We have a lovely stop near Great Haywood after turning around in the very busy winding ((That’s pronounced wind – as in windy not as in wind up – hole)) and what a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Yesterday we decided to about turn and head towards home. Further up the canal there are major closures due to the dams being low/or not being repaired quickly enough depending on who you talk too as well as the water levels being generally low due to dry weather we have had for so long. We also need to have some more work on our engine, not serious but it made sense to head home, have the work done and then go on another little cruise in the opposite direction.
It’s the first proper cool morning on the boat, think it’s still about 10 degrees but after the temperature we’ve had you can almost taste the changing of the seasons as we crank it early doors. There is something undeniably wonderful about cruising at 8am on a Monday morning when others are going to work. Although the grass looks heavy with dew and an almost autumnal feel to the air, the blue skies promise a nice warm day as we head to the marina for our overnight stay.
The cruise this morning is simply sublime. We had a Tern follow us most of the way. I can see where they get their name, it was swooping around the boat and could tern on a dime as they say. I think it was following us because we churn water up as we chug along, as every so often it would dive into the water. Stunning. This is what owning a boat is all about, I’m sure come the cold and wet days we will be hankering after days like this. We have been so luckily since we bought the boat. This must be the most perfect summer we’ve have had in a while although i’m sure those people stuck on the drought hit canals don’t feel the same. Such a shame for those people.
We moor back at Rugeley so we can wander in and get some shopping. We end up sneaking into Costa for a bacon butty for me – I don’t often eat meat but I cannot resist a bacon buttie. Then we hit the shops for a few essentials before back to the boat. After uploading a few blogs it’s now time to cruise to the Marina to get some diesel, use the facilities as well as hopefully getting some washing done.
Well, that was eventful. We pulled onto the pontoon as we were aiming to fill up with diesel, only to see the tiny sign which says moor stern on ((the stern is where you ‘drive’ the boat)) so it would mean having to turn the boat and reverse to get in but as we are visitors that would mean turning again to get to our visitor mooring which is about 1 million miles away in another county and through a bridge which is narrower than a narrowboat – well obviously not quite but it was a tight fit.
It seems like Aquavista ((they are the company who own the Marina Peachy is a resident with, you can use your Explorer 34 to stay free overnight at any other Aquavista marina)) have only recently taken over. They deffo need to add a larger sign to warn boaters they need to be stern on for fuel, but I guess the things take time and in canal world you can double or triple that from land life and let’s face it everything is on a go slow in the UK at the moment because it’s seems like 92.3% of the population is pissed off with their job, life or just the general misery it feels like in the UK at the moment. Although we did beat Germany in the Euro so go us and you cannot beat a bit of a football win to get a smile on a Brit’s face, even if they don’t like football. We’re a strange bunch.
Anyway, we moor up and trot off to the office and chat to some lovely staff who give the me low down on where we are mooring and about the electric, laundry etc. We decide to get the diesel in the morning as we will be facing in the right direction for leaving the marina. It’s suggested we walk around and see the mooring – with it being in another county and all that I’m glad we did. ((Stop over exaggerating Peachy! You writers!)) We pick up some washing tokens on the way back – £3 per wash and £3 per dry and some toilet liquid stuff. The less said about the Elsan on this site the better. The Captain wasn’t impressed, said it was the worst one he’d ever used and some of the Canal and River Trust ones on the cut are a bit dodgy! ((The ‘cut’ is what they call the canal))
The mooring up is a little difficult but the Captain manages it on the second try which isn’t bad considering the wind always picks up just as you go to turn the boat. The next boat we buy will have a bow thruster! ((For those who haven’t been on a canal boat you basically have pretty much no control/steering over the boat when it’s in reverse if you haven’t got bow thrusters)).
Once moored with have a little chat with couple next to us and then go and get the washing on as it’s about 3.30ish. They are deffo not as good as ours at Kings Marina, they are just normal sized household ones whereas the ones we have are the industrial type so you can load more washing in. I’m not quite sure how we have 2 full loads of washing but that does include towels and we have been away a week i suppose. Anyway, despite the little gripes it’s great to have these facilities and I’m sure cheaper and less hassle than taking clothes to the laundrette. I will say the pontoons are good here, they are quite new and very stable. We have a little bit more ‘washing drama’ as when we go to take the washing out we realise someone has washed a dog bed, so there is hair everywhere! What is wrong with people. It means we have to wash them again and now don’t have enough dry tokens so once done we have to pop them on the line. The washing is just about dry when the rain starts. It was all a bit of a faff but we got there. We decided to take a little drink up to the picnic area, they do have some lovely areas to sit in on this marina whilst we waited.
I was hoping to get some more blogs uploaded but the 4g isn’t very good. Oh well, plenty of other jobs to do… ((Also, today, if I have calculated correctly it is your 100th blog post Peachy! Congratulations you’ve managed to waffle since 2018!)) Thanks Brackets. 😊
C.L. Peache 
Congrats on 100 blog posts!!
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Thank you 🙂
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