Thursday 30th November Day 131
Wow it was a cold one last night and we wake up to a partially frozen canal and our windows on the inside are well and truly frost bitten! It didn’t feel too bad in the night as we stoked up the fire but I do remember turning over at one point and thinking, do not move. If I move, I will disturb the cold air which is lurking on top of the duvet waiting to strike, so it was best to stay still lol.
Coffee in bed and social media caught up with we then do the morning ritual of taking out the insulated covers we put in the window which have to be prised off due to the ice and then it’s taking a cloth to the windows and wiping off the condensation and ice. This will be an ongoing ritual throughout the day as condensation builds. The trick is to catch it before it drips into the boat!
I’m at the dinette with the gloves my friend crotchet’d for me for writing and I’m trying to get the rest of the videos sorted and uploaded to YouTube whilst the signal is so good. Once we’ve had our final cruise this afternoon, I will probably have a break from filming for a bit. I’ve been filming, editing and creating vlogs pretty much non-stop since we left the marina in July ((OH poor you. It’s a good job I kept out my tiny violin!)) Don’t get me wrong I love doing them but writing has to become my focus once we are in the comfort of the marina and don’t have to think about the usual things like getting water, toilet, bins etc as they are all there on site. Same as shopping, most days we have to find a shop as we can only carry so much and store so much on the boat.
((Tell them the bit you’re most excited about…)) I can have my coffee machine on all the time so that will save me a fortune in coffee shops! The planet killer as Chris calls it, is back. ((Don’t tell Peachy but her machine is about to break!))
Right, I have a break from updating this as we get ready and go for a cold walk up to the lock to check out how iced in the canal is for cruising later as we do so another boat comes into view – they are trailing blazing through the ice and doing a nice job of breaking it. We decide if they can get through, then we will be okay. We have the standard shouty convo from boat to towpath – ((I always thought boatlife was quiet but you boaters are a noisy bunch!)) we then head back to the boat and start faffing but then realise we don’t have much coal left. The stove is on 24/7 so we are using plenty of coal. We should have been more prepared but we didn’t account for the canal freezing over and being a bit of a distance both ways for any services ((Amateurs)) so, we decide to leave it thirty minutes and then we follow in the trailblazer’s wake. We end up chatting them a few times as our paths crisscross over the next few days.
It’s not too bad as we set off but already the ice is reforming where they cruised and the ice breaks against the bow but hopefully the ice is not deep enough to do much damage to the bow. We soon arrive at the lock and all goes smoothly. I take my time as obviously everywhere is slippy and locks are places to be careful whatever the weather. Despite the cold we still have our sunglasses on as it’s a beautiful but cold day with lovely blue skies.
We miss cruising straight into a lock by about 1 minute as the boater had just closed the gate and set off but no matter. I set it and we meet our friend from the other day – think it’s a Muscovy duck so we hand out some well needed birdseed to keep them going in the cold. Lock done it’s onto the next. Three to do today before we get to the marina.
Oh I forgot to say. I rang the marina just to check we could go in a day early and they said that was all fine but their water pipes had frozen so they suggested we try the services at Great Haywood before coming into the marina.
At the last lock of the day, Hoo Mill Lock I’m just about to start filling the lock and a robin lands on the bow and watches my technique. This could possibly be the last lock we do this year and I don’t know if I’m really into signs and things like that, but it does feel like it means something. We put a little bit of bird seed onto the lock side for the robin to enjoy at its leisure. On route we had an email from the marina to say the water is back on so we don’t need to go to the services.
We’d set off at about 11.45ish and finally arrive at the marina at 2.30pm. Wouldn’t you know it the trailblazing boat is on the service point at the marina and just as we come in the entrance another boat comes speeding out from their pontoon in front of us. Turns out he having a pump out ((The boat not the actual person just to be clear!)) so we are third in line. The chap I’ve been chatting to at the marina comes out and signals for us to moor at the side whilst we wait rather than hovering in the marina. Typically, he says they haven’t seen a boat all day. That’s the way it goes.
I pop into the office to sort out the paperwork and get our key fobs and info as well as buying some well needed coal. Chris empties the Elsan whilst we wait for the other boaters finish their jobs then finally it’s our turn. We decided to fill up with diesel and then as the sunsets it’s to cruise onto our home pontoon for the next few months, we could not have timed it more perfectly. Now it’s time to get the boat in order for marina life.
All this has meant that I finished my wordcount on 30,877, which is way short of the planned 50k but I’m still happy with the wordcount as I suspect if I hadn’t have taken part in NaNoWriMo it would have been a lot less and fingers crossed now we are in the marina I will have more time to write. I might even just put out a weekly blog so that will save your inboxes filling up and give me more time to write. I also won’t be videoing as much so that will give me some well needed time back.
Until tomorrow… x
C.L. Peache 