done again till 2014. After lunch we went for a walk along the Napton flight of locks, they were very quiet for a bank holiday monday.

View from the locks to the village of Napton on the hill

Sue looking relaxed

Could be the African Plains

This one's keeping himself cool.

They are all Water Buffalo the farmer keeps them for their rich milk which is turned into mozzarella cheese.

We have decided the car is too much of a hassle to keep having to move around with us, so we are going to return it back to the IOM tomorrow and then get a flight to Birmingham a train to Leamington Spa and a bus back to Napton. 

On the way up to Liverpool we will pop into the 3 shop in Rugby as the sims we have wont dial a Manx cell phone. I did ring Igbol in Delhi again but he was no help at all.

Then the plan is to go down the canal to Banbury and Oxford and then decide what to do next.

Polishing

Didn't get out of bed till 10am today, must be all the fresh air around here.Plenty of cloud cover but still quite warm.
We decided to go to the Cropredy Marina open day to see what facility's they provided, 'bugger all' is the answer it is just a muddy hole in a field, why call it an open day! Did some shopping in Halfords and Sainsburys as we were ou


Back at the Wigrams, we turned Festina around and I spent the afternoon and evening t-cutting the boat. I used a different product on this side it was car plans tcut with dark blue pigment. This proved a lot better as I didn't have to polish over it and the blue pigment hides a lot of the scratches but I had to be careful over the white signwriting as scratches on this would turn blue also. So that is the predominantly dark blue panels done, tomorrow I will do the light blue surrounds and red borders in tcut original and polish over this.

Had a nice steak for out tea and have had the TV on to watch Peter Kay, funny back home we spent £60 a month on a Sky TV subscription and we haven't missed it a bit, yet.

First Visitors

Last night we did a bit of a pub crawl. Visited The Crown, The Bridge and The Kings Head to see if they were suitable establishments to take our friends Christine and Glyn to today. After sampling a beer in each and dinner in the last we decided although all very nice in their own way we wouldn't go to any of them.

We didn't get a fourth day of sunshine today, instead, it was showers and quite windy but the forecast is for sun tomorrow. Since we had the car we drove back to the butchers in Braunston for Mince, steaks and of cause one of their pork pies.


Glyn and Christine arrived at 1130am and brought us gifts of mugs, egg cups and homemade marmalade and damson jam.

After a tour of the boat and a cup of tea we went to The Folly Inn for lunch and a couple of Hookys. and soft drinks for the girls. It's always a good laugh to catch up on what they have been up to. 

I Think Glyn posed for the painting on my mug.

The day went quickly and Christine and Glyn drove back down south at 5pm. 

Fun day over back to polishing the boat tomorrow.

Blacking

The Sun was shining again when we awoke thats 3 day's now . It's a mini heatwave or is this last years summer arriving late. Bacon sandwich with Sue's home made bread for breakfast before the first  job of the morning which was to black the stove, basically it's the same as polishing your boots, rub black stuff on then buff it off. With a lot more elbow grease though.

After the blacking .

(That's our daughter in the picture she's holding a Koala during a trip down under and she has kept smiling for the camera  even though the animal is peeing on her.)

After this we went to B&Q for some hinges and bits and pieces. I wanted to change one of the cupboard hinges from 90 degree angle to 180 to make access a little easier.

Our first visitors Glyn and Christine are driving up from Shepperton tomorrow so we will be in the pub at some stage for definite . 

Sues been catching fish again.

It's getting busy here in the marina with part time captain's arriving to take their boats out probably for the first time this year. The canals will be very busy over this Bank holiday weekend. We'll let them go and play, we have all year!

Sod

Woke up to another cloudless sky , that's two days' in a row can't remember the last time that happened.
I serviced the engine, on this type of  boat that means dismantling a complicated array of steps and deck boards for access(it's not just a case of lifting a bonnet) and then finding somewhere to store these while you work, the bedroom had to fill this temporary storage role.

Sue's been baking this morning a nice fruit cake and a beautiful bloomer loaf.

We decided we would go and pick the car up from Weedon and go to Tescos, after trying three cab firms the earliest  we could be picked up was 1730hrs  "sod that" we said, that's a 3 hour wait! ,we'll get the bus. The marina receptionist couldn't help us with a bus timetable but she said the bus did stop at the marina entrance.  Ok it's a nice day so we waited for an hour and no bloody bus "sod this" we'll book that 1730hrs taxi. As we walked back into the marina the bus went sailing by "Sod It"

While we waited Sue got her fishing rod out and caught a roach and a rather large bream that broke her line and I decided to brush the chimney flue which resulted in lots of soot over the freshly washed curtains. Sod's law.

The taxi came at 1730hrs and the driver politely robbed us of £32 for a 15 minute ride, spent £305 in Tesco and got 'sod all' for our tea!  So we stopped in a pub (can't remember the name)on the way home and had a Two for one meal deal of 8oz burgers, chips ,a pint of Banks ale and a J20 for £14  result!





 Above found on some storage sheds in Weedon.

Canal T Junction

Sue Fishing

Grafting

I started cutting and polishing after breakfast and stopped at 5pm and still only one side of the boat done! There hasn't been a cloud in the sky all day so as well as my arm aching I have got a red head. I will find a different job for tomorrow as I can't face another day polishing in ever decreasing circles (I could do with an electric buffer.)

Sue has been degreasing the cooker, washing and ironing curtains as well as giving the windows a good clean.

For some unknown reason we can connect to Three Internet through the MiFi unit but our Three phones  or a pay as you go Orange sim can't get a signal unless we walk up to the top of a nearby grassy bank. I suppose that is the small price we will pay for living in the middle of nowhere.

Hard at it 

One side shinny

Duck chicks 

Coot chicks

Napton

Had a bit of a lazy morning and then had a 2-mile walk along the towpath to the The Folly Inn at Napton on the Hill a gem of a place with its quirky bric-a-brac adorning shelves, and pictures from a bygone era on the walls. Here  I had a couple of pints of Old Hooky and Sue had J2o's. For a Tuesday lunchtime the place was heaving the food looked great but by the time we decided we were hungry enough to partake the kitchen had closed. We sat by the inglenook fire and in the with the kindling were various old newspapers and leaflets two of which I found quite amusing to be together, I tried to take a picture of them below.

Eye level  techno surgery.

Last night  I removed all the clutter from the roof of Festina to wash her down in readiness for t-cut and polish, this included the sausage bi-cycle which I padlocked to a nearby post. When we went out today the bike was gone new padlock as well but it turned out the marina groundsman (who apologised profusely)  had moved it still padlocked to a holding area as cycles aren't allowed to be scattered around the marina, it is now back on the roof. Won't be doing much polishing today, amazing what a drink at lunchtime does for you.

Sue said if I misbehave she is going to leave me here 

Yes please

Leaving Braunston

Saturday we set off for the  south Oxford canal but missed the turning and had to carry on North for another 6 miles to the next winding hole near Hillmorton which is at the end of the Barby Straight (negotiating this at 4mph in a  narrow boat strangely had me reminiscing of  taking the Cronk Y Voddy Straight on the Isle of Man at 140mph on  Honda Fireblade.)

Having turned we moored for the night just above Rowdykes Bride and had our Sunday lunch which had been roasting in the  Epping for a few hours.

Sunday we are now moored in  Wigrams Turn Marina  on the Oxford canal and will be here for a few days while we deep clean the boat. I want to t-cut and polish the exterior, and touch up some paint as well as service the engine, expect this to take a few days and it will be handy to be connected to the grid and water supply.

We came into the marina in a gale and moored on the nearest berth to the entrance, luckily when we booked in at reception this berth was available so we didn't need to move again or so we thought, we had to turn the boat around as our shore line hook up is at the stern and we were bow in. Turning in the wind  and reversing into the berth took 3 attempts but after about 20 mins we were safely tied up.

We had another scrummy meal (stew) from the Epping that had been cooking most of the day.

The Epping is a fantastic tool for a few lumps of coal it stays alight 24/7 keeping the boat warm and cooks dinner.

Phone coverage is non existent here but the 3 internet connection appears to work.

Staying put

Decided to stay for the weekend in Braunston , sunshine and showers today. After breakfast Sue walked into the village for the paper and had an altercation with the owner of a dog that was allowed to run amok in the park.

We had our lunch of the pork pie and it was delicious, may buy another before we go.

I had a problem with my Three Internet account and had to phone Delhi to get a password sent out ,the conversation went like this.

Me " I need a password to get into my account "

Igbol " you will need your mobile  phone handy have you got it ".

Me " Yes it's on the table,,, oh hang on it's gone missing"

After a few frantic moments looking for it and asking Igbol to hang on...

Me " Sue where's my bloody phone gone "

Sue " Against your bloody ear you fool"

Well that put us into fits of laughter  with tears rolling down our faces I  couldn't speak  any more and had to let Igbol go.

I walked up to the chandlers and bought an  Ecofan to help circulate the heat from the solid fuel stove , expensive but they work really well.

This afternoon I walked into the village to buy some spuds and popped into the 'The Old Plough' for a nice pint of Doombar Ale.. as you do and bumped into Aussie Mick .  Micks good lady is a fellow blogger so I knew of Mick but he didn't know me. "Gooday Mick"says I, a look of apprehension comes across his face. "You are Mick arn't you and married to Elle ". Penny drops "that bloody blog ..... this keeps happening to me!" Well we had a good laugh and  chat before walking back to the boats where we introduced our wives over a beer on PS.
Top couple

Sue only got to eat two of the scones she made .. they were that good. I made up for it by cooking our tea of  sausage leeks and spuds.

Sunday lunch opportunities

Braunston

We set off at 10 am and no sooner had we untied the ropes  started  to rain, it rained on and off for the next couple of hours.

Through two locks and then we were heading for the Braunston Tunnel at over a mile long with a bend in the middle and only inches to pass other boats. We put our tunnel light on and entered with trepidation just our luck no boats had come the other way all morning now we had 4 to contend with. Problem was  you can see on coming traffic tunnel lights but its very hard to judge how far they are away in the distance,this had me hugging the wall all the way instead of staying more central for longer, consequentially we lost  paint of the gunnel's  and 2 fenders and I wont mention the  heavy bang I had with one vessel. We were both very relieved to be out the other end even if it was raining again.

At the Braunston 6 locks flight we met our first lock keeper volunteer, what a smashing  knowledgeable young man, he helped Sue with the paddle gear and opening the lock gates and as he was on his way to lunch he helped at all 6 locks explaining how things worked and how the volunteer force operate and  gave us some literature on  C.A.R.T. So if you are ever in the vicinity say hello to Courtney he's pictured  on the front of the C.A.R.T  'Get Involved' brochure.

We have moored for the evening at Braunston  where we walked into the village for supplies from the butcher among other items a rather mouth watering  Chili and Stilton pork pie made it into the basket.
A quick stop at the chandlers to replace the lost fenders 3 in all because I lost one in a lock yesterday also.

Back on the boat and Sue is baking scones and they smell as good as they look some fruity and some cheesy.

First Lock day

Woke to another sunny day with just a light breeze.. so ideal. I volunteered for breakfast duties so only cereal today. Got going about 0930ish passed nb Lois Jane moored near Bugbrooke village. Sorry we didn't stop and introduce ourselves properly guys but it was good to learn from Debbie that James is recuperating well.

After a stop to fill the water tank and another stop for lunch and a look around Heart of the Shires we pressed on to Whilton and our first lock, we moored up 300 yds before the lock and walked up to have a look, Nb Cider and Rose was just entering the lock and after a very quick chat around the lines that we were lock virgins their crew quickly volunteered to show us through the lock not only that but Mr Cider and Rose walked down the tow path to the next lock to make sure we were happy 'top bloke'.  Every one is so friendly on the canal, be it boaters, fishermen, joggers, walkers or commercial people  all have acknowledged us as we pass by.

We have now negotiated 6 locks and have moored below Buckby top lock for the night. We have a good internet signal here but no TV reception.

Our first lock on our own.

Sue working the paddle gear

Catch of the day

Tiller Girl

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,

We both feel really knackered now.

Moving along

Today we left Weedon Bec and made our way to Gayton Junction where we could have turned left and gone north through Northampton or straight on towards Milton Keynes, we stopped to use the C.A.R.T facilities turned the boat on the ropes and went back the way came (just getting used to the way the boat handles at the moment you see). Was an easy run of about 8 miles in cloudy skies with an occasional blustery wind, the boat handles as it should  and we had no problems.

We are now moored  close to the village of Gayton, Sheppard's pie in the oven, Sue is fishing (caught a dace earlier) and I'm doing this blog. It's very peacefull here apart from Tricky Dickys inter city trains in the distance

Have some photos but my connection is poor and the blog wont upload them.

Tomorrow we should make it to Braunston and our first lock.

First outing

Woke up to glorious sunshine which has lasted all day . We set off down the canal and moored up at the water point and filled the tank then we  continued to the winding hole to turn the boat, during this manoeuvre I managed to hit the bank 3 times, Sue and I will have to get our hand signals co-ordinated from the front to  the back or should that be bow to stern of the boat.

                                                        Filling the tank with blue water hose

We moored back where we left 2 hours before but facing the other way  So that was our first outing under our belt not very exciting for blog readers but exhilarating for this pair of novices.

This afternoon was spent having a look around Rugby and sorting out new UK phone contracts £6.90 a month with 200 free voice mins 5000 texts and 500 mb of data on the 3 network. Wont get a tariff like that back home with Manx Telecom.

Be setting off for real tomorrow ..locks and all!

More shopping

Did manage to get to the pub last night for a couple of Bombardiers.

Been shopping to Northampton Argos, Homebase and Sainsburys to get more bits and pieces this took most the morning. Its about a 200 yard walk from where we have parked the car to the boat so we were glad of the folding sack truck we brought along with us.

This evening I've been for a short cycle ride along the towpath to see what's round the next bend in the canal ....it's another bend. Spoke to the guy who I hired to give us some tuition on the phone today but his wife is still very poorly and he won't be available for another couple of weeks at least. Ah well how hard can it be we'll set off tomorrow and see how we get on.

On board

Good luck cards and pressies on board  from our friends 

We had a good night in the Narrowboat Inn and awoke to glorious sunshine we ordered  ' The Works' breakfast which consisted of bacon, sausage, black pudding, poached eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns toast, orange juice and tea. We were going to need it it would be a very long tiring day.

10 o'clock we met with Steve and Diane who were the previous owners of Festina and they showed us around the intricacies of the boat this took us till midday. Then we unloaded all our belongings out of the car and onto the boat at first we didn't think we would get it all in but Festina is full of nooks and cranny's and we haven't used all the storage space yet. I then spent about 2 hours putting together one of the chairs that had been sent flat-packed to the brokerage by Debenhams for us.

Had a  slight worry when the loo wouldn't flush but one of the guys from the brokerage identified that one of the stop cocks hadn't been turned back on so panic over (I'll be learning for a while methinks)

After filling with diesel and water we reversed across to the other side of the canal to moor, well I say reversed but it was a bit like a jerky sideways crabbing sort of motion but we made it all 20 feet of it.
Then of to Tesco to get bedding, cutlery, plates, cups, saucepans and a frying pan, got back on board at 2030hrs to late to cook so back to the Pub for a steak and sparkling water for Sue and tender pork loin and Bombardier ale for me.

Had a good night sleep on board Sue made us a bacon sandwich and the rest of the morning was spent putting all the  Tesco goods away and building up the second chair. Then a trip into Birmingham to pick up a generator I purchased on eBay. Pork chops for tea were excellent and it's 2000hrs and  I'm just about to suggest to Sue we go for a drink in the pub. I wonder if we will!

Almost there

Went for a 'bon voyage' drink or two with a few good friends last night in the Artisan a posh bland sort of bar in Douglas with no atmosphere but the company and beer were excellent.

Last day at work over so I am now officially retired/unemployed.

Car is packed and we are just waiting to go down to the ferry at 1400hrs looks like a nice quiet day for a crossing , should be in Liverpool by 1730hrs and in the B&B by 9ish...........

Arriving in Liverpool


......... Got to the Narrow boat pub/B&B at 2030hrs they serve Bombardier Ale here so would of been rude not to partake of a beverage, just the one mind as I want a clear head tomorrow when we meet the previous owner of Festina who will walk us through the systems and hard ware used on the boat.

Change of plan

We wont be going over this weekend, I have changed my leaving date to 19th April.

 So ferry booked and we will be starting our life aboard Festina on the 20th.......   CAN'T  WAIT.......

Ferry is booked as well as a first night B&B booking in the Narrowboat at Weedon Bec.  Link  (we will be able to see our boat from the pub window) as the ferry is due to dock in Liverpool at 1800hrs and its a 3 hour drive to Weedon.

I am thinking about installing two 100w solar panels to help keep the batteries topped up, this firm is quite reasonable LINK but they drill and tap the roof for the brackets where as other company's bond them on.

I'll perhaps wait until I am part of the canal community and get some informed pointers.

Gardening

Have got somebody coming round to tidy the bushes and lower some trees in the garden for me so the neighbours dont' complain while we are gone and our daughter  has kindly offered her fella to cut the grass in my absence.

Strange thing is I have lost any enthusiasm for any jobs around the  house and garden since we started on our nb buying journey, all I can think about at the moment is Festina Lente and jobs I will have to do on  her which I am sure I will enjoy more.

Collecting

Parcels seem to be arriving daily at our door as we collect all the things we ' think ' we will need to be able to live aboard Festina Lente comfortably, it's a bit like furnishing a small flat. Amazon and Lakeland are our two main suppliers, I gained some useful tips from forums about the tool kit I will need and I have engine servicing spares  oil/fuel filters plus another impeller  and  a few 'just in case' items to boot. Sue has been busy ordering all the kitchen utensils we will need for the galley.

People who know me will know I like hoover's and hoovering (some call me hoover man) as well as a ball Dyson I have their first hand held so I plan to just take this on board and see how we get on (it's a storage or should I say stowage issue)

I found an oil seal removing tool in my garage bought 'just in case' 10 years ago  and guess what I was right, I have sharpened it into a prop clearing tool, I'm bound to need that.

I have a few days leave to take before my finishing date of the 26th so plan to go over next week end and possibly move the boat into a local marina for a couple of weeks while I finish my notice period.

Ordered a couple of leather swivel recliners from Debenhams (we have two at home and find them ever so comfy) These will be delivered straight to Rugby boat sales and they will look after them until we arrive.

.

Report

Got the surveyors report today and everything is good, so we can now consider ourselves boat owners once the money has transfered across accounts.
Have sorted out the insurance and just need to arrange the license and all systems will be go.

She is out of the water and will be having her bottom blacked over the next few days.

Tall snow

Latest

The guys from the boat sales rung today to say sorry for the delay in craning out Festina Lente but this is due to the unseasonal like weather but she will be lifted next Wednesday for Ian to complete the survey and the boat yard to black her bottom.

If Rugby is anything like the IOM I can understand their predicament. Weather on IOM

The 'Tiller Girls'

We have decided we will go on a boat handling course, although we have 20 years experience on river cruisers we will be canal boat virgins and the tuition will do us both good . Handling a flat bottomed steel 58ft narrow boat is going to be a whole lot different to the characteristic's of a 34ft twin-engined keeled fibre glass cruiser.

Best we get some professional help and start of doing things correctly and safely, as Sue is going to be a tiller girl (remember those tap and kick dance routines at the London Palladium.Tiller Girls) it will give her more confidence and me a bit of lock wheeling know-how.



Will try and fit a handling course in a day or two before we take delivery of the boat.

Betty Boothroyd ex-speaker of the house of commons was a Tiller Girl in the '90s

Tools

I've been tiding up my garage and shed today putting away tools that I have used beside all those tools I have purchased and never used, the one's I thought would come in handy one day and never have. This got me to thinking about the boat and the limited storage there will be for a tool kit.

I'll have to find out exactly what tools will be required to service the engine (spanner size's etc.) and  which tools will be required to keep all the systems on board in good repair and only take those with us when we go (maybe the odd just in case tool...it's a man thing apparently)

Licence and Insurance

We have gone for the C.A.R.T (Canal and river trust) Gold license as this gives us the ability to use all the navigable waterways of England and Wales including those of the Environment Agency who run  the rivers Thames, Medway, Nene, Great Ouse and Stour. cost for a year running from Jan 01 to Dec 31  is £1098. and you don't get a discount for starting part way through the year.

Not that we will visit all the rivers this year but we are planning to spend some time on the Thames in July as our nephew is getting married in Windsor at the same venue as Charles and Camilla , so will be good to moor our home there while we attend then probably have a few weeks seeing how much the Thames has changed over the last 15 years since we were last boating there and maybe explore the river Wey.

Insurance quotes for the boat as a continuous cruiser (CC) as opposed to being  marina based is around the £200 mark, which is not at all bad for the value of the boat.

I'm expecting the lift out , survey and bottom blacking to be around £1200.

Only 6 weeks to go ...can't wait.

New addition

Our daughter who lives at home has bought a gorgeous black Labrador puppy to keep her company while we are off on the water. Haven't had a dog in the home since I was a boy, he is only 6 weeks old and can fetch already then I suppose it is inbred in him . His name is Sylar.

Internal

Our surveyor rang today and apart from a broken catch on the gas locker and a dodgy plug socket in the saloon everything is fine internally. Will have to wait for a time to lift the boat to check the hull so this may be two weeks before we get the report.

Handed in my notice to quit work today too I will be jobless from 26Apr..... hooray. It will seem strange not having to go to work we have been employed ever since leaving school and Sue has been with the same company all her working life.

Surveyor

Spoke to the surveyor today and he will be able to do all the on the water stuff later this week and he has kindly said he would liaise with the boat yard to do the hull survey when she comes out for blacking which will save having to pay for the lifting twice.

Deposit

Job done

Just flew home to the rock very pleased with our selves. We covered just over 1000 miles in 5 days in a little Chevrolet spark  1200cc hire car looked at 20 boats, narrowed this down to two for a second and more detailed look.

We have paid a deposit on one and are arranging the boat to have a full survey.Once this has been done and all is satisfactory we will get her bottom blacked. The owner has volunteered to give us a days instruction on how all the systems on board work etc. Then there will be nothing stopping us on our journey down the canals and rivers of inland water way systems

offer

Wintry weather on the way so may have to cut trip short. So far we have 3 possibles and may put a  cheeky offer in on one. Let you know tomorrow.

Viewed

Did 4 marinas yesterday and viewed 8 boats one of which we are quite keen on. a case of being in the right place at the right time the owners of the boat had just brought  her to the marina to sell and were still aboard clearing off their gear so we were able to have a nice long chat with them about the boats spec and systems, this is much better than speaking with the broker.

We are at the Pytchley hotel overnight just down the road from the first port of call at Crick

Tomorrow

Have to be up early in the morning to catch the red-eye flight to Manchester at 7am. Booked the smallest Enterprise rental car at a reasonable cost. They do try and add about £9 a day extra to reduce the £600 excess down to £250 which is ultra-expensive, I have  excess insurance cover with a private company that only cost about £35 for the whole year

Rang all the broker's today and a few of the boats on our list are sold and a couple more are under offer but never mind we plan to view as many boats as possible and enjoy the trip.

Boat search

Have sorted out an itinerary for our boat viewings later this week.

We are really looking forward to the trip, we should have a good idea of what money we are going to fork out to get the right boat.

The Plan

Alvechurch Marina
Braunston Marina
Nottingham Boat sales
Ash boats Sawley marina
Norbury wharf
Venitian Marina
Swanley brokerage
Mercia Marina
Crick Marina
Aquaduct Brokerage
Great Haywood
Whilton
ABNB
Trinity Marina
Rugby Boats
Buckden Marina

We are hoping to visit most of the above to look at what they have for sale.
I haven't worked out the best route yet but as we are flying into Manchester we will probably do the Cheshire ones first.